Ensemble Studio Theatre Announces Casting For World Premiere Of DIDO OF IDAHO

Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) (William Carden, Artistic Director, Paul A. Slee, Executive Director), EST's YOUNGBLOOD (Graeme Gillis and RJ Tolan, Co-Artistic Directors), whose past plays include the Tony Award-nominated Hand to God, and The Radio Drama Network are proud to announce casting for the World Premiere of DIDO OF IDAHO, written by Abby Rosebrock (Singles in Agriculture) and directed by Mikhaela Mahony (Noise of the Future). DIDO OF IDAHO begins previews at EST's Curt Dempster Theatre (549 W. 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019) on March 14, 2018, with an opening night set for March 22, for a limited run through April 8, 2018.

The cast of DIDO OF IDAHO will include Layla Khosh (Bull in a China Shop) as "Nora," Abby Rosebrock (The Offending Gesture) as "Crystal," Curran Connor (Kentucky) as "Michael," Dalia Davi (Tía Julia y el Escribidor) as "Julie," and Dawn McGee (Cora & Dave Are Getting Older) as "Ethel."

DIDO OF IDAHO will feature set design by Angelica Borrero (Taming of the Shrew), lighting design by Christina Watanabe (Daniel's Husband), costume design by Audrey Nauman (Mope), and sound design by Almeda Beynon (Lou).

Nora is a hard-drinking musicologist whose colleague/lover is dragging his feet about leaving his beauty-queen wife. When Nora's hijinks land her at rock bottom, she goes on a quest to get counsel from the only source she has left: her estranged, evangelical mom. Abby Rosebrock's DIDO OF IDAHO is a horrifying comedy about love, despair and maybe, eventually, hope.

Tickets for DIDO OF IDAHO are now on sale and can be purchased at www.estnyc.org/dido at the highly limited $20 pre-sale rate. Beginning March 14, 2018, tickets will be available for $30, with tickets for students and seniors available for $25. The performance schedule is as follows: Monday at 7pm, Wednesday - Saturday at 7pm, Saturday at 2pm, and Sunday at 5pm.

EST/Youngblood has been developing DIDO OF IDAHO with playwright Abby Rosebrock for almost three years, beginning with a reading of a partial draft during the group's summer retreat at SPACE on Ryder Farm, continuing with a public reading of the first full draft in the summer of 2015 and a workshop production that fall. Bringing this smart, scathing, insightful new play to the mainstage is the latest strong outcome in a long line of new voices developed by EST for the American theater.

Currently in performances at EST is the World Premiere of AGAINST THE HILLSIDE, written by Sylvia Khoury and directed by William Carden. AGAINST THE HILLSIDE began performances on January 31, 2018, officially opened February 8, and will run through February 25, 2018. The 2018 season will continue in the spring with the World Premiere of BUMP, written by Chiara Atik and directed by Claudia Weill. BUMP is presented by EST and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (Doron Weber, Vice-President, Programs). Part of the EST/Sloan Science & Technology Project (Graeme Gillis, Program Director; Linsay Firman, Associate Director), BUMP will begin performances on May 9, 2018 and officially opens May 17, for a limited run through June 4, 2018.

ABOUT Ensemble Studio Theatre

Ensemble Studio Theatre - commonly known as EST- was founded in 1968 by Curt Dempster on the belief that extraordinary support yields extraordinary work. They are a dynamic and expanding family of member artists committed to the discovery and nurturing of new voices and the continued support and growth of artists throughout their creative lives. Through their unique collaborative process, they develop and produce original, provocative, and authentic new plays that engage and challenge their audience and audiences across the country.

Now with over 600 ensemble artists, EST has been under the artistic direction of William Carden since 2007. The company received two 2017 Drama Desk Award nominations for Where Did We Sit on the Bus? by Brian Quijada and one 2014 Drama Desk nomination for Bobby Moreno in Year of the Rooster by Eric Dufault, who won the 2014 NY Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for a new playwright debut. Hand To God, which originated at EST, was nominated for five Tony Awards for its Broadway run. EST received a special Drama Desk Award for its "unwavering commitment to producing new works" in May of 2015.

ABOUT YOUNGBLOOD

Youngblood (Graeme Gillis and RJ Tolan, Artistic Directors) is EST's Obie Award winning, Drama Desk cited collective of emerging professional playwrights under the age of 30. Now in its 24th year, Youngblood nurtures new playwriting talent through regular meetings, readings, retreats, workshops and mainstage productions. Youngblood graduates include acclaimed writers Annie Baker, Amy Herzog, Clare Barron, Lucy Alibar, Robert Askins, Michael Lew, Martyna Majok, Elizabeth Meriwether, Qui Nguyen, Jen Silverman and Leah Nanako Winkler. Alumni including Christopher Shinn, Lucy Thurber, and Lloyd Suh continue to be produced nationwide and beyond.

ABOUT THE RADIO DRAMA NETWORK

The Radio Drama Network (Melina Brown, President) was founded by legendary audio drama director and producer, Himan Brown, to support art forms that use the spoken word to enrich our culture. Himan was a champion of all storytellers, from the tradition of the earliest stranger who wandered from town to town with tales of the latest news, to Academy Award winning writers that contributed to his thousands of radio dramas, to the writers silenced by the Red Scare who were just trying to feed their families; Himan strove to keep writers writing and actors acting, telling tales that spun out in the grandest oral traditions of history, often addressing important social issues. Himan was the son of immigrants who became an actor, a director/producer and a gifted orator early in his life. His medium was the new frontier of radio. He began his career reading Yiddish stories over the airwaves from hotel bathrooms fashioned into audio studios, and quickly moved from packaging and starring in shows such as Rise of the Goldbergs to creating his own shows. During the height of radio, he created hundreds of radio series such as Inner Sanctum, Little Italy, Grand Central Station, Dick Tracy, The Shadow, Bulldog Drummond, and The Thin Man. Following television's rise, he resurrected audio drama on the airwaves with CBS Radio Mystery Theater and Adventure Theater. Himan Brown lamented the dearth of dramatic and interesting programming on today's airwaves, and he continued to create shows and series well into his 90s. Himan created the Radio Drama Network as a family foundation to continue his philanthropic work. He was a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather who doted on his great-grandchildren. Himan Brown died three weeks' shy of 100 years old in 2010.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT www.ensemblestudiotheatre.org

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