City Theatre Announces Plays for 2014 SUMMER SHORTS

John Manzelli, Producing Artistic Director of City Theatre, and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County invite audiences to walk the red carpet into the 19th annual SUMMER SHORTS FESTIVAL of the funniest short comedies in America. The 2014 SUMMER SHORTS FESTIVAL will blend the best of live theatre with a touch of glamour and glitz to create a sleek Miami theatrical event like no other to be staged in the intimate Carnival Studio Theater (Ziff Ballet Opera House) from June 12 - July 6.

Tickets are $40 and $45, and are now on sale to the general public. The 2014 SUMMER SHORTS FESTIVAL will open onThursday, June 12 and play through July 6, 2014. Evening performances will be held Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with afternoon matinees on Sunday at 4 p.m. Tickets may be purchased through the Arsht Center box office by calling(305) 949-6722, or online at www.arshtcenter.org. Groups of ten or more call (786) 468-2326 or emailgroups@arshtcenter.org for special discounts.

The Carbonell Award-winning festival has become a nationally recognized event that puts audiences up close with a company of chameleon-like actors playing multiple characters in a series of ten short plays. SUMMER SHORTS: America's Short Play Festival has built its reputation on featuring the top short plays from the country's best playwrights, with a 2014 line-up that boasts a new work from Obie Award-winning writer and producer Paul Rudnick (Jeffrey, Addams Family Values) entitled My Husband and the world premiere production of Shock and Awww by Emmy Award-winning writers and co-authors Deb Lacusta and Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta, best known for their work on the animated television series "The Simpsons."

The 2014 SUMMER SHORTS FESTIVAL will also feature world premieres by award-winning playwrights Leslie Ayvazian, Steve Yockey, Holli Harms, Mira Gibson and Richard Dresser, as well as a regional premiere by John Minigan, and the South Florida return of The Scottish Play by New World School of the Arts graduate Theo Reyna.

The 2014 SUMMER SHORTS FESTIVAL ten play line-up includes:

The Click by Leslie Ayvazian, World Premiere
Halftime by Richard Dresser, World Premiere
It's The Jews by John Minigan, Southeastern Premiere
Joshua Consumed an Unfortunate Pear by Steve Yockey, World Premiere
Make John Patrick Shanley Go Home by Holli Harms, World Premiere
My Husband by Paul Rudnick
Old Flame by Mira Gibson, World Premiere
Shock and Awww by Dan Castellaneta and Deb Lacusta, World Premiere
Tornado by Arlitia Jones, World Premiere The Scottish Play by Theo Reyna. This play had its world premiere at Mad Cat Theatre Company as part of their production Mixtape2: UMMAGUMMA FORZA ZUMMA! (Artistic Director, Paul Tei)

The festival is directed by City Theatre Producing Artistic Director John Manzelli, Margaret M. Ledford, Mcley Lafrance, Ricky J. Martinez and Paul Tei. The plays star Irene Adjan, Elizabeth Dimon, Tom Wahl, David Perez-Ribada, Niki Fridh, Mcley Lafrance and Mary Sansone. The design team includes Jodi Dellaventura (Scenic), Matt Corey (Sound), Preston Bircher (Lighting) and Ellis Tillman (Costumes).

City Theatre's venerable short-play festival returns to its home for the past 7 years, the Arsht Center's Carnival Studio Theater, whose stage has just been named the Susan Westfall Playwrights Stage, in honor of City Theatre's Literary Director and Co-Founder. The stage will be officially dedicated during a special ceremony on June 14.