Wagner College Theatre to Present NYC Premiere of MY SOLDIERS, 3/4-9

Wagner College Theatre Stage One presents the NY area premiere of My Soldiers, written and directed by Richard Kalinoski, a 2003 Stanley Drama Award winner (Skin of a Lawyer) who's currently an artist-in-residence in the Theater Department. Performances are March 4 through 9, 2014 at Stage One.

Inspired by a chance meeting between the playwright and a female medic who served in Iraq with the Army National Guard, My Soldiers examines post traumatic war distress on Angi, a young female soldier after her time in Iraq. Angi joins the National Guard, becomes a medic and ships out with her unit to Iraq. Her experiences leave her undone, groping for meaning with what's left of her badly jumbled sensitivities. My Soldiers offers a portrait of a young woman adrift, trying to find a path back to a meaningful life.

Wagner College Theatre's production features Theatre performance majors Tom Althoff (Jimmy), Christian Alvarez (Fallen Man), Noah Bridgestock(Recruiting Officer/Captain), Jeanine Bruen (Angi), Tom De Michele (Lieutenant), Phil Della Noce (Chuck), Julia Karis (Rachel), Allie Luecke (Dr. Perlman), Daniel Marconi (Gilbert), Jesse McCaig (Hank), Jesse Mills (James), Julia Paladino (Trish/Waitress), and Daniela Sottile (Dr. Provinzano).

The production design team includes Brendan McCann (sets), Anna Kate Spears (costumes), Emily Lovell (lights), Nina Weber and Emma McElwee(sound). Margo Murphy-Gross is production stage manager.

My Soldiers, was produced to acclaim at Eastern University in November, 2009. My Soldiers had its professional premiere at the Detroit Repertory Theatre in June, 2010. A production of the same play earned a spot at the Midwest regional American College Theatre Festival sponsored by the Kennedy Center in January 2011 (at Michigan State).

Richard Kalinoski (Playwright/Director) is an award-winning playwright best known for his play, Beast on the Moon, which was chosen for the Humana Festival in March of 1995, and has since won the following: The Osborn Award (American Critics Assoc.) the Agnouni Award (Armenian Relief Society of North America), the Garland Award (Backstage West), Best Play from the Repertory, Moliere Award (Prix Moliere) of Paris, France, May 2001 (in addition to four other Moliere Awards), and the ACE Award, Argentina, for Best Play in the year 2001 in October. Among the international theatres which have producedBeast on the Moon are the Moscow Art Theatre, the City Theatre of Tallinn (Estonia) and the Nottingham Playhouse (England). Beast on the Moon ran off-Broadway at the Century Center in 2005 in New York as named one of ten best plays by the New York Daily News. Mr. Kalinoski's more recent work has been produced in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Buenos Aires, Toronto and Montreal. His newest play, The Boy Inside, explores the struggle of a Division 111 college football coach to sustain the viability of his football program in the midst of controversy surrounding the legitimacy of football itself.

Performance times are Tuesday through Saturday at 8pm, with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets to My Soldiers are $10. Wagner College Theatre box office can be contacted at (718) 390-3259. Box office hours are Monday through Friday 12:00Noon-4:00pm. Wagner College students attend free with current ID.

Pictured: Tom Althoff, Jeanine Bruen, Tom DeMichele and Phil Della Noce. Photo by Karen O'Donnell Photography.

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