Stage Left Studio Hosts THE GIFTED SERIES, Now thru 3/28

Good Works Productions & Fig Tree Productions in association with Stage Left Studio, are excited to announce The Gifted Series, two riveting and unique solo-shows written by acclaimed award-winning playwright Monica Bauer (Emerging Playwright Award, Urban Stages). The Gifted Series includes The Year I Was Gifted, performed by Monica Bauer and directed by Carolyn Ladd; and Made For Each Other, performed by John Fico and directed by John FitzGibbon.

The Gifted Series will play Friday nights from today, February 7th through March 28th, 2014 at Stage Left Studio (214 West 30th St, 6th Fl, Manhattan). Opening Night is Valentine's Day, Friday, February 14th, 2014.

After a successful run in Manhattan as part of the annual East to Edinburgh Festival (59E59 Theaters) and in Scotland as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Year I Was Gifted, a true gay straight love story between a young future playwright (Bauer) and acclaimed gay cinema director Bill Sherwood (Parting Glances), returns alongside critics favorite ("5 Stars" says ScotsGay Magazine, FringeGuru, Three Weeks) Made for Each Other (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Orlando Fringe Festival, London's Theatre Etcetera, Brighton's Dukebox Theater), a comedic drama she wrote for John Fico, inspired by the new era of marriage equality and a rush of new marriage proposals, and Bauer's experience caring for a relative with Alzheimer's.

The Year I Was Gifted, February 7-March 28, 2014
Written & performed by Monica Bauer
Directed by Carolynn Lad
Presented by Good Works Productions in association with Stage Left Studio

The year is 1969. A 16 year old girl from Nebraska meets her first gay friend, and has to decide which is more important; keeping her scholarship to a prestigious boarding school for the arts, or honoring her conscience and speaking out against an anti-gay administration? Who are we willing to betray to stay "gifted"?

A true story, written and performed by award-winning playwright Monica Bauer, who plays several roles, including Young Monica (desperate to find her tribe in the arts), Present Day Monica (the narrator with a wry sense of humor), and Bill Sherwood (a 17 year old composition major who teaches his friend about the hazards of being gay in the 1960's).

Each performance of The Year I Was Gifted is dedicated to the memory of Bill Sherwood, writer & director of the very first feature film about gay men with AIDS, Parting Glances.

The Year I Was Gifted performs the following regular schedule through March 28th, 2014: Fridays at 7 p.m. (followed by post-show reception with playwright Monica Bauer). Running time: 50 min. For more information, visit: www.TheYearIWasGifted.com.

Made for Each Other, February 7th-March 28th, 2014
By Monica Bauer
Performed by John Fico
Directed by John FitzGibbon
Presented by Fig Tree Productions in association with Stage Left Studio

Made for Each Other is the love story of Vincent, an acerbic, witty, closeted science teacher in his mid-fifties, and Jerry, a down-to-earth nurse who cares for Vincent's mother in an Alzheimer's ward. When Jerry proposes to Vincent after the third date, he has no idea that Vincent's told him a lie, a lie that might destroy their relationship. On the night before their wedding, Vincent must decide if he will tell the truth before the ceremony, and give Jerry the chance to back out. Each of these men carries a voice in their subconscious minds which pushes them toward each other. Vincent carries his Alzheimer's addled Broadway diva mother, and Jerry carries within him his irascible old Italian grandfather.

Made for Each Other performs the following regular schedule through March 28th, 2014: Fridays at 9 p.m. Running time: 60 min. For more, go to www.MadeForEachOtherThePlay.com.

Tickets for all performances are $25.00 and available to purchase online at www.StageLeftStudio.net. Tickets may also be purchased ½ hour before each performance at the venue. A special package for both shows is available for $35.00. Both shows take place at Stage Left Studio located 214 West 30th Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10001. For more information on The Gifted Series visit www.StageLeftStudio.net.

