Leah Bonvissuto to Direct Robert Honeywell's MASS at The Brick, 4/13-30

The Brick Theater, Inc. will present the World Premiere of Robert Honeywell's (Ich Liebe Jesus!; Greed: a Musical Love $tory) all-female rock musical, Mass, April 13-30 at The Brick (579 Metropolitan Ave at Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn). The production will be directed by Leah Bonvissuto (Ye Elizabeths at Planet Connections 2012) with Music Direction by Maria Dessena (2012 MAC nominated Jessye Normous Show) and will feature Esther Crow, Rebecca GRay Davis, Melissa DeLancey, Kaitlan Emery, Amanda LaPergola, Tracy Shar, Pheobe Silva*, and Moira Stone*.

The creative team will include Set Design by Lianne Arnold, Special Effects by Stephanie Cox-Williams, Choreography by Sarah Doudna, Lighting Design by Joe Levasseur, Video Design by Daniel McKleinfeld, and Costume Design by Iracel Rivero. The live band will feature Derek Davidson, Maria Dessena, Ryan Ferreira, Michael Rafalowich, and Sparkie Sandler. The production Stage Manager/Assistant Director will be Raffaela Vergata.

*Actor appears courtesy of the Actors' Equity Association.

How far is too far in love and art? Pissing on a museum sculpture to make a statement? Mutilating yourself, or your lover, as performance art? Two girlfriends test their boundaries in a modern retelling of the tortured relationship of van Gogh and Gaugin. Set in 2015-2018 in New York, Vancouver and Shanghai, Mass is a new musical featuring an all-female cast accompanied by a live rock band.

The production will play at The Brick Theater (579 Metropolitan Ave at Lorimer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn) April 13-30; Tuesdays at 8pm, Thursday through Saturday at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets ($18; $10 previews) may be purchased online at www.bricktheater.com or by calling 866-811-4111.

Robert Honeywell (Playwright & Composer) has been writing, composing and acting in New York since 1997, and co-founded the award-winning Brick Theater in Williamsburg in 2002. Prior works include Every Play Ever Written ("gleefully funny ... a must-see for anyone who has been onstage"-New York Times); Ich Liebe Jesus! ("brilliantly conceived"-nytheatre.com); Greed: a Musical Love $tory (NYIT Award Nominee-Outstanding Musical; "one of the best new musicals in town right now"-nytheatre.com); Lord Oxford Brings You the Second American Revolution, Live!; Françoise changes her mind (the things bondage can do); Jenna is nuts; World War III shall be a lovely daydream; and the libretto Meetings at American Opera Projects. Acting credits include the FringeNYC and Brick re-mount hit Notes From Underground ("summoned in all his scattered, sweaty psychosis by Robert Honeywell"-Village Voice; "[Honeywell's] performance is sublime"-nytheatre.com); In a Strange Room ("Honeywell delivers Faulkner's words with a hypnotic insouciance, like a bourbon-soaked Alan Rickman"-Time Out New York; "[Honeywell is] especially convincing as the brooding Darl Bundren"-Village Voice); Memoirs of My Nervous Illness ("astoundingly good"-nytheatre.com); Martian Holiday ("[Honeywell's] performance here is immeasurably affecting"-nytheatre.com); and Three Sisters ("Honeywell's diminutive Kulygin is a particular gem ... oddly endearing and, ultimately, heartwrenchingly real"- Theatre2k.com).

Leah Bonvissuto (Director) Recent credits include Ye Elizabeths (winner of the Outstanding Production of a Musical or Play with Music award at the 2012 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity and named #4 on BroadwayWorld.com's Top Ten List of 2012), The Resurrection of George Washington at One Arm Red, and a concert version of Rachel and Leah, a new musical by Elizabeth Swados. Her work has been seen at the Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater, Ars Nova, The Snapple Theater and Dixon Place. Leah is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab and an Associate of SDC. www.leahbonvissuto.com

THE BRICK THEATER, INC. is a not-for-profit company dedicated to nurturing the work of emerging artists at its performance space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn - The Brick. The Brick presents world premieres, monthly performance series, and seasonal festivals, expanding Williamsburg's profile as a destination for cutting-edge art and entertainment. The Brick continues to seek new artists and projects, to provide them with a creative home and to serve as Williamsburg's primary incubator of innovative theater arts.

Pictured: Esther Crow, Mora Stone, Rebecca GRay Davis. Photos by Joe Kolbow, Triptych by Sarah Lippmann.

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