Cast Announced for Midtown Direct Rep Staged Reading of SPRING AT THE WILLOWBROOK INN

Midtown Direct Rep (MDR) concludes its 2016-17 staged reading series, Theater at The Woodland, with a presentation of SPRING AT THE WILLOWBROOK INN, written by Jonathan Van Dyke and directed by Scott Wojcik. This event will be performed for one night only on Sunday, March 12th at 7:30pm at The Woodland (60 Woodland Rd. Maplewood, NJ), where MDR is the resident theater company. The reading is $15 (advance purchase), $20 (if purchased at the door) and open to the public. Student/Senior discounts are also available. Tickets can be purchased online through Brown Paper Tickets (http://willowbrook.bpt.me) by clicking the direct link HERE OR by calling 1-800-838-3006.

The cast will feature MDR members Nathan Darrow (TV: Meechum in Netflix's House of Cards, Preacher, Billions, Gotham) and Andy Kelso (Broadway: Kinky Boots, Mamma Mia, Amazon Video's Good Girls Revolt). The staged reading will be followed by a discussion led by MDR member Robert DuSold (Broadway: Les Miserables, creator Southern Comfort).

About the play

Cooper is a charismatic free spirit from the big city. Joshua is an introverted, hard-working traditionalist from rural Maine. But from their first meeting in 1967 at a motivational conference, their lives are forever entwined no matter the distance between them. Told with humor and grace through a patchwork of encounters and correspondence over four decades, SPRING AT THE WILLOWBROOK INN is a timely, thoughtful play about how, in spite of everything, love will find a way.

About the playwright - Jonathan Van Dyke

Jonathan Van Dyke is a writer, director and producer of theatrical and corporate entertainment. As a dancer, he has appeared in over 75 productions across the country including Disney World, national tours of Oh Calcutta, Bye Bye Birdie (Albert) and You Say Tomato I Say Shut Up (Jeff Kahn). He has directed and choreographed regional productions of Boeing Boeing, The Wiz, West Side Story, Jerry's Girls, I Love a Piano, and Beehive. Jonathan is the book writer for the 80's musical Totally Electric which premiered at The Duplex, NYC and has toured regional houses around the country. In 2009 he wrote Holiday Inc., a seasonal show presented at Tampa's Friday Morning Musicale and The Straz Center for the Performing Arts. Spring at the Willowbrook Inn, written in 2011, was featured at All Out Arts playwriting festival directed by Scott Wojcik (Winner, Outstanding Production Award) and had an industry reading starring Greg Louganis and Sean McDermott. Currently, Jonathan is a producer, director and script writer with Event Show Productions in Tampa, Fl. Events include the closing ceremony of The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the opening ceremony of The International Indian Film Academy Awards, The Rachel Ray Show Season 8 opener, and The Dream Foundation Gala tribute to Barry Manilow. His dance/technology act Tell-A-Vision has appeared on NBC's America's Got Talent, and seen on Britain's Got Talent, and the celebrity reality show I Can Do That.

About Theater at The Woodland
Midtown Direct Rep's Theater at The Woodland is a series of readings of new plays and musicals in development, presented on Sunday evenings in the Parlor at The Woodland, right in the center of Maplewood Village. The readings include lively post-show discussions with the cast and creative team, fostering a fun and collaborative environment that allows the audience to be a part of the development of vital new works. Many of the plays presented by this reading series have gone on to major productions off-Broadway, in regional theaters, and beyond.

About Midtown Direct Rep

Midtown Direct Rep (MDR), the resident theater company of The Woodland in Maplewood, NJ, is a professional, ensemble-based theater company of over 100 working Broadway actors and theater professionals who call South Orange and Maplewood home. Midtown Direct Rep is dedicated to developing and presenting new plays and musicals focusing on work that reflects our diverse community. Midtown Direct Rep is also the local presenter of the hugely successful event Listen to Your Mother, which showcases local writers and performers each year around Mother's Day. Company members include two-time Tony Award-winner Norbert Leo Butz, Tony Award-winner Michele Pawk, Tony Award-nominees Stephanie J. Block, Megan Lawrence, and Christiane Noll, plus Sebastian Arcelus, Joel de la Fuente, Bradley Dean, and many others. Guest actors have included James McDonald, Michelle Hurst, Geoffrey Arend, and Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis. Recent projects include work by Matt Schatz, Kate Moira Ryan, Y York, Jack Canfora, Peter Flaherty, Jeremy Desmon, Chad Hardin, James Hindman, Chisa Hutchison, David Johnston, Kait Kerrigan, Kara Lee Korthron, David Myers, Sandy Rustin, John Walch, Douglas J. Cohen, Zoe Samuel, and others. The Company is led by Managing Director Aliza Wassner, Artistic Producer Steven Tabakin, Artistic Associate Marni Raab, and Artistic Advisor Sandy Rustin. For more information, visit http://www.middirrep.org.

This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/ Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and administered by the Essex County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs.

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