TOTALLY TRUE THINGS Solo Show Series to be Presented at Performing Arts Studio of New York

TOTALLY TRUE THINGS is a solo storytelling show series featuring award-winning artists sharing true stories, each focusing on a different mental health issue, followed by a talkback with the audience that includes an expert or guest with special knowledge about the show's topic. This is a unique opportunity to experience the power of storytelling to educate, empower and inspire change while at the same time provide rich entertainment.

All shows will be presented at the Performing Arts Studio of New York, 224 E. Main St., Port Jefferson, NY at 4 pm on one Sunday each month from October-December 2023. Tickets are $20 online, $25 at the door (cash only). A subscription to the entire series is $45 and available here. There is a ticketing link for each individual show as well.

Lifestage, Inc, a training/consulting company based in Smithtown is the producer of the series and an approved provider of Continuing Education for NYS Social Workers, who can earn 2 contact hours of Continuing Education for each of these events.

The TOTALLY TRUE THINGS solo show series is as follows:

Sunday, October 1, 2023 at 4pm: Smoker

Have you ever had to give up something you LOVE? Smoker is award-winning New York monologist Bob Brader's acclaimed solo comedy about his 28-year love affair with smoking and how they broke up. As he tries to leave his first love, "those sweet Camel lights", Bob realizes all the complex connections he has through smoking: how it helped him through a turbulent childhood, created jobs, opportunities, and community, and one particular connection almost too precious to let go. Smoker won Best Autobiographical Show at United Solo Theater Festival, was a Bestseller on Indie Theater Now and a 5-Star Critics Pick on All About Solo. The show has toured the U.S. and Canada to massive critical acclaim. It was part of Lifestage Inc's 10-month Smoking Cessation Program in Manorville, NY. Brader also partnered with NYC's Safe Horizon for Smokermultiple show fundraising events for two consecutive years. At once hilarious and cautionary, Smoker has been proclaimed by London Free Press as "addictive, compelling theatre fueled by Brader's masterful storytelling and acting talent, a show that must not be missed!"

Smoker is written and performed by Bob Brader, directed and developed by Suzanne Bachner and features projection design by Chris Kateff. Hosted by Lifestage Inc's Jude Treder-Wolff, the post-show Talkback will address Smoker's issues of addiction and trauma. The Smoker creative team, Bob Brader and Suzanne Bachner will be joined by Guest Expert John Martin, Dept of Health, Suffolk County, NY. Tickets are $20 online, available here or $25 at the door (cash only).

Sunday, November 5, 2023 at 4pm: The Good Adoptee

Can you imagine not knowing your own identity? The Good Adoptee is the riveting and outrageous true story of award-winning playwright Suzanne Bachner's search for her first / birth parents in the face of New York State's sealed records. Once she opens Pandora's Box, can she find a way to integrate her dual identities and still remain "the Good Adoptee"? The show has won awards for Best Autobiographical Script and Best Actress when it premiered in NYC's United Solo Theatre Festival and was named a Best Play by Indie Theater Now. The Good Adoptee has toured to the London International Fringe Festival and all over the U.S., including a 7-week 9-city Connecticut tour to support the vital and now successful legislative efforts of Access Connecticut.

The Good Adoptee is kicking off November's National Adoption Awareness Month. It's written and directed by Suzanne Bachner and performed by Kat Nardizzi (currently appearing Off Broadway in Lighthouse), dramaturged by Bob Brader and features projection design by Chris Kateff and sound design by Katie Chai.Sadie takes the Stage, London UK raved: 5 Stars with a "healthy dose of Laugh-Out-Loud-Humour!" and Theater Scene called it: "Superior writing...A spellbinding emotional detective story!"

Hosted by Lifestage Inc's Jude Treder-Wolff, the post-show Talkback will address the show's themes of adoption trauma and identity issues. The Good Adoptee creative team of Bachner, Nardizzi and Brader will be joined by Special Guest Chemene Vizzi, Adoptive Mom, Co-Founder & President of Long Island Adoptive Families Association and Conference & Production Specialist at Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York.Tickets are $20 available here and $25 at the door (cash only).

Sunday, December 10, 2023 at 4pm: FASTER: Comedy About The Cost Of Keeping Up With The Speed of Change

For real-life psychotherapist Jude Treder-Wolff, change is her bread and butter. Sometimes a fantastic new start, sometimes a tragedy, it is the human reality. She's also an improviser who takes a "make the leap and figure it out as you go" approach to change, married to a "do some research, reflect, do more research, double check for safety, get proper equipment and document absolutely every step of the way" guy. That's a human comedy.

As the speed of change accelerates in all our lives our world transforms more quickly-and more often-than our brains are built to process. FASTER weaves the personal with the universal in a comedic breakdown of the struggle to step on the gas to try to keep up and brake to try to stay in control as we hurtle toward an uncertain future. True stories told by an expert in not knowing what will happen next. The New York Daily News advised, "Self-medicate with real-life therapist Jude Treder-Wolff and her talented line-up of performers. Expect the unexpected. And without the hourly rates!"

Hosted by Smoker writer and performer and The Good Adoptee's dramaturg Bob Brader, the post-show Talkback will be a conversation with FASTER: Comedy About The Cost Of Keeping Up With The Speed of Change writer and performer Jude Treder-Wolff who will be joined by a special guest expert TBA. Tickets are $20 and are available here or $25 at the door (cash only).

For tickets and more information, please visit www.lifestage.me/solo-show-series.
For further information about each show please visit SmokerThePlay.com, TheGoodAdoptee.com and Lifestage.me.
For further information about the artists please visit: JudeTrederWolff.com, Suzanne Bachner, BobBrader.com, KatNardizzi.com and Chris Kateff.

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