Old Norman Productions to Bring SONNY UNDER THE ASSUMPTION to AKI Studio Theatre, 7/23-27

Old Norman Productions is pleased to announce the world premiere of SONNY UNDER THE ASSUMPTION, an original play by Edward Allan Baker (North of Providence, Dolores) debuting in Toronto, July 23-27 at the AKI Studio Theatre, Daniel Spectrum Artscape (250-585 Dundas Street). This powerful play investigates the realistic gap between the haves and have-nots, and questions whether individual people are truly capable of changing themselves - and thereby able to change the community they live in.

Directed by Ron Stetson and co-produced and featuring Eden Brolin (I Dream Too Much) and Toronto native Nicole Cardoni (Being Erica, Happy Town), SONNY UNDER THE ASSUMPTION is a play laced with hope, humour, rage, and transformations in the face of despair. SONNY UNDER THE ASSUMPTION was initially workshopped through The Neighbourhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York, NY at The Rita Wallach Morgenthau Theatre in 2013. To help bring the show and the cast to Toronto for the world premiere, the producers started a Kickstarter campaign, and attained their goal by June 15.

The two-act drama is set in Providence, Rhode Island, about a young woman (Sonny) who left the banking business to become the Director of a Community Centre temporarily housed in the basement of a long boarded up Assumption Church. Her staff is made up of her social activist boyfriend and 6 community service workers, all of whom did prison time and are now finishing their court-appointed hours by preparing and delivering food to the needy, and Sonny is their confidant and Supervisor.

In desperate need of the public's financial assistance, Sonny's boyfriend (Rennie) arranged for a reporter (Kat Hellman), an alien to this side of town, to write a story about the centre. Once there, Kat can't disguise the fact that she's uncomfortable in this makeshift food pantry operated by ex-cons, where cell phones and computers don't work. And when Sonny realized Kat is incapable of feeling any empathy for the needy she decides to aggressively educate the young reported, a plot that widens the gulf between them. As the play unfolds, we see these colourful characters work through their own struggles as they try to shed the self that got them into trouble in the first place.

"We are thrilled to be coming to Toronto to premiere SONNY UNDER THE ASSUMPTION," said Star and Co-Producer Nicole Cardoni. "Growing up in Toronto, I was lucky enough to be exposed to the thriving arts scene in this city, and it's the perfect place to bring this show. The audiences are in for a dynamic piece of theatre with an exceptionally talented cast from New York. And to top it off, performing in the Daniel Spectrum Artscape, a space built by the community to build the creative wealth in the community, is so serendipitous to the plot of the play and will only enhance the experience."

The cast:

Eden Brolin as KAT HELLMAN (Original cast)
Nicole Cardoni as SONNY MONTECALVO (Original cast)
Mazin Akar as VICTOR PASHUN (Original cast)
Danielle Alonzo as T. RHONDA HILL (New cast)
Bryan Hamilton as FRANK WOODMAN (Original cast)
Sage Kitchen as JESSIE GANNON (New cast)
Irene Rivera as LUCY GUERRA (New cast)
Sean Shannon as RENNIE FONTAINE (New cast)
Jenny Statler as BLAKE OSBORN (Original cast)

Shows are Wednesday to Saturday at 7pm and Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are $33 at the door or available for $25 online at nativeearth.ca/sonny-under-the-assumption/. There will be a Pay What You Can matinee on Thursday, July 24 at 2pm. For ticket information contact the box office at 416-531-1402 or boxoffice@nativeearth.ca.

For more information on the show visit www.sonnyundertheassumption.com/.

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