Photo Flash: First Look at CHEMISTRY OF LOVE Premiere at La MaMa

La MaMa presents the World Premiere of Chemistry of Love, written by Jill Campbell and directed by George Ferencz. Chemistry of Love runs now through May 19, 2013 in a limited engagement at La MaMa's First Floor Theatre, located at 74A East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue & the Bowery in New York City. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

When conceptual artist Lara is nominated for a half-million dollar grant, she must present a brilliant new work to an anonymous committee in order to collect. Her friends and colleagues are thrilled for her, but resentment boils just under the surface, and when her best friend Karen tries to co-opt her project, Lara discovers that making art among friends has higher stakes then she could have imagined. A biting and emotional look at the insular art world, friends become competitors, creativity is a commodity and happiness for others' success is in short supply. A mixed media World Premiere, Chemistry of Love strips bare the process of making art, revealing the toll it takes on one's self and peers.

Inspired by Albert Camus' The Artist at Work, Chemistry of Love received development support from La MaMa's Experiments Series and was nominated by La MaMa for the 2011 Weissberger Award.

The cast includes Dennis Parlato (Broadway's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Sound of Music and A Chorus Line), Matt Baxter Luceno (King Lear and Ion with Shakespeare Theatre Company), Kim Merrill (Hit and Run at Soho Rep, Kean at Arena Stage) and Jenne Vath (The Tooth Of Crime and The Warzone is My Bed at La MaMa, Post Code at HERE).

The creative team includes Obie Award winner Donald Eastman (Set Design), Emmy Award winner Sally Lesser (Costume Design), Obie Award winner Tim Schellenbaum (Sound Design), Jeff Tapper (Lighting Design), Jonathan Phelps (Video Design and Mixed Media) and Jason Marx (Assistant Director).

Jill Campbell began her career at The Public Theater during Joseph Papp's reign. She spent three formative years in the UK, where her first play Forgive Me Father was produced at the London Fringe and at the Dublin Fringe Festival. Her plays have been produced or workshopped in New York at La MaMa, Mabou Mines, New Georges, Cherry Lane, Mind the Gap and Easthampton Playhouse, and at The Side Project and Women's Theatre Project in Chicago and Luna Stage in NJ. She has been a resident artist with Mabou Mines and is a current member of the PDU at The Actors Studio. Campbell is also a documentary producer who has worked on Dancing Across Borders directed by Anne Bass and Never Stand Still, filmed at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. She's the Assistant Producer on the documentary Out of Print, narrated by Meryl Streep, which premieres at this year's Tribeca Film Festival. She is currently writing and producing Hamlet of Canfield Gardens about the life of her mentor, British playwright Bernard Kops.

Director George Ferencz has been active in New York theatre as a director, producer and teacher for over four decades. He's currently a resident director at La MaMa, where he has directed over 30 productions during the past 30 years. He's also been the Literary Curator of La MaMa's Experiments Reading Series for the last 15 years. He has staged several festivals including the Obie Award-winning La MaMa Festival of Sam Shepard's music plays, Shepard Sets, and a festival of Shepard's Rock'n'Roll plays, Shep'nRep. Ferencz has directed regionally at Actors' Theatre of Louisville, Berkeley Rep and Cleveland Playhouse, among others.

Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2:30pm. Tickets are $18 for adults and $13 for students/seniors and can be purchased online at http://LaMaMa.org, in person at the box office or by calling 212-475-7710. The running time is 1 hour and 40 minutes with one intermission. For more information visit http://ChemistryofLove.net. La MaMa is accessible from the F train to 2nd Ave. or the #6 train to Bleecker St.

Photo Credit: Emily Boland

Dennis Parlato as Florant, Kim Merrill as Lara, Jenne Vath as Karen and Matt Baxter Luceno as Tyler

Kim Merrill as Lara (top) and Matt Baxter Luceno as Tyler (bottom)

Dennis Parlato as Florant, Jenne Vath as Karen, Kim Merrill as Lara and Matt Baxter Luceno as Tyler

Kim Merrill as Lara and Dennis Parlato as Florant

Matt Baxter Luceno as Tyler and Kim Merrill as Lara

Kim Merrill as Lara and Matt Baxter Luceno as Tyler

Kim Merrill as Lara and Dennis Parlato as Florant