City Theatre Kicks Off SUMMER SHORTS 2013 Today

John Manzelli, producing Artistic Director of City Theatre, presents Summer Shorts 2013, the eighteenth edition of fast and often hilarious short plays that South Florida theatre audiences have come to expect as the perfect kick-off to summer theatre. The Annual Summer Shorts Festival includes an all-new Summer Shorts production, a new family musical and CityWrights: Professional Weekend for Playwrights including the announcement of the winners of the 2nd Annual City Theatre National Award For Short Playwriting.

More than 50,000 theatregoers have been to Summer Shorts over the years. Performing in the intimate Carnival Studio Theater, recently named one of the world's most memorable theatres by Departures magazine, puts audiences up close with a company of chameleon-like actors playing multiple characters in up to a dozen short plays.

"While we are still in the final throes of the play selection process, we think we've got a stellar cast of versatile actors who can tackle whatever we throw at them," said Manzelli, who took the helm at City Theatre last year very successfully.

The company is looking at both regional and national touring beginning in 2014-2015. "We've got an 18 year inventory of wonderful short plays and, based on our study of the touring marketplace, we believe we can find success in time there as well, " said Manzelli.

From today, June 6-30, Summer Shorts 2013 performances will be Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 4 p.m. To guarantee tickets to Summer Shorts 2013 visit arshtcenter.org or call 305.949.6722. Groups of ten or more call 786-468-2326 for special discounts.

THE SUMMER 2013 Acting Company

(Alphabetical order)

• Irene Adjan is a long time member of the South Florida regional theatre community. This is Irene's fourth go-round as a member of the Summer Shorts Company. An 11-time Carbonell Award nominee and three time winner, notable appearances include The Music Man (Maltz Jupiter Theatre), Moscow (Zoetic Stage), In the Next Room and Adding Machine (GableStage), Dr. Radio (Florida Stage), Benefactors (Palm Beach Dramaworks) and many appearances at Actors' Playhouse - most recently, See Jane Run and 1776.

• Ken Clement, a South Florida native, studied theatre with Barbara Lowery at MDCC-North then relocated to LA in 1987 to attend California Institute of the Arts. Ken worked for several seasons at the Hillside Repertory Company in LA as an actor and Fight Choreographer. Favorite credits in LA include MacDuff in MacBeth at the Dramatic New Arts Theater, Shakespeare in Damnit Shakespeare at the Globe, PooBah in The Mikado at the Avalon Playhouse, and Col. Doctor in Tom Stoppard's E.G.B.D.F. with Patrick Stewart and Roger Reese at UCLA. Since returning to Miami, Ken has appeared in several productions including Sleepwalkers at Area Stage, Popcorn and Killer Joe at GableStage (Carbonell nominee, best supporting actor), The Typist at Timba, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest at Actor's Playhouse and the Mad Cat productions of Helluva Halloween and Shepherd's Pie at The Miami Light Project. Ken also directed Bash for Juggerknot Theater Company at Drama 101.

• TODD ALLEN DURKIN is known for his role as Doug Feehan in STARZ's Magic City. He's graced the stage of many South Florida theatres, from Mad Cat Theatre to Palm Beach DramaWorks and Mosaic Theatre, winning a Carbonell Award and three nominations. Awards and nominated performances include That Championship Season (2006 Carbonell Award), The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2008 Carbonell nominee, best actor), This is How it Goes and BUG (2006 Carbonell nominee, best actor), Dealer's Choice (2006 Carbonell nominee, best supporting actor) and Lenny Bruce in Julian Barry's Lenny (Miami New Times Best Actor, Comedy, 1995 Carbonell nominee, best actor). TV and film credits include: Toothpaste, Reindeer Games, America's Most Wanted, Ghost Stories, Golf Balls, and Vote Early, Vote Often.

• Renata Eastlick (Josephine) was last seen as Elizabeth in In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play. She was a Carbonell nominee for best supporting actress and received a Silver Palm Award (Outstanding New Talent) for her performance as Maima/#2 in the critically acclaimed production of Eclipsed (The Women's Theatre Project). Renata's regional credits include: Xanadu: The Musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman: The Musical (Silver Palm Award) and The Rocky Horror Show (Slow Burn Theatre Co.); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Hairspray (Actors' Playhouse); Company (TheatreZone); Rock Odyssey (Adrienne Arsht Center); and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (GU&R). Renata is a New World School of the Arts Alumnus.

• Rayner G. Garranchan, a New World School of the Arts' BFA Theatre Program graduate, is currently playing Sonny in Actor's Playhouse production of In the Heights. He has written, produced, and starred in two shows, Steady Hands and iFeel, with a few of his fellow alumni, for Lab9, in Miami's MicroTheatre. He was also in City Theatre's 2012 Shorts for Kids school tour, The ALLIANCE THEATRE Lab's Home Sweet Funeral Home, and The Project's Beer Samplers production at the Adrienne Arsht Center.

