Tangent Theatre Stages Kenneth Lonergan's LOBBY HERO, Beginning Tonight

Tangent Theatre Company, based in their intimate Carpenter Shop Theater in Tivoli's village center, announces their Spring 2015 production: the contemporary moral drama Lobby Hero by Kenneth Lonergan.

Set in a Manhattan apartment building lobby, the story examines the shades of grey between right and wrong, and centers on the main character, Jeff, the building's security guard, and three other diverse characters, including Jeff's supervisor William and two New York City police officers (Bill and Dawn). Lobby Hero is written by award-winning writer Kenneth Lonergan, best known for his plays This Is Our Youth and The Waverley Gallery and the films You Can Count on Me, Margaret and Gangs of New York.

Tangent's production of Lobby Hero will run tonight, April 2 - April 26 (Thurs. - Sat. 8pm; Sun. 3pm - no show Easter Sun. April 5) and will be their sixth main-stage show since relocating from New York City to the Hudson Valley in 2009. The show will feature New York-based actors Jacob Horstmeier, Kelsey Landon and Cameron Jamarr Davis, along with Tangent's artistic director, actor Michael Rhodes (Landon and Rhodes are members of Actors' Equity Association). The play will be directed by the Hudson Valley's Amy Lemon Olson, a veteran actress (and AEA member). Olson directed Tangent's production of The Vandal by Hamish Linklater in March 2014. Horstmeier, Landon and Olson recently appeared in Tangent's NEWvember New Plays Festival this past November.

"I've always been an enormous fan of Lonergan's work and Lobby Hero in particular," says Rhodes. "There's a certain timeliness to it now, in its examination of the grey areas of police, race, crime and sex. But, more importantly, there is a fantastic timelessness, too, in the moral quagmire of right and wrong these characters find themselves in, making it such a fertile play for us to explore. When we thought of these actors in these roles, as well as Amy, a great actor's director, we immediately knew this had to be our next production," he adds.

Playwright Lonergan's The Waverley Gallery was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 2001; his screenplay You Can Count on Me won several industry awards in 2000/2001, including the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics award for Best Screenplay and the American Film Institute award for Best Film and New Writer; it was nominated for an Academy Award for best original screenplay. He also directed the film, executive produced by Martin Scorsese and starring Laura Linney (Academy Award nominee) and Mark Ruffalo. Lonergan was also a co-writer on the Martin Scorsese film Gangs of New York.

Gaining wide visibility after their highly acclaimed productions, including The Vandal (2014), the American Premiere of Christian O'Reilly's The Good Father in 2012, and along with their trademark pub-readings, Tangent Theatre has now become a respected destination for character-driven, compelling works. Tangent, in association with AboutFACE Ireland, recently wrapped their fourth popular NEWvember New Plays Festival to record-breaking attendance, a weekend showcase of new plays by talented writers.

Founded in New York City in 2000 by Dutchess County natives Andrea and Michael Rhodes and Keith Teller, the company re-located to Tivoli in 2009. In addition to The Vandal, The Good Father and NEWvember, Tangent has produced such plays as Sight Unseen by Donald Margulies, Shanley's Doubt: A Parable, The Zoo Story by Edward Albee and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

LOBBY HERO by Kenneth Lonergan Tangent Theatre Company @ The Carpenter Shop Theater, 60 Broadway, Tivoli. April 2-26, 2015; Thursdays - Saturdays 8pm; Sundays 3pm (no show 4/5); tickets $25, on sale March 15. For more info, tangent-arts.org.

Pictured left/right, top/bottom: Jacob Horstmeier, Kelsey Landon, Cameron Jamarr Davis, Michael Rhodes; photos by Deborah Lopez Lynch.

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