Photo Flash: One-Man Multi-Character Murder Mystery THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY Comes to B Street

Phoebe's life in Neptune, New Jersey is unremarkable until a confident 14 year-old orphan named Leonard Pelkey joins her family. In fact, his impact is bigger than the family, he brightens the community. That is, until he goes missing.

Inspired by James Lecesne's novel by the same name, the stage adaptation of The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey received its world premiere at the Dixon Place Theatre in New York City in February of 2015.After receiving a rave review in The New York Times, the production went on to play at the Westside Theatre in New York and proceeded to tour throughout the United States. James Lecesne has performed his original work at theatres across the country including the Philadelphia Theatre Company, Laguna Playhouse, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre and The Old Globe Theatre. Outside of the touring production, Leonard Pelkey is slated for productions at other acclaimed regional theatres including Florida Studio Theatre and B Street.

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey and B Street Theatre

After producing the hysterical and absurd An Act of God, B Street Theatre will finish its B3 Series with compassion and community in The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey . The one-man show about acceptance of that which is different will keep audiences in touch with their humanity.

" Leonard Pelkey is an important story told with incredible warmth and theatricality. While the subject matter is at times heartbreaking, I believe that this piece leaves the audience with hope and joy when they realize the way that one human can touch the lives of so many," says Artistic Producer Dave Pierini.

B Street is thrilled to have nationally acclaimed actor Rich Hebert return to the stage to take on the challenging and fulfilling task of embodying the many characters who help to tell the story of Leonard Pelkey.

The Playwright :

James Lecesne: James wrote the screenplay for the short film Trevor , which won an Academy Award and inspired the founding of The Trevor Project, the only nationwide 24-hour suicide prevention and crisis intervention lifeline for LGBT and questioning youth. He wrote the Broadway play The Best Man and Off-Broadway plays include Word of Mouth , presented by Mike Nichols and Elaine May (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award); The Boys in the Band ; Motherhood Out Loud ; One Man Band ; and Cloud 9 . Television writing credits include: "Armistead Maupin's Further Tales of the City" (Emmy nomination), "Will & Grace" and the ITVS series "Vicious" starring Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi. James has written three novels for young adults, including Absolute Brightness , and he was executive producer of the documentary film After the Storm , which follows the lives of 12 young people living in post-Katrina New Orleans.

The Director: Jerry Montoya - Jerry has been the Associate Producer for the B Street for the past fifteen years. He has directed A Skull in Connemara, What the Butler Saw, The Seafarer, Speed-The-Plow, Jack Gallagher's Concussed: Four Days In The Dark and Red , among others. His play Love And Baseball was recently produced by B Street Theatre. His adaptations and original works for the Family Series include Mary Shelley's Frankenstein , The Flying Machine, Treasure Island and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes .

The Setting : Neptune, New Jersey Cast:

Performer: Rich Hebert - Last seen at B Street Theatre in their production of Clever Littles Lies , Rich is familiar to Sacramento audiences from his roles at the The Music Circus in Big River, West Side Story and Brigadoon as well and Dad in the touring company of Billy Elliott . His other Broadway and tour credits include Sting's The Last Ship, We Will Rock You, The Life, Saturday Night Fever, Sunset Blvd. Les Miserables (Bay Area Critics Circle Award), CATS and Rock and Roll the First 5000 Years . Film and Television: P atriots Day, Brotherhood, NYPD Blue, Line of Fire, Sopranos, Law & Order SW, Deadline, 21 Jump St., The Oldest Rookie,

Conspiracy Theory, Loving, Young and the Restless. Rich can be heard on 2 Grammy Award winning records. Proud to be Neely's dad.

More about B Street Theatre: B Street Theatre is a non-profit, professional theatre company producing primarily new work for adults, families and children. The two-theatre playhouse on B Street in Midtown Sacramento is home to the Mainstage Series, B3 Series and Family Series , each created to feature intimate, quality theatre for audiences year-round. Recognized as one of the nation's top professional theatres, B Street Theatre has produced more than 160 world premieres written by B Street playwrights and numerous productions which were world, national, West Coast or regional premieres.

B Street Theatre was originally founded in 1986 with the purpose of bringing the excitement of live performance to children through the B Street Theatre School Tour. This educational outreach program still serves over 200,000 students in Northern California annually.

B Street Theatre programs include the Mainstage Series, B Street Theatre Family Series and Family Series Student Matinees (for school field trips), the B3 Series, B Street School Tours, Sketch Comedy, B Street Acting Conservatory and Studio for Young People, and the B Street Theatre Internship program for pre-professional/post-college training.

In 2014, B Street brought its most popular play ever, Around the World in 80 Days, to India. The original cast performed in three Indian cities, furthering the organization's mission by bringing high quality theatre to an international audience, while also raising money for Indian educational enrichment and schools and partnering with an overseas performing arts center with the hope of future international collaboration. B Street Theatre has produced over 250 professional productions since 1986.

More information at www.bstreettheatre.org.

The mission of B Street Theatre is to promote education and literacy, social interaction, and cultural enrichment by engaging children and adults in the highest quality theatre arts and playwriting.

Photo Credit: Rudy Meyers Photography

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