World Premiere Of OUR AMERICAN QUEEN to be Presented at The Flea Theater

This limited Off-Off-Broadway engagement will begin performances on June 11th and continue through June 29th only, at The Flea Theater, 20 Thomas Street, NY 10007.

Christopher McElroen will direct a cast that features Brooke Camilleri Agius (U.S. Debut), Paul Niebanck, Christopher Wareham (U.S. Debut), Roya Shanks, and Dana Watkins. Our American Queen will have scenic design by Neal Wilkinson; costume design by Elivia Bovenzi Blitz; lighting design by Lucrecia Briceno; sound and video design by Jørgen Noodt Skjærvold; and production stage management by Kyra Bowie.

Originally developed at The Lark Playwriting Center, Our American Queen is a new 5-character play by Thomas Klingenstein that delves into the real-life drama of the 1864 Presidential election, where Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase daringly challenges President Lincoln for the Republican nomination, while his daughter Kate deftly navigates her ambition and societal expectations. Despite the constraints placed upon her as a woman of her time, Kate's strategic prowess earns her the revered title in the press of "Our American Queen." Yet, as she weighs marriage proposals from wealthy suitors and grapples with her affection for one of her father's political rivals, Kate must confront the true price of power. Will she sacrifice love for ambition, opting for a path that secures a political legacy in a nation on the brink, or will she listen to her heart's desires?

Brooke Camilleri Agius (Kate Chase) and Christopher Wareham (John Hay), both graduates of the Guildford School of Acting in London, are making their U.S. Debuts.

Paul Niebanck (Salmon Chase) has previously worked in New York in Jelly's Last Jam (City Center); Richard III, (NYSF); Las Borinquenas (EST); Barbecue, Plenty (The Public); Blood and Gifts, In the Next Room (LCT); A Walk in the Woods, BOY (Keen); The Revengers Tragedy, Changeling (Redbull); RX (Primary Stages); American Clock (Signature); A Picture of Autumn (Mint); Much Ado About Nothing (TFANA); The Seagull, (Pearl); Leaving Queens (Women's Project); TV/Film: West Side Story, Manhattan Romance, Madam Secretary, Good Fight, The Blacklist, Person of Interest, Burn Notice. He holds an MFA from Yale.

Roya Shanks (Carlotta Eastman) has performed Off-Broadway and at such regional houses as the Cleveland Playhouse, Geva, Premiere Stages, The Old Globe and Portland Stage. Her many TV and film appearances include Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, Blue Bloods, The Americans, Happy, and Second Act.

Dana Watkins (General McClellan) theatre credits includes Edwin at Theatre at St Clements, My First Time at New World Stages, Fitzgerald in Allan Knee's The Jazz Age at 59E59, Marat/Sade, Native Son, Macbeth and The Cherry Orchard at CTH, The French Lieutenant's Woman at The Fulton, Kafka in Stanley Walden's Letter to My Father at the Kaye Playhouse, Henry IV, Poe in the one-man show An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe. TV: Loosies, Christmas with Holly, OLTL, Guiding Light. Film: Honor Among Thieves, The Stuff, Falling to Pieces, How to be a Man, The Empath, Dreamgirl. Dana is a graduate of SUNY Purchase.

THOMAS KLINGENSTEIN (Playwright) is a New York City-based playwright, has had his work developed and presented at the american vicarious, The Lark, Theatre Lab NYC, Atlantic Theatre Studios, and The New York Historical Society. His previous plays include If Only, starring Melissa Gilbert, which premiered at The Cherry Lane in 2018; Douglass, which premiered at Theatre Wit in Chicago in 2016; and Mr. Lincoln, featuring Peter J. Fernandez, which premiered at The New York Historical Society in 2010.

Christopher McElroen (Director) is Artistic Director of the american vicarious. Christopher's most recent project, Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley, premiered in London's West End in 2023 and is currently touring through 2025. In collaboration with six-time Grammy Award nominee Gerald Clayton, Christopher developed and directed Piedmont Blues: A Search for Salvation, which was presented at Harlem Stage in June 2022. Christopher received a 2013 Helen Hayes Award for his direction of the world premiere stage adaptation of Ralph Ellison's iconic novel Invisible Man. Christopher had the honor of directing 51st (dream) State, the final work of poet, musician, and activist Sekou Sundiata, which premiered at BAM's Next Wave Festival. Alongside visual artist Paul Chan, actor Wendell Pierce, and Creative Time, Christopher co-produced and directed Waiting for Godot in New Orleans, a year-long community development through the arts initiative in post-Katrina New Orleans. The archives from the production were acquired into the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Previously, he co-founded the Classical Theatre of Harlem, where from 1999 to 2009, he oversaw 41 productions yielding 18 AUDELCO Awards, 6 OBIE Awards, 2 Lucille Lortel Awards, and a Drama Desk Award.

Performances for Our American Queen will be Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 7:30PM, with matinees on Saturdays at 2:00PM. All performances are at The Flea Theater, 20 Thomas Street, New York 10007.

Tickets for Our American Queen are $35.00 plus convenience fees and can be purchased online at OurAmericanQueen.com

 

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