SOMETHING SUDDEN 5WEPT 0V3R ME Scores Seven 2013 Planet Connections Theatre Awards Nominations

SOMETHING SUDDEN 5WEPT 0V3R ME, a new play written by Steven Mark Tenney and directed & choreographed by Susan Tenney, has been nominated for seven 2013 Planet Connections Theatre Awards. The awards ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, August 4th with red carpet arrivals starting at 6pm and curtain at 7pm at The Ailey Citigroup Theater (405 West 55th Street) in Manhattan.

SOMETHING SUDDEN 5WEPT 0V3R ME, an otherworldly new play from siblings Steven Mark Tenney and Susan Tenney, is their 10th collaboration. It is the story of a graduate student, Norbit Ufowatchin, who is about to leave the field of Advanced Alien Artifacts, assume a prestigious residency, and write The Novel of His Life, when he is entrusted with a device capable of changing planetary history.

"The play flawlessly integrates acting, dancing, and music into a blissful, humorous, and pleasing tale of love and mystery," Karen D'Onofrio, Electronic Link Journey NYC.

"It's rare to find a sci-fi project that can be described as 'poetic' but that's an excellent way to define Something Sudden 5wept 0v3r Me... People who can grok the notion of ballet mixed with their interstellar adventures are in for a unique experience," Charles Battersby, Theater for nerds.

The Planet Connections Festivity production of SOMETHING SUDDEN 5WEPT 0V3R ME received nominations that included Outstanding Overall Production, Outstanding Book (Steven Mark Tenney), Outstanding Direction (Susan Tenney), Outstanding Choreography (Susan Tenney), Outstanding Lead Actor (Marek Sapieyevski), and Outstanding Lighting Design (Joe Novak).

The cast of SOMETHING SUDDEN 5WEPT 0V3R ME featured Halli Herzog (Gossip Girl) in the role of Slink Vixen Obsidian, Asol Karim in the role of Mist-Rain-Waves-Tears, Marek Sapieyevski (winner of the 2009 Planet Connections Award for Best Actor in a Comedy) in the role of Norbit, and Richard Welton as the Professor. Joining the actors are dancers Rina Barrantes (principal dancer with the National Ballet of Peru) Samantha Gullace, Yukari Osaka, and Natalie Robison. The design team was Joe Novak (Lighting), Beth Lake (Sound) and Janet Mervin and Dominique D. Pino-Santiago (Costumes).

Steven Mark Tenney has written full-length plays, one-acts, and performance pieces integrating text and dance that have been produced at many venues in New York City and regionally. His work has been called "wildly imaginative and highly entertaining" by the Miami Sun Post. His play PIECE FOR AN AUDITION was a winner of the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Competition. He was recently a resident at New York Stage and Film, developing a new sci-fi opera WHAT'S APPROPRIATE ON A FIRST DATE WITH AN EARTHLING.

Susan Tenney's work has been produced by the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Edinburgh InterNational Theatre Festival, Tanglewood, Princeton University, Rider University, and in many venues in New York City. She has staged several Broadway benefits and cabarets and was for many years resident choreographer at the Williamstown Theater Festival. She has received five commissions from the Princeton Coalition for Peace Action. Most recently she was a Directing participant atLa Mama's International Directing Symposium in Umbria Italy. Her work has been called "expansive, reaching, stunningly dramatic" by The Princeton Comment and "terse and elegant" by the Village Voice.

The Planet Connections Festivity is New York's premiere eco-friendly/socially conscious not-for-profit arts festival which fosters a diverse cross-section of performances. Planet Connections strives to make sure their artists are living as green as possible. Some tactics include using a "ticketless" box office with reusable tickets which are collected from audience members as they enter the theatre and hosting a Green Theater Forum to encourage and educate artists to go "green" within their productions. This year's festival included thirty productions, each one with its own benefitting organization.

Tickets for the 2013 Planet Connections Theatre Awards Ceremony at The Ailey Citigroup Theater (405 West 55th Street) are $25 and can be purchased online athttp://goo.gl/ws4lk. Tickets purchased at the door will be $50.

For more information on the Planet Connections Theatre Awards Ceremony, please visit http://planetconnections.org/2013-awards-gala/

Photo by Julie Lemberger