Jackie Hoffman and Elizabeth Hagstedt to Appear in The RAs

Jackie Hoffman, currently appearing on Broadway as Grandma Addams in The Addams Family, and Elizabeth Hagstedt, who appeared as Mrs. Lovett, Pirelli and the Beggar Woman in the national tour of John Doyle's production of Sweeney Todd, are among the cast of The RAs, a new web drama about a group of juniors at a performing arts college who come of age in 1999. The RAs won the 2011 New York Television Festival/Writers Guild of America Pitch Contest.

The announcement was made today by Studio 1P, producer of The RAs.

September 8, 1999. In the wake of Columbine, the death of Matthew Shepard and the Lewinsky scandal and on the heels of O.J., McVeigh and the Gulf War, six juniors at an elite performing arts college in Westchester County, New York struggle to survive in the face of a never-ending battle with sex, drugs, dating, loneliness and regret. The RAs is the story of a generation - one that predates Facebook, a generation of beepers and chat rooms, when life was simpler but no less complicated and September 11 was just another day.

Written and directed by Off Broadway press agent John Capo (The Fantasticks, NEWSical the Musical: Full Spin Ahead), The RAs is loosely based on Capo's undergraduate experience at SUNY Purchase's theater conservatory.

The RAs tells the intersecting stories of a stage manager on the brink of a meltdown (Elizabeth Hagstedt), a self-destructive actor (Timothy Olin), a gay writer haunted by the memory of his dead father (Derek Stusynski), an eccentric lounge singer (Julia Peterson), a manipulative photographer (Taso Mikroulis) and a flawed genius (Darlenis Duran).

Jackie Hoffman appears as Mrs. Templeton, the oversexed, hypersexual acting teacher.

The RAs premieres on September 8, 2011 at WatchTheRAs.com with new episodes available every Thursday. It can also be seen on iTunes, Blip.tv, AOL Video, YouTube.com, Vimeo.com and video-sharing platforms everywhere.

Visit www.WatchTheRAs.com for more information.

About The Cast

Jackie Hoffman has performed on Broadway in Xanadu, Hairspray (Theatre World Award) and The Addams Family. Solo shows: Whining In the Windy City, Scraping the Bottom, Jackie with a Z, Chanukah at Joe's Pub (Bistro Award), The Kvetching Continues (Time Out New York's Outstanding Achievement Award). Off-Broadway: Regrets Only, Manhattan Theatre Club Tribeca Theatre Festival, The Book of Liz, (Obie Award) Straightjacket, Incident at Cobbler's Knob, (Lincoln Center Theatre Festival) and One Woman Shoe. Regional: Second City Chicago (Jeff Award); The Sisters Rosensweig, Old Globe, San Diego. Films: The Extra Man, A Dirty Shame, Garden State, Legally Blonde II, Kissing Jessica Stein, Mo' Money. Television: "30 Rock," "One Life to Live," "Starved," " Hope and Faith," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Strangers with Candy," "TV Funhouse," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "Soulman," "Cosby." Animation: Dilbert and PB & J Otter, Robots, Queer Duck the movie. Comedy Album: Jackie Hoffman Live At Joe's Pub.

Elizabeth Hagstedt was the standby for Mrs. Lovett, Pirelli and the Beggar Woman in the national tour of John Doyle's production of Sweeney Todd. Theater credits include Elizabeth Swados' The Haggadah, Crazy Tony's: A New Musical, Deployed, The Price of Admission, Big Night Out!, The Last 5 Years, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Hairspray, 1959 Pink Thunderbird Convertible, A Year with Frog and Toad, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, Extremities, Sunday in the Park with George, Bat Boy and Into the Woods. She is also a composer at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.

Darlenis Duran was the runner-up on SiTV's hit reality show Model Latina. Her first acting role came at the age of 15 when she appeared as Mary Stone in the Henry Street Settlement production of The Devil and Daniel Webster. She has been featured in Latina Magazine, starred in the television pilot for The Badlands and appears in two music videos for songs currently on the Latino Billboard Charts, the Bachata hits "Corazon Sin Cara" and "Intentalo". She is a senior actor/peer educator with Teatro El Puente.

Taso Mikroulis was a Top 10 finalist on Greek Idol, Greece's version of American Idol, and a cast member on the Greek television series Fame Story. He also performed extensively on stage in Greece. He appeared in Cynthia Hsiung's feature Are You For Great Sex? which won honors at the Boston and Hoboken International Film Festivals and received international distribution. Films include Lachrymal, Cubed, The Other Side, Peace and Quiet, Enemy Mind, Art=Love and Contact Zone. Theater credits include I Hate Hamlet, The Importance of Being Earnest, God, Into the Woods and The Outsiders.

Timothy Olin's NYC theater credits include A Hatful of Rain (The Manhattan Theatre Source), Titus Andronicus (The Queens Players), Cyrano (The Queens Players), Light and Sweet. Regional Theater: To Kill a Mockingbird (Theatre Charlotte), Parade (Central Piedmont), Children of Eden (Central Piedmont). Web Series/TV: Back to Basics. Film: Father's Day, Beneath The Surface, The Culprit, The Ultimate Gift. Graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Julia Peterson's theater credits include Masha, The Seagull (Dir. Geoffrey Horne); Ophelia, The Ophelia Landscape (Dir. Naum Panovski); Mrs. Antrobus, The Skin of Our Teeth (Dir. Jimmy Maize); Shelly, Glengarry Glen Ross (Dir. George Loros); Sonia, Uncle Vanya (LSTFI); Hilde, SA KA LA (U.S. premiere); Mother, Ti-Jean & His Brothers (NYU); Kate Mundy, Dancing at Lughnasa (NYU); Marisol, Marisol (NYU); Masha, Three Sisters (Robert Ellermann, NYU); Kathy, Vanities (Robert Ellermann, NYU); Sam, Some Girl(s) (NYU); Holiday Legends; Mother's Surprise. Julia participates in readings with Hot Ink and The Strasberg Reading Series. She is a graduate of Tisch School of the Arts Drama Department having attended CAP21, Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute and LAByrinth studios.

Derek Stusynski studed at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. Films include Christopher Piccione's Path to Prologue (Best Dramatic Short and Best Director, American International Film Festival), David Capurso's I Am Julia, Kevin Foong's The Casting Room, Secret Life, Heavy Stone, Too Hot for Some, Henry, Tango, I Can't, Everything That Dies, Russian Roulette, Open Assignment, Autumn Meanderings and Just Wanna Be Friends. Theater: Sketch My Life at the Broadway Comedy Club, The Wizard of Oz, Headin' for a Weddin' and Juvie. His first novel, Cyropathia, is forthcoming.

Among the supporting cast are Sasha Burgos-Conde, Christian Castro, Brenda Crawley, Arthur Harold, Tyler Herwick, Davide Illiano, Brianna Kattz, Devin Klos, Rick Koch, Alexandra Kuykendall, Sergio LoDolce, Kaitlin Monte, Michael Monteiro, Lillian Olive, Noriko Sato, Stephen Todt, Robert James Walsh, Sara Catherine White, Lilly Wilton and Ann Marie Yoo.

Greg DeLiso (Heavy Metal Picnic) is the director of photography and editor. Marisa Harris is the production designer.

www.WatchTheRAs.com

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