InViolet Theater Company's SOMMERFUGL Begins Next Month

InViolet Theater Company, under the direction of Founding Co-Artistic Directors Michael Henry Harris and Angela Razzano, In association with Melanie Maras, Bryan Tallevi and Andrea Kiefer have announced the off-off Broadway run of SOMMERFUGL, a new play written by Bixby Elliot inspired by the true story of Lili Elbe, the first person to have gender reassignment surgery in 1930. The production begins previews September 19 at the 4th Street Theater (83 East 4th Street) and will have its official opening on September 24. Stephen Brackett directs. www.InViolettheater.com

Spotlighting subject matter that's recently come to the forefront of the American consciousness due to the successes and advocacy work of transgendered women such as Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner, SOMMERFUGL is a story of fearless transformation and love, inspired by the true story of Lili Elbe, the first person to have gender reassignment surgery in 1930 in Germany, and her wife, Grete, who remained by her side until the end. It is a story about transformation and authenticity, but it is also about the power of love and the people in our lives who help us to become who we are truly meant to be.

The cast of SOMMERFUGL features Wayne Wilcox, Aubyn Philabaum, Michelle David, and Bernardo Cubria.

Author Bixby Elliot is a New York based writer and proud member of InViolet since 2011. His play Blueprint was produced by Tony Award winning producer Arielle Tepper Madover as part of her new works Summer Play Festival (SPF). This production was directed by Drama Desk Nominee Jonathan Silverstein and starred Emmy winner Peter Strauss. Bixby's next play Abraham Lincoln was a Faggot was a finalist for the O'Neill Theater Conference in 2010, as well as New Dramatists and Seven Devils Development Conference. The play was workshopped in Louisville, KY and will next be developed at Chicago's About Face Theater in Spring 2014. Bixby's play Girl You Know It's True (inspired by the rise and fall of the pop/rock duo Milli Vanilli) was a semi-finalist for the O'Neill Conference in 2011, finalist for New Harmony and Kitchen Dog and received its world premiere production at Chicago's Pavement Group in April 2012 (director - David Perez). The play will next be seen in Seattle at Theater Off Jackson in Winter 2014. Other plays include Treasure Island, FL (semi-finalist for the O'Neill Conference 2012, InViolet Workshop, SouthernRep New Play Festival Winner, New Orleans), PN1923.45 LS01 volume 2: The Book Play (New York Premiere: NYC International Fringe Festival - director Stephen Brackett), Hotel Oracle (New York premiere: Walkerspace/SoHo Rep - director Stephen Brackett) and I Am Not Peter Pan (New York premiere: Cherry Lane Theater; Edinburgh Fringe Festival - Best of Fest Winner - director Cary McClelland). Bixby is a graduate of the MFA playwriting program at Columbia University. Current projects include work on an original television project, a webseries and a new screenplay Happy, Now.

Director Stephen Brackett's credits include: Jonathan Tolins' Buyer & Cellar (Rattlestick and Barrow Street Theaters/National Tour/London's Menier Chocolate Factory), Joe Tracz and Joe Iconis' Be More Chill (Two River), Anton Dudley's City Of (The Playwrights Realm), Lucas Kavner's Carnival Kids (Lesser America), Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (Theatreworks USA), David West Read's The Great Pretender (TheatreWorks), Ken Urban's The Correspondent (Rattlestick), Dan Fishback's The Material World (Dixon Place), Micheline Auger's American River (Lesser America), Bekah Brunstetter's Nothing is the End of the World (Waterwell/PPAS), Chad Beckim's After (Partial Comfort), Brunstetter's Be A Good Little Widow (Ars Nova), The Tenant (Woodshed Collective), Rick Viede's Whore (Summer Play Festival), Bixby Elliot's PN1923.45LS01 Volume 2 (Culture Project) and Kilroy Was Here: A Styx Rock Opera (Williamstown Theatre Festival). Stephen is a company member of Lesser America and Partial Comfort, and an alumnus of the Soho Rep Lab.

SOMMERFUGL features Set Design by Jason Sherwood, Costume Design by Tilly Grimes, Lighting Design by Zach Blane, Sound Design by Stowe Nelson, Casting by Paul Davis of Calleri Casting, Dialect Coaching by Katie Honaker, Dramaturgy and Assistant Direction by Tristan Powell, The Production Stage Manager is Melanie Aponte and the Technical Director/Production Manager is Dylan Luke.

Performances of SOMMERFUGL are on Mondays, and Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00PM.

Tickets are $18 and available at www.InVioletTheater.com or at the box office prior to each performance.

The production concludes its run on October 10th.

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