Tuluv Maria Price & Tyree Young to Lead Woodie King Jr's New Federal Theatre's ACCEPT 'EXCEPT' LGBT NY

Woodie King Jr's New Federal Theatre kicks off its 45th season with Karima's Accept "Except" LGBT NY, which will begin performances October 23rd and continue through November 23rd with opening night set for November 6th. Tony Award winner George Faison directs a cast that features Tuluv Maria Price and Tyree Young. The design team includes Chris Cumberbatch (scenic design), Ali Turns (costume design), Thurston Reyes (lighting design), and Ralph Gentry (sound/visual design).

ACCEPT "EXCEPT" LGBT NY is about the struggle for justice in America from slavery to modern day Gay Rights. It tells the story of two twenty-year olds brought together after being chased by angry mobs: a male from the plantation era (18th Century) and a female from the penitentiary era (21st Century). In December of 1865, the 13th Amendment transferred ownership of slaves and involuntary servants from private owners to government entities - from plantations to penitentiaries. The Accept "Except" series: Male, Female, LGBT and others, explores this one exception of the 13th Amendment.

"The initial impetus for the Accept "Except" series was to not just show the parallels between slavery and incarceration, not just to encourage youth to choose freedom over slavery, and, not just to present it all to make it relevant today, but it was also to highlight the humaneness of the characters. Each story is different, just as each segment of the population may find themselves in the 'system' for different reasons; each population segment was historically treated different. Further, the laws today, and the laws of yesterday are different according to state. Therefore, Accept "Except" LGBT NY has a different story than Accept "Except" LGBT Philly; the experiences of the characters in Accept "Except" Male Nashville are not the same as the characters' experiences in Accept "Except" Male Detroit. There were approximately 400,000 slaves in the US in 1860, and as of 2011 there were estimated to be 6,977,700 adult citizens under correctional supervision (probation, parole, jail, or prison). Each of these individuals had/has a different story to tell. Accept "Except" is a vehicle for the telling," said Karimah.

George Faison, award-winning, internationally celebrated producer, writer, essayist, composer, director, choreographer and dancer, made history in 1975 when he became the first African American to win the Tony Award for best choreography for The Wiz. Mr. Faison began his career with The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as a principal dancer. He also received a Drama Desk and Carbonell Award for The Wiz and a Tony Nomination for Porgy And Bess. His Broadway career as performer began with the musical Purlie and Don't Bother Me I Can't Cope . He went on to create several American dance classics: Slaves, Suite Otis and Reflections Of A Lady for the George Faison Universal Dance Experience. He has also choreographed and staged concerts for musical greats including Ashford & Simpson, Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder. Earth, Wind & Fire, Dionne Warwick, Stephanie Mills, Betty Carter, Miles Davis and many more. Mr. Faison has directed productions at the McCarter Theater, Princeton NJ; Center Stage in Baltimore, the Kennedy Center, the Pittsburg Public and the Public Theater in NY. Mr. Faison is the author of several original musicals: Apollo, It Was Just Like Magic which starred Morgan Freeman, Clarice Taylor and S. Epatha Merkerson, Sing Mahalia Sing with Jennifer Holiday and If This Hat Could Talk. His film credits include Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Cotton Club, Driving Me Crazy, and The Josephine Baker Story. In 2000 Mr. Faison established along with co-founder Tad Schnugg, the Faison Firehouse Theater. His community outreach has included the creation of the Firehouse Respect Project. Mr. Faison recently co-produced the 10th anniversary gala of The History Makers "An Evening with Valerie Simpson in Honor of Nick Ashford" and directed "Steppin' Out of the Negro Caravan" at Howard University. He has produced and directed several original productions at The Faison Firehouse Theater in Harlem: Accept "Except" LGBT; The Notorious E B Scrooge his original Christmas musical, which again will be presented at the Faison Firehouse Theater this December as part of the first full performance season "Musical Classics & Original Works At The Faison Firehouse" which will begin on October 16 with Ain't Misbehavin'.

Karimah is also the author of Accept "Except" Male NY which was directed by the late Chuck Patterson and received its first production at the National Black Theatre in NY. This play subsequently was performed at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC and at was invited back to Winston-Salem by the North Carolina Repertory Theatre. This play was later produced by Black Spectrum Theatre and at various venues in NYC. Accept "Except" Male Nashville is calendared for production in November 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. Accept "Except" Male Philadelphia is under consideration in Philadelphia, and Accept "Except" Male Raleigh is in development. Accept "Except" LGBT NY directed by George Faison, was first presented as a reading by New Federal Theatre and subsequently produced by the Faison Firehouse Theatre. Accept "Except" Female NY directed by Trezana Beverley was presented as a reading by New Federal Theatre. And the World Laughs with You directed by Woodie King, Jr., was presented by Crossroads Theatre Company. Affinity, directed by Roderick Giles, was produced by the National Black Theatre. Her other works have been produced and/or developed at the Negro Ensemble Company, Playwrights Horizons, National Black Theatre, Crossroads Theatre Company, Encore Theatre Company, Apollo Theater, Tuskegee University, and in back yards. Karimah holds a MFA from Columbia University and a BA from the University of DC. She is currently a member of Harlem Playwrights 21 Workshop.

Performances will be Thursday and Friday evenings at 7:30 PM, Saturday at 2 PM and 7:30 PM, and Sunday at 2 PM. Tickets will be $25 and can be ordered through www.castillo.org or by phone at 212/941-5800.

For more information, please visit www.newfederaltheatre.com or call NFT at 212-353-1176.

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