8 MILLION PROTAGONISTS, 'A Play Written By The Streets of NY' Runs Off-Broadway, Now thru 11/10

8 Million Protagonists, a first of its kind Off-Broadway production, will run at 9th Space Theatre from tonight, November 1 to November 10. The show is a crowdsourced play with its plot driven by the online submissions at www.newyorkwritesitself.com from everyday New Yorkers, capturing the real, uncensored streets of New York.

Produced by Leo Burnett New York in partnership with the Village Voice and LB Entertainment, ‘8 Million Protagonists’ takes you through one day in New York City as lived by the people of New York. Along the journey you’ll meet a variety of weird and wonderful characters that make New York so special. From the nervous newcomers to the hardened natives, you’re bound to recognize the City as you know it, presented in a way you’ve never before experienced it. Because when it comes to New York, you can’t make this shit up.

Written by Caitlin Gallo, directed by Stephen Bishop Seely, choreographed by Jimmy Burgio and created by Michael Canning and Kieran Antill, 8 Million Protagonists will play 9th Space Theatre (150 1st Avenue, between E 9th Street and E 10th Street).

Performances are tonight, November 1 to Saturday, November 3 and Wednesday, November 7 to Saturday, November 10. Curtain is at 8PM with added 2PM matinees on Saturdays. Tickets are $20.

For tickets and more information, visit www.VillageVoice.com/8MP.

Caitlin Gallo (Writer) is a writer for the screen and stage, currently based out of Los Angeles and New York. She is a student at the New School University (BFA: Musical Theatre/ Screenwriting) and The Second City (Improv/ Comedy Writing). Gallo is also an alumnus of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Last year she self-produced, wrote and directed the workshop of Happenstance: A New Musical, a dance-play about Missed Connections on Craigslist at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. Currently she is working on a new musical in New York, shopping television pilots in Los Angeles and earning lots of frequent flyer miles in the process. Last but not least, Gallo is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and of The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. Follow Caitlin on twitter @caitlinjgallo.

Stephen Bishop Seely (Director) has served as the Literary Manager and Director of New Play Development at the Genesius Theatre Guild, New York City and Assistant Dramaturg at Disney Theatrical Productions on their creative team for Tarzan, the Musical and On The Record, directed by Bobby Longbottom. Seely workshopped and produced the premiere of Box, by Fred Shahadi, directed by Clinton Turner Davis. He became Associate Artistic Director of the new Texas Star Theatre at the Granbury Opera House, where he directed The Boys Next Door and held the position of Associate Producer for Gypsy (with Cindy Benson), Grease, and a workshop reading of Robin Hood the Musical. Seely was one of co-founding Producing Artistic Directors of Revision Theatre in Asbury Park, New Jersey, where he produced Hello, Dolly!, Hair, Scrooge in Rouge, Kingdom (Winner of Best New Musical in New Jersey), Funny Girl, and The Full Monty. He has written and directed two films including "Inseparable" and "On the Sauce". He is currently working on a new theatre project entitled The Untitled Anderson Cooper/CNN Project, with co-writer Matthew Palmer. He has written several plays in development including Ashes to Ashes, The Calypso Crux, Mancrab, Topeka is Turning and has a web-series in development, "Separated@Birth". He is also directing the Off Off-Broadway one-man hip-hop musical Broke Wide Open, starring Rock WILK.

Jimmy Burgio (Choreographer) is a choreographer, dancer, actor, and singer who has performed in musicals and dance companies all over the East Coast. Burgio’s favorite credits include Paul in A Chorus Line, Bobby in The Boyfriend, and Jack in Into the Woods. As a choreographer, his work has most recently been seen at Dixon Place Theatre, where he was an Artist in Residence, and the curator of a successful dance series called “Moving Men”. Last year he self-produced and choreographed the workshop of Happenstance: A New Musical, a dance-play about Missed Connections on Craigslist, alongside longtime friend and collaborator, Caitlin Gallo at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. A former member of the Movement Faculty at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, he is currently the Artistic Director of Mitra Dance Collective, a New York City based contemporary dance company. www.mitradance.com

Michael Canning & Kieran Antill (Co-Creators) are Executive Creative Directors at Leo Burnett New York and the co-creators of newyorkwritesitself.com and ‘8 million Protagonists’. Last year launching New York Writes Itself’s first production ‘New York Types’ - a record attendance exhibition at the Art Directors Club in NY, in which some of the city’s best letterpress artists re-created a collection of written submissions from newyorkwritesitself.com as limited edition letterpress posters – capturing the real words of New Yorkers as pieces of art. Canning and Antill's collective body of work runs an eclectic gambit from advertising, fine arts, writing, documentary films, music videos, product innovation, photography, and most recently theatre. www.canningandantill.com