SEAWIFE Extends Through July 26 at the South Street Seaport Museum

The dynamic downtown theater company Naked Angels, under the leadership of new Artistic Director Liz Carlson, is pleased to announce a one-week extension on the limited Off-Broadway engagement of the new folk concert play SeaWife. Originally scheduled to close on Sunday July, 19, the play - co-created by Seth Moore (The Man With America Skin) and indie-folk rock sextet The Lobbyists, with direction by Carlson - will now run through Sunday, July 26 at South Street Seaport Museum's Melville Gallery (213 Water Street) in New York's historic South Street Seaport district.

Part play, part concert, and part environmental experience, SeaWife is a modern theatrical event that envelops its audience in a dark original tale marked with romance, tragedy and spirits on the high seas. Audiences are invited to raise a glass of ale as they are transported through an adventure of epic proportions following Percy, a young sailor bred within the golden age of the American whaling industry, as he journeys through port cities and sea vessels in search of a greater glory than killing leviathan. From haunting folk ballads to rhythmic bluegrass melodies, SeaWife features an original score that weaves lush harmonies and folk instrumentation to create a unique acoustic sound, performed by actor-musicians Tommy Crawford, Eloïse Eonnet, Alex Grubbs, Will Turner, Tony Vo and Douglas Waterbury-Tieman ("The Lobbyists") with Raymond Sicam III.

Developed by Carlson within Naked Angels' 3-Step Formula, SeaWife features a rising-star creative team including Set Designer Jason Sherwood (Goodspeed's Circus in Winter; Broadway's Living on Love - Assoc.), Costume Designer Loren Shaw (Restoration Comedy), Lighting Designer Jake DeGroot (Here Lies Love - Assoc.) and Sound Designer Dave Sanderson (Hand to God - Assoc.), with puppet design by James Ortiz (The Woodsman), prop design by Samantha Shoffner and visual art by Kate Lehman & Travis Schlat.

Naked Angels is a theater company committed to developing and producing new work by artists who explore unique perspectives and non-traditional theatrical formats. Formed in 1986 by a group of restless and ambitious artists striving to promote rigorous voices, Naked Angels quickly became known as breeding ground for up-and-coming talent, with early members including such household names as Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Marisa Tomei, Gina Gershon, Rob Morrow, Ron Rifkin, Lili Taylor and Nancy Travis. The company takes its name from the John Tyrell book, which refers to "a generation that want[s] to break out of convention and scream." At Naked Angels, they feel the same way; fostering a place where, through the medium of theater, they can show the world a different perspective of the times. Sometimes outraged, often irreverent, occasionally absurd, and always intelligent, enthusiastic and fun, Naked Angels' work is a spark to which audiences are quickly drawn. Over the course of almost three decades, Naked Angels has evolved from a membership artist company to having a single Artistic Director, with an ever-changing population of artists participating in their programming.

The Naked Angels 3-Step Formula: The cornerstone of the company's new play development efforts, the 3-Step Formula is designed to create a natural pipeline for new work. The first step, Tuesdays@9, is a free weekly cold reading series that unites writers, actors, directors, and musicians in a casual and social setting to support excerpts of new plays, screenplays, fiction, poetry, solo work, and songs. Step Two is 1st Mondays, a free monthly reading series for new full-length work, and the final phase, Angels In Progress is a seasonal workshop series that gives an intensive rehearsal period and customized presentation setting for promising new works.

The Lobbyists formed in 2012 in the lobby of The Flea Theater in New York City when Tommy Crawford, Eloïse Eonnet, Alex Grubbs, Will Turner, and Tony Vo were acting together in the downtown hit These Seven Sicknesses. The group began as pre-show entertainment - a concert in the lobby before every performance of the play - but quickly caught on as their inventive, collaborative songwriting and charismatic live persona charmed audiences. Their fresh sound - lush and intricate harmonies, acoustic instrumentation, with influences ranging from bluegrass to country to rock to pop - is at once unique and rooted in traditional folk music. After guest fiddling for several months, Douglas Waterbury-Tieman joined the band in the winter of 2014. The Lobbyists have played at some of New York's favorite music venues, including Rockwood Music Hall, Pete's Candy Store, 54 Below, Ars Nova, and many others. The Lobbyists have released two short records to date, Our Home and Songs from SeaWife, the latter engineered by Geoff Strasser. They are releasing three new SeaWife songs later this spring. wearethelobbyists.com.

South Street Seaport Museum is a non-profit cultural institution preserving and promoting the historic district of South Street Seaport in New York City. Founded on May 22, 1967, the South Street Seaport Museum (SSSM) is dedicated to telling the vital story of the foundation of New York and its link to its great natural harbor. The Museum preserves and interprets the history of New York City as a place where goods, labor and cultures are exchanged through work, commerce, and the interaction of diverse communities. Designated by Congress as America's National Maritime Museum in 1998, SSSM is located in a 12 square-block historic district on the East River in Lower Manhattan, the site of the original port of New York City. The Museum's campus is comprised of key historic locations such as Schermerhorn Row, working trade centers on Water Street, and on the "Street of Ships" at Pier 16. These exhibitions and educational facilities are located at the South Street Seaport in New York City's largest concentration of restored early nineteenth century commercial buildings. The Museum houses exhibition galleries, working nineteenth century print shops, a maritime library, a maritime craft center, and the largest privately-owned fleet of historic ships in the country.

SeaWife plays Tuesday through Sunday at 7:00PM.* Tickets are $40 and can be purchased at BrownPaperTickets.com / 1-800-838-3006. For groups of 10 or more, contact tickets@nakedangels.com. For more, follow on Twitter @NakedAngels @SeaWife, Facebook: Facebook.com/SeaWifePlay and online at www.SeaWife.org.

Photo Credit: Caitlin McNaney

To post a comment, you must register and login.