Cherry Lane Theater Expands to Three Stages

Variety is reporting that Cherry Lane Theater has struck a deal with Westbeth, the artists' community that until recently housed Bank Street Theater in its space. Cherry Lane will expand into the theater, renaming the 90-seat black box venue the Cherry Pit to become its third stage.

Not only will the venue give Cherry Lane another base for its mentoring program reports Vairety, but it will also provide an additional revenue base as homeless New York City theater troupes hunt for affordable performance space to rent.

To read the informative report in Variety, click here.

As the oldest, continuously running Off-Broadway theatre, which has helped define American drama for more than 80 years the Cherry Lane will devote the 2009 season to expanding its Mentor Project, and its Discovery and Heritage Series.

Cherry Lane's groundbreaking Mentor Project, which was recently honored with a 2008 Obie Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Development of New Work begins its 11th season in 2009. The Mentor Project engages nationally renowned dramatists in one-on-one mentorships with early career playwrights for an entire theater season.

This year, in keeping with its mission to continually offer meaningful opportunities to emerging playwrights, Cherry Lane Theatre will welcome Pulitzer Prize-Nominated playwright Theresa Rebeck as artist-in-residence. In addition to being commissioned to work on a new piece that will later be staged, Ms. Rebeck will act as Supervising Mentor for the 2010 program in addition to holding a Master Class for the theatre community in the 2009 season. Charles Fuller has already agreed to do a commission for the 2010-11 Season, as well.

Mentor Project 2009 finalist Housebreaking by Jakob Holder, directed by Daniella Topol, will be staged in Cherry Lane's intimate Studio Theatre from March 24th through April 4th. The mentor for the project is acclaimed award-winning experimental playwright Charles Mee.
Additionally, The Cherry Lane Theatre has commissioned 2003 finalist Anton Dudley to write a musical for cherry lane for the 2010-2011 season.

In October 2009, Cherry Lane Theatre will present The Lady with All the Answers by David Rambo a new one-woman play starring Judith Ivey. The play is drawn from The Life and letters of newspaper columnist and Chicago icon Ann Landers. The production will be directed by BJ Jones, the Artistic Director of the Northlight Theatre in Skokie, IL. Ms. Ivey earned rave reviews and a Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Solo Show in Irene O'Garden's Women on Fire at Cherry Lane in 2004 and starred to critical acclaim in the theatre's sold-out run of Edward Albee's American Dream and The Sandbox last spring.

In its Discovery Series Cherry Lane gives new plays drawn from the theatre's development programs a premiere Off-Broadway production on its Mainstage. Jailbait, by Mentor Project 2008 finalist Deirdre O'Connor, directed by Suzanne Agins, will be presented in Spring 2009. In August, 2009, Cherry Lane will present Lascivious Something by 13P playwright Sheila Callaghan (2007 Susan Smith Blackburn Award and 2007 Whiting Writers Award), directed by Daniella Topol.

Upcoming in The Heritage Series presents Mainstage revivals of gems from Cherry Lane 's extensive canon. In September 2010, the theatre will present Desire Caught by the Tail, by Pablo Picasso, which was mounted at the Cherry Lane in 1952. As abstract as many of Picasso's paintings, the script offers infinite artistic possibilities.

Cherry Lane Theatre is dedicated to sustaining a community of playwrights and supporting seasoned and emerging theater artists that work together to reveal the social consciousness of our ever-changing world. In this way, the company serves te cultural needs of the larger New York City community, while developing a dedicated, returning audience. It is Cherry Lane 's guiding tenet that "live" theater be accessible, articulate and provide a social mirror through which we gain greater understanding of ourselves, our families, our government and our global community. We challenge ourselves to explore the horizons of theatrical content and form, to expand our creative boundaries, and to discover the future of American drama.