BEFORE WE'RE GONE, By Jerry Small, Takes Over The 13th Street Repertory Theatre In July

It's been described by The New York Times as the "Little Theatre That Could," and with its charm and historic aura, as well as its very visible street level location, the 13th Street Repertory Theatre was chosen by BAHR Productions, a Hollywood-based Film Production Company, as the launching pad for a new project that looks to be headed Off-Broadway, and then a very much anticipated Broadway run. The play is BEFORE WE'RE GONE, by Jerry Small, and the mission is to debut the drama in New York City with an Off-Broadway run that has spared no expenses and gathered an exceptionally talented cast to this newly renovated stage (courtesy of Bahr Productions) beginning July 5th and closing on August 5th, 2018.

"The entire production is top notch," said the play's Director, and Artistic Director at the 13th Street Repertory Theatre, Joe John Battista. From seasoned Broadway actors (*courtesy of Actors' Equity Association), to Costumes (by Martha Bromelmeier), Set Design (by Brian Dudkiewicz), and Lighting Design (by Allison Hohman) , Executive Producer, Erika Lockridge, and producers Eric Small, Nick Small and Dean B. Kaner have invested heavily and have worked closely with the 13th Street Rep for nearly a year to realize this vision and bring the highest level of professionalism to the project.

"I wanted this play to be a different kind of love story, an unlikely romance, one that does not reach a successful flowering in its first act," says the award-winning playwright and screenwriter, Jerry Small. "Fundamental to the genesis of the play was the notion of throwing together by chance two very different personalities, mismatched by experience and outlook on life and separated by a significant age difference."

The love story/drama BEFORE WE'RE GONE is about second chances and the consequences of the choices we make in life. It's the story of a Pulitzer-winning playwright, screenwriter and outspoken political activist (Played by Leenya Rideout), who has disappeared from her high-profile life in New York, Hollywood, and the tabloids, to hide under an assumed name in a secluded seaside motel in Santa Barbara, California, where she intends to end her life by her own hand.

At the very moment she is about to commit suicide, there is a knock on her door. It is a man (Played by John Zdrojeski) with whom she had a brief relationship twenty-five years earlier, when she was thirty-six and at the height of her Broadway fame. He was naïve, twenty, and studying to be a Catholic priest. They met during the 1950's in Reno's famous art-deco Mapes Hotel, where she was staying for her six-weeks divorce, and he was working in the hotel while on sabbatical from the Franciscan Order, struggling to resolve doubts about the priesthood and himself.

Over the last twenty-five years, they have not seen each other nor spoken.

The play deals with religion, the choices we make in life, and the topic of assisted suicide, among other things.

The cast that includes Broadway/Off-Broadway's Leenya Rideout in the lead role of "Kate," and John Zdrojeski as Richard. Rounding out the cast are Jay Russell and Emily Juliette Murphy, both with Broadway/Off-Broadway credits to their names playing a variety of characters. The casting was managed by veteran Broadway casting company, McCorkle Casting, Ltd.

Performances are JULY 5th-AUGUST 5th, 2018, Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday Matinees at 3:00pm. Tickets are available on Brown Paper Tickets, Goldstar, and some seats through TDF.

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