Broken Watch Theatre Company Announces Finalists in FINAL DRAFT PRODUCTION SERIES; Readings Held 1/19-1/27

Broken Watch Theatre (Drew DeCorleto, Artistic Director) will celebrate its tenth season by unveiling its newest and most ambition project to date: The Final Draft Production Series. Readings of the three finalists will be presented January 19th 20th and 27th at the Frederick Loewe Room (1501 Broadway, 7th Floor) and are FREE to the public.

The Final Draft Production Series will serve and support accomplished but not-yet-widely recognized playwrights by bringing them out from the shadow of perpetual readings, workshop and dramaturgical guidance, and into the light of full professional careers in company with an established working dramatist. The selected Final Draft play gets a full production, as well as continuing professional guidance, introductions to agencies, producers, and theatres around the country.

Under the guidance of the project's chair, Christopher Kyle, Michael Weller and BWT's Drew DeCorleto The Final Draft Production Series solicited admired-but-unproduced plays from literary managers around the country-the best plays their theatres aren't doing. Submissions were received from institutions including the Denver Center, The Goodman, Huntington Theatre, the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, to name a few. The submissions have been vetted by a selection committee and three of the top submissions have been selected and will be given a public reading. After the readings, BWTC will determine which play will receive a developmental reading and will be slated for a full production in the summer of 2010.

"During this inaugural season of The Final Draft Production Series, as a selection committee we were extremely excited by the quality of the plays submitted. And with a general lack of opportunity for female playwrights I am doubly proud that all of this year's finalists are women. Although we did not set out to choose plays by women; they just happened to be the best ones we read." Christopher Kyle, Selection Committee Chair.

The Final Draft Production Series: Finalist Reading
Frederick Loewe Room (1501 Broadway, 7th Floor) all readings will take place at7PM
1/19 - Look, we are breathing by Laura Jacqmin, directed by Michael Sexton
1/20 - Honey Brown Eyes by Stefanie Zadravec, directed by Martha Banta
1/27 - Rich Girl by Victoria Stewart, directed by Thomas Kail

For information, please visit www.brokenwatch.org

Christopher Kyle's (Chairman of the selection committee) plays include Plunge and The Monogamist, both of which premiered off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons (The Monogamist was also published in American Theatre magazine); The Safety Net, Boca, and Dessert at Waffle House, Breakfast Anytime. Other plays include Rachel, Berlin, Event Horizon, The Wilderness, Pacific Rim, This Blessed Knot, and American Pandora. His work has been presented by New York Theatre Workshop, Primary Stages, Seattle Rep., McCarter Theatre, New York Stage & Film, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Lincoln Center Library, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Naked Angels, Asolo Theatre, American Place Theatre, the National Theatre of Bulgaria, and by many others. Mr. Kyle's film credits include Oliver Stone's Alexander and two films directed by frequent collaborator Kathryn Bigelow: K-19: The Widowmaker and The Weight of Water. He also wrote two episodes of the long-running television series "Homicide: Life on the Street." Other screenplays, as yet unproduced, include an adaptation of Erik Larson's bestseller The Devil in the White City, a remake of The Parallax View for Tom Cruise, The Death of Conrad Shepherd for producer Walter Parkes, a script about the Bay of Pigs invasion for director Ron Howard, and an adaptation of the bestselling novel The Interpretation of Murder. Mr. Kyle is a graduate of Indiana State University and the MFA program in playwriting at Columbia University. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America East and the Dramatists Guild, serves on the membership committee for the Dramatists Guild and on the board of the Broken Watch Theatre Company.

