Estelle Parsons Visits Janie Condon: Raw & Unchained! at St. Luke's

Gray Lady Entertainment presents the Off-Broadway premiere of JANIE CONDON: RAW & UNCHAINED! - a new play written and performed by Jane Condon - which began previews April 4 prior to its official opening night on April 5 at St. Luke's Theatre (308 W. 46 St.) in Manhattan. Gus Kaikkonen, who helmed the Mint Theatre's revivals of DOCTOR KNOCK and THE MADRAS HOUSE, directs.

JANIE CONDON: RAW & UNCHAINED! is the hilarious and moving account of Jane's journey through comedy and a family life that was, by turns, colorful and complex. And there are many reasons why Jane has been a storyteller and comedian all her life: wanting attention as the youngest of four in an Irish Catholic brood, a father in the FBI, not being voted funniest in high school (Mary Del Sordo was!) and the real reason - a long-held family secret. She learned comedy at the knees of the masters: her fellow students at Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton, Massachusetts.

Jane was named the NY Audience Favorite on NBC's "Last Comic Standing" and has been called "an upper crust Roseanne" by the Associated Press. Ms. Condon writes for the Huffington Post and CNN.com. In 2004, she was awarded the Grand Prize at the Ladies of Laughter competition. She has appeared on ABC's "The View," Lifetime TV's "Girls' Night Out" and Fox-TV's "24." Jane and her husband live in Greenwich in a mixed marriage (Democrat/Republican). They have two sons.

JANIE CONDON: RAW & UNCHAINED! features set design by Josh Iacovelli; costume design by Lisa Zinni; lighting design by Valentina Migoulia and sound design by Nick Borisjuk. JuliAnne Alberty is Production Manager.

Director Gus Kaikkonen helmed the Mint Theater's revivals of Jules Romain's DOCTOR KNOCK, and Granville Barker's THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE and THE MADRAS HOUSE, as well as the Pearl Theatre's productions of TARTUFFE, Priestley's I HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE and Wycherley's THE GENTLEMAN DANCING MASTER. At Juilliard, he recently directed THE MERCHANT OF VENICE and LOVE'S LABOURS LOST, and for NYMF his own musical, co-written with Todd Almond, PEOPLE LIKE US. He spends summers as the artistic director of New Hampshire's Peterborough Players.

JANIE CONDON: RAW & UNCHAINED! was workshopped originally at Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City, Nantucket, MA, and Stamford, CT. It was recently presented at the State Theatre in Falls Church, Virginia, as a fundraiser for the National Alliance on Mental Health, Northern Virginia (NAMI/NOVA). Playwright and screenwriter Susan Sandler ("Crossing Delancey") called the play "fiercely funny. And moving." And director Moises S. Kaufman (BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO) praised the work, saying, "It was beautiful. Beautifully done. Beautifully written. I came expecting to laugh. Which I did. But it is more. It is a play."

Gray Lady Entertainment, founded in 2002 by Kim Vasquez, produced the award-winning musicals THERAPY ROCKS (directed by Tom Caruso), EMERALD MAN (directed by Josh Prince and chosen as part of the 2007 ASCAP/Disney workshops in Los Angeles), and SUCH GOOD FRIENDS (directed by Marc Bruni). As Executive Artistic Producer of Gray Lady, Ms. Vasquez has nourished the development of new musical and dramatic theatre in both commercial and non-profit settings for a wide array of audiences. She is a Founding Producer of The New York Musical Theatre Festival, an Associate Member of the Broadway League and the League of Professional Women in Theatre and serves on the Board of Advisors for the Nantucket Comedy Festival.

Performances of JANIE CONDON: RAW & UNCHAINED! run Saturdays and Sundays at 5:00 p.m. and Mondays and Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at St. Luke's Theatre (308 West 46th Street). Tickets are $49.50. (Premium tickets are $65.) For tickets, visit Telecharge.com, call 212-239- 6200 or visit the St. Luke's box office.

For more information, visit www.janecondon.com