Poetic Theater's BACK Begins Previews Tonight

Poetic Theater Productions, under the direction of Co-Artistic Directors' Jeremy Karafin and Alex Mallory, has announced that it will stage the world premiere of BACK, a new play written by Mickey Bolmer and directed by Andrew Willis-Woodward, that celebrates and mourns the history of Greenwich Village through the lives and stories of Frank O'Hara, Cookie Mueller, Hibiscus, Nan Goldin and Aaron Burr, among others. BACK features production design by Rachel Klein and begins previews tonight, October 17th at 8PM at the cell, 338 West 23rd St. The official opening is on Thursday, October 23rd at 8PM.

Set amidst the backdrop of a Greenwich Village gay club on Halloween 1989, the village partygoers take on the personas of past friends and lovers, many of whom lost their lives to AIDS. In her final days of life, Cookie Mueller makes a final journey to Varick Street to find her friends, or possibly to stop time, or perhaps to explore her history, or maybe just to dream. Everyone is invited to the tragedy party as Mickey Bolmer's rich poetic language takes us Back into a world of love, loss, creation, and possibility. Audience members are invited to attend in period appropriate attire to celebrate an evening of vogue, sexuality, history, and experimentation. A free drink will be provided with every ticket.

Mickey Bolmer developed Back with Poetic Theater Productions over three years, including readings and selections presented at Wild Project in "Poetic Theater Productions Presents...", "Uncharted", "Love, Redefined", and Poetic License 2012. He has written ten plays, including "Helen and SheS", developed in and presented as part of Culture Project's IMPACT 2012 "The War on Women 24 hour play festival". His play "NOAH and HOA" was produced at the New Playhouse in Frederick, Maryland. As an artist, Mickey works in terms of nodes, connecting sometimes seemingly disparate nodes of experiences, events and people to weave three­-dimensional tapestries of life. He lived at 2 Charlton St. in the 1980s and 90s.

Director Andrew Willis-Woodward's recent directing credits include: Rock, Paper, Scissors at the Lower East Side Festival, Songs Rona Wrote at the Laurie Beechman, and over a dozen short plays for Primary Stages' Einhorn School of Performing Arts Detention series. Andrew recently returned from the Powerhouse Summer Theater program at Vassar College where he worked as Associate Director on A Midsummer Night's Dream and as Director on a new one act. Andrew was last seen with Poetic Theater Productions directing a reading of a selection from Back. Andrew holds a B.S. from Stanford University and a Certificate from the CAP21 2-Year Professional Program.

Production Designer Rachel Klein is a NYC based theater director, choreographer, and designer coined "Endlessly Clever" (NY Post) and "Nothing short of brilliant" (Broadway World), and of who the New York Times has said "What makes this show pop is the bracing vision of its director, Rachel Klein." Off B'Way: The Anthem; Around the World in 80 Days; Gay Bride of Frankenstein (iStar Theatre Lab). Selected NYC Theater: Grindr the Opera; Carrie: Blood, Fire, and Ballet; The Dead Dream Machine; Symphony of Shadows (Jerome Robbins Foundation commission for Dixon Place); The Tragedy of Maria Macabre (The Tides Foundation commission); Go-Go Killers!; Hound (based on The Hound of the Baskervilles); Circus of Circus (New York Innovative Theater Awards nominee for Outstanding Director of a Play) & Stage Blood is Never Enough. Regional: A Midsummer Night's Dream (New Brunswick Shakespeare Festival). Educational: Alice in Wonderland at Camp Maor in PA; Co-hosted a DOE internship for Talent Unlimited High School with Danielle Marie Fusco and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. Miss Klein is an alumnus of the International Directors Symposium in Spoleto, Italy, and a SDC Associate.

The cast of BACK Features Xandra Clark, Mateo d'Amato, Tamara Geisler, Matthew Lynch, Felix J. Mayes, Olivia Nice, Bello Pizzimenti and Adam Wennick.

BACK features Set Design by Ellie Engstrom, Costume Design by Arielle Avenia, Lighting Design by Derek Miller, Sound Design by Isaiah Singer, Audio Engineering by Sean Hagerty, Stage Management by Miriam Salzman and Sarah Livant and Production Management by Siena Zoë Allen.

Performances of BACK are on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM, and run through October 31st.

Tickets to BACK are $20 and available at poetictheater.com or by calling OvationTix at 866-811-4111.

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