9E59 Theaters will welcome The Directors Company with ON A STOOL AT THE END OF THE BAR, written by Robert Callely and directed by Michael Parva. ON A STOOL AT THE END OF THE BAR begins performances on Friday, November 14 for a limited engagement through Sunday, December 14. Press Opening is Thursday, November 20 at 7:15 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM & 8:15 PM; and Sunday at 3:15 PM. Please note, there is no performance on Thursday, November 27 (Thanksgiving). Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Single tickets are $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.
Chris and Tony live a model suburban life. Their modest house is filled with the usual family chaos along with an abundance of love, with Chris looking after Tony's teenaged kids as if they were her own.
But the family is suddenly torn apart when a shocking secret about Chris is revealed. The children-Joey, 17; Angie, 16; and Mario, the youngest at 13-are shattered as they see their father devastated by the circumstances that threaten to upend his relationship with the caring woman who was their surrogate mother for nearly a decade.
Set in 1980s New Jersey, ON A STOOL AT THE END OF THE BAR is a shattering drama that asks if love is a strong enough bond to hold this unconventional family together.
"While the story is set in the mid-1980s, it focuses on some of the most important and harrowing issues still facing many members of the LGBT community today - it could not be more timely," explains playwright Robert Callely. "At the center of the story is the revelation of a shocking and deeply held secret that tears apart a close and loving, if unconventional family unit. I don't want to say too much and spoil the fun of discovery as the play unfolds."
Antoinette Thornes stars as Chris. Joining her in the cast is Zachary Brod, Robert Hogan (Murder in the First at 59E59), Sara Kapner, Luke Slattery, Timothy John Smith (Rapture, Blister Burn at Huntington Theater), John Stanisci (Irena's Vow on Broadway), and Liza Vann.
The design team includes Jessica L. Parks (set design), Jill Nagle (lighting design), Amy C. Bradshaw (costume design), and Quentin Chiappetta (sound design). The Production Stage Manager is Rose Riccardi.
ON A STOOL AT THE END OF THE BAR is the first production of a play by Robert Callely (playwright). Previously he was managing director of HB Playwrights Theatre founded by Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghof. During that time he began to seriously explore the dream of playwriting. This is the second of five plays he has written. Prior to HB he was executive director of the American Theatre Wing; managing director of the Theatre Development Fund; and assistant director of NYC Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting, and as a producer he mounted over 50 plays and musicals on tour and in stock both on his own and under the auspices of Music Fair Enterprises. Productions included Mame and Gypsy with Angela Lansbury, Lorelei with Carol Channing, No, No Nanette with Ruby Keeler, A Funny Thing Happened the Way to the Forum and Fiddler on the Roof with Zero Mostel, The Unsinkable Molly Brown with Tammy Grimes, and Damn Yankees with Gwen Verdon and Ray Walton. While at Music Fairs, he also oversaw presentation of scores of concerts starring Joan Rivers, Liberace, Johnny Carson, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Sonny & Cher, Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck, Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, Alan King, Ethel Merman, Peggy Lee, Frankie Vallee & The Four Seasons and Woody Allen, to name but a few. He has also produced special events starring Dolly Parton, Michael Feinstein, Bob Hope, Debbie Reynolds & Donald O'Connor. In addition to his plays, he has written a collection of children's stories, over seventy short stories and has just finished a first novel. His travel journal, Toward a Time of Goodness/The Opening of Sripuram, was published in India in 2007, and has been reprinted over 20 times. He has also served on the faculty of Baruch College.
As Artistic/Producing Director of The Directors Company, Michael Parva (director) has developed, produced and directed over 50 productions of new works, including most recently Murder in the First featuring Chad Kimball. He has had the privilege of working with many exceptional playwrights, including acclaimed screenwriter Dan Gordon on the Broadway production of Irena's Vow starring Tovah Feldshuh, for which he was nominated for a Joe A. Calloway Award for Direction. Additional directing credits include Marsha Norman's Trudy Blue with Judith Ivey, Concrete Christ Trilogy by Mary Sue Price with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Avow by Bill C. Davis, and Stephen Belber's Drifting Elegant. Other plays include the Kesselring Award winners: Anna Deavere Smith's Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; Nicky Silver's Pterodactyls with Hope Davis; David Lindsay-Abaire's Kimberly Akimbo with Edie Falco & John Gallagher Jr.; Naomi Wallace's One Flea Spare with Michael Learned; Bridget Carpenter's The Faculty Room; Melissa James Gibson's Brooklyn Bridge; and David Auburn's The Latecomer. Productions he produced at TDC include Kilt with Tovah Feldshuh; Bat Boy: The Musical; The Passion of Frida Kahlo with Priscilla López; Good Will with Dana Reeve, from Jane Smiley's novella; and Joyce Carol Oates' Bad Girls featuring Merritt Wever. He's currently slotted to direct the new musical, Eliot Ness. Mr. Parva has also served as co-Artistic Director of The Harold Prince Musical Theatre Program, where he developed new musicals including The Ballad of Little Jo, Camilla, Heading East, 3hree. He is a director in the Actors' Studio Playwrights & Directors Unit and was the resident director for 15 years of the National Arts Club's prestigious Kesselring Prize for playwrights.
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