CLOSET WRITER Staged Reading to be Presented at Theater555

Masterworks Theater Company and Theater555, in association with the George Street Playhouse’s “The Next Dramatist Program”, will present a staged reading presentation of *“Closet Writer,” inspired by the reflections of Tawana Smith, by Antu Jacob. Directed by Laiona Michelle, the presentation will be held at Theater 555 (555 West 42nd Street), on Monday, May 20 at 7:00pm*. Free admission. For reservations and further information, email555readingseries@gmail.com.

Closet Writer is a nod to the past, living in the present and awaiting the freedom tomorrow must bring. B. GEM is a black woman living in the United States of America. She is a daughter, sister, wife, mother, and writer. In this two-woman play we meet the life moments she failed and those she overcame. We meet the interesting people that shaped her, for good and bad. Ultimately, we meet the her that forces her to see herself. Blessed, broken, messy, thriving and All. This presentation is part of the Theater555 Reading Series, Ylfa Edelstein and Dan Lauria, Artistic Directors.

The cast of Closet Writer is Kianné Muschett and Chantal Pierre Jean-Pierre.

Bios

Antu Yacob

is an Oromo-Ethiopian born, Bay Area and Minnesota raised, New York based actor. She is a graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University MFA in Acting program. She is also a screenwriter and playwright. Her plays have held international, off-Broadway and regional runs. Her film Love in Submission is part of the Full Spectrum Features’ collection Our Right to Gaze: Black Film Identities. Antu produced the film Love in Submission and Adrian Luke Sinclair’s Conjure, which won the Vanguard Award in the 2017 Hip Hop Film Festival.

Laiona Michelle

is Artistic Associate Director at George Street Playhouse. Laiona is the creator of the Nina Simone musical, Little Girl Blue, which won the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Solo Show and the Lilly Award for writing (2022). She was also nominated for Lucille Lortel, and the Outer Critics Circle Awards. Laiona is the book-writer of Mandela, The Musical which made its world premiere in London at the Young Vic in 2022. Laiona has directed several plays including the George Street Playhouse’s productions of Her Portmanteau, Having Our Say, and What the Constitution Means to Me. She made her Broadway debut in 2015 in the musical, Amazing Grace, which opened at the Nederlander. As a performer, Laiona Michelle has been nominated for numerous awards, and is the recipient of the Barrymore and Carbonell Awards (2004); The NAACP Hollywood award (2005) and was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award (2005). Some of her TV/Film credits include "Lift, ""All My Children," "Law & Order: SVU," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "The Blacklist", and "Crashing,"as well as Amazon’s "Sneaky Pete."

Tawana Whery Smith

turns 40 this year and wants to spend the next 40 years writing about the trials of the past and the hope of the future. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband Akeem and their 5 children. Closet Writer is based on her personal memoir, " Odyssey - The First Forty Years." The presentation of Closet Writer will bring her to New York City for her first time.

Kianné Muschett

is an Actress/Producer from Selma, Alabama who believes that storytelling is a sacred art form and everyone has a story to tell. She’s passionate about projects that uplift, inspire and are complicated reflections of forgotten, often overlooked souls in today’s society. Kianné earned her MFA in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts. She has been blessed to create numerous roles in theater, starring in several World Premiers. Her favorites include Oya and Osha in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Brother/Sister Trilogy. Her television and film credits include Shades of Blue, “House of Cards,” Love in Submission and Tricks.

Chantal Jean-Pierre

is thrilled to take part in the The Next Dramatist program and very excited to take another dive into this amazing script. She has graced the stages of several reputable regional theaters around the country performing classics as well as contemporary works such as the title role in both Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and Orlando Shakespeare Theater productions of Antony and Cleopatra, Hostess Quickly and Alice in Henry V at Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey. She performed in the west coast premiere of Fairview at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the critically acclaimed Haitian-Cuban production of Our Town at Miami New Drama, A Raisin in the Sun at Crossroads Theatre Company, Sheila’s Day at Hartford Stage, King Lear at the Folger in Washington DC with Andre De Shields in the title role and many more. She has guest starred on a number of television shows such as: “The Blacklist, FBI: Most Wanted,” “Blue Bloods,” “New Amsterdam,” “The Good Fight,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Diara From Detroit.” Find out more about her: https://www.chantaljean-pierre.com.

Eric Krebs

whose theatrical career spans more than 50 years, has worked as a producer, a theater founder and operator, a college professor and occasionally as a performer. In 1974 he founded the George Street Playhouse regional theater in New Brunswick, New Jersey, now in its 50th year. He built and operated Off-Broadway’s John Houseman Theater Center and Douglas Fairbanks Theater for over 20 years. Most recently he renovated and became the operator of a 160-seat Off-Broadway Theater, reopening it as Theater555, 555 West 42 Street in New York City. Off-Broadway he has produced more than 50 plays and musicals. On Broadway he produced: Bill Maher: Victory Begins At Home (Tony nomination for Best Special Theatrical Event), Neil Simon’s The Dinner Party, It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues (nominated for 4 Tony Awards including Best Musical) and Electra (nominated for 3 Tony Awards). In April 2007, he performed his own 90-minute adaptation of King Lear, a one person presentation entitled Considering Lear. In the fall of 2016, he performed My Father's Voice, a solo presentation of his father's letters from the Ellis Island Prison and the War in the Pacific, 1938-1945. Mr. Krebs recently retired after 50 years as a professor of theater arts at Baruch College, City University of New York, where he continued a career as an educator that began in 1969 at Rutgers University (37 years) in New Jersey, where he is professor emeritus.

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