HotCity Theatre Opens Season with THE WINNERS, 9/9-9/24

HotCity Theatre, a professional theatre company with a focus on contemporary programming and new play development announces the opening of The Winners by David L. Williams. The Winners was the winning script for HotCity's 5th Annual GreenHouse New Play Festival in June 2010. It takes a serious look at responsibility and freedom and mayleave the audience questioning what problems money can truly solve in life.

HotCity Artistic Director and Stage Director Marty Stanberry says of the piece: "The Winners
has the edgy and sophisticated qualities that speak to the HotCity brand. It asks tough
questions while being humorous, quirky and extremely current. One adjective that kept coming
up by the audience [2010 New Play Festival] was "uncomfortable" - there is very little chance
that patrons will walk away unaffected in some way. This is the kind of play that will foster
discussion long after the play ends."

When:
Sept. 9th - Sept. 24th, Preview Sept. 8th
Thursdays, Fridays - 8pm
Saturdays - 3pm and 8pm*
Sundays - 7pm
*There is no 3:00pm matinee performance on opening weekend (Sept. 10th)

Where:
The Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Building, just south of
the Fox Theatre

Ticket Info:
General Admission tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for seniors (62+).
$15 Student Rush Tickets available 10 minutes before show time.

Preview tickets on Thursday, September 8th are $15.
Group discounts are available.

About the Show:
Cassie and Kurt, a couple in their late thirties, are celebrating; they recently won $337 million in
the lottery and they're going to fulfill a fantasy for both of them and hire an escort. They found
the website of Tiffany, a twenty-three year old Asian-American call girl, and have invited her
over to spend the whole night with them. Tiffany, seeing the money that can be made from this
situation, is definitely game, and even though Cassie and Kurt are awkward at first, they start to
be much more open to all the possibilities that Tiffany offers. What starts as a fantasy turns into
something darker, though, when one person decides that what can really be bought with all this
money isn't just sex but freedom, a freedom that can't ever be taken back.

The Playwright's Thoughts:
"The idea for The Winners came to me two years ago here in St. Louis as I was sitting down to
watch the reading of Jami Brandli's play, The Sinker. I misunderstood the opening stage
directions and thought it was going to be a play about a couple who wins the lottery and hires an
escort. I was very wrong in my estimation, but the upside was that I now had a great idea for a
play. I started writing what was to become The Winners that night, and I didn't really stop for
the next month. Where the play ended up was a place I never imagined when it started; I think
that's also how Cassie, Kurt, and Tiffany feel at the end of their long evening together. When
after the staged reading audience members were arguing with each other about the play and
the characters in it, I knew that I had something special.

Whenever I hear or read someone discussing the possibility of winning the lottery, he or she
always compares it to different horrible outcomes: winning the lottery versus dying in a plane
crash, winning the lottery versus being struck by lightning, winning the lottery versus being hit by
an asteroid. At first I thought people were contrasting a great thing with a terrible thing. Now I
wonder if they're just subconsciously trying to decide between the lesser of two evils.
I'm very excited to have HotCity producing the world premiere of The Winners. I love the people
at HotCity, I love what they do and especially their commitment to supporting new plays. This is
the third year in a row I have come to St. Louis to work with HotCity and I sincerely hope that it
will not be the last time I get this unique opportunity. Playwrights like me are lucky that theaters
like HotCity still exist."

About the Author:
David L. Williams is a graduate of the theatre department of Cornell University, where he was a
four-time award winner in the Heerman's-McCalmon Playwriting contest. Since then, he has
written more than twenty-five plays and musicals, including the book for the hit children's
musical, "The Bully." He is a member of the Dramatist Guild and has been chosen as a finalist
in Inkwell Theatre's Inkubator Festival, and has won the Riverside Stage Company's Founder's
Award, the EBE Ensemble's "You Fill In The Blank" festival, and HotCity Theatre's GreenHouse
New Play Festival. His career highlights include having four of his plays and musicals selected
for the New York International Fringe Festival and having his work produced in nine states and
Washington, D.C. Much thanks and love to his family and especially his wonderful wife
Kathleen!

Cast:
Shanara Gabrielle* - Cassie
Shaun Sheley* - Kurt
Sasha Diamond - Tiffany

Director:
Marty Stanberry

Staff:
James Holbrooke- Scenery
Sean Savoie - Lighting
Jane Sullivan- Costumes
Meg Brinkley- Properties
Jay Harvey - Sound Designer and Asst. Director
Stage Manager - Richard Agnew*
* Member of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in
the United States.

HotCity Theatre operates under a Small Professional Theatre contract with Actors Equity, the
union of professional actors and Stage Managers in the United States, and receives funding
from the Siteman Foundation, Regional Arts Commission, The Whitaker Foundation, The Arts
and Education Council, The Greater St. Louis Community Foundation, The Missouri Arts
Council, The Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation, The John R. Goodall Charitable Trust
and the William A. Kerr Foundation, as well as generous individuals in the community.

For more information, contact Allyson Ditchey at allyson@hotcitytheatre.org or call 314-289-4061.

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