'Jan McArt's New Play Reading Series' 2015/16 Season Announced!

"Speaking as a playwright, I don't know of another program currently operating in the state of Florida that's anything like this!," says Tony Finstrom, Associate Producer of 'Jan McArt's New Play Reading Series' at Boca Raton's Lynn University, himself a playwright. "The plan is terrific. What a great opportunity to develop a new work," says playwright Dan Clancy, author of the highly acclaimed, award-winning drama 'THE TIMEKEEPERS,' who will take part in this program's upcoming season with a new work he is currently writing.

"I am thrilled and grateful to have been a part of this wonderful new program," says Michael McKeever, author of 'DANIEL'S HUSBAND,' which was developed in this play reading series last January and opened at Fort Lauderdale's Island City Stage in May to unanimous rave reviews. McArt, Florida's First Lady of Theater, and head of theater development at Lynn, has been guiding this award-winning new play reading series for the past four years.

"Usually, when you do the reading of a new play, the cast and director come in and read through it in the afternoon and present it to an audience that evening," says Finstrom, who will also have a play in this program's upcoming season. "And often the cast is simply seated in a semi-circle, or perhaps they'll step up with their scripts to music stands when it's their character's turn to speak." But this play reading series at Lynn is much more ambitious, giving playwrights the chance to bring in a new play and work with a cast and a director for six days - rehearsing, re-writing, rehearsing, rewriting. Then, at the end of the six days, they present their new, polished, reworked play to the public, in performance. "These are staged readings in the true sense of the word," Finstrom adds. "With actors up on their feet, playing on a minimal set, with lighting, some sound effects, wearing bits of costumes, etc. Like a real performance of a new play, except the actors, of course, carry their scripts."

"Having an opportunity like this to develop and workshop a new play is a gift to any playwright," says McKeever, a six-time Carbonell Award winning, three-time Curtain Up Award winning, three-time Silver Palm Award winning Florida playwright /actor/graphic & scenic designer. "This sort of process rarely happens anymore. Which is sad, as it greatly helps assure a better finished product." "If there's one thing I love, it's making things happen," McArt says. "I'm working as hard as I ever did." She started the Royal Palm Dinner Theatre in Boca Raton, the first professional theater in South Florida to run year-round, in 1977. That theater, and its spin-offs (Jan's Rooftop Cabaret Theatre and The Little Palm Children's Theatre in Boca Raton, the Marco Polo Theatre in Miami Beach, the Key West Theatre in Key West, the Library Theatre in Fort Lauderdale), ran for 25 years. Now in charge of theater development at Lynn, she says "I love it because it's creative and I'm making things happen." Her mission with this play reading program? To develop new commercially entertaining plays by Florida playwrights. This upcoming season she will present four brand new, never before seen-or-heard works (currently still being written and rewritten) in the beautiful Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University.

The four new works that will be presented in the 2015/16 Season are: Nov. 2, 2015 - THE VIVIAN VANCE STORY a new play with music by Eric H. Weinberger directed by John Tolly Known the world over as Ethel Mertz, Lucy's sidekick in 'I LOVE LUCY,' this play tells the story of a difficult, complicated live, from her humble roots in Kansas to the lofty heights she reached as the most famous second banana in television history.

* Jan. 11, 2016 - THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS a new play by Stuart Meltzer directed by Margaret M. Ledford In a time of crisis a family is forced to come together, after several years, to deal with the present, the future and ultimately let go of the past. Told through the lens of each character, is a whimsical, hysterical look at a family breaking apart.

* Mar. 7, 2016 - MIDDLETOWN a new play by Dan Clancy directed by Peter Pileski Two couples, Don & Dottie Abrams and Tom & Peg Hogan, from Middletown, New Jersey, reminisce about their friendship of thirty-seven years, their marriages, the birth of their children and grandchildren, their disappointments and their great joys.

* Apr. 4, 2016 - WAVE YOUR FLAG! a new play with music by Tony Finstrom starring Jan McArt, directed by Wayne Rudisill Time: the fall of 1942. Place: a legendary train, the Super Chief, as it races from Los Angeles to the nation's capitol filled with movie stars selling war bonds along the way, and promoting their new film about Betsy Ross that will premiere at their final destination. ... With a Nazi spy among them? * "A number of years before 'A CHORUS LINE' I remember Joe Papp telling me how important the workshop process is, in that it allows the playwright to hear the language and receive feedback from a director, actors, and an audience," says Wayne Rudisill, resident director of 'Jan McArt's New Play Reading Series.' "It's the first step in shifting the play from inside the playwright's head to the stage." Tickets to these four new staged readings are now on sale at the Four-Play Series Discounted Price of $30 (a savings of $10 when individual tickets for each play go on sale at the cost of $10 each), and may be purchased at the Lynn University box office online at http://events.lynn.edu/upcoming-events/new-play-readings, or by calling 561-237-9000.

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