Monica Bauer (Playwright/Performer) is currently a Writing Fellow at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. Education includes a B.A. from Brown, M. Div. from Yale, M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska. She was the 2005 Teaching Fellow in the Graduate Playwriting Program at Boston University, where she received an MA in playwriting. Awards include 2012 Emerging Playwright Award from Urban Stages, as well as awards for outstanding script from the Midtown International Theater Festival and Theater Arts Guild. Heideman Award finalist for "Answering" (published by Heuer). Full length plays produced Off Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, regionally in Denver, Boston, Providence, and internationally at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Brighton (England) Fringe Festival. Her full length play about race, My Occasion of Sin, is part of the 2014 season of the Detroit Rep. Her play for one actor, Made for Each Other, has been in production since 2009, and begins a run Off-Off Broadway at Stage Left Studio. For full production history and all awards, go to www.monicabauer.com.

John Fico (Performer, Made for Each Other) has been performing Monica Bauer's Made For Each Other in theatre festivals since 2010; including Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Orlando Fringe, 59e59 Theatre's East to Edinburgh Festival and the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity (nominated Outstanding Actor in a Solo Show). NYC: The premiere of A. R. Gurney's Screen Play at The Flea, Most Ridiculous Thing You Ever Hoid (NYMF - winner Outstanding Ensemble Performance), Iron Curtain (Off-Broadway with Prospect Theatre Company), Lighter: The Diet Musical, Developmental Musical Series at The York Theatre, The Municipal Abattoir (Target Margin), A Stoop On Orchard Street (Mazer Theatre and National Tour). Also Forestburg Playhouse and several tours with POKO Puppets. Past member of The Bat Theater Company at The Flea Theater. www.johnfico.com

John FitzGibbon (Director, Made for Each Other) other directing credits include Cocteau's Orphee for Jean Erdman's Theatre of the Open Eye; Three By Tennessee for HPAC in Hawaii; Antigones for Hawaii Upward Bound; Robin Lichtig's Save The Turkey and Life 101 for NJ Rep's Theatre Brut Festival and her Bronco Buster for the Sam French Festival; Monica Bauer's Two Men Walked Into A Bar which ran at the Workshop Theatre as a companion piece with Made For Each Other. He received a Fulbright Scholarship to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. As an actor he received a Best of Boston Award for Moon For The Misbegotten (Jim Tyrone); a Carbonell Nomination for "Nick" in Sight Unseen; and and OBIE Nomination for the "lame beggar" in Yeats' Cat And The Moon.

CAROLYN LADD (Director, The Year I Was Gifted) is an actor, director, musician and theatre educator located in New Haven, CT. She has appeared on stage in New York, Chicago and New Haven, and in commercials, industrials, and short films. She teaches at the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, where her focus is Voice and Speech, Acting and Musical Theatre. She has served as vocal coach for professional and university productions, and maintains a private studio for singers, actors, and presenters. She holds degrees from St. Olaf College, Northwestern University, and The Theatre School of DePaul University, and is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association and the Voice and Speech Trainers Association.

STAGE LEFT STUDIO is an innovative space with an age-old mission: to support the new work of burgeoning artists. Curator/Producer/Artistic Director Cheryl King is a passionate and dedicated professional who seeks to nurture exciting new works and the artists who create them. The salon atmosphere of the intimate space is one of its many charms. Unlike the commercial theatre scene in NY (where even the smallest spaces have lost their edgy charm), Stage Left retains its raw, gritty energy. This place is so exciting that it is hard to describe the eclectic mix. On any given night you may see a polished solo work, a showcase of raw, unedited originals, a staged reading of a campy musical, or even be lucky enough to catch FORBIDDEN KISS: the truly titillating erotica series and the only thing of its kind in NY. Ms. King is the doyenne of Stage Left and her nurturing passion is the foundation of the edgiest place in town. GO! www.StageLeftStudio.net

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