Booker Garrett, Sayra Player, and More Cast in THE HURRICANE PARTY

THE COLLECTIVE NY announces complete casting for the world premiere production of David Thigpen's THE HURRICANE PARTY, directed by Tony Award Nominee Maria Dizzia (In the Next Room). Previews begin on Wednesday, August 29 at the Studio Stage at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Opening night is set for Tuesday, September 11, with a limited engagement through Sunday, October 7, 2018. Tickets are available now at http://www.thecollective-ny.org.

THE HURRICANE PARTY is a new play by Company Member David Thigpen. Thigpen's pulverizing southern American voice takes us on a break neck roller coaster ride where the characters are forced to face themselves in the most dangerous time of their lives. This slickly invented and hilariously debaucherous journey into the heart of an approaching storm grabs from the first second and doesn't let go until long after it's too late.

The cast of THE HURRICANE PARTY includes Michael Abbott Jr. (In The Radiant City), Booker Garrett ("Inside Amy Schumer"), Kevin Kane (I Feel Pretty), Lacy Marie Meyer (Someplace Strange), Sayra Player (The Collective NY's co-artistic director, Old Times - The Actors Studio) and Toni Lachelle Pollitt (Reasons to Be Pretty - UNDER St. Marks Theatre).

THE HURRICANE PARTY will feature set design by Frank Oliva (Bernstein's Mass), costume design by Louise Ingalls Sturges (Uncle Silas), sound design by Eric Glauber (True Love - Sharon Playhouse), lighting design by Miriam Nolifa Crowe (Who Mourns for Bob the Goon?), and dialect coaching by Stephen Gabis (Indecent). Bianca Puerto will serve as stage manager.

The performance schedule for THE HURRICANE PARTY is as follows: Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm, and Sundays at 5pm.

Tickets for THE HURRICANE PARTY are $40 and can be purchased at http://www.thecollective-ny.org.

Founded in 2007 by a group of alumni of the William Esper Studio, the mission of THE COLLECTIVE NY is to unite professional artists who share a responsibility to create work in the contemporary American theatre that is emotionally truthful, socially relevant, and defiantly accessible through weekly studio development sessions and full productions. Founding Members include Mike Houston, Kevin Kane, and Amy Schumer. Company credits include revivals of Ionesco's The Lesson, McGuinness's Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, and original productions 360, Me Equals This, Happy Girl and the Emmy Award-winning television show "Inside Amy Schumer."

The Collective NY unites professional artists who share a responsibility to create work in the contemporary American Theatre that is emotionally truthful, socially relevant, and defiantly accessible.

The company was established in the tradition of The Group Theatre out of a belief that the current conditions of commercialized theatre necessitate collective action.

Commitment to a permanent ensemble distinguishes The Collective NY. Through a shared vocabulary, uniform technique, and continual practice, the group pursues a common purpose: to establish a theatre that is uncompromising, relevant, and inclusive.

Michael Abbott JR. has appeared Off Broadway, at the Kennedy Center and across the country in many of the nation's most prestigious regional theatres in productions of Bus Stop, Brother Wolf, Providence Gap, Dearly Departed, Taming of the Shrew, Othello, Bat Boy the Musical and Puddn'head Wilson to name a few. Film credits include Shotgun Stories (Independent Spirit Award), VACATION!, Pilgrim Song, MUD, And Then I Go, Dish, Elbow Grease, Loving, and the Jeff Nichols produced In The Radiant City. Next, Michael leads the highly anticipated A24 produced The Death of Dick Long directed by Daniel Scheinert (Swiss Army Man). Television credits include guest starring roles on "The Blacklist," "DAREDEVIL," "Difficult People," and 8 years as Producer/Host of New Year's Eve LIVE from Times Square to name a few. He is a member of John Houseman's Tony Award winning Acting Company, a commercial and video game voiceover actor, an auctioneer, and a professional Elvis Presley impersonator with 20+ years of performances across the globe. Michael's Brooklyn based documentary film Production Company, See Rock City Productions, was honored with a national grant from the Appalachian Community Fund for its work in support of social and environmental justice in the often-overlooked Appalachian communities of the United States. He is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and is represented by Mosaic and Abrams Artists Agency.

