MAN WITH ALL THE LUCK Gets Long Island Reading on Friday the 13th

If last year was unlucky for anyone, you could always blame Friday the Thirteenth. There were three of them, in February, March and November.

Friday the Thirteenth this year falls on May thirteenth, although another one is on its way next January.

If you're superstitious, you probably already marked your calendar. You may also want to mark your calendar, if you like good theater.

The Textile Co., a Long Island-based theater group, is presenting a staged reading of THE MAN WITH ALL THE LUCK on May 13 at Theater294, 294 Famingdale Rd. (Route 9) in East Farmingdale.

The reading is at 8 p.m. after a wine and cheese reception at 7 p.m. Tickets (in keeping with the day) are $13 at Tix. or by going to www.manwithalltheluck.brownpapertickets.com.

Debbie Starker directs the reading of the play written by Claude Solnik at the theater, formerly known as the Arena Theater's blackbox and now renovated and reopened.

"The play looks at what would happen if luck was a kind of currency that you could trade and transfer," Solnik said. "Imagine if you could take luck from one person and give it to another."

Starker's direction, Solnik's script and the actors' performances bring to life this story of two childhood friends.

Brandon (Rich Jimenez) is a television writer in L.A. married to Maya (Lara Hunter) and an old friend of Charlie's (Kevin Clyne), who lives on Long Island.

Brandon is coming off a string of hits, running a TV production company where Lalo (Karin Weibert) works. He spent years rising through the TV hierarchy.

In THE MAN WITH ALL THE LUCK, we learn about an encounter many years ago with a fortune teller (Cathy Clyne) that may have helped change his and others' lives.

"The play looks at whether luck happens to us or we make our own, or both," Solnik said. "If you could do a deal that made you lucky, would you do it? What if it meant that someone else would lose their luck?"

The show presents a fun, sometimes fascinating, fictional story that may make you reconsider your own view of luck, superstition and the role chance and change play in your life.

As to Friday the Thirteenth, there's a debate as to how the day got its reputation.

Some say it comes from the Last Supper, said to be have occurred on the thirteenth of the month just before Good Friday.

A 1907 novel by Thomas Lawson entitled "Friday the Thirteenth" also may have spread the word even further.

At a minimum, THE MAN WITH ALL THE LUCK gives audiences a fun option this Friday the Thirteenth at a price in tune with the day.

"The play isn't supposed to give answers," Solnik said. "It's supposed to be an interesting story that, maybe, makes you think about luck and what it is and isn't."

THE MAN WITH ALL THE LUCK - Wine/cheese reception 7 p.m., staged reading 8 p.m. at Theater294, 294 Farmingdale Rd. (Route 9) East Farmingdale. Tickets: $13 @ www.manwithalltheluck.brownpapertickets.com or at the door. For more information, call 516-404-2960.