Gravity Partners to Present THE PICTURE (OF DORIAN GRAY), Begin. 5/15

The Gravity Partners presents The Picture (of Dorian Gray), a new play adapted from the Oscar Wilde classic by Neal Utterback with original music by Gabriel Gould. Neal Utterback will direct a cast of five, including Jessica Denison, Andrew Kilpatrick, Jamison Monella, Alyssa Newberg, and Phil Oberholzer. Six performances will be staged from May 15-23 at The Paradise Factory, 64 East 4th Street in NYC as part of the 6th Annual Planet Connection Festivity, which runs from May 14-June 8, 2014.

All profit from tickets sales will be donated to GLAAD, formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. We are gratefully accept additional donations for this noble cause and pleased to promote awareness of their work.

Oscar Wilde's notorious novella, The Picture of Dorian Gray, follows a young man's pursuit of youth and pleasure. Admired and worshipped by an adoring artist who paints a portrait of him, the beautiful Dorian Gray gives his soul to remain forever young. Dorian then embarks on a journey of decadence and hedonism. The Gravity Partner's physical, minimalist 21st century remix, The Picture (of Dorian Gray), smashes together Oscar Wilde's novella with de Profundis, Wilde's final letter to his lover from prison, as well as contemporary reflections and staging by the ensemble. De profundis recounts Wilde's lifestyle of indulgence and the tumultuous relationship that led to his imprisonment. As such the production examines the blurry line between artist and art, our consumer consumption and objectification of youth, and the lust for individual pleasures. How far would you go to get everything you wanted?

Neal Utterback (adapter and director): Select playwriting and screenwriting credits: second., Crisis (Winner 2010 Ike and Julie Arnove PlayOffs), The Memory Play, The Vampire Trilogy; Part One: The Loved Ones, The Picture (of Dorian Gray) ( nominated for Outstanding Production and Outstanding New Writing in Theatre at the 2009 Absolutâ Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, Dublin, Ireland); American Western, Thanksgiving. Directing and Co-directing credits: Never Swim Alone, The Day We Fell in Love, The Vampire Trilogy; Part One: The Loved Ones (Indiana University), The Picture (of Dorian Gray) (co-direction, ADGTF), On the Evolution of Bob, Magic Boy (Red Room Theatre, New York). His play, second. was also selected for publication in the "Plays and Playwrights 2005" anthology by The New York Theatre Experience, Inc. Scenes and monologues from second. were also published in Best Stage Scenes 2004 and Best Women's Stage Monologues 2005. Applause Books will also publish a monologue from the play in their upcoming Best Women's Monologues of the Millennium.

Tickets are $18 and can be purchased by visiting www.planetconnections.org, or by calling 212-352-3101.

The Picture (of Dorian Gray) plays the following schedule as part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity: May 15th @ 8:00pm; May 19th @ 8:30pm; May 20th @ 4:00pm; May 21st @ 5:00pm; May 22nd @ 6:00pm; and May 23rd @ 8:30pm.

Paradise Factory is located at 64 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10009.