4th Wall Theatre's THE LIFE To Run 6/4-19

4th Wall Theatre in Bloomfield, NJ will end their 2009-2010 season with Cy Coleman's gritty musical The Life which details the pulsating life in Times Square, where everything and everyone seemed to have a price, before the arrival of Disney. The musical will run weekends from June 4-19. With a book by David Newman, Cy Coleman & Ira Gasman and music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Ira Gasman, The Life tells the story of Queen, a prostitute who works 42nd Street to support her man, a Vietnam Veteran named Fleetwood. After months of selling her body on the street, Queen has finally managed to save enough money for them to escape "the life," but circumstances work to keep her, and others we meet captive in the streets.

Outgoing 4th Wall artistic director Gregory Allen says "This musical shows audiences a side of life that most of them never see - but we find that love and friendship can still abound in those places. These folks have to create a family in order to survive the way they do on the streets." Allen has directed the show with the incoming 4th Wall artistic director, Kate Swan, serving as the choreographer. Swan has extensive choreography and directing credits, including Disney's Beauty & The Beast. The 1980 New York City they are creating is a conceptually dark and seedy world. This is aided by a set design of scaffolding and garish signs, mixed with lighting and costumes that supply energetic colors indicative of the time period. Deborah Martin champions the cast of 18 as the music director and has found just the right sound of the late 1970's, early 80's in her compact pit.
The cast is headed by actors from New York and New Jersey, who have risen to the challenge of creating a world that is foreign to anything they've know...several of the cast were just children during the time the show takes place. Rasha Jay, Matt Burns, Gwen Ricks-Spencer, James Ryan, Brandon A. Wright, Jaclyn Ingoglia, Nicholas Adler, Richard Colonna, Michele Dalia, Erin Edelle, Roxy Arrojo, Adrienne Reuss, Candice Gibson, Joshua Gunn, Roger Turner, Charles Frisk, Miles G. Jackson and Sasha Nosonowitz.

"Greg has worked with this cast to be sure each of us create back stories for our characters; that we fully understand their challenges and why each of them is in the place they now find themselves," says Gwen Ricks-Spencer who plays Sonja - the role made famous by Lillias White on Broadway. "I recall what New York was like during that period, I was in college and often came to New York, pounding the payment at auditions and passing those women who would work outside of Port Authority. If we can bring an ounce of dignity to their plight, I will feel we've done our jobs as actors."

The Life opened on Broadway in 1997 and won Lillias White and Chuck Cooper Tony Awards® for featured roles in a musical as well as the Drama Desk for Best Musical.

The Life is presented for three weekends: June 4-19 at 8:00 pm on Friday & Saturday with a 2:00 pm matinee on June 13. Tickets are $22 ($18 for students and seniors). 973-748-9008 ext 279 or online at www.4thwalltheatre.org. 4th Wall Theatre is in residence at the Westminster Arts Center on the corner of Franklin & Fremont Streets in Bloomfield, NJ.

Photo Caption: Rasha Jay as Queen & Matt Burns as Fleetwood at 4th Wall Theatre.
Photo by Tom Schopper