WorkShop Theater Company Opens THE GOLDEN YEAR, 6/6

Starting June 6^th WorkShop Theater Company presents the World Premiere of Daniel Damiano's The Golden Year. Kathy Gail MacGowan directs. The cast features Ellen Barry*(McCarter Theatre, Syracuse Stage, BoarsHead Theatre: "Best Leading Actress", Wit), Gerry Goodstein* (Interchange, "Law and Order") and Joseph Franchini* (2012 Drama Desk nominee: Best Actor, The Navigator). (*Member of Actors Equity)

Joe and Jean Brancato, a newly retired Long Island couple, seek to rest on the laurels of a life thus far made up of hard work and economizing. While Joe, retired-by-choice, is content to relax for a bit before "embarking on all their adventures", Jean is still licking her wounds from a "forced" retirement. In this newly sedentary period, Jean begins to question her life, and to her surprise (and Joe's) spontaneously auditions and secures a role in the local community theatre production of a new play. Her journey as an actress leads to a surprising end, as the play begins to mirror real life, bringing unexpected events that will test not only their marriage...but their collective sanity.

Daniel Damiano's plays have garnered a Christopher Brian Wolk Award, an OOBR Critics Choice Award for Excellence, the Grand Prize from the Attic Theatre Ensemble in L.A. and a Silver Stage Award from the Old Opera House of West Virginia. He has also been a two-time finalist for the Playwrights First Award from NYC's National Arts Club and a finalist for the 2012 Fulton Theatre Discovery Project Award and the 2012 Arts and Letters Prize for Drama. His play Day of the Dogrecently received a critically acclaimed premiere with the St. Louis Actors' Studio in March. Returning to SLAS in July, his Arts & Letters Prize-nominated play CUT will be featured there as part of the 1^st Annual Neil LaBute New Play Festival, hosted by Neil LaBute. Also a published poet, he is a current nominee for the 2013 Pushcart Prize for poetry.

Kathy Gail MacGowan's directorial credits include a recent Off-Broadway production of Paul David Young's In The Summer Pavilion at 59E59 Theaters for which she was cited by the N.Y. Times for "careful direction" and by Backstage for contributing "empathetic, perceptive direction that is at pains never to confuse", adding "the performances are a joy to watch". First presented at the New York Fringe Festival, In The Summer Pavilion was a Backstage Critic Pick and praised by both the Daily News and Village Voice. She has directed festival winning plays including Pat Montley's Crossing Borders and Daniel Damiano's The Enlightenment of Mrs. Cartwell(Estrogenius, MTS). She also directed Seal Songs by Jennifer Fell Hayes (MITF Outstanding Award nominee) and Gifted Child by Eddie Antar (The Network, Best Director nominee). She was a 2010 Drama League directing finalist and holds an MFA from The New School for Drama.

The Golden Year begins at the Workshop Theater Company Main Stage (312 W. 36^thStreet, 4^th Floor) on Thursday June 6^th and runs the following regular schedule through Saturday June 29^th: Thursdays at 7 PM, Fridays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 8 PM, Sundays at 3 PM, There is an additional performance on Monday, June 24, at 7 PM. Tickets are $18, $15 for students/seniors. For tickets and information go to the WorkShop Theater Company site at http://workshoptheater.org/mainstage/2013/golden_year and click on the "Buy Tickets on ovationtix" button, or go directly to https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/919461. Tickets may also be purchased by calling 1-866-811-4111.