Geoffrey Arend Joins Midtown Direct Rep's THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF NOW Reading

BroadwayWorld has just learned that film, television, and theatre actor Geoffrey Arend (MADAM SECRETARY on CBS) will be joining previously announced Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus in Midtown Direct Rep's staged reading of THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF NOW, a new play written by Y York and directed by Will Pomerantz. Broadway actress Marni Raab (The Phantom of the Opera) will read the stage directions.

This staged reading kicks off MDR's 2015-16 Theatre in the Loft series at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) and will be performed for one night only on Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 7pm at SOPAC (One Sopac Way, South Orange, NJ, 07079). The reading is $15 and open to the public. Tickets can be purchased at www.sopacnow.org or by calling 973-313-ARTS (2787). For direct link to purchase tickets, CLICK HERE.

The staged reading features MDR company members and Broadway favorites (and real-life married couple) Stephanie J. Block (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Anything Goes, 9 to 5: The Musical, The Pirate Queen, The Boy From Oz) and Sebastian Arcelus (A Time to Kill, Elf, Jersey Boys, Wicked, Rent, Madam Secretary on CBS, Netflix series House of Cards,). They will be joined by guest artist Geoffrey Arend, who has appeared in numerous television and film roles and is currently playing Matt Mahoney on the CBS series Madam Secretary. The stage directions will be read by Broadway actress Marni Raab (The Phantom of the Opera), and Brian Rardin will be the Stage Manager.

In Y York's charmingly funny and well-observed new play, words have lost their meaning and dreams are blurring with movies for Carl, a brilliant science writer suffering memory loss and facing a life he cannot quite recall. Before the accident, his worldview was clouded with darkness, but now, through fresh eyes and childlike discovery, he navigates his strange Las Vegas neighborhood in a surprising bright light. As the new Carl woos his longtime wife, Miranda, his unexpected demeanor upends her plans for a future with the tall attractive pediatric dentist. It is a comedy of remembering and forgetting.

Y York is the recipient of the Smith Prize for ...and LA is Burning; Houston's Buzzy Award, Best New Play for Woof; the Berrilla Kerr Award for the Secret wife; the Hawai`i Award for Literature for Nothing is the Same; five times from the AATE Distinguished Play Award, and the Charlotte Chorpenning Award for her body of work for children and their families. New plays premiered last season in Seattle, Malvern, PA, and Omaha, NE, and her other plays can be found on stages around the country and at Broadway Play Publishing, Dramatic Publishing, or from Bret Adams, Ltd. Plays have been supported by the NEA, the Rockefeller Foundation, AT and T OnStage, USA Artists, and many local arts organizations through the years. Y is an alumna of New Dramatists and a member of The Dramatists' Guild. Y has been writing plays for three decades, most of which have been produced and between twenty and thirty are published. Y is currently working with composer Amanda Jacobs on a new musical, under commission from the Seattle Children's Theatre and a member of the Seattle Rep's 2015-2016 Writers' Group.

A series of public readings of new plays and musicals, Theatre in the Loft presented by Midtown Direct Rep, showcases new work in front of a sophisticated and engaged audience. The series focuses on scripts that reflect the complexities of a uniquely diverse community, writers or subjects with a local connection, and roles that can be cast significantly from the MDR ensemble. In addition to THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF NOW, the 2015-16 Theatre in the Loft season will also include 7pm staged readings of new plays on November 15, 2015, January 10, 2016, and March 20, 2016.

MDR is the theatre in residence at the South Orange Performing Arts Center in South Orange, NJ. With perhaps more professional theater artists than any suburb of NYC, Maplewood/South Orange (NJ) is "where Broadway comes home to sleep." MDR, a theatre company created by and for these NJ-based artists, develops and presents relevant, world-class theatre for its community. Company members include two-time Tony Award-winner Norbert Leo Butz, Tony Award nominees Stephanie J. Block, Megan Lawrence, and Christiane Noll, plus Sebastian Arcelus, Joel de la Fuente, Bradley Dean, Michele Pawk, and many others. Recent projects include work by Jack Canfora, Jeremy Desmon, Chad Hardin, James Hindman, Chisa Hutchison, David Johnson, Kara Lee Korthron, David Myers, Sandy Rustin, John Walch, Douglas J. Cohen, Zoe Samuel, and others. In 2014, Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis joined company members Sebastian Arcelus, Jenny Bacon, Stephanie Kurtzuba, and others in Absence, a new play by Peter Flaherty. The Company is led by Managing Director Aliza Wassner, Artistic Producer Steven Tabakin, Literary Manager Marni Raab, and Artistic Advisor Sandy Rustin. For more information, visit www.middirrep.org.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride