Leigh Silverman Directs Ethan Lipton in Public's No Place to Go

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Patrick Willingham) is set to present Ethan Lipton's NO PLACE TO GO for a limited engagement at Joe's Pub, beginning Wednesday, March 14. Directed by Leigh Silverman and written by Ethan Lipton with music composed by Ethan Lipton and His Orchestra, NO PLACE TO GO is the first Joe's Pub commission, as part of its New York Voices Series, to become part of The Public Theater's season.

Commissioned last spring by Joe's Pub as part of its first ever grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, NO PLACE TO GO was developed to have an extended three week engagement at Joe's Pub through Sunday, April 8. It will have an official press opening on Wednesday, March 21. Member tickets are $20 and go on sale Thursday, February 2. Single tickets, priced at $30, go on sale Tuesday, February 7.

The company where he's worked for the past 10 years is moving to another planet, and playwright Ethan Lipton doesn't want to go. Part love letter to his co-workers, part query to the universe, part protest to his company and country, NO PLACE TO GO delivers an irreverent and personal musical ode to the unemployed.

"Ethan is our modern Everyman, a fantastic amalgam of Woody Guthrie and Woody Allen," said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "No Place To Go is incredibly insightful, timely, and delightful. We are thrilled to be able to bring back this fantastic show to share with a broader public. Ethan deserves it, and so does our audience!"

"Ethan Lipton is an incredible artist who has delighted audiences at Joe's Pub throughout the years, and I am thrilled that we are now able to bring his extraordinary talent to a larger audience," said Joe's Pub Director Shanta Thake. "This beautiful piece that was part of Joe's Pub's first ever series of commissions is a true testament to Ethan's unique point of view that also manages to be completely universal in its appeal."

Ethan Lipton (Playwright). His plays have been seen and heard in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Edinburgh (Scotland) and Berne (Austria). Ethan is a winner of a NYFA grant and a Drama-Logue Award for playwriting. He has been a Kesselring prize nominee, an O'Neill Conference finalist; a member of the inaugural class of the Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theater; and is currently a Playwright's Realm Fellow. In 2011 Ethan was commissioned by Joe's Pub through the NEA to write No Place to Go as part of the New York Voices series. With his band Ethan Lipton and His Orchestra ("Best Lounge Act" New York Magazine), he has released four albums and played throughout New York and beyond (Joe's Pub, Bryant Park, Celebrate Brooklyn, MASS MoCA, Camden Opera House, etc.). The band has been featured on radio shows such as "Weekend Edition," "The World," and "Soundcheck," and contributed songs to Clash cover album "Sandinista" and the film "The Shift." As a performer, Ethan has worked with Laurie Anderson, Cynthia Hopkins, Elevator Repair Service, Matt Berninger of The National, and Gabriella Barnstone.

Leigh Silverman (Director). Her Broadway credits include David Henry Hwang's Chinglish; Lisa Kron's Well. Her recent world premieres include Chinglish (Goodman Theater, Jeff nomination); In the Wake (Center Theatre Group/Berkeley Repertory Theatre and The Public Theater, Obie Award, Lortel nomination); Close Up Space (MTC); Go Back to Where You Are (Playwrights Horizons, Obie Award); From Up Here (MTC, Drama Desk nomination); David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face (Center Theatre Group/The Public Theater); Coraline (MCC/True Love); Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Hourglass Group/37 Arts); Creature (New Georges/P73); Hunting and Gathering (Primary Stages); Well (The Public Theater, Huntington Theatre and ACT); The Retributionists (Playwrights Horizons); Blue Door (Playwrights Horizons and Seattle Repertory Theatre); Oedipus at Palm Springs (NYTW); Jump/Cut (Woolly Mammoth Theatre/Theater J and Women's Project); also Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Second Stage Theatre); and many regional productions.

Vito Dieterle (Saxophone) has been a featured soloist at the Burlington and Chicago Jazz Festivals, and in venues around the country. In New York he is a frequent player with composer-pianist Joel Forrester's band People Like Us, and he leads his own trio every Sunday at Little Branch. Vito studied at The New School with jazz greats such as Arnie Lawrence, Barry Harris, Benny Powell, Lee Konitz, Reggie Workman, Junior Mance and Chico Hamilton and is part owner of the jazz supper club Silver Lining.

Eben Levy (Guitar) was co-leader of the '90s cult-favorite funk band Chucklehead and was the group's guitarist, emcee and a principal songwriter. Eben later led the organic/electronic funk band Ejectrode, putting out Accident Theory in '02, and has written music extensively for film and television.

Ian M. Riggs (Bass) is also a composer, singer and guitarist who performs and records in and out of New York City with a wide range of artists, among them Howard Fishman, One Ring Zero, Blarvuster, Hilary Hawke, Likeness to Lily, The Lonesome Trio, Giancarlo Vulcano, and David Eggar. As a composer he has provided music for Adrian Muys' films, Iris, and Hands of Harvest as well as for Gabriella Barnstone's dance/theatre piece, The Dinner Party.

NO PLACE TO GO features lighting design by Ben Stanton.

JOE'S PUB at The Public Theater, reopened October 4th, 2011 from a top to bottom renovation, debuted in October 1998 and quickly became one of New York City's most celebrated and in-demand showcase venues for live music and performance. With its genre-blind booking and vast diversity of interests, the stage at Joe's Pub gives voice to a world of varied and stellar artists. Joe's Pub is open seven days a week, regularly hosting as many as three shows a day. Dinner and drink service is available during every performance. In addition to its reputation of presenting internationally known stars, Joe's Pub has also developed into a premier showcase stage for up-and-coming musicians and emerging artists from a variety of disciplines. www.joespub.com

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals, and productions of classics at its downtown home and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public Theater's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day onstage and through extensive outreach programs. Each year, more than 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public Theater's productions have won 42 Tony Awards, 158 Obies, 42 Drama Desk Awards and four Pulitzer Prizes. Fifty-four Public Theater Productions have moved to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones; That Championship Season; A Chorus Line; For Colored Girls…; The Pirates of Penzance; The Tempest; Bring In 'da Noise, Bring In 'da Funk; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Topdog/Underdog; Take Me Out; Caroline, or Change; Passing Strange; the revival of HAIR; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Merchant of Venice. www.publictheater.org.

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