THE NANCE Finds Full Cast at ArtsWest

ArtsWest's second production of its 2017-18 I AM Season, Douglas Carter Beane's THE NANCE, will be directed by ArtsWest Artistic Director Mathew Wright and feature renowned Seattle actors Richard Gray and Jeff Steitzer. THE NANCE, a musical play set in the raucous world of 1930s burlesque, plays at ArtsWest from October 26 through November 19, 2017.

In THE NANCE, Richard Gray plays the role of Chauncey Miles, a performer specializing in a very specific kind of burlesque: a "nance" act, which features bawdy songs, double entendre, and - most prominently - broad caricatures of homosexual stereotypes. But there's one important twist to Chauncey's act. While most "nance" performers were straight, Chauncey is, in fact, gay. Amid the all-too-common police raids of gay meeting places in 1930s New York, that fact alone could put him in real danger.

"The play is mostly about censorship, but it also a tragic love story - a really interesting tragic love story because it's an intergenerational gay male relationship," says ArtWest Artistic Director Mathew Wright, who also directs THE NANCE. "More than anything, it's a shocking look at what institutionalized censorship looks like, and a reminder of how slippery - and how dangerous - of a slope that is."

"At the same time," adds Wright, "there are these comic burlesque vignettes that are hysterically funny. It's a hysterical, brash, ballsy, all-out, campy comedy - until it's not. Plays like that make us laugh in a really authentic way. They ask us to laugh and then look at the repercussions - where that laughter is coming from within us."

Returning to ArtsWest for THE NANCE are Scenic Designer Lex Marcos (THE WHO & THE WHAT) - who has designed an intimate Cabaret experience for the audience - Costume Designer Kelsey Rogers (THE WHO & THE WHAT, MILK LIKE SUGAR), Lighting Designer Tristan Roberson (SWEENEY TODD, Green Day'S AMERICAN IDIOT), Music Director John Lehrack, Choreographer Shadou Mintrone (Green Day'S AMERICAN IDIOT), Sound Designer Haley Parcher (VIOLET, Green Day'S AMERICAN IDIOT), and Properties Master Andrea Spraycar (THE WHO & THE WHAT, SWEENEY TODD).

Rounding out the cast is Drew Highlands (DEATH OF A SALESMAN), Ann Cornelius (ANGRY HOUSEWIVES, Green Day'S AMERICAN IDIOT) and ArtsWest newcomers Jasmine Jean Sim and Diana McQueen.

THE NANCE, directed by Mathew Wright and starring Richard Gray and Jeff Steitzer, opens at ArtsWest Playhouse & Gallery on October 26 and plays through November 19.

Cast:
Richard Gray - Chauncey Miles
Jeff Steitzer - Efram
Drew Highlands - Ned
Ann Cornelius - Sylvie
Jasmine Jean Sim - Carmen
Diana McQueen - Joan

Creative Team:
Directed by Mathew Wright
Stage Manager - Teresa Mitcheletti
Music Director - John Lehrack
Choreographer - Shadou Mintrone
Lighting Designer - Tristan Roberson
Costume Designer - Kelsey Rogers
Scenic Designer - Lex Marcos
Properties Master - Andrea Spraycar
Sound Designer - Haley Parcher

THE NANCE plays October 26 - November 19, 2017 at ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery (4711 California Ave SW, Seattle WA 98116). Tickets (ranging from $19 - $40) may be purchased online at www.artswest.org, by phone at 206.938.0339, or at the Box Office Thurs. - Sat. 2 -7:30pm.

ArtsWest is a vibrant center for both performing and visual arts located in the West Seattle Junction. This 149-seat theatre provides a unique setting for audiences and artists as stories of human emotion unfold in an intimate space. Winner of the American Theatre Wing's 2012 National Theatre Company Award, ArtsWest has produced such diverse work as Green Day's American Idiot, Chinglish, last fall's critically acclaimed production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts and the smash hit Peter and the Starcatcher. ArtsWest produces artistic events that provoke conversation, incite the imagination and use live theater as a powerful agent of change.

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