Cast Announced for LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER at Midtown Direct Rep

Midtown Direct Rep (MDR), SOPAC, and co-directors/producers Deborah Goldstein (Publisher, Village Q), Brooke Lefferts (Writer, Associated Press, NBC Today), Sandy Rustin (Playwright, Rated P ... for Parenthood, The Cottage, Struck) are pleased to announce the local cast of the 2016 Listen to Your Mother: North Jersey show, a national series of original live readings about motherhood (www.listentoyourmothershow.com). This 3rd Annual North Jersey production, presented by Midtown Direct Rep and SOPAC, will take place on Saturday, May 7, 2016 at 5pm (Mainstage) and 7:30pm (Loft Theater) at The South Orange Performing Arts Center (One SOPAC Way, South Orange, NJ, 07079). Open auditions were held in late January, and 13 writers have been selected to join the movement of "giving motherhood a microphone." Tickets are $35-$45 and are available at www.sopacnow.org or by calling 973-313-ARTS (2787). For direct link to purchase tickets, please Click Here

This year, Listen to Your Mother will be presented in 41 cities across the United States and Canada with the mission of taking the audience on a well-crafted journey that celebrates and validates motherhood (in all of its complexity, diversity, and humor) in the form of original readings performed live on-stage by their authors. Listen To Your Mother was conceived from the creative work of mothers who publish online, and each production is directed, produced, and performed by local communities, for local communities. The 2016 cast will feature some of North Jersey's most talented writers and bloggers including: Lois Gallt Accardi, Ralph Buchalter, Moira Deziel, Laura Epstein, Brie Latini, Pam Lobley, Allyson Murphy, Doreen Oliver, Pat Ostrander, Joy Peskin, Otise Schuk, Carrie Schwartz, and Elizabeth Trundle.

Listen To Your Mother is sponsored nationally by BlogHer, along with several local North Jersey sponsors (complete list TBA). Listen to Your Mother aims to support motherhood creatively through artistic expression, and also financially, through contributions to non-profit organizations supporting families in need. The North Jersey show will donate 10% of ticket proceeds to a local charity to be announced in the coming weeks.