Michael Weller studied music composition at Brandeis University with Irving Fine, Harold Shapiro and Martin Boykin, then worked as a jazz pianist before taking his graduate degree in theater at the University of Manchester, England. His best known are Moonchildren, Fishing, Loose Ends and Spoils Of War. His films include Hair and Ragtime (for Milos Forman) and Lost Angels (for Hugh Hudson) and a teleplay of his Broadway drama "Spoils of War," starring Kate Nelligan. He co-founded (with Angelina Fiordelissi and Suzanne Brinkley) and serves now as supervising mentor of the Mentor Project of the Cherry Lane Theatre, currently in its tenth season. Dr. Zhivago (from the novel by Boris Pasternak, for which he wrote the book) - Des McAnuff to direct, Lucy Simon music, Amy Powers and Michael Korie lyrics - will open in London's West End in 2009 prior to its Broadway premiere. He is currently writing the book for a Broadway musical Rumors about the making of Fleetwood Mac's two legendary breakthrough albums, to be directed by Taylor Hackford. His work has received an Academy Award nomination, an N.A.A.C.P. Outstanding Contribution Award, Critics Outer Circle Award, a Rockefeller Foundation Grant and a Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award, and has been honored by The Broken Watch Theatre Company which gave their playhouse his name. He is on the counsel of the Writer's Guild Fund, and the Dramatists Guild of America.

Drew DeCorleto has directed both Off-Broadway and regionally at Cherry Lane, the Kirk, the Lion, Primary Stages, Urban Stages, the Kraine, Manhattan Ensemble Theatre, the Michael Weller Theatre and many theatres in Boston. Mr. DeCorleto has also acted in numerous productions on stage, television, and film. He is a founding member of BWTC and its current artistic director. He has helped to shape Broken Watch's artistic mission and is responsible for developing, proposing and implementing the artistic programs as well as forming relationships with various companies and individuals in the theatrical community. Mr. DeCorleto is most proud of helping to develop and implement the BrokenWorkshops. The programs to come out of the BrokenWorkshops are 1X4, Clockworks, the SecondHand program, which works with college and high school theatrical hopefuls and most recently the Final Draft Production Series in which he teamed up with Michael Weller. From these programs Broken Watch will always be creating new, viable work to better the theatre community. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Boston Conservatory with an emphasis of directing and is a member of SDC.

Broken Watch Theatre Company is dedicated to developing new works by playwrights that are undervalued/underserved/undiscovered and ultimately acting as a spring board to gain these pieces and playwrights exposure to the wider off Broadway and regional theatre communities.

Broken Watch Theatre Company has produced critically acclaimed Off-Broadway shows since 2001. Beginning as a producer of Off-Broadway revivals, Broken Watch found quick success with Howard Korder's Boys' Life and soon followed with Michael Weller's Split, produced at Theatre Row.

Having two productions under the belt, Broken Watch now enjoyed an increasing presence in the New York theatre community but was finding it difficult to curate material that was appropriate for its emerging style. Based upon an inherent belief in the value of total collaboration, a decision was made to focus on new work. Broken Watch commissioned its first new play from Edward Allan Baker. By all accounts, Edward Allan Baker's American Storage was an artistic and critical success, but failed to hit its financial mark. Broken Watch was on the right artistic track but needed to curb its production expenses while its reputation continued to grow. Shortly thereafter, an opportunity presented itself. The Sande Shurin Theatre, in the heart of the theatre district, was seeking a resident company to manage their daily operations. It was an opportunity that not only cut production expenses by thousands per show but offered additional income for the company as well. After a successful trial run, Broken Watch took over the Sande Shurin Theatre, rehearsal space and offices in 2005. Soon after, the theatre was re-christened the Michael Weller Theatre, in honor of the playwright's contributions to the world of dramatic literature, the theatre community as a whole and for his continued support of Broken Watch.

Using its new home to its artistic benefit, Broken Watch created a series of new play workshops that often developed into subsequent productions. James Christy's Never Tell, Hunt Holman's The Kidney, Christopher Kyle's The Safety Net, A Broken Christmas Carol by Jim Christy, J.Holtham and Kendra Levin, Two Thirds Home by Padraic Lillis and Edward Allan Baker's The Framer; as well as the Broken Workshop readings of Michael Puzzo's She Talks to Rainbows, Edward Allan Baker's The Framer and Robert Lewis Vaughan's The Good Red Road are all examples of this new play development series.

Broken Watch is very proud that its New York premiers of The Safety Net, Never Tell, Two Thirds Home, and The Framer have been published by Samuel French, Playscripts and Dramatist Play Service respectfully. Sadly, The Michael Weller Theatre was forced to close its doors June 30, 2008 because the landlords of 311 wish to no longer have theaters in their buildings. Read the press. Broken Watch Theatre Company continues to develop new plays and looks forward to the contributions it can make to the community.