Julia Cho's BFE will Begin Previews at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater on May 19th

By: May. 17, 2005
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Julia Cho's BFE, the 6th and final production of Playwright's Horizon's 2004/2005 season, will begin previews on Thursday, May 19th at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater before its opening on Tuesday, May 31 at 7:00 PM.

Presented in association with Long Wharf Theatre and directed by Gordon Edelstein (who is the theatre's Artistic Director), BFE's first preview will pay-what-you-can.

According to the show's press release, "An Asian-American family attempts to escape its stifling Arizonan home life in BFE, which tells the story of Panny (Olivia Oguma, the national tour of Les Miserables, Sarah Plain and Tall at The Lortel<>), a spunky fourteen year-old; her socially awkward uncle (James Saito, Broadway's Golden Child, national tours of Flower Drum Song, The King & I); her homebound mom (Kate Rigg, Off-Broadway in The Vagina Monologues, Dogeaters, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told), who fantasizes about General MacArthur; and the serial killer (Scott Hudson, Off-Broadway in Our Lady of 121st Street, MCC's The Glory of Living) that stalks their neighborhood in search of bubbly blondes. A cautionary tale about the devastating effects of an image-obsessed society, BFE calls into question the nature of beauty and desirability in contemporary America."

Others in the cast are Jeremy Hollingworth (Broadway's Sly Fox, Fortune's Fool), 3-time Obie winner Karen Kandel (Lear, Peter and Wendy, Talk), Sue Jean Kim (The Imaginary Invalid at The Pearl), Kel Martin (2004 NYU/Tisch graduate in her Off-Broadway debut), and James McMenamin (Austin Pendleton's Three Sisters and Ann Reinking's Dinner at 8:30 at Williamstown).

Cho's plays include The Architecture of Loss, How to Be a Good Son and 99 Histories. She has developed her plays at New York Theatre Workshop, The Sundance Theatre Lab, The Mark Taper Forum and South Coast Repertory. She has been a playwriting fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, a recipient of a New York Foundation for The Arts grant and a playwright-in-residence at The Juilliard School. Her play 99 Histories was given a workshop production as part of The Cherry Lane Alternative's Mentor Series, and was also a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. BFE is the recipient of the 2004 L. Arnold Weissberger Award.

BFE features scenic design by Takeshi Kata, costume design by Jayde Chabot, lighting design by Paul Whitaker and sound design by Andre J. Pluess. The production Stage Manager is Linda Marvel.

Playwright's Horizon, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, is a writer's theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. In its 34 years, Playwrights Horizons has presented the work of more than 350 writers and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. Notable productions include four Pulitzer Prize winners: Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife (2004 Tony Award, Best Play), Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles, Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George, as well as Lynn Nottage's Fabulation, Craig Lucas's Small Tragedy (2004 Obie Award, Best American Play), Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero, Kirsten Childs's The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey's James Joyce's The Dead, William Finn's March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, Christopher Durang's Betty's Summer Vacation and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, Richard Nelson's Goodnight Children Everywhere and Franny's Way, Jon Robin Baitz's The Substance of Fire, Scott McPherson's Marvin's Room, A.R. Gurney's Later Life, Adam Guettel and Tina Landau's Floyd Collins and Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley's Violet.

The performance schedule for BFE will be Tuesdays through Fridays at 7:30 PM, Saturdays at 2:00 and 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2:00 and 7:00 PM. Tickets are $38, and can be purchased by calling Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200, Noon to 8:00 PM daily; they can also be purchased online at www.playwrightshorizon.org. Also, $20 rush tickets (one ticket per person, per purchase), subject to availability, can be purchased starting one hour before showtime to patrons aged 30 and under. Proof of age required. Student Rush tickets will be available for $12 (with valid ID, cash only, day of performance, subject to availability).

The company's Peter Jay Sharp Theater is located at 416 West 42nd Street.

 


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