A NERVOUS SMILE Opens At Kirk Theater 4/17

Theater Breaking Through Barriers will present the New York Premiere of John Belluso's, A Nervous Smile, on Friday, April 17, 2009 at 8PM at the Kirk Theatre, Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd St. The official opening will be on Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 8PM. Ike Schambelan directs.

A Nervous Smile is the final, most powerful play by John Belluso, a wonderful playwright with a disability who passed away tragically more than two years ago, on the cusp of a promising career. In the play, the wealthy parents of a girl severely disabled with cerebral palsy are strained to the breaking point by the burden of caring for their daughter. With a friend whose son also has CP, they decide to leave the burden of their children and fly off to South America and Europe. The play presents the consequences of their actions in a taut, riveting, fierce yet funny 80 minutes.

A Nervous Smile premiered at the Humana Festival in Louisville and The New York Times called it "Provocative... honest, funny and compassionate." The Louisville Courier-Journal said that the play "brings a fresh, honest perspective and a surprising amount of humor to the emotionally difficult subject."

John Belluso's work has been produced at the Public Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, Studio Dante, Keen Company and the Mark Taper Forum, where he was director of their Other Voices Project for six years.

Director Ike Schambelan has been a theatrical director, teacher and critic for 44 years and has directed several TBTB productions in recent years. He has a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College and a Doctor of Fine Arts from Yale Drama School. He has directed at the Long Wharf Theatre, the Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, The New Dramatists, Equity Library Theatre, the Pittsburgh Playhouse and the George Street Playhouse. He is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and of Actors' Equity. As founder and Artistic Director of Theater By The Blind he has built it for 30 years into an Off-Broadway company recognized for doing first class art.

The cast of A Nervous Smile features Melanie Boland, Pamela Sabaugh, Marilee Talkington and Nicholas Viselli.

Set and Lighting Design are by Bert Scott.

Performances are Wed & Thu at 7pm, Fri & Sat at 8pm, Sat & Sun at 3pm.

Tickets are $41.25 and can be purchased online at www.ticketcentral.com or by calling 212-279-4200.

The Kirk, Theatre Row is located at 410 W. 42nd Street, west of Ninth Avenue, NYC

For more information, visit www.tbtb.org.