THE BRIGHTNESS OF HEAVEN Begins Previews Tonight Off-Broadway
By: BWW News Desk Oct. 16, 2014
The Kilgannons are as typical an Irish family one would expect to find in 1974 Buffalo. But the world outside is changing fast, the generation gap is widening, and the future is up for grabs. Will the Kilgannons be granted the serenity to accept the things they cannot change, and the wisdom to know that what needs changing most is sitting right across the dinner table? THE BRIGHTNESS OF HEAVEN is a witty drama about Family, Faith, and the ties that bind -- sometimes too tightly.
Says acclaimed author Laura Pedersen, "The Buffalo, NY, area was 80% Catholic when I was growing up there in the 1970s. It was a hotbed of anti-abortion protests, church basement Bingo and Friday night fish fries. While the church was still reeling from the Second Vatican Council, society was being rocked by the Vietnam War, Watergate, birth control, a recession, an oil crisis, and various progressive movements championing African-Americans, women, Native Americans and the environment. It was a time of religious, political, and cultural upheaval that placed young people in opposition to their elders more than at any other time in recent history. Hair length alone was responsible for thousands of dinner table fights. Almost all the families I knew were struggling to find their way forward and make sense of a way of life that was unraveling before their eyes. It turns out that mood rings, smiley faces, pet rocks and fuzzy dice affect people in all sorts of different ways."
Laura Pedersen (Playwright) began her career as the youngest person, at age 20, to become a partner in a Wall Street trading firm. Glamour magazine named her one of ten "Outstanding Young Working Women" in 1990. Her first book, Play Money (1991), about being the youngest trader on the floor of the American Stock Exchange, became a bestseller, and she appeared on CNN, "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Good Morning America," "The Today Show," "Primetime Live," "David Letterman," and other television programs. In 1994, President Clinton honored Ms. Pedersen as one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans. She was a columnist for The New York Times from 1995 to 2002, and the host of her own television show on the Oxygen Channel from 1999-2002. She is the author of several best-selling and award-winning books, including the Hallie Palmer Series: Beginner's Luck, Heart's Desire, The Big Shuffle; and Best Bet; as well as Going Away Party; Last Call; Fool's Mate; The Sweetest Hours; Buffalo Gal; Buffalo Unbound; and most recently, Planes, Trains, and Auto-Rickshaws. Her first children's book, Unplugged: Ella Gets Her Family Back, was published in 2012 and became a Mom's Choice Awards Gold recipient; another children's book, Ava's Adventure, has just been released. Ms. Pedersen's one-act play A Dozen Perfect Moments was performed as part of the 2012 Midtown International Theatre Festival at the June Havoc Theatre. The play was also a winner of the Doc Jim Martin Playwright Competition and a semi-finalist in the Drury University One-Act Playwriting Competition. Other stage works include the one-act play Living Arrangements and the full-length musical This Will All Be Yours (music and lyrics by Charles Bloom). The Brightness of Heaven, her first full-length play, was the finalist in the Maxim Mazumder New Play Competition, a finalist in the Ashland New Plays Festival, and a finalist in The Hudson Valley Writers' Center New Play Reading Series. It was first staged at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre in 2012, directed by Ludovica Villar-Hauser. Visit www.laurapedersenbooks.com and www.facebook.com/LauraPedersenWriter.
Ludovica Villar-Hauser (Director) Credits include: Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night in London's West End; three productions at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival; the premiere of Gregory Murphy's The Countess, which ran Off-Broadway for 634 performances and in the West End; Rona Munro's Bold Girls at the 29th St. Rep.; the NYC premiere of Otho Eskin's Duet, a new play about Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse; the North American premiere of Leaves of Glass by Philip Ridley, as part of Origin's First Irish Festival, Derek Murphy's A Short Wake; As It Is In Heaven by Arlene Hutton, produced by 3 Graces Theater Co. at The Cherry Lane Theatre; A Dozen Perfect Moments, The Brightness of Heaven and Living Arrangements by Laura Pedersen; the Off-Broadway production of Final Analysis by Otho Eskin at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center. Ludovica is the Founder of Works by Women, and has served on the Board of The League of Professional Theatre Women. Visit www.ludovicavillarhauser.com.
THE BRIGHTNESS OF HEAVEN features Mark Banik, Emily Batsford, Peter Cormican, Bill Coyne, Paula Ewin, James Michael Lambert, Kate Kearney-Patch and Kendall Rileigh.
THE BRIGHTNESS OF HEAVEN has set and costume design by Meganne George, lighting design by Natalie Robin, and sound design by Janie Bullard. Amy Stoller is the dialect designer. The Production Stage Manager is Alison Hassman. Brierpatch Productions is the General Manager.
THE BRIGHTNESS OF HEAVEN will be performed Thursday, October 16th through Sunday, December 14th Off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Studio Theatre (38 Commerce Street, NYC). The Press Opening is Sunday, October 26th, 2014 at 3PM. The performance schedule is: Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7pm; and Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm. Running time: 90 minutes (no intermission). Tickets for THE BRIGHTNESS OF HEAVEN, priced $66 -$76, are now available online at www.TheBrightnessofHeaven.com.
CAST BIOS:
Mark Banik (Dennis Kilgannon) recently appeared as Joe Taylor Jr in APAC's Allegro (NYIT Nominee, Best Musical). Favorite credits include: Wizard of Wall St. (Waterwell), Scab (Tunnel Theatre), All Night Strut (Fulton Opera House), Drowsy Chaperone (McLeod Playhouse). Proud graduate of Indiana University.
