A.J. Shively, Dan Butler, and More Cast in Project Shaw's THE PHILANDERER

Gingold Theatrical Group continues the 14th Season of Project Shaw, Art as Activism: A Theatrical Survival Guide, a special series of evenings of plays that embrace human rights and free speech. All of GTG's programming, inspired by the works of George Bernard Shaw, are designed to provoke peaceful discussion and activism.

Next up, on June 24th, Project Shaw will present Bernard Shaw's The Philanderer directed by J.R. Sullivan and starring Kerstin Anderson (currently My Fair Lady - Eliza understudy), Dan Butler (Broadway: Travesties, Twentieth Century, Biloxi Blues; Off-Broadway: The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me, The Irish Curse, Old Money, The Lisbon Traviata, Much Ado About Nothing, The Widow Claire), Caitlin Cohn (title role in Lolita My Love - York Theater), Tim Jerome (Broadway: The Phantom of the Opera, The Lyons, Tarzan, La Bohème, Grand Hotel, Me and My Girl), Amelia Pedlow(The Metromaniacs, Tis Pity She's a Whore - Red Bull Theater, The Liar, The Heir Apparent - Classic Stage Company), A.J. Shively (Broadway: Bright Star, La Cage aux Folles), and Nick Wyman (currently starring on Broadway in Network; previous Broadway includes Catch Me If You Can, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sly Fox, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, On the 20th Century).

The Philanderer is a wickedly witty comedy. The play follows a day in the life of a roguish gentleman doing his best to avoid making a meaningful connection to either of the two women who may or may not actually want him to. In The Philanderer, Shaw takes on most of the classic Shavian issues: questioning societal expectations, sex, relationships, sense of self, science, religion, politics, and even a riotous look at Ibsen!

"This is only Shaw's second completed play, but he was already finding ways to tackle every issue you can imagine in the most entertaining of ways. Comedy, he reasoned, gave him permission to dive into topics rarely if ever dealt with on the stage up to that point. This is a rare opportunity to share a play that even many of the most devoted Shaw fans have never seen," said GTG Artistic Director David Staller.

Following The Philanderer will be The Stepmother by Githa Sowerby on July 22nd,Scintillating Shaw Symposium with an international panel on September 23, Shaw'sArms and the Man on October 28th, followed by The Play's The Thing by Ferenc Molnar on November 18th, ending the season with I'll Leave It To You by Noel Coward on December 16th.

All the plays in this series will be presented in a concert-reading format at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. Tickets are $40 and are available by calling 212-864-5400 or online at www.symphonyspace.org. Special reserved VIP seating available for $55 by contacting the Gingold office 212-355-7823 orinfo@gingoldgroup.org. Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre space is completely accessible. Infra-red hearing devices are also available.

Now celebrating its 14th year, Gingold Theatrical Group's Project Shaw made history in 2009 as the first company ever to present performances of every one of Shaw's 65 plays (including full-length works, one-acts and sketches). Since 2013, they also present works by writers who share Shaw's activist socio-political views embracing human rights and free speech, including work by Chekhov, Ibsen, Elizabeth Robins, Rachel Crothers, Pinero, Wilde, Barrie, and Harley Granville-Barker. GTG's other programs include its new play development and educational programs. For those interested in lively off-site discourses, each Project Shaw event is followed by a talk-back with cast members. GTG's David Staller and Stephen Brown-Fried also host a monthly Shaw Club discussion group.

GTG recently completed a highly acclaimed Off-Broadway engagement of Shaw'sHeartbreak House. Terry Teachout in the The Wall Street Journal declared, "Mr. Staller has taken on Heartbreak House, one of Shaw's most challenging plays, with altogether extraordinary results. Every gesture lands with the utmost potency, and the climactic convulsion that is the play's final scene sweeps away the bubbly comedy and leaves you, as Shaw intended, in shock. Mr. Staller has given us a uniquely satisfying production of this great but hard-to-stage play. This is one of the finest Shaw stagings of the past decade. Do not miss it." In his year end recap, Mr. Teachout named Heartbreak House Best Classical Production of the year: "David Staller's conceptual staging of George Bernard Shaw'sHeartbreak House, produced off Broadway by the Gingold Theatrical Group, was the best thing Mr. Staller has given us to date-which is saying something."

For more information about Project Shaw and all the programs at Gingold Theatrical Group, call 212-355-7823, email info@gingoldgroup.org, or visit gingoldgroup.org.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos

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