Joanna Rush Brings KICK to St. Luke's Theatre This Month

KICK, presented by Yonanda Productions & Piccolo Productions, in association with Wendy Taucher Dance Opera Theater, opens at St. Luke's Theatre, 308 West 46th Street, NYC on Sunday, October 25th at 7 PM for an open-ended engagement. A darkly comic solo play written and performed by Joanna Rush, KICK is directed by Tony Award nominee Lynne Taylor-Corbett.

On her way to her first big New York audition, dancer Bernie O'Connell is tricked into a car and attacked in a vacant lot off the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. KICK follows Bernie from a kickline to A Chorus Line to Hollywood and back as she picks up the pieces and finds the glue to put herself back together.

Director Taylor-Corbett said: "We follow this ex-dancer through a decades-long roller coaster ride in this story about faith, relationships, sexuality and spiritual awaking. From raped teenager, through the age of AIDS and homophobia, to empowered Interfaith Minister and grandmother of three, Joanna Rush entertains and weaves a tale with such wisdom and humor. I am so proud that this play has opened a conversation with many men. A young college guy stood up after a performance and said, 'You've made me laugh and cry but you also made me realize that I have committed date rape.' We need this conversation. It is a positive antidote, not only to a misguided young guy like this, but to media stars who feel protected by their celebrity."

KICK, originally called Asking For It, won rave reviews and four stars from Time Out when it was presented at the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival.

Joanna Rush's Broadway acting credits include Pousse Café, Shirley MacLaine at the Palace. A Chorus Line (Shubert Theater,LA.) Off-Broadway she has appeared in Daughters, Inside Out, Grandma Sylvia's Funeral, Broadway Scandals of 1928, and regionally in Beyond Therapy, Fifth of July, Freedomland, Little Mahagony, Great White Hope, Women Who Steal (WHAT), concert versions of Two by Two, and Minnie's Boys at Jewish Rep.. KICK is based on her book, ASKING FOR IT.

Director Lynne Taylor-Corbett was nominated for two Tony Awards and a Drama Desk Award for her direction and choreography of Broadway's Swing! She also choreographed Chess and Titanic on Broadway. Off-Broadway she directed and choreographed Wanda's World for which she won the Callaway Award and was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award. Her production of My Vaudeville Man garnered a Drama Desk Award. Cougar the Musical, for which she was director and contributing writer, ran off-Broadway for almost two years and is licensed worldwide. Her film choreography can be seen in the classic "Footloose", "My Blue Heaven" and "Bewitched."

KICK has scenic design by Dean Taucher ("Law and Order, SVU", "Miami Vice", "Sopranos"), lighting by Brant Thomas Murray (Ping Chong + Company, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, Bodiography Contemporary Ballet Company), sound design by Joachim Horsley (orchestrations/arrangements for John Legend's "All of Me" Tour, has scored over 25 independent films) and costume design by Keili Camille Murray (Bodiography Contemporary Ballet, Asking For It at the Cherry Lane Theatre). General Manager is Robert Levinstein/22Q Entertainment.

KICK opens Sunday, October 25th at 7 PM at St. Luke's Theatre, 308 West 46th Street, NYC and continues an open-ended run, playing Sundays at 7 PM. Tickets at $39.50 and $59.50 are available via TeleCharge.com or at the St. Luke's Theatre Box Office. For more info visit: www.KickThePlay.com. Follow KICK Facebook: www.facebook.com/KickThePlay, Twitter: @KickThePlay #kicktheplay and Instagram: www.instagram.com/kicktheplay.

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