LARRY & LUCY Announced at Theater for the New City

From March 30 to April 17, Theater for the New City will present "Larry & Lucy," a new play by Peter Welch directed by Joe John Batista. It's a gritty, often humorous drama about two emotionally wounded outsiders whose curious friendship enables their quest to find a place in the world.

Larry is an alienated, haggard, semi-famous street muralist in his sixties who now barely supports his meager, one room Hollywood existence by driving for Uber in his worn-out Prius. He suffers with PTSC and drinking issues. Lucy is a fragile Kansas City teen runaway looking to beat her heroin addiction. After a few chance meetings where Larry picks Lucy up near her methadone clinic, the duo embark on a series of misadventures which offer them insight into their troubled lives, while confronting them with the challenge of overcoming their deep seeded afflictions. Similar in tone to "Midnight Cowboy" and "Withnail & I," the play touches on themes of loneliness, togetherness and the continuing opiate crisis in America.

The cast features Larry Fleishman as Larry and Chelsea Grace as Lucy. Playwright Peter Welch appears in various supporting roles.

Peter Welch (playwright, various supporting roles) is an actor, playwright, filmmaker and fine art photographer. His plays include the full-length works "Two Alone/Too Together," "Autumn Stage," "Don't Tell Mother" and "Thelonious" and a dozen short plays. He has acted in A&E's critically acclaimed "Fugitive Chronicles" and the Cannes Film Festival award winning short "A Bike Ride." As a filmmaker, he helmed the feature "Three Long Years" (Diva Releasing) and co-directed the hybrid documentary/fictional film "The Piles Project," which featured Mark Kostabi and Taylor Mead. Most recently he completed three experimental shorts "After Life 2016," "Celebration Day" and "Collective Immunity." He heads PRIME Stage to Screen, a New York based company that fuses film and theater into one genre, identifying stories and ideas that beg to be developed for both mediums. To date, PRIME has produced six plays in New York. Recently PRIME helped develop "The House Arrest Rooneys," a TV pilot based on Welch's play "Don't Tell Mother" (TNC 2012). Welch acted in "Great Kills" by Tom Diriwachter (TNC, 2015) starring Emmy-winning actor Joe Pantoliano, and wrote "Two Alone/Too Together" (TNC, 2013), both directed by Jon Weber. Examples of his photography can be seen at www.peterwelchphotosales.com and www.saatchiart.com/peterwelch. His photos are on display now in TNC's lobby photo exhibit.

Joe John Batista (Director) recently directed "A Life In The Rye, " named among the year's top ten shows by Theaterscene.net. A graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he studied with William Hickey, Stephen Strimbell, Uta Hagan, Eve Collier, Hugh Whitfield, Jack Melanos, Paul J. Curtis and Gates McFadden. After working as a director at the Bucks County Playhouse, he began directing Off-Broadway. He has been involved in over 100 plays and musicals with performers such as Austin Pendleton and Angelica Page. He was lead guitarist for the bands Razor Engine and Electric Landlady and is a professional photographer. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild and is currently Artistic Director of the historic 13th Street Repertory Company.

Larry Fleischman (Larry) was born in England, raised in The Bronx and trained at HB Studio with Uta Hagan and Stephen Strimpell. He's had major roles on-camera in "A Killing Day," "Don of 42nd Street," "Mulberry Street," "Dogs Life, "The Crooked Corner," "Law And Order" "Law And Order SVU," "Law And Order Criminal Intent," "It Had To Be You," "Ed," "All My Children," "Devils Express," "Monty Nash," "Johnny Got His Gun" and "Inside Out." His theater credits include the Broadway production of "Beau Jest" and the Off-Broadway productions "Nothing But Bukowski" (Samuel Beckett Theater) and "The Sixth"(Lincoln Center).

Chelsea Grace (Lucy) is an actor and theater maker originally from the Highlands of Scotland. Before coming to New York, she was part of the Traverse Young Writers, the Scottish Youth Theatre's National Ensemble and Sanctuary Queer Arts Young Company. She has been in numerous shorts and voiced the video game character Ellie in Tencent Games' "Dungeon" with Pinewood studios. She appeared in A Play, A Pie and A Pint (The UK's most successful lunchtime theater) and a Pint's 'Pint-sized Play' with her original piece, "What's a Brexit?" She was scheduled to perform "Larry & Lucy" back in Scotland at the Edinburgh Fringe last August, but the production was canceled due to the Delta Variant.

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