The Negro Ensemble Company Opens THE PICTURE BOX at Theatre Row, 1/11

"The PICTURE BOX" by Cate Ryan will be presented by The Negro Ensemble Company Off Broadway* at Theatre Row – Beckett Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street. Previews begin Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 and the opening is Sunday, January 15th for the limited engagement from the theatre company. The new play is directed by Charles Weldon.

"The Picture Box" is a warm, unique and loving story. From the deep south to the northeast, a young black man comes to work at the home of a white family on New York's Long Island. This young man becomes the "caretaker" of the little girl who lives in the home. She has been emotionally abandoned by her mother through her mother's second marriage. The trust of this estranged child creates a bond with her caretaker that spans a lifetime. Love and caring comes in all forms. 1hr. 20 mins with No intermission

Cate Ryan published her first short story in high school. After graduating from college, she worked as an "assistant" in television; then with an agent who pushed her into the small screen business. While working on a television special, the head writer paired Cate with Thomas Meehan (Tony winning librettist of "The Producers", "Hairspray" and "Annie". Aside from their tv work, they have written a musical based on Ettore Scola's motion picture: "La Bal", a motion picture treatment based on the M.F.K. Fisher book: The Boss Dog and a sit-com for Canadian Television: "The Five Twelve". At the present time, Cate is working on a musical based on Frederico Fellini's "The White Sheik". Cate has written numerous plays, with her first being optioned in four days, and was headed to Broadway with director Austin Pendelton. The backing for the play "disappeared" and the show was cancelled. Two New York productions are: "The Snow Room" and "All Souls Day". Cate wrote a play based on her farcical experiences Off-Off Broadway called: "Off-Off". Both at The Women's Project and The Shubert Organization, Cate's play: "The Natives Are Restless" had staged readings with Melissa Leo, Charles Keating, Chip Zien and Paul Cunningham.

Charles Weldon, is a veteran award-winning actor known for the memorable roles he created for the stage, film and television, and since 2004 is the Artistic Director of the Negro Ensemble Company. He began his career as lead singer with the group the Paradons. He performed in the original San Francisco cast of "Hair." He came to Broadway in the musical "Big Time Buck White" with Mohammed Ali. A member of the company since 1970, he performed in over 40 NEC productions, including such classics as "A Soldier's Play", "The Great McDaddy", "The Offering", "The Brownsville Raid" and "The River Niger". Some of his films are Stir Crazy, The River Niger and A Woman Called Moses, and on television: Law and Order, New York Undercover, Sanford and Son, and Police Story. He has directed several productions for NEC. As Artistic Director, he is dedicated to preserving, sustaining and building upon the company's contribution to the American theatre. He is also co-founder of the Alumni of the Negro Ensemble Company, a roster of that includes such luminaries as Phylicia Rashad, Denzel Washington, Hattie Winston, Samuel L. Jackson, Angela Bassett, Louis Gossett, Jr., Barbara Montgomery and other world-class artists.

The Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. (NEC) provides African-American, African and Caribbean professional artists with an opportunity to learn, to work, to grow and to be nurtured in the performing arts. They present theatre performances by and about black people to a culturally diverse audience that is often underserved. In 1965, Playwright Douglas Turner Ward, producer/actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald Krone made a dream a reality with The Negro Ensemble Company. The catalyst for this was "A Raisin in the Sun." The long-running play gave many black theater people the opportunity to meet and work together. Hooks and Ward were castmates in The Road Company; and they dreamed of starting a theater company run by and for black people. While acting in "The Dutchman", Hooks began spending nights teaching to local black youth. In a performance primarily for parents and neighbors, the kids put on a one-act play by Ward. While Hooks raised money, Ward wrote plays. With money from the Ford Foundation and a home at the St. Marks Playhouse, The Negro Ensemble Company formed officially in 1967. The first play chosen was "The River Niger". The production moved to Broadway, winning the Tony Award for Best Play, and later an extensive tour. This success helped to insure the continued work of the NEC and of its many members over the next ten years. In 1981, the NEC had probably its most successful production with "A Soldier's Play", winning the Critics Circle Best Play Award and the Pulitzer Prize. The NEC has produced more than two hundred new plays and provided a theatrical home for more than four thousand cast and crew members. The NEC is respected worldwide for its commitment to excellence, and has won dozens of honors and awards. It has been a constant source and sustenance for black actors, directors, and writers as they have worked to break down walls of racial prejudice.

Regular performances of the limited Off Broadway* engagement are: Tuesday @ 7:30 pm, Wednesday through Saturday @ 8:00 pm, and matinees at 3:00 pm on Saturday & Sunday. Tickets are $38.00 (plus a $1.25 facility fee). They can be bought at the Theatre Row Box Office or through TeleCharge by calling 212/239-6200 or online at TeleCharge.com.
* This is an Equity (AEA) Paid Contract not a showcase