THE WIDOW OF TOM'S HILL to Receive New York Premiere at 59E59 Theaters

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) is thrilled to welcome Scripts Up! (Janet McCall and David Spaulding, producers) with the New York premiere of THE WIDOW OF TOM'S HILL, written by Aleks Merilo and directed by Rachel Black Spaulding.

THE WIDOW OF TOM'S HILL begins performances on Thursday, October 29 for a limited engagement through Sunday, November 15. Press opening is Tuesday, November 3 at 7:30 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday & Saturday at 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.

It's 1918 and the worst plague in human history has hit America. When a small Washington coastal town finds itself the subject of a military quarantine, a young sailor and a 19 year old widow from opposite sides of the blockade, engage in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, putting their lives, and souls, in the balance. Aleks Merilo's gritty, spellbinding tale won the 2015 Julie Harris Playwriting Award.

The cast features Derek Grabner (Actors Theatre of Louisville; TV: "Madame Secretary," "Elementary") and Lucy Lavely (Asolo Rep).

The design team includes Miguel Urbino (set design); Jane Chan (lighting design); Ari Fulton (costume design); Jordan Pankin (sound design). T.O. Sterrett is the composer. The Production Stage Manager is John M Crotty.

Aleks Merilo (playwright) is a Seattle (formerly Portland) based playwright and drama teacher. Originally from Palo Alto, CA, he holds a BA in Theater and an MFA in playwriting from The UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television. Merilo's scripts include Exit 27 (performed at the Landing Theatre in Houston, Texas, and The Sanguine Theatre Company in New York City); Blur in the Rear View (winner of the James Rodgers Playwriting Contest, premiered at the University of Kentucky, Lexington); and Little Moscow (winner of Dubuque Playwriting Contest). His plays have been developed and performed at The Furious Theater at the Pasadena Playhouse, Old Globe Theater, Portland Center Stage Fertile Ground Festival, Pittsburgh New Works Festival, Ross Valley Players, The Moving Arts Theater, The UCLA New Play Festival, and Portland Readers Theater among others. Aleks won The Julie Harris Playwriting Award for his play THE WIDOW OF TOM'S HILL, which was given a workshop production at Luna Stage (NJ).

Rachel Black Spaulding (director) began her theater career on stage, but more recently she's taken the helm as director of numerous productions. Rachel is a proud member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. Since 2007 she has served as a Literary Associate of Luna Stage (NJ), where she's been actively involved as a dramaturge for new works by emerging playwrights as well as at least a handful of award winning playwrights. In June of 2014, Rachel directed a workshop production of THE WIDOW OF TOM'S HILL by Aleks Merilo at Luna Stage. Other directing credits include: Send It by Clare Drobot, Ships by KJ Sanchez, plus seven other plays for The New Jersey One Minute Play Festival 2015 (presented at Luna Stage); Class Reunion by Phoebe Farber (Strange Dog Theatre's Play Festival '15); Teddy's Return and Queue by Jonathan Citron (The Theater Project); Maximum Velocity also by Mr. Citron (Luna Stage's Short Play Festival); Booth Lincoln Booth by Thomas Molyneaux (Luna Stage's New Moon Reading Series); Written On Her Face by Stacie Lents (Luna Stage's New Moon Series); and The Potential Amanda by Eric Alter (Grove Street Theater). As an actress, she has been directed by such legends as Susan Stroman, Woody Allen, Mike Ockrent, Gracielle Daniele, and Paul Gemignani; and has performed with such luminaries as Roger Daltrey, Hal Linden, Roddy McDowell, Tony Randall, Ben Vereen, to name a few.