Robert LaFosse Directs David Drake In MY TAWNY VALENTINE At Beechman

Obie Award-winning playwright/performer David Drake (The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me) makes his long-awaited return to New York with the premiere of MY TAWNY VALENTINE. Written by and starring Drake, this drag tragicomedy with music will be directed by Robert LaFosse (Tony Award nominee for Jerome Robbins' Broadway) featuring musical direction by Lance Cruce (Joan River's longtime pianist, Karen Finley's Make Love), original music by Trevor Kuprel, and video by Ned Stresen Reuter. Performances begin February 17th at The Laurie Beechman Theatre.

The show is described as: "MY TAWNY VALENTINE marks the unheralded return of Tawny Heatherton, a lovably eccentric showbiz survivor and “one hit wonder” of the disco zeitgeist of the early 1980s. Tawny brings her singular blonde-swept brand of sunny, funny optimism while recalling stories of wandering the globe performing her disco "hit," her headline-grabbing turn as the unwitting "Pyro Girl of Long Island," her short-lived stint as a "Hee-Haw Honey," and reuniting with her long-lost aunt Joey Heatherton at the Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino."

David Drake is an actor-writer-director best known as the Obie Award-winning playwright/performer of The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, one of the longest-running solo shows in Off-Broadway history. David also starred in Vampire Lesbians of Sodom (succeeding Charles Busch for 856 performances), originated the role of “Miss Deep South” in the hit Pageant, as well as co-starring with Jim J. Bullock in End of the World Party at the 47th St. Theater, and with B.D. Wong in A Language of Their Own at The Public. His TV credits: Law & Order, The Beat, NY Undercover. Feature films: Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia, as well as It’s Pat, Naked in New York, David Searching, Bear City, Longtime Companion, and his own adaptation of The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me. As a stage director, David has twice been a Directing Fellow at the Sundance Theater Lab, and has directed new works at The Public’s Under the Radar Festival, Joe’s Pub, and Rattlestick, among others. Most recently in New York, David was a director of the 2009 world premiere of Taylor Mac’s The Lily’s Revenge.

Robert La Fosse joined American Ballet Theatre in 1977, where he danced as a Principal Dancer for nine years, and in 1986, he was invited by Jerome Robbins to join New York City Ballet as a Principal Dancer. He has danced leading roles in countless works by the likes of Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Agnes De Mille, George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins. Mr. La Fosse has also starred in Broadway productions of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ and Jerome Robbins' Broadway, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor. He also serves as Artistic Director of Stars of American Ballet, a touring group consisting of principals and soloists from American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet. As a choreographer, he has created works for Mikhail Baryshnikov and Company, School of American Ballet, New York City Ballet, John Kelly and Company, and Les Ballets Trocadero de Monte Carlo as well as choreography for theater (Carousel at Paper Mill Playhouse, Splendora at American Place Theater) and opera (Adriana Lecouvrear for the Metropolitan Opera). In 1987 Robert LaFosse wrote his autobiography titled Nothing to Hide published by Donald I. Fine.

MY TAWNY VALENTINE runs Feb 17, 24, & March 2 at 7:30pm. The Laurie Beechman Theater is located inside West Bank Cafe at 407 West 42nd Street -- at Ninth Avenue, accessible from the A,C,E,N,R,V,F,1,2 & 3 trains at 42nd Street). Tickets are $20 plus a $15 food/drink minimum. To purchase tickets, call 212-352-3101 or visit www.SpinCycleNYC.com.

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