• VERA VARLAMOV, a graduate of Rutgers MFA-Acting program, was last seen in South Florida as Julia in The Birds at Mosaic Theatre. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Vera made her professional debut last summer playing Irina in Three Sisters. Other favorite roles include Ophelia, Corday in Marat/Sade, as well as originating numerous roles in new plays for Rutgers Theatre Company.

SUMMER SHORTS 2013 DIRECTORS

• JOHN MANZELLI returns for his third season as Artistic Director of Summer Shorts, where his most memorable work includes: Directing/Developing Dirty Little Secrets with (Emmy Winner) Jai Rodriguez, and Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays (with Bryan Batt and Bruce Vilanch). A free-lance actor and director, Manzelli is known for his innovative staging and imaginative direction. He has directed for various South Florida theatres, including: Mosaic, New Theatre, and The Naked Stage. John was a founding member of the award-winning Naked Stage Company and appears as an actor on STARZ Television's period drama Magic City.

• MARGARET M. LEDFORD is returning for her seventh season of Summer Shorts, hails from Chattanooga, Tennessee where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Speech from the University of TN and studied Cubo-Expressionistic Scenography post WWI abroad at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. She is a six time Carbonell Award nominated director, a multiple Silver Palm winner for direction, a Broadway World Best Director winner. She has directed for many S FL theaters including The Promethean Theatre, The Naked Stage, Mosaic Theatre, Caldwell Theatre, and Florida Stage. Currently, Margaret serves the South Florida Theatre League as Board President.

• Antonio Amadeo, most recently seen onstage as Tripp Wyeth in Other Desert Cities at Actors' Playhouse, joins City Theatre in the directing chair.South Florida credits include: Terry in the World Premiere of Michael McKeever's Unreasonable Doubt, Katurian in The Pillowman (Carbonell Award Winner), Graham/Andy in A Round-Heeled Woman starring Sharon Gless (Best Supporting Actor, Miami New Times) & Mr. Marks in Intimate Apparel); John Merrick in The Elephant Man (Carbonell nominee) & Michael McCormick in Lombardi (Mosaic Theatre), Ahmed in the World Premiere of Carter Lewis' The Cha-Cha of a Camel Spider (Carbonell nominee) & Adam in the World Premiere of Steven Dietz's Yankee Tavern (Florida Stage); Tony in the World Premiere of A Man Puts On A Play & Valene in The Lonesome West (The Naked Stage).

• MCLEY LAFRANCE , currently Artistic Associate of City Theatre and Resident Director of Shorts 4 Kids, City Theatre's in-school tour, is a native of Miami, and received his BFA from Barry University. He has also directed The Colored Museum (Barry University), The Lab Project (ALLIANCE THEATRE Lab), and Remembering Love for Miami One Act Festival (New Theatre). Acting credits include William in Lobby Hero, Ronald in Off Center of Nowhere (The ALLIANCE THEATRE Lab), Simon in Ruined (GableStage), and Bobo in A Raisin In the Sun (Palm Beach Dramaworks).

City Theatre is a not-for-profit professional theatre company that was founded in 1996 and is dedicated to the creation of new plays, family theatre, and growing theatre audiences through programming that entertains and enlightens. Annual programming includes Summer Shorts: America's Short Play Festival; an annual Festival family musical, touring and in-school programing for young audiences, community play readings, the annual CityWrights Conference; and the annual City Theatre National Award for Short Playwriting Contest which draws more than a thousand submissions of short plays each season. Visit www.citytheatre.com for more information about City Theatre, Summer Shorts and other programs of the non-profit professional company.

The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is one of the world's leading performing arts organizations and venues. Made possible by Miami-Dade County's largest ever public/private-sector partnership, the Center is home to the Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet and New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy. In addition, numerous South Florida arts organizations perform in its theaters regularly. Since opening in 2006, the Center has emerged as a leader in offering and presenting innovative programming that mirrors South Florida's diversity, as a catalyst for development in Miami, and as a host of impactful community outreach and education programs.

Designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, the venue is comprised of the 2,400-seat Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House, the 2,200-seat John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall, the black box Carnival Studio Theater, a restored Carnival Tower, the Peacock Foundation, Inc. Studio, the Peacock Foundation, Inc. Education Center and the outdoor Parker and Vann Thomson Plaza for the Arts. Events impresario and restaurateur Barton G. Weiss brought his signature style to the Center in 2009 with PRELUDE BY BARTON G, a full-service upscale restaurant. Visit www.arshtcenter.org for more information.

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