Emily Batsford (Grace Jablonski). Previous theatrical roles include: Irene (Pains of Youth-- New York premiere), Masha (Three Sisters), Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), and others at Abingdon Theater (NYC), Miami Theater Center, PlayGround Theater (Miami), Edinburgh Fringe, Red House (Syracuse), and Neofuturarium (Chicago). Emily received a BFA in Acting from Syracuse University. www.emilybatsford.com.
Peter Cormican (Ed Kilgannon) has appeared in Follies (Roundabout) on Broadway; Phantom of the Opera in the U.S. tour, in London, Toronto, and the Far East tour. Also in the U.K., he performed in Lady in the Dark at the Royal National Theatre, Sweeney Todd and Buddy. Off-Broadway and regional credits include: The Rivalry, The Emperor Jones, Freedom of the City, Donnybrook, Prisoner of the Crown (Irish Rep); Mary Broome, Love Goes to Press (Mint); The Graduate (Ivoryton); Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady (NSMT); A Little Night Music (Kennedy Center); Man of La Mancha (Maltz Jupiter). Film and TV: She's Funny Like That, "Girls," Secret Lives of Dentists.
Bill Coyne (Brendan Kilgannon). Off-Broadway: GREED: A Musical For Our Times at New World Stages, Li'l Abner, Fade Out/Fade In, Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice with The Shakespeare Forum. Other NYC: Soho Playhouse, NYMF, Ars Nova. Bill created the role of Supernova in Superhero Celebrity Rehab, 2012 Best of DC Capital Fringe. Recent workshops include: Be More Chill and Annie Golden, Bounty Hunter, Yo! by Joe Iconis for Two River Theatre and Cap21, I Spy a Spy by SooHee Youn and Jamie Jackson at The Playroom. Bill is an "actor-vist" and producer of MuseMatch, a not-for-profit concert series that has created 32 collaborations and raised thousands of dollars for charity. @MuseMatchOrg / www.billcoyneonline.com / @BillCoyneSpeaks.
Paula Ewin (Mary Jablonski) is a Founding Member and long time player in the acting ensemble of the award- winning Off-Broadway company, 29th Street Rep, performing leading roles in 27 New York and World Premiere productions since 1988. Playwright in residence Bill Nave has written characters for her including the Off Off Broadway Review "OOBR" winner Visiting Oliver and Bible Burlesque (opposite Edward Norton). Ludovica Villar-Hauser directed her in the acclaimed production of Bold Girls by Rona Munro in 2003. Recently, she toured in the Broadway production of On Golden Pond with Tom Bosley and Michael Learned and performed the role of Katharine Hepburn in the one woman play Tea at Five at The Pasadena Playhouse, in Florida at The Cuillo Center and at her alma mater, Rhode Island College at The Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts. Off-Broadway credits include The Harold Clurman, Triangle and Actors' and Directors' Theatres, among others. She has performed for three decades in numerous television, film and business theatre projects. In 2000, she produced and co-directed the documentary "Look Here!" A Portrait of Sylvia Sleigh, profiling the life of the realist painter famous for her male nudes and feminist contributions. An accomplished singer, Ms. Ewin has performed in cabaret and jazz venues in New York and has developed a musical tribute to Julie London, Party of One. A graduate of The Esper Studio, she holds a BA in Theatre from Rhode Island College.
James Michael Lambert (Jimmy Jablonski). Selected credits include: "Mad Men" (AMC), Hard Sell (2014 release), "Lights" (PBS), Basquiat! A New Musical (Keith Haring), Mamma Mia!, Happy Days - A New Musical! (with Garry Marshall, Paul Williams, and Bob Boyette), numerous world premiers at South Coast Repertory, Geffen Playhouse, and member of the Troubadour Theater Company.
Kate Kearney-Patch (Joyce Kilgannon) last appeared at the Cherry Lane Theatre in As It IS in Heaven, also directed by Ms. Villar-Hauser. She has performed leading roles at: The Kennedy Center, ACT San Francisco, Huntington Theatre, The Alley Theatre Houston, Virginia Stage, and Delaware Theatre Company. She's been privileged to appear in several favorite projects with director and writer Richard Nelson: American premiere of The General From America, Greta in James Joyce's The Dead, and Anna Islaeva at Williamstown's A Month in the Country. Film and TV credits include: "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," Hack," The Sixth Sense, Dead Poets Society. She can be seen on TV this Fall season in new shows: "How to Get Away with Murder" (with Viola Davis, ABC-TV), and "Momsters" (Discovery ID-TV).
Kendall Rileigh (Kathleen Kilgannon) recently played Golda Meir in the Broadway touring production of the one-woman show Golda's Balcony (as Tovah Feldshuh's understudy). Other tours: Great Expectations, Charlotte's Web. Off-Broadway: Another Part of the Forest, Savage in Limbo. Other NY & Regional: A Man's World (2014 NYIT Award-nominated revival), The Seagull (Arkadina), Julius Caesar (Marc Antony), The Three Sisters (Olga, violinist), James Joyce's The Dead (Lily, violinist), Romeo & Juliet (Juliet), The Tempest(s) (Ariel, Miranda), The Cherry Orchard (Varya), The Miracle Worker (Mrs. Keller), Sweet Bird of Youth (Heavenly), Midsummer Night's Dream (Helena), The Lonesome West (Girleen), The Miss Firecracker Contest (Popeye), Twelfth Night (Maria). TV: "30 Rock." Training: Duke University, Moscow Art Theatre, Circus Warehouse. Kendall also performs on the aerial silks, rope, and trapeze and is co-founder of aerial theater company Only Child. Their full-length ASYLUM debuted in NYC in June and will run regionally in 2015/2016. www.kendallrileigh.com.
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