Bloomingdale's and Primary Stages Form Corporate Partnership For 'The Right Kind Of People'

By: Jan. 12, 2006
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Off-Broadway's Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Executive Producer - Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director ­ Elliot Fox, Managing Director) and Bloomingdale's have formed a corporate partnership in celebration of the New York Premiere of Charles Grodin's new play, The Right Kind of People, which begins performances at Primary Stages, the resident company at 59E59 Theaters, Tuesday, January 24, 2006, and is slated to run until Sunday, March 5, 2006.  Opening night is scheduled for Thursday, February 9, 2006.
Bloomingdale's is donating furniture to Primary Stages to be used as on-stage set pieces for The Right Kind of People.  The set pieces represent rooms in various fashionable 5th Avenue apartment homes.  The play, based on Mr. Grodin¹s personal experiences while sitting on a 5th Avenue co-op board, is a biting send-up of these committees, where issues of race, gender, and social status simmer just beneath the surface.

Primary Stages and Bloomingdale's are both thrilled with the opportunity to partner on this project.  "Retail IS theater," said Anne Keating, Bloomingdale's Senior Vice President of Public Relations.  "Bloomingdale's has always been a wonderful supporter of the Arts, so to partner with Primary Stages, a cultural institution in our neighborhood, makes perfect sense-- their audience are our customers," continued Keating. A public furniture auction to help benefit Primary Stages, the non-profit theatre company now in its 21st year, will take place immediately after the final performance of The Right Kind of People in Theater A at 59E59 Theaters on Sunday, March 5, 2006.  Advance reservations for the auction will be necessary.

Details and presenters for the exclusive auction are currently being coordinated.

The corporate partnership between Bloomingdale's and Primary Stages marks the launch of Primary Stages new Corporate Partnership Program.

The goal of this program is to create close relationships between Primary Stages and corporations based in the Upper East Side.  For further details, please contact Erica Raven, Director of Development, at 212-840-9705 or erica@primarystages.com.

The New York premiere of The Right Kind of People is being produced by Primary Stages in association with Julian Schlossberg at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59 Street between Park & Madison Avenues). The cast, under the direction of Chris Smith, features Doris Belack, Stephen Bradbury, Fred Burrell, Mitch Greenberg, Keith Jochim, Katherine Leask, Ed Owens, Robert Stanton, Evan Thompson, and John C. Vennema.  The creative team includes Annie Smart (sets, with furniture pieces generously provided by Bloomingdale¹s), Jenny Mannis (costumes), Russell Champa (lights) and Fabian Obispo (sound).  The Production Stage Manager is Emily N. Wells.

The Right Kind of People plays the following schedule: Tuesdays at 7pm, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Saturday matinees at 2pm and Sunday matinees at 3pm.  Wednesday matinees are scheduled for February 22 and March 1 at 2pm.  The limited engagement begins previews January 24, 2006.  OPENING NIGHT IS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2006 at 7:00PM and continues through Sunday afternoon, March 5, 2006.  Single tickets, now on sale, are $60 and may be purchased at the 59E59 Theaters box office, through Ticket Central online at www.ticketcentral.com or by calling (212) 279-4200.  For further information about Primary Stages, please visit our website at www.primarystages.com or call 212-840-9705.

BIOGRAPHIES

Charles Grodin (Playwright).   The Right Kind of People is his third play to be produced in New York. His first, Price of Fame, was produced by the Roundabout Theatre, followed by One of the All Time Greats produced by the Vineyard Theatre.  Earlier, he co-authored the musical satire Hooray! It¹s a Glorious DayŠand all that which played at Theatre 4.  For the movies he wrote Movers and Shakers, which starred Walter Matthau, and adapted 11 Harrowhouse, which starred among others Sir John Gielgud, James Mason, and Trevor Howard. He is the author of four books including the bestseller, It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here.  He won an Emmy as a writer of "The Paul Simon Special".  He has contributed op-ed pieces to The New York Times on theatre and sports, and has written for Esquire Magazine and The Village Voice among several other publications.  He was a commentator for "60 Minutes II," and his cable show ran on CNBC and MSNBC for five years and was nominated for a Cable Ace Award as Best Talk Show.  As an actor, he appeared in movies over a thirty-five year period.  On Broadway, he won the Outer Critics Circle award for his performance in Same Time, Next Year, and directed Lovers and Other Strangers.  He is currently a commentator for CBS News Radio.  His play, The Prosecution of Brandon Hein, opens at the Culture Project in the spring.

CHRIS SMITH (Director) is the Artistic Director of the acclaimed Magic Theatre in San Francisco, where he has directed world premieres of Mat Smart¹s The Hopper Collection, John Belluso's The Rules of Charity, and Charles Grodin's The Right Kind of People.  Prior to his move from New York to San Francisco, he was the Artistic Director of Youngblood, Associate Artistic Director of The Ensemble Studio Theatre, and the Founding Program Director for the EST/Sloan Project.  In New York, he has directed four plays by Pulitzer Prize-winner Frank Gilroy (including Drama Desk Best Play-nominated Contact With the Enemy), and world premieres by Brad Desch, Lloyd Suh, Arthur Giron, Romulus Linney, David Ives, Joyce Carol Oates, Gen LeRoy, David Zellnik, Paul Selig, and Dmitry Lipkin, among others.  Regionally he directed the inaugural production of Joe Pintauro¹s Men¹s Lives at the Bay Street Theatre, and again at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Provincetown Rep, and Beverly Hills Playhouse.  His work in television includes directing for CBS's "As The World Turns."   He is the author of the musical book for A Sense of Freedom, with composer/lyricist Domenick Allen, and Signs & Wonders, with composer Tom Boros and lyricist Herschel Garfein. He is a graduate of Brown University

PRIMARY STAGES was founded in 1984 with a mission to produce new plays and nurture the development of emerging writers.  Now in its 21st season, Primary Stages continues to foster an environment where writers are encouraged to explore the scope of their creative vision.  The company has been instrumental in developing the skills of hundreds of young artists as well as adding over 90 new plays to the library of American theatre by such writers as A.R. Gurney, Terrence McNally, Julia Jordan, Conor McPherson, Willy Holtzman, Romulus Linney, Donald Margulies, Melissa Manchester, John Patrick Shanley, Gen LeRoy, David Ives, Constance Congdon, and Mac Wellman.  Working together with established writers has offered some of the country¹s most noted playwrights a home to continue the exploration of their vision.  Over the years Primary Stages has received considerable critical acclaim as well as over 20 theatre and literary awards, including the Lucille Lortel, the OBIE, the Outer Critics Circle, several Drama Desk nominations, and three Audelco Awards.  In The Continuum, Dedication or The Stuff of Dreams, Going To St. Ives, The Stendhal Syndrome, The Day Emily Married, The Fourth Wall, All in the Timing, The Old Settler, Missing/Kissing, When They Speak of Rita, The Model Apartment, Scotland Road, You Should Be So Lucky, and Sabina are among the many plays brought to national attention at Primary Stages and now being produced throughout the world. www.primarystages.com.     

BLOOMINGDALE'S, a division of Federated Department Stores, was founded in 1872 and operates 36 stores in New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Minnesota, Florida, California and Georgia. For website access, please log onto www.bloomingdales.com.          

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