59E59 Theaters Sets 2016 Summer Season

59E59 Theaters has announced the lineup of shows for the 2016 Summer Season. Ticket prices range from $12 - $70 ($10 - $49 for 59E59 Members). Tickets for the summer season go on sale to 59E59 Members on June 2 at Noon, and to the general public on June 6 at Noon. Shows in the previously announced 5A Season are on sale now. Tickets are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or by visiting www.59e59.org.

Summer at 59E59 is better than a day at the beach! Our three cool theaters feature some of the hottest new plays in NYC, and, as always, our popular E:Bar is ready to quench audiences' thirst.

The summer season kicks off with our summer staple, EAST TO EDINBURGH, the festival that features shows on their way to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Our star spangled banner unfurls when BUTLER, about Civil War general Benjamin Butler, makes its NYC premiere in July as part of our 5A Season. July wraps up with the return of the coolest short play festival in NYC, SUMMER SHORTS, now in its 10th year. The 2016 line up features new short plays by Neil LaBute, Idris Goodwin, Cusi Cram, A. Rey Pamatmat and Alexander Dinelaris (with his first NYC theater project since winning the Academy Award for Birdman).

August is the month for summer love. TOUCHED and ALICE IN BLACK AND WHITE both tell the stories of the aftermath of two intense love affairs. In September, Hershey Felder brings the brilliant Leonard Bernstein to life in MAESTRO, also part of 59E59 Theaters' subscription season. Summer winds to a close with the US premieres of two new Irish works: the brilliantly off-beat puppet-play BEARS IN SPACE (coming from its sold out run at London's Soho Theatre) and Conor McPherson's adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's THE BIRDS.

July 12 - July 31

EAST TO EDINBURGH

Tickets: $12 - $20 ($10 - $17 for 59E59 Members)

59E59 Theaters' annual festival of shows from the United States heading to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Full festival line up to be announced.

July 14 - August 28
BUTLER, by Richard Strand, directed by Joseph Discher
Ames Adamson, John G. Williams, David Sitler and Ben Sterling

Produced by New Jersey Repertory Company (Artistic Director SuzAnne Barabas Executive Producer Gabor Barabas)

Part of the 5A Season at 59E59 Theaters

Tickets: $70 ($49 for 59E59 Members)

When three escaped slaves show up at Fort Monroe seeking sanctuary, General Benjamin Butler is faced with an impossible moral dilemma-follow the letter of the law or make a game-changing move that could alter the course of U.S. history. Based on real life events, this powerful comedic-drama, called "splendid" by the New York Times, premieres in New York after a critically acclaimed world premiere at New Jersey Repertory.

July 22 - September 3

SUMMER SHORTS 2016

Produced by Throughline Artists

Tickets: $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members)

This "shamelessly clever and deeply satisfying" (New York Times) festival of new American short plays from some of the country's top playwrights returns to 59E59 Theaters for a 10th consecutive season! Representing some of today's best writing, directing and acting talents, SUMMER SHORTS celebrates theater, summer and the short form. SUMMER SHORTS 2016 offers six premiere one-act plays, presented in rotating rep of three each, offering a a diverse range of voices, styles, and stories. This year's festival includes new one act plays by Neil LaBute, Idris Goodwin, Cusi Cram, A. Rey Pamatmat and Alexander Dinelaris.

August 3 - August 14

ALICE IN BLACK AND WHITE by Robin Rice, directed by Kathi E.B. Ellis

With Megan Rose Adair, Shannon Woolley Allison, Laura Ellis, Trina Fischer, Joseph Hatfield, Jennifer Thalman Kepler, and Ted Lesley

Produced by Looking for Lillith Theatre Company

Tickets: $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members)

The extraordinary true story of the first female photo-journalist Alice Austen. Alice Austen fell in love with photography and another woman at a time when women were expected to do neither. ALICE IN BLACK AND WHITE traces her love affairs with photography and her partner Gertrude Tate at the turn of the 20th Century to her heartbreaking fall into poverty and obscurity by the 1950s. The play won the StageWrite Women's Theatre Initiative Award and received its world premiere in Louisville, produced by Looking for Lilith Theatre Company, who revive their production for the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Alice's birth.

August 18 - September 4

TOUCH by Toni Press-Coffman, directed by Nathaniel Shaw

With Emily Batsford, Amadeo Fusca, Katrina Lenk, and Pete McElligott

Produced by Libra Theatre Company

Tickets: $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members)

Kyle Kalke, an astronomer since childhood and a high school "science nerd," falls in love with flamboyant, outspoken, openhearted Zoe, who-astonishingly-loves him back. When she is kidnapped and murdered, Kyle is left to wrestle with the puzzling realities surrounding her death. TOUCH follows the unexpected journey of one man questioning whether there is any point to rediscovering hope, moving past grief, and finding the human connection that will make him love again.

August 31 - October 16
HERSHEY FELDER IN MAESTRO: THE ART OF LEONARD BERNSTEIN conceived and written by Hershey Felder, music by Leonard Bernstein and others, directed by Joel Zwick
With Hershey Felder as Leonard Bernstein
Produced by The Town Hall with Samantha F. Voxakis and Karen Racanelli

Part of the 5A Season at 59E59 Theaters

Tickets: $70 ($49 for 59E59 Members)

Master entertainer and virtuoso pianist Hershey Felder brings one of America's greatest musical

legends to life as Leonard Bernstein in MAESTRO. Conductor, composer, pianist, author, teacher, librettist, television star, and composer of West Side Story, Candide, On the Town, and Wonderful Town, Bernstein pushed all boundaries to become the world's first serious musical media superstar. Felder combines first person narrative with the compositions of Bernstein and others to draw audiences deeply into the maestro's fascinating life, filled with tragedy, triumph, and extraordinary music.

September 6 - October 2

BEARS IN SPACE by Eoghan Quinn, directed by Dan Colley

With Jack Gleeson, Aaron Heffernan, Cameron Macaulay and Eoghan Quinn

Produced by Collapsing Horse

Tickets: $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members)

After playing to sell-out crowds in Dublin, Edinburgh and London, the cult hit show BEARS IN SPACE arrives in New York City with its acclaimed original cast. Two cosmonaut bears on a spaceship hurtle toward the impossibly distant limits of the universe while chased by villainous beings. An ethereal adventure that considers the perils and wonders of a journey across space and time to nowhere.

September 9 - October 2

THE BIRDS by Conor McPherson, directed by Stefan Dzeparoski

Produced by BirdLand Theatre

With cast TBD

Tickets: $20 ($14 for 59E59 Members)

Critically acclaimed Irish writer Conor McPherson adapts Daphne du Maurier's sensual and intriguing story, which was also the basis for Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece of the same title. In an isolated house, strangers Nat and Diane take shelter from relentless masses of mad attacking birds. They find temporary sanctuary but not comfort or peace; there's no electricity, little food, and a nearby neighbor may still be alive and watching them. When another refugee arrives with news of the outside world, paranoia takes hold of this makeshift fortress. An unsettling look at human relationships in the face of societal collapse.

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