THE BALLAD OF ALEJANDRO LOPEZ Wraps Barefoot Theatre Co.'s bareNaked Series Tonight

Barefoot Theatre Company will present the final reading in their bareNaked Reading Series (Molly Marinik, Program Director; Jennie West, Co-Producer) for the season, with Dwayne Yancey's THE BALLAD OF ALEJANDRO LOPEZ, directed by Rose Bonczek, tonight, June 17th at 8:00 PM at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street).

The cast of the reading of THE BALLAD OF ALEJANDRO LOPEZ will feature Barefoot company members Luca Pierucci, Victoria Malvagno, Samantha Fontana, Lydia Gladstone, Jeremy Brena, Gillian Rougier, and Mark Cisneros along with Jay Nickerson, Mickey Ryan, and Sheree V. Campbell. In addition to the reading, there will be live music courtesy of Joe Crow Ryan, and complimentary refreshments for the audience.

The reading is free and open to the public, please email barefootRSVP@aol.com to make reservations.

The bareNaked Reading Series has thus far presented readings of Mando Alvarado's ON THE 5:31, Joe Pintauro's SNOW ORCHID, Mike Reiss' RUBBLE, Hilary Bettis' ALLIGATOR in New York City, and A COLLECTION OF SHORT PLAYS including works by Israel Horovitz, Tyler Pascett, Michael Reyes, Danelle Eliav, Jennifer Skura and Kristina Poe in Los Angeles.

In 1999, Barefoot Theatre Company (Producing Artistic Director, Francisco Solorzano) was founded by a multicultural group of artists determined to produce vital, thought-provoking works, both new and existing. Barefoot Theatre Company's most recent collaborations include the Off Broadway Revival of Pintauro's RAFT OF THE MEDUSA as well as a workshop of the new play, F**KING VIGWAN (OR SWAG) by Pulitzer Prize nominee Kristoffer Diaz both at the Cherry Lane Theatre.

For more information about the bareNaked Reading Series or Barefoot Theatre Company, please visit www.BarefootTheatreCompany.org.

DWAYNE YANCEY (Playwright) is a playwright from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia whose work has been produced on four continents, with recent shows in Asia and Africa. However, his most recent full-length script, "The Ballad of Alejandro Lopez," is a very American play, dealing with baseball -- and immigration. "Sweets to the Sweet," his female version of Hamlet set in a modern-day slumber party, opens in Chicago at the Gorilla Tango Theatre in September. Yancey's work has previously been seen in New York in the "Gone in 60 Seconds" Festival of one-minute plays and Barefoot's benefit for hurricane victims in Rockaway. He is online at dwayneyancey.wordpress.com.

ROSE BONCZEK (Director) was recently appointed a Full Professor of theater at Brooklyn College, is head of the BFA Acting Program, and a recipient of the Clare Tow Distinguished Teacher Award. Co-author with David Storck of Ensemble Theatre Making: A Practical Guide, Routledge Press, 2012. She is entering her ninth year as Festival Director of Gi60: The International One Minute Play Festival: Live US Edition (www.gi60.blogspot.com), an international collaboration that has produced over 1000 original short plays that can be viewed on the Gi60 Channel on YouTube. Directing credits include the premiere of Lily Rose by Aurora de Peña for the Ghost Story Festival at the Viaduct Theatre, UK; Pygmalion Off Broadway (Zagat's Best Revival); The Laramie Project for Synergy Ensemble; The Rimers of Eldritch, Rough Magic, Take Me Out, Savage in Limbo, and the Crucible at Brooklyn College, and the annual BFA Actors Showcase at Theatre Row. Member of the League of Professional Theater Women, and board member of Barefoot Theatre Company.