JULIA Plays Americas Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters, Previews 4/21

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes Venice, California's Pacific Resident Theatre on their 25th Anniversary with the NY premiere of their critically acclaimed production of JULIA, written by Vince Melocchi and directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos. Part of Americas Off Broadway, JULIA begins previews on Thursday, April 21 for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 15. Press opening is Wednesday, April 27 at 7:15 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM & 8:15 PM; and Sunday at 3:15 PM. The regular ticket price is $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or visit www.59e59.org.

JULIA is a touching and tender examination of a 50-year-old-love lost and reclaimed. After years of self-exile in Detroit, Lou Perino returns to his hometown in Pennsylvania to right a wrong he did 50 years ago to Julia, the girl he loved. Once, the Korean War stood in their way. Now it's something entirely different. This beautiful love story delicately explores the nature of forgiveness, grief and redemption.

The "pitch-perfect' (Backstage) cast of JULIA features Haskell Vaughn Anderson III, Richard Fancy, Marley McClean, Justin Preston, Roses Prichard and Keith Stevenson. The Production Stage Manager is Angela Fong.

The design team includes Norman Scott (scenic design), William Wilday (lighting design) and Keith Stevenson and Guillermo Cienfuegos (sound design).

Vince Melocchi (playwright) is a graduate of Penn State University. He went on to study at The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, where he also worked in the "Plays in Progress" unit, focusing on the reading and development of new plays. His plays Figures, The Last Linen Day, Bully and Cow have been staged at Pacific Resident Theatre. Most recently, his critically acclaimed, Ovation-nominated play Lions was part of PRT's 2008 season, and was subsequently published by Samuel French, the premier publisher of dramatic literature. As an actor, he's worked consistently in film, TV and theatre. A sampling of credits include: Southland, Desperate Housewives, Cold Case, Seinfeld and E.R. At PRT he has appeared in Golden Boy, Rocket to the Moon, The Three Sisters and Time of Your Life, among others. He also appeared in Robert Schenkin's Pulitzer Prize winning play The Kentucky Cycle at the Mark Taper Forum. Vince is a 20-year member of PRT, as well as a member of the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights.

Guillermo Cienfuegos (director) was born in Holguin, Cuba, and arrived in the US as a child during the Mariel boatlift. He began his directing career in Miami, staging productions at the McCarthy Theatre and the Acme Actors Group, as well as creating a successful touring children's theatre. Since moving to Los Angeles, he co-founded the critically acclaimed company Nom de Guerre, where he has designed and directed a number of plays and films, including Pains of Youth (for which he was named among the top directors of 2003 by BackStage West), Picture in a Frame (co produced with the Blank Theatre Company) and the company's signature plays Stay Sweet Stay Happy and Out of Time, both developed entirely through improvisation. He is proud to be associated with JULIA (for which he was nominated for an LA Weekly Theatre award) and is thrilled to be continuing his collaboration with playwright Vince Melocchi, having previously directed Vince's Ovation Award nominated play Lions, both at Pacific Resident Theatre.

To post a comment, you must register and login.