CENTERSTAGE Premieres Marisa Wegrzyn's MUD BLUE SKY Tonight

Work, motherhood, missed connections, and prom night form the backdrop of Marisa Wegrzyn's tender, funny new play about three flight attendants and their unlikely companion. Mud Blue Sky is directed by Susanna Gellert and currently in rehearsal at CENTERSTAGE. This World Premiere production begins previews tonight, March 6, and runs through April 14.

"When I began planning our 50th Anniversary Season I knew that I wanted to highlight new plays-but finding the right new play for the moment is always a challenge," says Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah. "When I first read Marisa Wegrzyn's Mud Blue Sky I knew right away that it was a perfect fit. It was written with so much compassion and such a deep understanding of how people live in today's hyper-connected world that I couldn't help but fall in love with it. Marisa's talent and wit are remarkable, and this is a play we all truly believe in."

Winner of the Wasserstein Prize for her play Hickorydickory, playwright Marisa Wegrzyn, at barely 30 years old, has already had an impressive career. A native of Chicago, she was named Best Playwright by Chicago Reader, is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, and a founding company member of Theatre Seven of Chicago. Her plays have premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Theatre Seven, and have been produced Off Broadway at Second Stage, at The Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival, and at other theaters in San Diego, Los Angeles, and New York. Ms. Wegrzyn has also been commissioned by Yale Repertory Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre, where Mud Blue Sky was commissioned and had its first reading.

This production marks the Baltimore directorial debut of Susanna Gellert, CENTERSTAGE's Artistic Producer, who produced the My America videos earlier this season. Her directing credits include productions at the New York Music Theater Festival, PS 122, and the New York International Fringe Festival. Ms. Gellert was the founding Artistic Director of Chicago's I-80 Drama Co. and an associate artist at Target Margin Theater. Currently, she is a member of Wingspace, a theater design collective, and the Women's Project Directors' Lab.

Written with tender compassion and a wicked wit, Mud Blue Sky follows a late-night encounter between three flight attendants and their unlikely companion in a hotel room near O'Hare Airport. Work, prom nights, and the persistent power of kindness are all illuminated in the course of one unforgettable evening.

Mud Blue Sky, by Marisa Wegrzyn, directed by Susannah Gellert, begins previews tonight, March 6; celebrates Opening Night on Wednesday, March 13; and runs through Sunday, April 14. Tickets start at $10, and can be ordered online at www.centerstage.org/Mud, or by calling 410.332.0033.

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