'West Bank, UK' New Musical by Safdie, Cohen Premieres 11/29

West Bank, UK – a world-premiere musical about a Palestinian and an Israeli who must share a rent-controlled apartment in London's West Bank – by Oren Safdie (Private Jokes, Public Places) and Ronnie Cohen, creators of the popular musical about interfaith dating, Jews & Jesus, will be presented by La MaMa ETC, in association with Malibu Stage Company, for a limited New York run, with previews set to begin November 29, prior to an official press opening December 2 at La MaMa ETC (74A East 4th Street) in Manhattan.

West Bank, UK is written and directed by Oren Safdie, with music and lyrics by Ronnie Cohen.

"In the new musical West Bank, UK, when Israeli ex-patriot, Assaf Ben-Moshe Benvenisti, breaks up with his German girlfriend and returns home to his rent-controlled flat on the West Bank of London, he discovers that Palestinian refugee, Aziz Hamoud, has taken over his lease. Their American landlord is torn between the two men, and urges them to work out their differences and learn to live together in harmony," explain press notes.

West Bank, UK co-stars Jeremy Cohen, most recently seen in Maccabeat! The Hanukkah Musical at this year's New York Musical Theatre Festival, as Assaf. The cast also features Mike Mosallam (Carnival at Kennedy Center) and Anthony Patellis and Michelle Soloman, who portrayed Teddy and Siatica, respectively, in Safdie and Cohen's Fiddler in Sub-Terrain.

West Bank, UK features set design by Michael V. Moore; lighting design by Matt Berman; costume design by Greco; and musical direction by Scott Baldyga. Plus choreography by Wendy Seyb.  A two-piece ensemble comprised of Mr. Baldyga, from the LA-based group Kokopelli, and Jeremy Brown, from New York Klezmer bands Art Bailey's Orkestra Popilar and Frank London's Klezmer Allstars, will perform the Middle Eastern-flavored score.

The world-premiere production of West Bank, UK was commissioned and developed by the Malibu Stage Company under the direction of Jacqueline Bridgeman, Founding President.

Oren Safdie and Ronnie Cohen previously collaborated on the La MaMa ETC hit musical comedy Jews & Jesus.

Director and book author Oren Safdie is best known for Private Jokes, Public Places, which was a critical Off-Broadway hit during the 2003-'04 season and subsequently has played across North America, Off-West End in London, and at the National Theatre in Romania. His most recent play, The Last Word… was presented Off-Broadway last season, starring two-time Emmy Award-winner Daniel J. Travanti of "Hill Street Blues." Safdie is also the author of the films You Can Thank Me Later, starring Ellen Burstyn, and the Israeli film Bittersweet, which recently played at the Jerusalem and Montreal World Film Festivals. Other plays include Hyper-Allergenic, Broken Places, Laughing Dogs and LA Compagnie, which was developed as a pilot for CBS/Castle Rock. He also writes for Metropolis Magazine and contributes to Dwell.

Composer and lyricist Ronnie Cohen, a Fulbright Scholar, is a graduate of Columbia University's Poetry Division, and the Berklee School of Music. He has contributed articles to the Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly, and teaches English at Palisades Charter High School in California. His father is songwriter Avshalom Cohen, famous in Israel for the song "Agala Im Susa," and other popular hits.

Malibu Stage Company, a Non-for-Profit Company, was created in 1990 and has presented a variety of programs in venues throughout Malibu. In 1998, it acquired a disused Lutheran church near Point Dume and converted it into a state-of-the-art 99-seat theatre. From the company's inception, co-founder and producer Jacqueline Bridgeman has provided managerial and design services to virtually all of Malibu Stage's 30-plus productions, including world premieres of John Shaner's, Fellow Traveler, Charles Marowitz's Mudering Marlowe, and Oren Safdie's Private Jokes, Public Places and The Last Word…

West Bank, UK is sponsored by the Quebec Government Office -New York, and the Theodore Dubin Foundation.

Performances of West Bank, UK run November 29-December 16 at La MaMa E.T.C (74A East 4th Street, between Second Avenue and Bowery); Thursdays-Saturdays at 8PM; Sundays at 2:30PM & 8PM. Tickets are $18. For reservations, call 212-475-7710 or visit at www.lamama.org

Photo: Oren Safdie

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