Canal Park Playhouse Presents Handbook For An American Revolutionary 9/15

Canal Park Playhouse, an Intimate home for Theater and Cabaret Opening September 15th, 2010 is delighted to bring you the world premiere of Handbook For An American Revolutionary, written and performed by actor, playwright, and Puffin Grant Recipient Matthew-Lee Erlbach (Till the Break of Dawn, Culture Project), Directed by Stephen Brackett (Confidence Man, Woodshed Collective), Lighting by Vadim Ledvin, Costumes by Jessica Pabst.

Mathew-Lee Erlbach is a playwright and Huffington Post Contributor whose work TV Host Rachel Maddow called "Shocking, engaging, funny, and totally original". Also a stage and screen actor, Erlbach is a recent recipient of The Puffin Grant and writer/ performer of The Onion Sponsored political sketch comedy piece Happy Sunshine Kung Fu Flower which was developed at Ars Nova and ran at The Zipper Theater. He has now created a cast of 10 in this riveting tour de force solo piece.

Erlbach went on numerous road trips and conducted interviews to create the fictional characters, which together make up this play about ordinary Americans in extraordinary times. The characters include a Pakistani soldier turned New York City cab driver, a busker street drummer, a white nationalist, a deaf Mennonite girl and six other faces of our changing nation. They come to life in deeply human, funny, rapid-fire juxtaposition. Erlbach transitions from one character to the next in monologue form while interlacing the lives and stories of these ten unique Americans. The play explores what revolution means in modern times when the act of revolution can be as big as governmental protest or as small as an act of friendship. The characters in the play each embody a new type of revolution, one that means different things to each of them. These people present a tableau of who we are as a country; an unsentimental portrait of America and a realistic hope for its future.

It will open September 15th and run through October 3rd with shows Wednesdays through Sundays at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at www.canalparkplayhouse.com or by calling 866-811-4111. Tickets are on sale now.

Funding has been made possible by the Puffin Foundation.
ABOUT CANAL PARK PLAYHOUSE:

Canal Park Playhouse is located in the landmarked 1826 Canal House, adjacent to the recently restored Canal Park. It has two venues- The Front Room and The Back Room. The Front Room, with cabaret chairs and tables, seats 35 and houses the concession stand which features an eclectic menu of fun foods which will begin serving wine and beer in winter 2010. The Back Room is furnished with upholstered theater seats salvaged from the legendary Sullivan Street Playhouse. It seats 55, has a proscenium stage with raked seating and charming 1826 architectural character. Both rooms feature state of the art lighting and sound.

Canal Park Playhouse will be home to a variety of entertainment options, with at least 14 shows a week between the two spaces. The Play Series will showcase one and two character plays in the form of new work and revivals. The Canal Park Playhouse Children's Brunch Series is a series of children's performances Saturdays and Sundays at noon and 2pm. These shows will be in the spirit of classic clowning and vaudeville performers. In addition to the CPP Play series and the Children's Brunch Series Canal Park Playhouse will feature a series of New York City's best Subway and Street Performers weekly in the Canal Park Playhouse Subway Performers Series. Fridays from 3:30 to 6PM The Front Room will be Host Teen Open Mic Night for 13-19 year olds. All performers and customers will be carded for proof of age. Monday nights at 8:00 pm our resident company, Ignited States, like jazz musicians playing off each other, uses their nurturing techniques of improvisation to bring 3 non-actor audience volunteers into spontaneously created 30 minute "plays" each evening in the show Properties of Play. The rest of the week at The Playhouse will be rounded off with a series of variety, silent films, music and Cabaret performances, readings and events. For more information about Canal Park Playhouse, please visit www.canalparkplayhouse.com.

KEY BIOGRAPHIES...

Matthew Lee Erlbach (Writer and Performer) is an actor, playwright, and recent Puffin Grant recipient for his play HANDBOOK FOR AN AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY, directed by Stephen Brackett, premiering at Canal Park Playhouse. Recent playwriting credits include SEX OF THE BABY (2010 Juilliard Lila Acheson Playwriting Fellowship Finalist) directed by David Chapman at Tisch/NYU Grad, HAPPY SUNSHINE KUNG FU FLOWER, directed by Darren Katz at Ars Nova and The Zipper, and REPUBLIK, developed with MCC Theater; he is also a Writer-Producer for Nickelodeon's Nicktoons, formerly with WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), and contributor to The Huffington Post. As an actor he has appeared on Comedy Central's Important Things with Demetri Martin, Law&Order: SVU, and his various theatre credits range from two seasons at Utah Shakespeare Festival to the world premiere of Danny Hoch's Till the Break of Dawn, Off-Bway, among others. His website is www.Matthew-Lee.com.

Stephen Brackett (Director) is a freelance theater director focused on developing new works of theater and performance. Recent credits include Missed Connections (Ars Nova), The Private Life of Inga Snyder and Neither Here Nor There (Columbia Stages), F#@king Up Everything (NYMF), Confidence Man (Woodshed Collective), Steven Levenson's Burbach/Lupone (Ars Nova), Whore and The Ones That Flutter (Summer Play Festival), Dan Fishback's You Will Experience Silence (Dixon Place), Sandy the Dandy and Charlie McGee (FringeNY), Bekah Brunstetter's f-ing Art (Samuel French), Bixby Elliot's PN1923.45LS01 Volume 2 (FringeNY), No Date: The Diaries of David Wojnarowicz and Kilroy Was Here (Williamstown Workshop). He is a co-founder of the theater company Bushwick Hotel with playwright Rachel Shukert; their collaborations include Johnny Apple@#%*er (Ice Factory), Sequins for Satan (Galapagos Art Space) and Bloody Mary (Third Man Productions). Stephen was the Assistant Director of Passing Strange at the Public and Belasco Theaters. He is a founding member of 425D Director's Lab, a former member of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and the 2010 Director in Residence at Ars Nova. Upcoming: The Sporting Life (Studio 42), Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey (Ars Nova), and The Tenant (Woodshed Collective).

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