BACK, A New Play By Matt Webster, To Receive Industry Reading

An industry reading of the new play BACK by Matt Webster will take place on Tuesday, April 24 at 7:00 PM at the Studios at Manhattan Theatre Club (311 West 43rd Street, 8th Floor). Jenna Worsham (The Parisian Woman, The Heidi Chronicles) directs with Terra Mackintosh as "Leah" and Matt Webster as "Derek."

Falling in love with your best friend is never easy. And for Leah and Derek that couldn't be closer to the truth. Despite their undeniable chemistry and inherent trust, their journey toward love is filled with heartache and mistakes. Over half a lifetime, their assumptions, resentments, and stifled dreams have kept them in a tortured romantic cycle. It's a shame they can't go back, do it all over, and build a life without regrets...but what if they could?

Matt Webster's first musical, Kingdom Come, won Best Musical at the Downtown Urban Theatre Festival in NYC. Since then, Kingdom Come has been featured at the New York Theatre Barn, Secret Theatre, and most recently at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota. His second original musical, Propaganda! The Musical was produced at the Pearl Theatre on 42nd St. as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival. It won several awards, including: Best Featured Actress and Best Choreography. It had its regional premier this August in Orlando, Florida at the Winter Park Playhouse. Matt's children's show, a fast-paced, four-actor version of Cinderella, featuring songs from the Great American Songbook, premiered in March 2017 in Washington, DC with the American Pops Orchestra. He received his BFA in Acting from West Virginia University where he was named the outstanding graduate from the College of Creative Arts. As an actor, Matt has been seen onstage as Glad Hand in the Broadway Tour of West Side Story, and with many companies throughout NYC, including: LaMaMa Theatre, LABA Theatre, Vital Theatre, Connecticut Children's Theatre, and Rescue Agreement. Matt can also be seen on screen in various feature films, commercials, web-series, and short films. Matt was recently named the recipient of the 2016 Johnny Mercer Award for Songwriting. Matt currently works as assistant to Broadway's Andrew Lippa. www.TheOtherMattWebster.com

TERRA MACKINTOSH: New York: Grounded (ATTENTIONTheatre), Running Interference (Fringe Excellence in Ensemble Award), Bryony Lavery's Frozen, No One Asked Me (Fringe Excellence in Ensemble Award, Encore Series Selection), Fool for Love, Somewhere Safer, The New Hopeville Comics. Regional: The Bedroom Window, Beautiful Star and Blackbeard (Triad Stage). Television: 'Divorce', 'Smash', 'The Ordained' (CBS pilot), 'Keep Me Posted' (Web series). Film: 'A Good Marriage' by Stephen King, 'Back Home,' 'Reasonable Suspicion', 'In Defense of Wonder' and 'The Homecoming' (Zeno Mountain Farm). Training: BA in Musical Theatre from Ball State University (Honors College Diploma), CAP21 Summer Musical Theatre Intensive and The Freeman Studios. Upcoming: SALTY by Aaron Richard Johnson, May 2018. www.terramackintosh.com

Jenna Worsham is a Stage Director and Activist. Broadway: The Parisian Woman by Beau Willimon (Associate Director to Pam MacKinnon); The Heidi Chronicles (Associate Director); Picnic (SDC Fellowship). Recent Directing: Belleville by Amy Herzog (upcoming at Pasadena Playhouse); Dear by Lily Houghton (MCC, PlayLab Series); Blue Ridge by Abby Rosebrock (Williamstown); The Siblings Play by Ren Dara Santiago (Cherry Lane, Mentor Project); Street Children by Pia Scala-Zankel (New Ohio Theatre, NY Times Critics' Pick); The First Immigrant by Martyna Majok (Williamstown, Studio); East Coast Curriculum by Lucy Thurber (Lee Strasberg Institute); Agnes by Catya McMullen (Rattlestick); The Vagina Monologues for Taconic Prison. Jenna is the recipient of a Drama League & Boris Sagal Directing Fellowship (Williamstown), a Jonathan Alper Directing Fellowship (MTC), and two SDC Foundation Observerships. Jenna is a member of the The Actors Studio Directors Unit, the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, and an Affiliated Artist of New Georges.

Reservations for industry professionals and their guests may be made by emailing BackPlayRSVP@gmail.com prior to Tuesday, April 24 at noon.