Jan McArt's New Play Readings' FINDING MONA LISA to Open Next Season at Actors' Playhouse

"That's terrific!," says producer/actress Jan McArt, from her office at Boca Raton's Lynn University, where she's in charge of theatre development. "I love that play!"

She's responding to the news that Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables has just announced it will present Michael McKeever's 'FINDING MONA LISA' as the fifth production of its 2016-17 Mainstage Season.

Originally developed at Lynn University's 'Jan McArt's New Play Readings,' it is the sixth new play in the last four years of this series' existence to receive a full production at a major theatre company. And one of them will open in New York next year!

Those plays include: Dan Clancy's 'PROPOSITION 8' (produced at Desert Rose Playhouse, Rancho Mirage, CA, under the title 'POSTER BOYS'), and also his 'MIDDLETOWN' (coming to the West Boca Performing Arts Theatre next season); Christopher Demos-Brown's 'CHILD'S PLAY' (produced under the title 'STRIPPED' at Miami's Zoetic Stage); Stuart Meltzer's 'THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS' (coming to Wilton Manors' Island City Stage next season); and Michael McKeever's award-winning 'DANIEL'S HUSBAND' (produced last season at Island City Stage and heading to New York's Primary Stages next season.)

"What a track record, huh?," says playwright Tony Finstrom, associate producer of the new play reading series at Lynn. "Thanks to Jan McArt, this program has become a sensational incubator for new work by Florida playwrights, and it thrills me every time I hear one of our shows is being given a new life somewhere."

'FINDING MONA LISA' is a funny, sprawling, intriguing new play that explores the history of the world's most famous painting through scenes that cover Leonardo da Vinci's first meeting with Senora del Giocondo (Mona Lisa), and his masterful creation of her indelible countenance. It also presents highlights from the painting's infamous past that include her vandalism, her theft, her journey to America (at the request of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy), and the various places she's rested, such as Napoleon's bedroom, prior to arriving at her final home in the Louvre.

McArt, aka the First Lady of Florida Theatre, runs this award-winning play reading series where playwrights get the chance to bring a new play to life, working with a cast and a director for six days as they rehearse, re-write, rehearse, rewrite. Then, at the end of those six days, their polished, reworked new play is presented to the public in performance, fully staged, with actors up on their feet, scripts in hand, employing minimal costumes, sets, lighting and sound, to aid them in the presentation of the new work.

Finstrom's 'WAVE YOUR FLAG!,' a new play with music starring McArt, will be the fourth and final show in the 2015-16 lineup for this play reading series, and be presented Friday, June 10th, at 7:30 PM in the Wold Performing Arts Center on the Lynn University campus. Soon a new four-play season for this series, scheduled for 2016-17, will be announced, with subscriptions available at discounted rates.

Tickets are currently available for 'WAVE YOUR FLAG!' at $10 each. Call 561-237-9000, or go to www.lynn.edu/tickets for more information.

'FINDING MONA LISA' will be presented at Actors' Playhouse next season, July 12th through August 13th, 2017.

For more information about the Actors' Playhouse 2016-17 Season, call 305-444-9293, or go to: www.actorsplayhouse.org.