Warm Up at 59E59 Theaters with the 2017 Winter Season

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) is proud to announce the line-up of shows for the 2015 Winter Season. All performances take place at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Ticket prices and performance schedules vary. For tickets, call Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.59e59.org.

Tickets for the Winter 2017 season go on sale to 59E59 Members on Tuesday, November 29 and to the general public on Tuesday, December 6. Tickets for MADE IN CHINA and WHITE GUY ON A BUS, which are part of the 59E59 Theaters' Subscription Season, are on sale now.

January 10 - February 28
MADE IN CHINA, written by Kirjan Waage and Gwendolyn Warnock, with the Wakka Ensemble; directed by Kirjan Waage & Gwendolyn Warnock
Cast to be announced
Produced by Wakka Wakka and Norland Visual Theater
Tickets: $25 - $60 ($35 - $49 for 59E59 Members)

A darkly comedic puppet musical inspired by true events, MADE IN CHINA is a fantastical exploration of human rights, consumerism and morality as told through the unlikely love story between a big box store-obsessed middle-aged American woman and her Chinese ex-pat neighbor. MADE IN CHINAfeatures 30 puppets, seven puppeteers, music inspired by both American and Chinese traditions, and animated video.

January 12 - February 7
LABUTE NEW THEATER FESTIVAL, featuring short plays by Neil LaBute, CaRy Pepper, Gabe McKinley, and Adam Seidel; directed by John Pierson and Michael Hogan
With Clea Alsip, Justin Ivan Brown, Michael Hogan, Jenny Smith, Donna Weinsting, and Eric White
Produced by St Louis Actors' Studio
Tickets: $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members)

The New York premiere of four one-act plays that received their world premiers at past LaBute New Theater Festivals at St. Louis Actors' Studio's Gaslight theater.

January 12 - February 12
ALBATROSS by Matthew Spangler and Benjamin Evett; directed by Rick Lombardo
With Benjamin Evett
Produced by The Poets' Theatre, Inc. (Arlington, MA) and Michael Seiden
Tickets: $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members)

A tour de force solo piece inspired by "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," ALBATROSS combines sophisticated multimedia with a performance that is "dazzling" (ArtsFuse). Full of privateers, storms, battles, spirits, and (yes) penguins, ALBATROSS is a thrilling supernatural sea yarn. The winner of two of Boston's distinguished Elliot Norton Awards (Outstanding Solo Performance and Outstanding Production), ALBATROSS drives the audience to the edges of our humanity.

February 7 - March 5
THE DRESSMAKER'S SECRET by Sarah Levine Simon and Mihai Grunfeld, directed by Roger Hendricks Simon
With a cast TBA
Produced by The Simon Studio
Tickets: $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members)

Nineteen-year-old Robi craves all things western as he searches for identity in post WWII
Communist Romania. His quest opens the doorway through which his parents' generation comes to terms with their painful pasts.

February 16 - March 12
KUNSTLER by Jeffrey Sweet; directed by Meagen Fay
With Jeff McCarthy and Nambi E. Kelley
Produced by The Creative Place International in Association with AND Theatre Company
Tickets: $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members)

A legendary civil rights movement lawyer, William Kunstler, is scheduled to give a seminar on a college campus but finds that the young black law student, Kerry, assigned to introduce him, has objections to his having been invited. Aware of her reservations, Kunstler attempts to overcome her antipathy by pulling her into his presentation. The encounter builds to a confrontation between the charismatic icon and this ferociously smart member of the younger generation, challenging his relevance and methods.

March 7 - April 16
WHITE GUY ON A BUS written by Bruce Graham; directed by Bud Martin
With Jessica Bedford, Danielle Lenee, Susan McKey, and Jonathan Silver
Produced by Delaware Theatre Company
Tickets: $25 - $70 ($25 - $49 for 59E59 Members)

Direct from its production at the Delaware Theatre Company, WHITE GUY ON A BUS - a play that unravels a complex web of moral ambiguity, revenge, and racial bias - arrives in New York. A wealthy white businessman and a struggling black single mom ride the same bus week after week. As they get to know each other, their relationship sparks a candid and surprising look at racial and economic divides.

March 9 - April 1
SAM & DEDE, OR MY DINNER WITH ANDRE THE GIANT by Gino DiIorio; directed by Leah S. Abrams
With Brendan Averett and Dave Sikula
Produced by The Custom Made Theatre Co., Inc. (San Francisco, CA)
Tickets: $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members)

Wrestling fans remember Andre the Giant as a great showman, athlete, and a man with a heart
big enough to match his outsized body. Filmgoers remember him as the very large sidekick in the iconic The Princess Bride. Playwright Gino Dilorio thinks of him, first and foremost, as the kid Samuel Beckett befriended. Dilorio fashions a tale about an unlikely duo - a comic absurdity that plays out in Beckett-inspired rhythm.

March 15 - April 9
BENEATH THE GAVEL devised by Bated Breath Theatre Company, written and directed by Mara Lieberman
With Gabriel Aprea, Missy Burmeister, Rebecca Ellis, Moira O'Sullivan, Julia Verón, and Debra Walsh
Produced by Bated Breath Theatre Company (Hartford, CT)
Tickets: $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members)

BENEATH THE GAVEL drops the audience into the epicenter of the white-hot art market to explore the rise of branded art in the collision of High Art and High Finance. Based on stories from auction world insiders, this immersive, physical theater piece gives the audience an unforgettable inside look at the only market - besides the stock market - to show up on the front pages of every major newspaper. BENEATH THE GAVEL first premiered in March 2016 in partnership with The New Britain Museum of American Art.