La MaMa's POST MODERN LIVING Previews 4/16

La MaMa invites you to the World Premiere of playwright/performer
Richard Sheinmel's POST MODERN LIVING. The production marks the latest installment in Sheinmel's Modern Living play cycle, which began in 2006. Much like Armistead Maupin's Tales of The City novels follows the exploits of Michael Tolliver, this series of related plays center on Mitch, a gay "downtown" New York performance artist, as he writes plays about his life. Directed by Jason Jacobs (Theatre Askew), this play with music features original songs by Clay Zambo and co-stars Chris Orbach and Drama Desk Award nominee Frank Blocker. Performances run April 16 - May 2 at La MaMa ETC(74A East 4th Street, between 2nd & 3rd Aves.)

POST MODERN LIVING presents two inter-related tales. The first half follows a day in the life of Mitch and Chester, a committed couple in a long time relationship. It is a boy-meets-boy story of promiscuity, first dates, self-imposed celibacy, and true love. The second half takes place on Mother's Day, as Mitch help his mom with her garden. She recounts the story of how she discovered her breast cancer, the doctor who saved her life, and how her illness has re-affirmed her faith.

The production co-stars Chris Orbach (Law & Order: SVU, acclaimed jazz musician and son of Jerry Orbach), Drama Desk Award nominee Frank Blocker (Southern Gothic Novel, Fearless Moral Inventory, Eula Mae's Beauty, Bait & Tackle), Catherine Porter (Mac Wellman's Crowbar), Wendy Merritt, Mick Hilgers and Briana Davis, with a production team that includes John McDermott (sets), Jennifer Caprio (costumes), Tim Schellenbaum (sound), New York Innovative Theater Award nominee Timothy M. Walsh (lighting), and Monica Minoui (hair), Scott Ethier (musical director), Gabriel Luce (bass) Daniel Acquisto (drums), and Heather Olmstead (stage manager).

Richard Sheinmel is a native New Yorker born in Brooklyn, raised in Staten Island. He attended the LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts. His plays include Modern Living (La MaMa), Jitter (Arclight Theater), and Downtown Dysfunctionals (The Zipper Theater). As an actor, he is best known for appearing for over ten years in the Jeff Weiss / Carlos Riccardo Martinez cult hit serial Hot Keys. He has also appeared with The Ridiculous Theatrical Company in Call Me Sarah Bernhardt, and The Tale of Two Cities; with Ridge Theater in Mathew in the School of Life and Everyday Newt Burman; Mac Wellman's The Sandalwood Box; with Penny Arcade in La Miseria, and Invitation...; with drag star Linda Simpson in The Final Episode, and The Tranny Chase at PS 122; in Reza Abdoh's Father Was a Peculiar Man produced by EnGarde Arts; at Soho Rep in Naomi Izuka's Skin; and the title role in Peculiar Works Project's Freiheit Makes a Stand at the Vineyard Theater. Film appearances include the award-winning The Headhunter's Sister, My Sassy Girl, and Pollock directed by Ed Harris. Richard is a member of The Dramatist's Guild. For more info visit www.sheinmel.com.

Clay Zambo has been named by the York Theatre Company one of the musical theatre's "New, Emerging, Outstanding" composers and featured in their NEO5 concert. His Greenbrier Ghost (book by Susan Murray), won the Academy for New Musical Theatre's Search for New Musicals. Selected by Stephen Schwartz for the ASCAP/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop, Greenbrier is scheduled for a full production later this year. A Mother's Carol (music by Scott Ethier) won American Composer's
Forum's Welcome Christmas choral-writing competition, was premiered on NPR. His musicals have also been performed in London and the Edinburgh Fringe; on national tours; and are frequently premiered at NYC's Merkin Hall, including They Fly; Yo, Jonah!; and The Ballad of Thomas
the Shammus. He is a member of BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and The Dramatists Guild. For more info visit www.clayzambo.com.

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