BOOKER GARRETT is an actor, writer, producer, activist and performance artist in the theatre, film and art communities. Theatrically she has originated many roles in productions including: Morning Is Broken, Uncle Silas, Dead Monkey and In Wake of Yesterday. She was a recurring cast member on all four seasons of "Inside Amy Schumer" (Comedy Central) and a guest star most recently for TV's "The Detour" (TBS), "Odd Mom Out" (BRAVO) and films: TRAINWRECK, Jake and Julia, The Comedown, Uncle Silas, Rocket Sex, The Room Rental, Open Roads and The Rainbow Experiment, currently in festivals. She has written an episode for the TV Anthology Series "Unplanned." Her Intersectional Feminist Performance Art, The Cake Butt Collective, has toured the country and been featured in The Whitney Houston Biennial (New York) and The Condo Association (Chicago). She studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade, North Carolina School of the Arts, The William Esper Studio and holds a BA in Theatre and Art History from Smith College. She is a long-time member of The Collective NY, has produced several films under The Collective NY Films division and is represented by Andreadis Talent Agency (Legit) and Abrams Artists Agency (Commercial/Beauty). www.bookergarrett.com

Kevin Kane is an actor, director and producer for theatre, film and television. He is a founding member The Collective NY where he has acted in and directed numerous theatre productions since its inception. He was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor (NYIT) for his performance in the revival of Frank McGuinness's Someone Who'll Watch Over Me at New York Theatre Workshop. He won a Peabody Award, Television Critics Award and a Primetime Emmy for his work on Comedy Central's "Inside Amy Schumer," where he also appeared as an actor for four seasons. He served as special on-set consultant to Judd Apatow for Trainwreck, as both associate producer and actor on FOX's Snatched (2017), and he serves as Actor and Executive Producer on STX's I Feel Pretty (2018). Kevin most recently completed filming roles in Mark Jackson's I Teacher and Matrtin Scorsese's The Irishman (2019). Other Film and TV include Lez Bomb, Uncle Silas, I'm Not Me (IFP Lab), "Chicago P.D." -Season 3 (NBC) "Blue Bloods" (CBS), "White Collar" (USA), "Law and Order: SVU" (NBC).

LACY MARIE MEYER is an Actor, Writer, & Producer. She has originated seven roles with her company The Collective in productions of: Someplace Strange, Laundry at the Coin and Spin, In Wake of Yesterday, Tomorrow Mourning, Criminally Dumb, And It Came to Pass In Those Days, and Watertown, Mass. She played the lead role in Award Winning feature films: Suck It Up Buttercup, Second Chance, American Fango, The Rainbow Experiment, and Joker's Poltergeist. She had a Recurring Role on Comedy Central's "Inside Amy Schumer" (Seasons 3 & 4). She is a graduate of The William Esper Studio studying directly with Bill Esper and she holds a BA in Theatre from Ball State University. Lacy has most recently Created the TV Anthology Series "Unplanned," with Sayra Player and Booker Garrett writing two of the episodes as well. Lacy Executive Produced, wrote, and played the lead in the pilot which is now in post-production.

Sayra Player has extensive downtown theatre credits and worked in Italy and Poland with the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richard. A few theatre credits include: Mariner Motel (The CollectiveNY), Old Times (The Actors Studio), Sexual Healing (Mint Theatre), Part II (St. Ann's) and Getting Into Heaven (The Flea). TV and film credits include: Chained for Life (BAMcinemafest), Americana, The Song Still Inside, A Little Closer (Rotterdam), Paper Covers Rock (IFC/ SXSW), Euphoria, Turnabout, Duane Hopwood (Sundance), "Law and Order," "Blue Bloods" and "Inside Amy Schumer." She has 3 published plays and wrote, produced and directed the award-winning short film Uncle Silas. She is a member of The Collective NY and The Actors Studio. She wrote and directed the award-winning film Uncle Silas, which originated as a part of the Collective NY's ten-minute play series, C:10.

TONI LACHELLE POLLITT holds a degree in Theater Arts and Entrepreneurship from Rutgers University. She recently completed the two-year Full-time acting program at the William Esper Studio under the tutelage of Bruce McCarty. She performed in the 15th annual Downtown Urban Arts Festival in Dear Dashboard. Her most recent credits Include: Reasons to be Pretty (UNDER St. Marks Theater), staged reading of Familiar directed by David Newer (William Esper Studio).

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