The Theater at the 14th Street Y Announces its 2016-2017 Season: Dance, Theater, & LABA Series

The Theater at the 14th Street Y brings a new lens to the downtown performing arts scene with its exciting and diverse curated Theater, Dance, and LABA Series for the 2016-2017 Season. Through partnerships with each of the shows, the 14th Street Y embraces the NYC artist community to bring audiences a wide range of experiences.

From dance, to theater, and even circus, as well as works-in-progress through the fellowship program, LABA, there's something for everyone! On September 6, 2016, Cirque-tacular's The Art of Circus will launch the 2016-2017 Season with The Art of Circus, its newest full-length production inspired by visual art masterpieces that feature dance and circus and world renowned painters, and the time periods and stories that birthed the world's most iconic images.

Experience theater your way with the $14at14Y Flex Pass a subscription package with dance, theater, circus, and LABA shows. A Flex Pass allows subscribers to select three shows for $42 -that's only $14 per ticket! $14at14Y Flex Passes are on sale now at 14StreetY.org/FIexPass.

Highlights of the season include:

• The acrobatic fantasy world of Cirque-tacular's newest full length production: The Art of Circus, including a special performance for children

• The New York Premiere of world renowned playwright Israel Horovitz's The Day Before Yesterday

• The World Premiere of Safe by Penny Jackson, featuring Sawyer Spielberg, Meghan St. Thomas, Joel Nagle, and Jill Schackner.

• Three LABA productions are back 14 Street Y Artistic Director Ronit Muszkatblit's Hanna and the Moonlit Dress, Mar Vista by LABA alum Yehuda Hyman, and birds sing a pretty song featuring former LABA alum Rebecca Margolick.

• A remounting of 14 Street Y Associate Artistic Director, David Stallings' award winning play, Anais Nin Goes to Hell, after a successful 2008 NYC Fringe production.

• The World Premiere of Adam Symkowicz's Rare Birds produced by Red Fern Theatre Company.

"We have lined up an incredible group of artists and are excited to bring inspiring provocative and innovative culture to our audiences. As an incubator for new work and thought leaders between our artists and the community we look forward to launching this new season," said Ronit Muszkatblit, Artistic Director of the 14th Street Y.

"This year was the first year the 14th Street Y curated their season as part of an active initiative to move away from being a strictly "rental house". We want to create a space where independent theater artists are supported administratively with a more cost-effective model. This year, we truly wanted to focus on social awareness and activism in choosing our line-up. We believe in putting a diverse group of artists in the center of our community to inspire discourse," said David Stallings, Associate Artistic Director of the 14th Street Y.

Cirque-tacular: The Art of Circus

September 6-11*, 2016

Tickets: $39.50-$75

The Art of Circus, Cirque-tacular's newest full length production, derives inspiration from visual art masterpieces that feature dance and circus, as well as world renowned painters, and the time periods and stories that birthed the world's most iconic images. Featuring thrilling acrobatics, world record holders, elite gymnasts, international recognized circus performers, an original score by 4 time ASCAP award winner, Jesse Elder (Postmodern Jukebox), live musicians, and contemporary musical arrangements corresponding to the major movements in art over the last 500 years, audiences will discover an acrobatic fantasy world that is at once familiar, unexpected, and timeless.

*On September 11th at 11AM - Join us for a Special Children's Performance that runs 70 minutes with no intermission; perfect for younger art lovers!

Core Creative Productions: Chokehold & 91 Central Productions: Safe

September 12-October 9, 2016

Tickets: $18

Chokehold: Written by Anthony P. Pennino, directed by Tim Cusack.

Ferguson. Staten Island. Cleveland. North Charleston. Baltimore. Baton Rouge. St. Anthony. The list goes on and on. Five friends launch a desperate gamble to end police violence, but the road to achieving justice is more elusive than they think.

Safe: Written by Penny Jackson, directed by Glory Kadigan, featuring Sawyer Spielberg, Meghan St. Thomas, Joel Nagle, and Jill Schackner.

When an intriguing older man enters a teenage girl's life, he threatens her relationship with her already estranged father and her best friend as a mystery turns to danger. 91 Central Productions presents character-driven contemporary theater relevant to international audiences.

"Hot button topics tend to make sensational talking points for theater. Chokehold by Anthony P. Pennino unabashedly goes right into the American race relations and police brutality for a sixty-minute high-octane drama that keeps you interrogative." Michael Block, Theater in the Now

MTWorks & Goode Productions: Anaïs Nin Goes to Hell

October 10-30, 2016

Tickets: $18 general, $15 seniors

Anaïs Nin Goes to Hell by David Stallins, directed by Antonio Minino, and starring James Edward Becton, Mlé Chester, Mel House, Amanda Jones, Richard Lindenfelzer, Nylda Mark, Madalyn McKay, Hannah Seusy, and Stephanie Willing is an existential comedy centered around some of the most powerful and memorable women in history (Queen Victoria, Cleopatra, Andromeda, Heloise, Joan of Arc) as they wait on an island in the river Styx for the final leg of their soul's journey to eternal peace or damnation. Their monotonous afterlife is shaken up when women's lib icon and erotica writer Anaïs Nin arrives on the island, planting seeds of change.

