Caissie Levy, Melissa Leo & More Set for Planet Connections Gala, 6/22

Casting has been announced for the 2014 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity Gala 'One Acts for a Cause' set to take place on Sunday, June 22 at 7:30pm at the East 13th Street Theater (136 East 13th Street).The evening, which will benefit the non-profit NYC food services agency City Harvest, will feature Academy Award-winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter)?, three-time Tony Award nominee Mary Beth Hurt (Crimes of the Heart, films The World According to Garp & The Age of Innocence), Caissie Levy (currently starring as Fantine in LES MISERABLES), Phoebe Strole (Spring Awakening, Glee), Jonathan Walker (Rocky, The Assembled Parties), Eric Lenox Abrams (All The Way), Kellie Overbey (The Coast of Utopia) Tina Benko (Irena's Vow, Top Girls) & Andrew Garman (Salome with Al Pacino), Obie Award-winners Russell G. Jones (Ruined) & ?Eisa Davis (Sustained Excellence, Passing Strange), and Courtney Thomas (Eve Ensler's Emotional Creature), Jon Norman Schneider (The Architecture of Being) and Quincy Tyler Bernstine (Ruined, Chappelle's Show).

'One Acts for a Cause' will showcase world premiere one-act plays by four acclaimed playwrights: Obie Award-winner Israel Horovitz's St Anne's Soup which will be directed by Planet Connections Festivity founder and Co-Artistic Director Glory Kadigan (Neil LaBute world premieres Over the River at The Signature, Two Minute Warning), Wendy MacLeod's Community Service which will be directed by Lucille Lortel nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Hand to God), Snap! by Winter Miller which will be directed by Jessi D. Hill (Associate Artistic Director at terraNOVA Collective) & Erik Ehn and the Tenderloin Opera Company's Frail/Ingilin which will be directed by Mia Rovegno (Women's Project's We Play For The Gods, La MaMa's Burnt Umber).

The creative team this year also includes Scenic Design by Craig Napoliello, Lighting Design by Festivity award winner Christopher Weston, Costume Design by Izzy Fields, Sound Design by Festivity award winner Jacob Subotnick, Projection/Video Design by Festivity award winner Gil Sperling, Technical Direction & Stage Management by Jenna R. Lazar, Casting by Robin Carus & Assistant Direction by Co-Artistic Director Jillian Carucci, Assistant Artistic Director Rhys McClelland. Festivity Award Winner Susan Tenney, and Sam Wilson.

The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity is New York's premiere eco-friendly/socially-conscious theatre, music and film festival running through June 8 at the Paradise Factory (64 East 4th Street). The full lineup can be seen at www.PlanetConnections.org.

'One Acts for a Cause' the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity Gala will take place on Sunday, June 22 at 7:30pm at the East 13th Street Theater (136 East 13th Street). Tickets can be purchased online at www.PlanetConnections.org.

Fostering a diverse cross-section of performances and events, the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity seeks to inspire artists and audiences both creatively and fundamentally, in a festive atmosphere. At the heart of the Festivity are like-minded individuals striving to create professional, meaningful theatre, music and film, while supporting organizations which give back to the community at large. During the Festivity, each show and event partners with a charity and some of the ways they offer support are soliciting donations at shows, holding special benefit performances, fundraisers and/or talkbacks after performances with charity representatives. For more information on the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, visit www.PlanetConnections.org.

This year, City Harvest will collect 46 million pounds of excess food from all segments of the food industry, including restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms. This food is then delivered free of charge to more than 500 community food programs throughout New York City using a fleet of trucks and bikes. City Harvest helps feed the more than one million New Yorkers that face hunger each year. City Harvest also addresses hunger's underlying causes by supporting affordable access to nutritious food in low-income communities, educating individuals, families, and communities in the prevention of diet-related diseases, channeling a greater amount of local farm food into high-need areas, and enhancing the ability of our agency partners to feed hungry men, women, and children. www.CityHarvest.org.

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