BIKE SHOP Opens Tonight at Theater for the New City

Theater for the New City presents BIKE SHOP, The Musical starring Elizabeth Barkan and directed by Gretchen Cryer starting at TNC's Cino Theater tonight, September 11th, and running thru September 27th. The libretto is by Elizabeth Barkan with lyrics by Caroline Murphy and music by Youn-Young Park. Gerry Deiffenbach is Musical Director.

BIKE SHOP, The Musical chronicles three generations of a bike-obsessed family as conveyed through song and narrative by Bobby, an exuberant bike mechanic who runs a bike shop in Brooklyn that was founded by her Irish grandmother in 1936. The show begins in 1993, two years after Bobby has stopped cycling due to a tragic accident while working as a messenger. Bobby now wants to get her life back in gear, but will her past trauma allow her to ride again? Accompanied by a four piece "bicycle band", Elizabeth Barkan builds and fixes real bicycles on stage while bringing to life a distinctive Jewish-Irish family who made bold choices that defined their lives.

BIKE SHOP had a first reading at Theater for the New City in 2008 under the "New City, New Blood" series that led to a developmental workshop in 2012. The following year it was part of Chashama's Summer Performance Series.

Elizabeth Barkan's credits include Kryptonite Hearts at Theater for the New City, The Wallenberg Mission at Harold Clurman Theatre, The Blacksmith's Folly at Folksbiene Yiddish Theater, Godspell at Oasis Theatre, Rasputin with Ted Neely at Wilmington Grand Opera and Pirates of Penzancewith the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. She is a protégé of Tony Award winner Victoria Clark.

Like her character in BIKE SHOP Elizabeth is the prior owner of a bicycle store in Fort Greene Brooklyn, a former bike messenger and a former U.S. Cycling Federation bicycle racer. In addition to her career as an actress/singer she is currently a Certified Group Fitness and Indoor Cycling instructor at Crunch fitness and a MELT instructor at the JCC in Manhattan.

Director Gretchen Cryer is best known for writing the book and lyrics and starring in I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On The Road with Nancy Ford that was was originally produced in New York at the Public Theater and then ran at Circle In The Square for three years. The cast album was nominated for a Grammy Award. She has also collaborated with Nancy Ford on The Last Sweet Days of Isaac (Obie Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award), Shelter (on Broadway at Golden Theater), Hang On to Good Times (Manhattan Theater Club) and The Fabulous Party (Williamstown Theater Festival), among other musicals.

Lyricist Caroline Murphy has her Master's Degree from NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program where she was the won the Max Dreyfus ASCAP scholarship. She co-wrote the musical Jesus Christ Spectacular for the feature film Mangus! with award winning composer Scott Murphy.

Composer Youn Young Park's works have been produced in the U.S., U.K. and Korea. She holds an MFA in Musical Theater Writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She is the EnoB Artistic Director and adjunct professor at Seoul Institute of the Arts.

Gerry Deiffenbach, musical director, songwriter and performer, is a recipient of the Songwriter's Guild of America President's Award, the Back Stage Bistro Award for Outstanding Musical Director, and the Critic's Choice Award for Outstanding Album of the Year. He has accompanied numerous performers including Karen Mason, Joely Fisher, Vicki Philips, Margaret Whiting and Petula Clark.

BIKE SHOP, The Musical opens tonight, September 11th, at Theater for the New City (151 1st Avenue between 10th and 11th Streets) at 7PM. Performances are Thursday thru Saturday at 7PM with Sunday matinees at 3PM through September 27th. Tickets are $15. For tickets go to www.theaterforthenewcity.net and click on the Smarttix link or call (212) 254-1109 for tickets and reservations. For more information visit www.BikeShopMusical.com.

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