"Surprising and heartfelt." -The Edinburgh Evening News

The Theater 14th Street Y & Bearded Ladies Productions: Y Cabaret

October 31-November 1, 2016 & March 6-7, 2017

Tickets: $20 in advance, $22 at the door

Get up close and personal with some of the hottest choreographers in town. Experience dance outside of the boundaries of traditional performance.

"Thank the gods for Stallings' Anais Nin Goes to Hell" -- Village Voice 2008

LABA & Mystical Feet: The Mar Vista

December 1-18, 2016

Tickets: $18 in advance, $22 at the door

The Mar Vista, created and written by Yehuda Hyman, is a comical and heartbreaking new theater-dance play about a forbidden war time romance, a 1960s Jewish Family of immigrants in Los Angeles, gypsy dances, pop tunes, rumbas, twists and the enduring memory of lost love.

LABA: Hanna and the Moonlit Dress

December 2-18, 2016

Tickets: $12 youth (12 and under), $18 general admission, $35 family ticket (up to 5 people)

Hanna and the Moonlit Dress: Based on Izhak Scheiger-Dmi'el's book, adapted for the stage by Ronit Muszkatblit and Yoav Gal.A magical, interactive musical for children about the power of a good deed. Young Hannah'le just wanted to help the coalman carry his heavy sack of coal from the forest, but now--Oh No! Her new white dress is stained with black spots! How can Hanna go to dinner now? Won't Mama be upset? Perhaps the moon will come to Hanna's rescue with its magical light. Join Hanna and her friends, Zuzi the dog and Edna the cow. Together, let's dra, cut, glue and create Hanna's world, and light the night with moonlight magic.

LABA Presents: DRUNK!

January 12, 2017 at 8pm

Tickets: $25

You've seen wine paired with food, but how about wine paired with texts? Join LABA Fellows, ancient text scholar Reuben Namdar and sommelier Ronald Jordan. A four course exploration of the relationship between wine and OTHER through teachings, tastings and performances. LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture is a program of the 14th Street Y that uses classic Jewish texts to inspire the creation of art, dialogue and study.

Cirque-tacular: Snowkus Pocus

January 17-February 5, 2017

Tickets: $45 general admission, $85 premium, $35 senior, $25 student

Join us for Snokus Pocus as we traverse from winter to spring in a magical journey of seasonal splendor, circus spectacle and derring-do! Marvel at the bendy ballerina in her living snow globe. Be blown away when the icy north wind battles Jack Frost in an epic snowball fight. Feel the warm glow of winter's end as the snow ballet melts your heart. Delight in the first blossoms of the sunny new season as acrobats play in the springtime rays. Snow-y, blow-y family fun abounds in the whimsical winter wonder-world that is Snokus Pokus!!!

Convergences Theatre Collective Presents: Babel

January 18-February 5, 2017

Tickets: $85 premium, $45 general, $35 students/seniors, $25 youth (12 and under)

A story told through Acrobatic Dance theater, Babel is a physical is a physical spectacle that reinvents one of the oldest stories in the world: The Tower of Babel. It calls upon diverse perspectives of the story to reveal ambition, grief, and healing within the complexity of the human condition. The story is told by 22 powerful dancers.

LABA: LABAlive Series

February 9, March 16, & May 11, 2017

Tickets: $20

Experience excerpts of new works in progress by our LABA Fellows centered on this year's theme, Other. Part of LABA is the House of Study, an artist fellowship program for which around 10 culture-makers, a mix of visual artists, writers, dancers, musicians, actors and others, are brought together to study classic Jewish texts in a non-religious, open-minded setting. The fellows use the study to inspire work which is featured in our series of LABAlive events and performances.

New York Premire of Israel Horovitz's The Day Before Yesterday
February 13-March 5, 2017

Tickets: $18

Written by Israel Horovitz, directed by Glory Kadigan. Internationally acclaimed playwright Israel Horovitz's newest play The Day Before Yesterday follows three couples during 72 hours, before and after a rock concert in Paris.

World Premiere of Red Fern's Rare Birds

March 20-April 9, 2017

Tickets: $20

Written by Adam Szymkowitcz, directed by Scott Ebersold. World Premiere Production. The worst thing you can do in high school is admit you love something. A play about adolescent cyberbullying and your mother's new boyfriend.

From the Horse's Mouth Dance: A Celebration of Indian Dance in America

April 24-30, 2016

Tickets: $35 (general admission), $25 (seniors), $20 (students & Y members)

From the Horse's Mouth offers a special performance showcasing the diversity and influences of Indian Dance on the world's cultural life from ancient roots to Bollywood.

LABA: bird sing a pretty song

May 4-7, 2016

Tickets: $18

Join former LABA Fellows REBECCA MARGOLICK and MAXX BERKOWITZ for the Second Stage of their interactive multi-media dance piece developed last year in the 14th Street Y's innovative LABA: a laboratory for Jewish Culture.

About 14th Street Y

The 14th Street Y is a thriving and dynamic community center located in the heart of the East Village. Our members have access to over 50 fitness classes per week, lap and family swim times, childcare, pick-up games in our basketball gymnasium and a fitness center filled with a full range of cardio and weight equipment. Membership at the Y also gives you access to arts and culture programming, https://14streety.secure.force.com/ticketas well as early registration and discounts on all Y classes and programs like camps, preschool, and Two by Two. www.14thstreety.org.

Full Season Tickets and detailed information on shows available at: www.14streety.org/tickets