Moliere In The Park's Inaugural Season Opens Tonight

Molière in the Park, presented in partnership with the Prospect Park Alliance and the LeFrak Center at Lakeside, inaugural season opens tonight!

Three days of events begin with the company launch and fundraiser on Saturday, May 18 at 7pm, followed by two free staged public readings of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Wilbur's translation of Molière's THE MISANTHROPE, directed by Molière in the Park's Founding Artistic Director Lucie Tiberghien, with original songs by Tony and two-time Obie Award winner Stew, on Sunday, May 19 at 7pm and Monday, May 20 at 7pm.

The stellar cast for THE MISANTHROPE includes Mary Wiseman (CBS's "Star Trek: Discovery," Therese Raquin on Broadway), who replaces the previously announced Samira Wiley, McKinley Belcher III (The Light with MCC - OCC nominee, Netflix's "Ozark"), Chris Henry Coffey (Bronx Bombers at Circle in the Square & Primary Stages, Water by the Spoonful at Second Stage), Jessie Dean (Terminus at Next Door at NYTW, Bum: An All-American Opera at La MaMa), Naomi Lorrain (Entangled with The Amoralists, Behind the Sheet at EST), Mandi Masden (Broadway's Saint Joan, Jitney - MTC, 2017 Tony Award), Jennifer Mudge (Into the Woods at Roundabout - Lucille Lortel Award nominee, Broadway's Rocky), Postell Pringle (FX's "Rescue Me," Broadway's A Free Man of Color at LCT) and Tamara Sevunts (Your Alice at BAM Fisher, Daybreak at Beckett Theatre).

The production team includes Garth Belcon (Co-Founding Producer), Jessie Dean (Associate Artistic Director), Kris Stone (Set Design), S. Stoli Stolnack (Lighting Design) and Thyra Hartshorn (Production Manager).

Molière in the Park takes place at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park, Brooklyn from May 18 - 20, 2019. Enter at 171 East Drive between Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road. Tickets for all events can be reserved at https://www.moliereinthepark.org.

Molière in the Park is dedicated to bringing, yearly, free and inclusive productions of Molière's masterpieces to the LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park. Considered one of the world's greatest French satirists, they aim to make English translations of Molière's plays a vital part of Brooklyn's diverse culture. Every year a new production will bring our community together, free of charge, to experience subversive and timeless comedies under the stars.

In both style and content, Molière's plays capture Brooklyn: funny, gritty, smart, progressive and disruptive, and embracing of all types of people. His vast body of work reflects a common theme of generosity; Every play is a gift to the viewer, as the playwright leads his audience through laughter, honesty, tenderness, anguish and love. Through the lens of his stories, we see ourselves and others as imperfect and intertwined humans. Much like Prospect Park's unifying draw to Brooklynites and New Yorkers, Molière's plays unite us and point to our commonalities rather than our differences. Molière in the Park is a homage to Brooklyn's unique brand of diversity, innovation, and inclusion.