Levitt House Replication Built For LEVITTOWN At Theatre At Saint Clement's 7/13

The Cliplight Theater and Theatre at Saint Clement's will present Levittown, written by Marc Palmieri and directed by George Demas, beginning Wednesday, July 8 at 8pm at Theatre at Saint Clement's, 423 West 46th Street. The opening night is set for Monday, July 13 at 8pm. Levittown had a developmental workshop in the summer of 2006 at Axis Theatre Company, directed by Mr. Demas.

Kevin Briggs, the grandson of a decorated World War II veteran and FDNY Captain, returns early from college to learn that his sister Colleen--after some trying times--is about to be married. As the family celebrates the upcoming wedding, Kevin attempts to complete this happiness by reconciling his sister with the abusive father who left them years before. Amidst the thin walls of their home, the members of this family are forced to confront a concealed history, the self-destructive nature that has plagued them for generations, and the failure of the tidy truths onto which they have desperately held... in Levittown.

The cast of Levittown is Susan Bennett, Tristan Colton, Curzon Dobell, Dane Knell, Todd Lawson, Tyler Pierce, and Deborah Tranelli.

History of Levittown, NY:

After World War II, the building firm Levitt and Sons, headed by Abraham Levitt and his two sons, William and Alfred, built four planned communities called "Levittown" (in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Puerto Rico), but Levittown, New York was the first. The town was built on what used to be potato farms in an area previously known as Island Trees. Levitt and Sons built the community with an eye towards speed -- this led to a production rate of 30 houses a day by July of 1948. By 1951, it and surrounding regions included 17,447 homes constructed by the firm. They were made out of scrap materials from the war and sold to battle-weary GI's for $7,990. Levittown the play is set in 1999, and follows the lives of the third generation Maddigans to live in Levittown.

Set designer Michele Spadaro (Off-Broadway's Our Town) will be creating an entire Levitt house on the main stage of Saint Clement's theater, which has housed such epic designs as Julie Taymor's Juan Darien and Titus Andronicus and Martha Clarke's Garden of Earthly Delights. The intention is to create both a vivid reproduction of a Levitt home and a dynamic theatrical environment for Mr. Demas' staging.

Marc Palmieri's other plays include Poor Fellas and Carl The Second (both produced by Cliplight Theater in NYC, both plays published by Dramatists Play Service, Inc.). Portions of Carl and Levittown are published in Smith and Kraus' The Best Stage Scenes of 2002 and 2007 as well as The Best Stage Monologues for Men 2002. Screenplays include Telling You (Miramax Films, 1999, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Richard Libertini and Peter Facinelli) and Carl The Second (under option by Wheatfield Productions, L.A.). He is a graduate of Wake Forest University, which he attended on a full athletic scholarship after being drafted by The Toronto Blue Jays in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft in 1989 at the age of 18. In 2004 he received his M.A. in English at The City College of New York, where he now teaches Playwriting, Shakespeare and Creative Writing in the English Department. He is currently coaching varsity baseball for his 12th season at Chaminade High School on Long Island, from which he graduated in 1989. He is also an SAG and AEA actor, currently appearing in the 10th anniversary production of Hospital at Axis Company. He has worked at Classic Stage Company, The Directors Company, The Culture Project, La MaMa E.T.C. and many others. He played the leading role in the feature film Too Much Sleep (Shooting Gallery, 2002) which was nominated for a 2002 IFP Independent Spirit Award (Someone To Watch Award). He was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey and moved to Long Island at the age of nine. His mother grew up in Levittown, the daughter of a Purple Heart Army veteran of World War II.

 

George Demas is a director, actor, writer, and producer. His most recent work as a director is Krapp, 39 which is currently running Off-Broadway to critical acclaim. He is the Founding Artistic Director of The Cliplight Theater. Some directing credits: Beirut by Alan Bowne at the 12th annual Festival dell'Ville Vesuviane in Herculaneum, Italy; Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice at Tribeca Lab, NYC; We Are Happy to Serve You by Peter Vouras at The Elephant Theater, Los Angeles; Carl the Second by Marc Palmieri - later published by Dramatists Play Service, Inc., and The Dorothy Parker Project adapted by Amanda Quaid at the Women Centerstage Festival produced by The Culture Project. As an actor, he has appeared in stage venues of all sizes in NYC, including the Off-Broadway hits Our Town, Orson's Shadow and Theater for a New Audience's Henry VI, directed by Royal Shakespeare Company fellow Barry Kyle.

The costume design for Levittown is by Jennifer Bayly; lighting design is by Sonia Baidya; sound design is by Steve Fontaine.

The Cliplight Theater is a nonprofit theater company devoted to the development of new American plays and, on occasion, challenging interpretations of classics. The company was founded in 1993 by George Demas, Michael Laurence, Edgar Oliver, Marc Palmieri, and Jesse McKinley. Cliplight approaches theater from the point-of-view that plays are not written, they are wrought. They seek to encourage the growth of plays on their own terms - provide them with the assistance, production, and level of exposure to the public that the work needs at the time. Over the past 16 years the company has produced 33 plays, readings, and workshops and employed the talents of over 200 theatre artists. Plays given first productions by The Cliplight have gone on to be published by major theatrical publishers, including Smith and Kraus, Dramatists Play Service, Inc., and The New York Theatre Experience as well as having major New York productions by commercial and other larger non-profit producers.

Levittown plays Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 5pm, at Theatre at Saint Clement's, 423 West 46th Street. Change in schedule on Saturday, July 11; 5pm performance instead of 8pm. Final performance is Saturday, August 1 at 8pm. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased online at www.cliplighttheater.com or via phone at 212 352-3101. www.cliplighttheater.com.

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