The Sheen Center presents Reading of FORWARD PASS by Patrick Vassel

The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture proudly presents a reading of The Forward Pass, a new play by Patrick Vassel, on Tuesday, August 8, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. The reading is directed by Erin Ortman and is open to the public. RSVP's are required and are being taken via this link: https://sheencenter.org/shows/forward.

Every fall, football consumes college campuses across the country. Seniors scramble to figure out what they're going to do after graduation. There are wins, there are losses, and then the season starts again the next year. The Forward Pass is the story of four seniors at a Catholic University with a storied football program. The star linebacker, his girlfriend, her roommate, and the friend hoping to be the agent when the star goes pro. Amid the parties, the classes, and the ticking clock to graduation, their final year begins with a surprise - the end of football. How do you win when the game is taken away?

Author Patrick Vassel is a director and playwright who is currently the Associate and Supervising Director of Hamilton on Broadway, Chicago, and the National Tour. Director Erin Ortman is the Curator of Theatrical Projects for The Sheen Center and has developed new work at LAByrinth Theatre Company, Ars Nova, New Georges, NTI at The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, and many more. Caridad Svich was the dramaturg for The Forward Pass. She received a 2012 OBIE for Lifetime Achievement and has written over 40 plays and 30 translations.

The cast of The Forward Pass is Josh Bonzie* ("The Blacklist"), Bill Buell*, Elizabeth Hess* ("Clarissa Explains It All"), Alec Mathieson* (Ragtime National Tour), Shannon Spangler (Mary V), and Michelle Veintimilla* ("Gotham"). Charlotte Murray* is the assistant director and will read the stage directions and Jennifer DeLac is the stage manager.

With this final reading of The Forward Pass, Vassel completes a year-long fellowship designed for an emerging Catholic playwright, which included mentorship, dramaturgy, and development of his new play.

"I'm very proud to have been intimately involved in the development of The Forward Pass," stated William Spencer Reilly, Executive Director of The Sheen Center. "Patrick is a very talented playwright and director and it has been an honor to have worked so closely with him in service to the development of this thought-provoking new play."

*Appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association.

About The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture
Named after the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, best known for his popular radio and TV ministry in the 1950s and 60s, The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture is a project of the Archdiocese of New York with the mission of showcasing works in the performing and visual arts, lectures and symposia that highlight the true, the good, and the beautiful as they have been expressed throughout the ages. The state-of-the-art complex has a 274-seat proscenium theater equipped with five-camera high-definition livestream capability and a multi-track recording studio with thirty-two onstage inputs; an 80-seat black box theater; four rehearsal studios; and an art gallery. This facility is the newest arts center in Manhattan in 35 years and a significant addition to the growing artistic community in NoHo.