Andréa Burns to Star As Judy Holliday In NYC Premiere Of SMART BLONDE

59E59 Theaters presents the New York premiere of SMART BLONDE written by Willy Holtzman and directed by Peter Flynn. Produced by MBL Productions and Mary J. Davis in association with Judith Manocherian LLC, SMART BLONDE begins performances on Saturday, March 16 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 13. Press Opening is Tuesday, March 26 at 7:15 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Friday at 7:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM & 7:15 PM; Sunday at 2:15 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Single tickets are $25 - $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call the 59E59 Box Office at 646-892-7999 or visit www.59e59.org.

In New York City, star Judy Holliday lays down a series of tracks about her rise to fame amidst the politics of the 1950s. Memory and song converge as the "dumb blonde" with a genius IQcharts her experiences from Greenwich Village to Broadway and beyond with notable show business alums, including Leonard Bernstein and Marilyn Monroe.

The luminous Andréa Burns (Broadway's On Your Feet! and In the Heights) stars as Holliday. She's joined by Andrea Bianchi (Curvy Widow at Westside Theater), Mark Lotito (Broadway's Jersey Boys), and Jonathan Spivey (Summer in Smoke with Transport Group).

The design team includes Tony Ferrieri (scenic design); Alan Edwards (lighting design); Michael McDonald (costume design); and Joanna Lynne Staub (sound design). The Production Stage Manager is Stephanie Clark. Willy Holtzman's (playwright) plays include: Honor Flight (PlayPenn), The First Mrs. Rochester (Portland Stage Little Festival), The Morini Strad (City Theatre - ATCA nominee, Primary Stages, Colony Theatre, Portland Stage Company), Sabina (Primary Stages - 1996, 2005), Something You Did (Primary Stages, People's Light and Theatre, Theatre J), Bovver Boys (Primary Stages, Cleveland Play House, Berkshire Theatre Festival), Hearts (Baltimore Center Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Alliance Theatre, People's Light and Theatre - Barrymore Award), The Real McGonagall (The Cell Theatre, Portland Stage Company, New Harmony Project - Wangerin Award), The Closer (The Working Theatre, Geva Theatre - Davie Award, Nebraska Rep), Inside Out (Theatre for a New Audience, Portland Stage Company, Nebraska Rep), San Antonio Sunset (published in Best Short Plays and produced in New York, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Mumbai). Willy's screenplay for Edge of America received the Peabody Award, the Humanitas Prize, and the Writers Guild Award. He was a Lila Wallace Resident Playwright at Juilliard. He is a board member of New Dramatists and of Harlem Stage Company.

Peter Flynn (director) is a New York City-based director, producer, and teacher. His most recent directing credits include the Off Broadway musical Curvy Widow at the Westside Theater; Ragtime for Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. where he is also an Associate Artist; and Kiss Me, Kate! for the Maltz-Jupiter Theatre. New York credits include Actors' Fund concerts of the 75th Anniversary of Thornton Wilder's Our Town with Adriane Lenox, B.D. Wong, S. Epatha Merkerson, and concerts of On the 20th Century with Douglas Sills & Marin Mazzie, Chess with Josh Groban & Julia Murney, and Funny Girl with Whoopi Goldberg & Andrea Martin; Skippyjon Jones, & Junie B. Jones (nominated for two Lucille Lortel Awards including Best Musical), and Rhapsody in Seth - Actors' Playhouse starring Seth Rudetsky.

Other credits include Andrea Martin'sone woman show, Andrea Martin: Final Days Everything Must Go, the world premiere of Willy Holtzman's new play, Smart Blonde at Pittsburgh's City Theatre starring Andréa Burns; Katori Hall's The Mountaintop; Gypsy at the St. Louis MUNY; 1776 & The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for Ford's Theatre, and Man of La Mancha for the Maltz-Jupiter Theatre which earned him the South Florida Carbonell Award for Best Direction.

Peter was the Artistic Director of the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, New York for five seasons, overseeing a variety of large scale productions, intimate plays, and the development of new work. He is also the Founding Artistic Director of the Perry-Mansfield New Works Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and a member of SDC.

Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter-Keddy

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