Four Off-Broadway Companies Join To Create "X-Pass" For Tickets

Four of New York's most innovative theatre companies - The Civilians, The Talking Band with Taylor Mac, The Rude Mechs and The Exchange - will join together in 2010-11 to create a unified season Off-Broadway called The Exchange NYC, featuring a first-of-its-kind season pass, the "Xpass," it has been announced by Ari Edelson, Artistic Director of The Exchange. Mr. Edelson came up with the idea for a flexible ticket pass, which gives patrons the opportunity to create their own season of theatre by selecting the plays of multiple companies.

For $85, patrons can purchase an Xpass, which enables them to see all four productions being presented by the participating companies, or use Xpass credits to see the shows in a combination of their choice. Mr. Edelson notes that Xpass also permits patrons to share credits and change reservations with ease. (Regular price for a ticket to each of these four shows -total $130. Xpass provides a $45 savings.)

He adds that offering ticket affordability and flexibility to New York's savvy theatergoing audiences was, in fact, the purpose for the creation of Xpass and The Exchange NYC, an unparalleled joint venture by four of the city's most maverick ensembles Off-Broadway. The effort also helps in unifying the four "nomadic" companies, who do not have their own theatres and frequently perform at different spaces season to season.

The Xpass can be purchased starting Monday, October 4 online at www.xpass.org.

The productions being offered as part of the Xpass season are, as follows:

The Civilians will present the world-premiere of IN THE FOOTPRINT -- written and directed by Steven Cosson, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman - November 12 to December 11 at the Irondale Center in Brooklyn. IN THE FOOTPRINT tells the story of the widely-publicized efforts to redevelop the Atlantic railway yards in Brooklyn, and in The Civilians style is inspired by interviews with real-life players in the controversy: residents, developers, business owners, students, community activists and politicians.

TALKING BAND with TAYLOR MAC will present the world-premiere of THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA FOR MOTHER EARTH, from January 27 to February 13 at La MaMa ETC in Manhattan. Inspired by the real-life events of a 9-month walk taken by writer/performer Taylor Mac (creator of last year's smash "Lily's Revenge") from New York to the Nevada Nuclear Test Site in 1992, taking into account the variegated social landscape across America's heartland, the eccentricities of the "average American," and The Common threads that bind people everywhere. The Talking Band is an Obie Award-winning company widely-recognized for its experimental works since 1975. THE WALK ACROSS AMERICA is directed by Paul Zimet and composed by Ellen Maddow.

THE RUDE MECHS will present the New York premiere of METHOD GUN from March 2 to 13 at Dance Theatre Workshop in Manhattan. The breakout hit at the Humana Festival in Louisville, KY, THE METHOD GUN explores the life and works of Stella Burden, an actor-training guru in the 60's and 70's known for her technique, "The Approach," described as "the most dangerous acting technique in the world": it fused Western acting methods with risk-based rituals in order to infuse roles with sex, death and violence. Written by Kirk Lynn and directed by Shawn Sides, THE METHOD GUN re-enacts the final months of Burden's rehearsals for A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, a production that was 9 years in the making.

THE EXCHANGE will present the New York premiere of Ronan Noone's THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS from April 28 to May 29 at Theatre at St. Clements. Author of THE ATHIEST starring Campbell Scott, Noone continues his exploration of the American psyche in LITTLE BLACK DRESS: set in the Midwest, DRESS is a visceral game of risk and dreams as played out against the backdrop of a video arcade. The play is directed by Ari Edelson, whose recent productions include THE ATTIC, EXPATS and THE SCARIEST.

All Xpass productions are presented in association with The Exchange, which annually produces new works for the stage, and whose signature program the Orchard Project is home to more than 30 New York theatre companies who travel to the Catskill Mountains to create and develop new work for their seasons. It is in fact the Orchard Project that carries the thread of unity among these companies, who have all developed work there in the past 3 years. Through its various development programs, The Exchange serves a unique function in American theatre as the only theatre company in the U.S. that supports the work of other innovative companies and artists, seeking a redefinition of the way new theare is made.

The Exchange is also home to the enormously-popular "24 Hour Musicals" each season.

For more information about Xpass, visit www.xpass.org or call 646 224 5977.

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