Two-Time Drama Desk Nominee Christina Bianco Lends Voice to Tim Realbuto's YES at Manhattan Rep

Two-time Drama Desk Award nominee Christina Bianco (Application Pending; Forbidden Broadway) will lend her vocal talents to the Off-Broadway production of Tim Realbuto's YES. Bianco recorded the voice of a motivational speaker for the dark comedy, which opens this Friday evening at Manhattan Repertory Theatre. Ms. Bianco is internationally known for her impression videos on YouTube and for her appearances on The Ellen Show, The Queen Latifah Show, The Graham Norton Show, and The Today Show. She has starred in the Off-Broadway productions of The Marvelous Wonderettes; Application Pending (Drama Desk nomination); Forbidden Broadway Goes To Rehab (Drama Desk nomination); Tony and Tina's Wedding; and Newsical.

As previously announced, Tim Realbuto's critically acclaimed two-person dramedy opens on December 2nd at The Manhattan Repertory Theatre as part of the Off-Broadway venue's Fall Play Spectacular. Realbuto is most known for co-writing the musical Ghostlight alongside Matthew Martin and for touring his popular solo show Wunderkind.

YES, which received rave reviews earlier this year as part of the Venus/Adonis Festival at The Hudson Guild Theatre, made its world premiere in 2015 at the Emerging Artists Theatre in NYC. After that, Realbuto and team hit the road and took the show to Michigan where it played a successful, sold-out run at the Detroit Fringe Festival.

Realbuto, who was recently nominated for a 2016 Thespis Award for his play The Weak Ones (co-written with Matthew Martin), writes, directs and stars as Patrick Ness in YES. He is joined onstage by co-star Joe Blute (So You Wanna Be Cool) as Jeremiah Rosenhaft. Blute and Realbuto originated the roles and have played them in every incarnation.

According to press notes: "YES is about Patrick Ness (Realbuto), a fading star in his 30's who now teaches private acting lessons in NYC, and the relationship that forms with Jeremiah (Blute), his new teenage student that Patrick happened to see in a high school production of 'Romeo and Juliet'. What begins as an innocent acting lesson turns into a sick game of cat and mouse, resulting in mental torture, sexual advances, and perhaps the destruction of two (possibly) innocent people."

A film version of YES is currently in the works, to be directed by Andrea DeLuca (Mr. Reilly). When DeLuca attended an early performance last year, he knew the play screamed to be on the silver screen. DeLuca, Realbuto, and Blute have been in constant meetings about the project and shooting is scheduled for spring of 2017. Realbuto has recently completed the screenplay, which expands his two-person, one-room play into several locations with added supporting characters. Blute and Realbuto will reprise their starring roles in the film version. Negotiations are underway with several well-known stage and screen actors to take on the newly added supporting roles. Full casting will be announced at a later date.

Realbuto has stated that the Manhattan Rep. production of YES will likely be the last one before filming begins. Performances of YES will take place at the newly remodeled Manhattan Rep. located at 17-19 West 45th Street in the heart of the theatre district. Performance dates are Friday, December 2nd at 6:30 PM and Sunday, December 3rd at 3:00 PM. A very limited number of $10 tickets are currently available by visiting http://manhattanrep.com/yes-by-tim-realbuto/.

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