CHURCH & STATE Pushes Back Off-Broadway Opening for Artistic Changes

Due to artistic adjustments, Producers Charlotte Cohn, SCS Innovations,LLC, Forty-Eight Theatrical Group, Neil Gooding Productions, Ralph Meranto/JCC CenterStage, Brierpatch Productions, Karen Cohen/Jack Hayflick, and Bonnie E. Lautenberg, in association with NewYorkRep & The Telling Company, have rescheduled the official Opening Night to Monday, March 27, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. of the New York Premiere of Church & State, the critically acclaimed play by Jason Odell Williams, now in previews at New World Stages (340 W. 50th Street - between 8th & 9th Avenues) where performances began March 3, 2017 for an open-ended engagement.

"During previews, our playwright made some exciting new changes to the play, and we wanted enough time to work them out before opening," explains producer Charlotte Cohn. "We are all looking forward to celebrating our opening night - just one week later!"

Directed by Markus Potter (Stalking the Bogeyman), the cast features Rob Nagle ("Castle," "Mad Men"), Nadia Bowers (The Farnsworth Invention, "Orange is the New Black"), Christa Scott-Reed (The Pitman Painters, Relativity) andJonathan Louis Dent (The Broken Record, Romeo and Juliet).

Church & State is a fast-paced, seriously funny take on faith, politics, and "The Twitter." Three days before his bid for re-election in North Carolina, a Republican U.S. Senator makes an off-the-cuff comment to a blogger that calls into question his belief in God. The Senator's devoutly Christian wife and liberal Jewish campaign manager try desperately to contain the damage with mixed results. This brutally honest andsurprisingly funny new play sheds light on how religion, guns, and social media influence our politics and our politicians.

Originally developed with Artistic director Ralph Meranto and JCC CenterStage, Church & State was produced as a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at JCC CenterStage in Rochester and The Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles where it recently received three Ovation Award nominations including Best Playwriting for an Original Play, Best Production (Intimate Theatre), and Best Lead Actor in a Play.? The Los Angeles Times named it one of the Top Ten L.A. Theatre Productions of 2016.

The creative team includes David Goldstein (scenic design), Burke Brown (lighting design), Dianne K. Graebner (costume design), and Erik T. Lawson (sound design). Sofia Montgomery is Production Stage Manager.

Church & State is produced by Charlotte Cohn, SCS Innovations, LLC, Forty-Eight Theatrical Group, Neil Gooding Productions, Ralph Meranto/JCC CenterStage, Brierpatch Productions, Karen Cohen/Jack Hayflick, and Bonnie E. Lautenberg, in association with NewYorkRep & The Telling Company. Casting is by Wojcik | Seay Casting and Brierpatch Productions provides General Management.

Pictured: Rob Nagle as Senator Charles Whitmore in "Church & State." Photo by Russ Rowland.