Playground Theatre-Ft. Lauderdale Shows for Young Audience

"BROOKLYN BRIDGE" AND "THE LOVE OF THREE ORANGES" PRESENTED BY THE PLAYGROUND THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES SATURDAY, MAY 13 AND SUNDAY, MAY 14 AT THE ROSE AND ALFRED MINIACI PERFORMNG ARTS CENTER, FT. LAUDERDALE

Fulfilling its promise to present a professional theater company that would address the young people of South Florida, THE PLAYGROUND THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES will present Melissa James Gibson's new play, BROOKLYN BRIDGE, Saturday, May 12, at 11 A.M. and 3 P.M. and THE LOVE OF THREE ORANGES Sunday, May 13 at 11 A.M. and 3 P.M. at the Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center, Nova Southeastern University, 3100 Ray Ferrero, Jr. Blvd., Fort Lauderdale.

BROOKLYN BRIDGE, directed by Oleg Kheyfets, designed for young people ages 10 and up, will feature an ensemble cast of the area's most accomplished actors including Melissa Almaguer, Meshaun Labrone Arnold, Linda Bernhard, Steve Gladstone, Raul Martinez, Kristen Dawn McCorkell, Jessica Peterson, David Potter, Jesus Quintero, Valerie Stanford, and Ricky Waugh.

Sets for BROOKLYN BRIDGE are being designed by Simon Pastukh, costumes by Galina Solovyeva, lighting by Jeff Quinn and sound by Danny Suarez. 

Originally produced this past January at New York's Children's Theatre Company, the development of BROOKLYN BRIDGE by Melissa James Gibson was the result of a collaboration between the CTC and New Dramatists to foster new work for young audiences. Gibson, who is currently working on commissions for La Jolla Playhouse and the Adirondack Theatre Festival, has among others, written ("sic") which won an Obie for playwriting, the Kesselring Prize, and is included in the Best Plays of 2001-2002.  An Original Song for BROOKLYN BRIDGE was composed by Barbra Brousal.

THE LOVE OF THREE ORANGES, Count Carlo Gozzi's famed comedy, will be directed by the repertory company's Co-Producing Artistic Director, Stephanie Ansin, the production, whose targeted audiences are youthful theatre-goers ages 8 and up. The cast will include several actors whom have been actively engaged in such earlier PlayGround productions as "Pluft, The Little Ghost," and "THE BEAST." Included are Melissa Almaguer, Meshaun Labrone Arnold, Steve Gladstone, Kristen Dawn McCorkell, Jesus Quintero, Valerie Stanford, and Ricky Waugh. 

Translated by Dr. John DiGaetani, a professor of English at Hofstra University whose publications include a biography of author Gozzi and several books about composer Richard Wagner, THE LOVE OF THREE ORANGES was adapted by Gozzi from an old fairy tale in an attempt to revive commedia dell'arte. The play's success prompted Gozzi (1720-1806) to continue to write plays based on children's stories, fables, and Spanish dramas, including "Turandot," which like "Oranges," was to become the basis for internationally acclaimed and continually performed operas.  

For Stephanie Ansin, who with her husband, Oleg Kheyfets, launched The PlayGround Theatre, directing THE LOVE OF THREE ORANGES offered a special challenge having adapted the work from DiGaetani's translation which she delighted in doing with input from her cast.  Earning her BA degree in Theatre Arts at Brown University and her MFA in Theatre Directing at Columbia University, Ansin had earlier directed scripts by emerging writers at Fordham University, "The Seven Year Itch," "Abingdon Square," Twelfth Night," and "Okay." In her home state Florida, Ansin directed "Matterhorn" for City Theatre, Summer Shorts 1999 which scored a Carbonell Award for Best Ensemble.

THE LOVE OF THREE ORANGES will have set and costume design by Emil Kapelush, and lighting design by S. Ryan Schmidt. Kapelush, whose distinguished work has already been evident in the PlayGround's inaugural production of "Pluft, The Little Ghost," has designed more than 180 productions in Russia, Europe, Asia and the U.S. Among his many awards, Kapelush counts a Gold Mask, (the Russian Tony) for Shakespeare's "The Father," and Golden Mask nominations for Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex," Strindberg's "The Father," Chekhov's "Platonov," and Gozzi's "Turandot."  Over twenty years ago, Kapelush and PlayGround Co-Artistic Director Producer Kheyfets collaborated on a production of "Pluft, the Little Ghost, which ran for seven years at Tomsk, Russia's State Theatre for Young Audiences."

From New York, lighting designer S. Ryan Schmidt has been honored as winner of the 2004 Connecticut Critics Circle Awards for her work on "The Mystery Plays" at Yale Repertory Theater. Credits also include "Critical Darling" for The New Group; "The Job" for WPA; "Richard III" for The Pearl Theatre Company; "King Lear" for Yale Repertory Theatre; "The Tempest" and "All's Well That Ends Well" for Hudson Valley Shakespeare Company.

Admission is $15 per person with $10 each for groups of 20 or more

For tickets call (305) 751-9550; toll free (800) 813-6527;

via e-mail: info@theplaygroundtheatre.com 

via website: www.theplaygroundtheatre.com.

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