Gloucester Stage Company's 4000 MILES to Run 7/31-8/17

Gloucester Stage Company's 35th Anniversary Season continues with Amy Herzog's funny and moving 4000 Miles from July 31 through August 17 at the Gorton Theatre, 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. Winner of the 2012 Obie Award for Best New American Play and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama Finalist, Amy Herzog's 4000 Miles looks at how two outsiders find their way in today's world. After suffering a major loss while he was on a cross-country bike trip, 21 year-old Leo seeks solace from his feisty 91 year-old grandmother Vera in her West Village apartment in New York City. Over the course of a single month, these unlikely roommates infuriate, bewilder, and ultimately reach each other. Directed by Gloucester Stage Artistic Director Eric C. Engel, the production features GSC favorite and Rockport resident Nancy E. Carroll as Vera and Rockport native Tom Rash as Vera's grandson Leo. The reminder of the cast features Sarah Oakes Muirhead, last seen at GSC in 2013's award winning Spring Awakening and GSC newcomer Samantha Ma.

Amy Herzog's plays include After the Revolution (Williamstown Theater Festival; Playwrights Horizons; Lilly Award), The Great God Pan (Playwrights Horizons), and Belleville (Yale Rep; New York Theatre Workshop; Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist; Drama Desk nomination.) Ms. Herzog is a recipient of the Whiting Writers Award, the Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Helen Merrill, the Joan and Joseph Cullman Award for Extraordinary Creativity, and the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award. She is a Usual Suspect at NYTW and an alumna of Youngblood, Play Group at Ars Nova, and the SoHo Rep Writer/Director Lab. Ms. Herzog has taught playwriting at Bryn Mawr and Yale. She received an MFA from Yale School of Drama.

Director Eric C. Engel is in his eighth season as GSC's Artistic Director following two years serving as Producing & Associate Artistic Director and three years as a guest director. The 35th Anniversary Season opener, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris marks the 25th production he has directed at Gloucester Stage. He will also direct the final production of the 35th Anniversary Season in late August: August Wilson's Fences opening on August 21. Recent GSC directing credits include Spring Awakening (recipient of IRNE (Independent Reviewers of New England) Awards for Best Director and Best Production of a Musical), Dueling Divas, The Norman Conquests trilogy of plays, and Nine Circles (originally directed for the Publick Theatre Boston).

Rockport resident Nancy E. Carroll last appeared at Gloucester Stage Company in 2013's North Shore Fish by GSC Founding Artistic Director Israel Horovitz. Her other Gloucester Stage appearances include: 2010's TRAD; 2009 's critically acclaimed Breath of Life and a special two night event reprising her role in The Year of Magical Thinking; 2008's Doubt: A Parable; 2006's Happy Days, 2005's My Old Lady by Founding Artistic Director Israel Horovitz, 2004's Spinning Into Butter & 2003's Elliot Norton Award winning production of Collected Stories. She

She appeared on Broadway in Present Laughter with the Roundabout Theatre Company and internationally she has appeared in The Cripple of Inishmaan and Big Maggie with Druid Theatre, Ireland. Regionally her performances include Rapture Blister Burn, Good People, The Luck of the Irish, Prelude to a Kiss, Brendan, Present Laughter, The Rose Tattoo, and Dead End at the Huntington Theatre Company; Our Town, and She Loves Me at Williamstown Theatre Festival among many others. Ms. Carroll received Elliot Norton Awards for her portrayals of Miss Erickson in Present Laughter and the Woman in Brendan at the Huntington Theatre Company and Mommo in Bailegangaire with the Súgán Theatre Company.

Rockport native Tom Rash makes his GSC debut as Leo in 4000 Miles. Regionally he has been seen in A Christmas Carol at Hartford Stage and A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Capital Classics Theatre Company. In Boston he appeared with the Boston Children's Theater and on the North Shore he has appeared with many local theatre groups including CAST, CAT Collaborative; Marblehead Little Theater; and Salem's History Alive! Mr. Rash received a B.F.A. from The Hartt School at The University of Hartford.

A senior at Boston University, Sarah Oakes Muirhead who made her GSC debut in 2013's Spring Awakening plays Bec in 4000 Miles. In her GSC debut Boston Conservatory junior Samantha Ma plays Amanda in 4000 Miles.

Amy Herzog's 4000 Miles runs from July 31 through August 17. Performance schedule: Thursday, July 31 through Saturday, August 2 at 8 pm; Wednesday, August 6 through Saturday, August 9 at 8 pm Wednesday, August 13 through Saturday, August 16 at 8 pm; Saturday matinees on August 2, August 9 and August 16 at 3 pm and Sunday matinees on August 3, August 10 and August17 at 4 pm. For the 3 pm Saturday matinee on August 2 only, the ticket price is Pay What You Can. Following the 4 pm performance on Sunday August 3, audiences are invited to a free post show discussion with the artists from 4000 Miles.

Gloucester Stage is handicapped accessible. Ticket prices are $40 for all performances. Senior citizen & student tickets are $35 for all performances. A limited amount of discount tickets are available to Cape Ann residents for all Wednesday and Thursday 8 pm performances. For these performances only, Cape Ann residents can purchase discounted tickets for $20. Advance reservations are strongly suggested to ensure tickets at the discounted price. Year round Cape Ann residents must identify themselves as such when making a reservation and proof of residency must be presented at the box office the night of the performance.

All performances are held at The Gorton Theatre, 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. For more information and to purchase tickets, call the Gloucester Stage Box Office at 978-281-4433 or at www.gloucesterstage.com

Photo by Gary Ng