C.J. Thom's FRANKLIN STEIN Begins Performances at Connelly Theatre Tonight

Gadfly Productions, will start previews of C.J. Thom's world premiere, FRANKLIN STEIN, a very dark comedy of corporate horror, tonight, August 28th. The production will have its official opening on Sunday, September 1st and run until September 16th at the The Connelly Theatre, 220 East 4th Street in Manhattan.

Meet Franklin Stein. He has nice clothes, a nice car and a nice home, but still doesn't feel much. That's because he's dead. Franklin's doctor's visit for his stiff neck leads to the discovery that he has no heart beat. At first resistant to this seemingly impossible information, and then terrified, he becomes determined to reverse his condition and reclaim the life he lost. Amidst the stresses of family and the workplace, he trudges through an episodic world of strange corporate horror. Bloodied with eventual violence, Franklin seeks to remedy his condition through the guidance of the mysterious and vaguely sinister Dr. Sam. Franklin's here! And he's coming to get you!

The cast of FRANKLIN STEIN features Anton Koval, Jennie West, Brett Epstein, Xavier Reminick, Emmanuel Elpenord and Larry Greenbush.

Jeff Wong is the art, projections and media designer. Marlon Hurt is the Scenic and lighting designer.

C. J. Thom is a native Angeleno. He earned his BA at UCLA, majoring in American Lit & Cultures. He moved to New York in 2006, and now resides in Washington Heights. He has written over twenty full-length plays, including: How to Major in Foosball, Romeo & Juliet, Part II and Eye Tooth, many of which were staged in L.A. and San Diego, among other venues. Eightballs, produced at The Theatres at 45 Bleecker in 2008, marked his NY premiere, both as an actor and a playwright.

John Harlacher's directing work includes Penetrating The Space and Callous Cad at The HERE art center, eight versions of NYC's annual Halloween spectacular: Nightmare Haunted House, and the feature film Urchin, which he also wrote. Released theatrically and distributed worldwide, Urchin was banned in Malaysia as a "threat to culture." He is also the creative director of Weird Tales magazine, the home of dark fantasy (Conan the Barbarian) and supernatural horror (Cthulhu the alien monster god) since 1923.

Performances of FRANKLIN STEIN are Tuesdays - Saturdays at 8PM.

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at franklinstein.brownpapertickets.com or at the box office prior to each performance.

For more information, visit www.franklinsteintheplay.com.