Lipton's 'Goodbye April, Hello May' Begins June 28

Roadworks Productions NY will present the world premiere of Ethan Lipton's new play Goodbye April, Hello May. Patrick McNulty (productions at Vineyard Theatre, Culture Project, etc.) will stage the production set to open on the mainstage of HERE Arts Center beginning June 28, 2007.  It runs through July 16.

The cast will feature: Albert Aeed (The Miser and Macbeth at Jean Cocteau Rep) as Harry, Bill Coelius (Pig Farm, Everything Will Be Different) as Tom, Gibson Frazier (God's Ear, The Internationalist) as Frank, Kelly Mares (The Women on Broadway, Juno and the Paycock) as Irene, and Maria Striar (founder and co-director of Clubbed Thumb) as Paula.

"Goodbye April, Hello May is an eye-opening comedic look into a future where most of our fears have already come true. Set in Coney Island in the early 22nd century, Ethan Lipton's new play follows five roommates in their 40s and 50s who are struggling just to get by.  Despite the fact that the world is falling down around them, these deluded, neurotic New Yorkers continue to obsess over the minutiae of their little lives.  Yes, New York is still the greatest city on earth, but rents are criminal, the children are violent and everyone's a little self-centered," state press notes.

Ethan Lipton developed Goodbye April, Hello May in a residency with New York Stage & Film and a subsequent workshop with Clubbed Thumb. His previous play Meat has been produced in New York (dir. Ken Rus Schmoll), at the Edinburgh Fringe (dir. Tom Mansfield) and in Los Angeles (dir. Steve Chabon), where it earned a Drama-Logue Award for playwriting.  His other plays include One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, directed by Emma Griffin at Clubbed Thumb's Summerworks 2005, and Hope on the Range directed by Brian Kite for Buffalo Nights in Los Angeles. As a songwriter and bandleader, Lipton has released three albums and played extensively in New York and beyond.

The production will feature choreography by Gabriella Barnstone, sound design by Andy Leviss, original music by Eben Levy, lighting design by G. Benjamin Swope, costume design by Candice Thompson and set design by Jo Winiarski.

Since 1993, the OBIE-winning HERE Arts Center has been a premier arts organization in NYC and a leader in the field of new, hybrid performance work. Under the artistic leadership of Kristin Marting, HERE has served 11,000 emerging to mid-career artists developing work that does not fit a conventional programming agenda. 

Roadworks Productions NY is the New York extension of Roadworks Productions which was founded in 1992 by a group of Northwestern University grads in Chicago. Roadworks has garnered some 40 nominations for Joseph Jefferson Awards and Citations.

This production is being presented through HERE's Supported Artist Program, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as technical and administrative support.

Visit www.ethanlipton.com for more information.

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