The Millay Sisters Head to Gowanus Loft Next Week

Called "Vincent" all her life, Edna St. Vincent Millay was the mercurial goddess of a fast and fatal Greenwich Village scene in the 1920s. "She was one of those women," said Edmund Wilson, "whose features are not perfect, but who, excited by the blood of the spirit, becomes almost supernaturally beautiful."

Hailing from humble beginnings in Maine, Millay was the eldest of three creative sisters who were raised on Milton and Shakespeare by their determined single mother. Vincent shot to fame, winning the Pulitzer Prize and, as poet Richard Wilbur described, "wrote some of the best sonnets of the century."

Norma, the "middle" sister, serves as our host as the play unfolds, inviting the audience to hear popular songs from the era as well as poems of her famous sister. Giving voice to Edna St. Vincent Millay's playfulness, embodying her sensual intelligence and her urge to self-destruction, The Millay Sisters renders the poet's life in vivid detail. What begins as a cabaret spins into a full evening of theatre, weaving in the story of Vincent's rise to fame and illustrious career with the Millay family's complex struggles, successes, tragedies and secrets.

Come meet the famous one, the charming one, and the one they left behind.

The Millay Sisters features Margi Sharp Douglas and Rachel Murdy; directed by Cynthia Croot and Joan Jubett; musical direction and piano performance by Peter Szep; scenic design by David Barber and costume design by Theresa Squire.

The original creators of The Millay Sisters include Margi Sharp Douglas, Rachel Murdy, Cynthia Croot, with assistance from Steven Katz (musical direction and arrangement) and Deborah Philips (stage management).

Performance Schedule:
Friday Jan 22 at 7:30PM
Sat Jan 23 at 7:30PM
Sun Jan 24 at 7:30PM
Thurs Jan 28 at 7:30PM
Friday Jan 29 at 7:30PM
Sat Jan 30 at 7:30PM
Sun Jan 31 at 7:30PM

Location: Gowanus Loft is located at 61 9th Street #C8 between 2nd Ave. N/R/6 trains to 23rd Street stops.

More information at www.millaysisters.com and gowanusloft.com.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Margi Sharp Douglas (performer) - Margi Sharp Douglas is a founding member and trainer for Magis Theatre Company based in New York City. She has performed as a singer and actor in such NYC venues as Abingdon Theatre, La Mama, Here, PS 122 and Don't Tell Mama. And has been a frequent player at Opera House Arts in Maine in shows such as The Millay Sisters, Taming of the Shrew, and Winter's Tale. She is currently working with Magis to develop Calderone's Two Dreams slated to run at La Mama in 2017. She is a Brooklyn based artist teaching Alexander and Pilates at the Pilates Garage in the Gowanus, and an MFA graduate of Columbia University.

Cynthia Croot (co-director) - Cynthia Croot is a director, writer, humanitarian activist, and Head of Performance at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her MFA in Directing from Columbia University, and was a 2007-2009 Fellow of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors. U.S. directing credits include: The House of Blue Leaves and Seminar (Perseverance Theatre, Juneau); The Winter's Tale (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); The Mothership (Cleveland Public Theatre) and Irina's Birthday Party(NACL) as well as productions at PS122, HERE, Town Hall, The Ontological-Hysteric Theatre, Symphony Space, and the Guggenheim Museum in NYC. Her staging of Venus by Suzan-Lori Parks premiered at the Windybrow in Johannesburg during the historic repatriation of Sarah Baartman. Internationally, collaborations have taken her to Croatia, Israel, Palestine, Syria, Iran, the UK, Brazil, Austria, and Argentina. She is Resident Director of the award-winning NYC theatre company Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant (www.avantgarderestaurant.com) and recently co-founded the activist art collective Ifyoureallyloveme.org.

Joan Jubett (director) - Joan Jubett is a theater artist based in New York. UPCOMING: The Millay Sisters (Gowanus Loft). NEW YORK: R & J & Z, (The New Ohio, Three NY Innovative Award Nominations), Struck (HERE), Multimedia True West (3LD). AD on A Midsummer Night's Dream (Blessed Unrest), Oph3lia (HERE, NY Innovative Nomination for Outstanding Ensemble). REGIONAL: R & J & Z, The Millay Sisters and the 2010 and 2012 productions of Burt Dow, Deep Water Man, Opera House Arts, Maine. Joan has guest lectured at SVA, The New School, MIT and Colgate University and holds a MFA in Acting from Columbia University.

Rachel Benbow Murdy (performer) - Rachel Benbow Murdy is an actor based in New York City. Most recently she was seen as Paulina in Chekhov's The Seagull at the Stonington Opera House, ME and as The Evil Apothecary in R & J & Z at Stonington Opera House, ME as well as The New Ohio Theatre in NYC. She is a performer and co-writer of Welcome Home Hamlet; Joe's Pub and Don't Tell Mama, NYC. She is currently a charter company member, performer and devisor with the award winning "Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant" having appeared in various productions including "Little West 12th Night" an adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night of her conception set in NYC's Meat Packing District. She is also a co-creator an original cast member of The Donkey Show: a Disco Midsummer's Night's Dream developed by Project 400 Theater Group and directed by Diane Paulus which played for 7 years off-Broadway and toured internationally. She was a member of Project 400, Diane Paulus and Randy Weiner's Company for 10 years creating roles in The Karaoke Show: A Comedy of Errors, Measure for Measure at Club El Flamingo and Swimming with Watermelons at The Vineyard Theatre among others. Other credits include Mariah in Twelfth Night and the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet at Summer Theater of New Canaan, the Duke in Measure for Measure various roles in As You Like It and Elizabeth Rex at Stonington Opera House as well as Marina in Uncle Vanya directed by Rachel Chavkin at CSC and Auntie Pasha in Black Milk by Vassily Sigarev also at CSC. Rachel has an MFA in acting from Columbia University.

Peter Szep (music direction and piano performance) - Peter Szep is organizing the first "New York Opera Fest," with over 20 opera companies participating May/June 2016, as a part of the New York Opera Alliance (nyoperaalliance.com) which he helped found. Peter is also the host of the Indie Opera Podcast (on iTunes), which is recorded live at Columbia University. Peter is a champion of new works, including Harold Farberman's Diamond Street, Ned Rorem's Our Town (New England Premier), and Yoav Gal's The Dwarf at Vertical Player Repertory (vpropera.org), where he also conducted Il Tabarro, A View from a Bridge, Tales of Hoffman, and Milhaud's Medée. Other engagements have included guest conducting the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Burt Dow: Deep Water Man and The Singing Bridge at Opera House Arts at the Stonington Opera House.

Pictured: Margi Sharp Douglas and Rachel Murdy.

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