Boxed Wine Productions Will Present Paul Rudnick's VALHALLA, 5/2-5/12

Boxed Wine Productions will present Paul Rudnick's cult classic Valhalla to New York audiences. With a cast of six up and coming New York actors, this production will run Thursday, May 2 - Sunday, May 12 at The Secret Theatre. Official Opening Night is set for Thursday, May 2 at 8pm.

Valhalla is an extravagant comedy about two kindred souls searching for a life of operatic beauty: King Ludwig II, the real-life king of 1880s Bavaria with a larger-than-life love of Wagner's operas, and James Avery, a dangerously precocious teenager trapped in the narrow-minded thinking of 1940s Dainsville, Texas. Playwright Paul Rudnick, using his characteristic wit, intertwines Ludwig's and James's adventures in war, sex, music, and architecture, all while following their respective obsessions with the extraordinarily beautiful.

Valhalla made it's New York premiere at New York Theatre Workshop in 2004. Directed by Christopher Ashley, that production starred Sean Dugan, Peter Frechette, Scott Barrow, Samantha Soule, CAndy Buckley, and Jack Willis.

Paul Rudnick (Playwright) is a New York based playwright, screenwriter and novelist, born and raised in Piscataway, New Jersey. His plays have been produced both on and off Broadway and around the world. They include Jeffrey (for which he won an Obie, and Outer Critics Circle Award, and the John Gassner Playwrighting Award), I Hate Hamlet, Valhalla, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, The New Century, Poor Little Lambs, Regrets Only, Rude Entertainment, The Naked Truth, and Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays. His articles and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The New York Times. His screenplays include Addams Family Values (Hugo Award Nominee), Jeffery, In & Out, Isn't She Great, Marci X, and The Stepford Wives.

Christopher Bowser (Director) is a Brooklyn based theater artist and director dedicated to working with multidisciplinary and sociopolitical live performance. Recent directing: Invisible Art, a site-specific piece in Williamsburg, BK; Golden Baby Sketch Comedy at TFNC; Time Crawlers...(Looking Glass); BFA: NYU Tisch at Playwrights Horizons Theater School. christopherbowser.weebly.com

Valhalla features David Jackson, Adin Lenahan, Patrick Harvey, Lena Hudson, Calandra Daby, and Miles G. Jackson.

This production includes Lighting Design by Marika Kent, Costume Design by Kaela Garvin, Set & Graphic Design by Brian Hendricks, and Sound Design by Alex Thrailkill.

Founded in 2007, The Secret Theatre is an off off Broadway house that was established as part of The Long Island City Art Center. The Secret Theatre provides an artistic home to Resident Company The Queens Players, as well as both new and established artists who're engaged in the pursuit of new ideas. In addition to its repertory style, The Secret Theatre engages in a spectrum of disciplines, bringing quality productions to a new generation of audiences for live performance, civic discourse, and the work of emerging artists.

Valhalla plays May 2-5 & 8-12 with performances Thursday through Sunday at 8:00pm. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for patrons 30 and under, and can be purchased at www.valhalla.bpt.me.

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