JAILBAIT Opens At The Cherry Lane's Cherry Pit Theater 3/19

The Cherry Lane Theatre presents the world premiere production of Deirdre O'Connor's JAILBAIT--a new play about two teenaged girls and the men they meet when they pose as college students during a night out at a club in Boston--as the inaugural production at Cherry Lane's newest Off-Broadway theatre, the 90-seat Cherry Pit (155 Bank Street), with previews set to begin March 19 prior to its official press opening on March 25. Suzanne Agins directs.

JAILBAIT--which was developed last year as part of the Cherry Lane's Obie Award-winning Mentor Project 2008, mentored by celebrated playwright Michael Weller--opens Cherry Lane's third and newest Off-Broadway venue, the 90-seat Cherry Pit, formerly the Bank Street Theatre in the West Village. The Cherry Pit at 155 Bank Street joins the Cherry Lane Theatre's existing spaces at its historical location on 38 Commerce Street--the recently-renovated 179-seat mainstage theatre and its 60-seat Studio Theatre--to create a trio of stages that fulfill Cherry Lane's mission to develop and present new American works for the theatre.

According to Cherry Lane Theatre's Artistic Director Angelina Fiordellisi, "We were just at that point of discussing how beneficial it would be for our playwrights and audiences to have a mid-size theatre to see full productions of the new work we champion when, out of the blue, the president of the board of Westbeth, Arnold Warwick, called to see if we would be interested in taking over the Bank Street Theatre. We fell in love with it and now, here we are like nervous brides with a 10-year lease on The Cherry Pit, where we can do Off-Broadway runs of new plays. We also intend to offer the Cherry Pit as a home to other theatre companies who increasingly come to us when they've lost their own theatre or are in need of an alternative. As we expect the Cherry Pit will bring more people--especially more young people--into the Westbeth neighborhood, it feels like an irresistible circumstance in which everybody wins."

In JAILBAIT, two fifteen-year-old girls spend a night at a Boston club posing as college students. When the girls cross paths with two thirty-something men, they must decide how far they are willing to go while playing at adulthood.

The cast of JAILBAIT includes Kelly AuCoin (SOME MEN), Peter O'Connor (THE SEXUAL NEUROSES OF OUR PARENTS), Natalia Payne (ALIENS WITH EXTRAORDINARY SKILLS), and Wrenn Schmidt (CRAZY FOR THE DOG).

The production has scenic design by Kina Park, costume design by Rebecca Bernstein, lighting design by Pat Dignan and sound design by Daniel Kluger and Brandon Wolcott.

Playwright Deirdre O'Connor was a Cherry Lane Mentor Project 2008 Fellow, mentored by Michael Weller, author of BEAST, FIFTY WORDS and MOONCHILDREN. Ms. O'Connor's other plays include HERO (Naked Angels), THE DEATH OF MAY McALLISTER, PENICILLIN, WHITE JESUS, THE ATTIC (St. Ann's Warehouse), and WEDNESDAY. Other credits include PBS's "The Electric Company."

Director Suzanne Agins served as Artistic Associate at Williamstown Theatre Festival from 2005 to 2007. Recent projects include Charles Mee's BIG LOVE at Fordham University, Gordon Cox's WING IT and THE SECRET NARRATIVE OF THE PHONE BOOK, MADDY MANN'S CHURCH CAMP JAMBOREE at Dixon Place, and Ken Weitzman's SPIN MOVES.

JAILBAIT was initially presented as part of The Cherry Lane Theatre's Mentor Project in 2008 and proved a popular and durable success, breaking box office records for the program, and selling out nightly.

As New York's longest, continuously-running Off-Broadway theater, Cherry Lane Theatre is known as "the birthplace of Off-Broadway," having helped to define American drama by fostering theater that is daring and relevant for the past 83 years. Cherry Lane Theatre is dedicated to sustaining a community of playwrights and supporting seasoned and emerging theater artists that work together to reveal the social consciousness of our ever-changing world. In this way, the company serves the cultural needs of the larger New York City community, while developing a dedicated, returning audience. It is Cherry Lane's guiding tenet that "live" theater be accessible, articulate and provide a social mirror through which we gain greater understanding of ourselves, our families, our government and our global community. Cherry Lane Theatre takes up the challenge to explore the horizons of theatrical content and form, to expand our creative boundaries, and to discover the future of American drama.

Guided by the legacy of iconoclastic writers whose work has been at home at The Cherry Lane since the 1920s -- O'Neill, Saroyan, Auden, Albee, Odets, Orton, Mamet, Lanford Wilson and many more -- along with such distinctive actors as Ruby Dee, James Earl Jones, Colleen Dewhurst, Cicely Tyson, Frank Langella, Tyne Daly, Estelle Parsons, Dennis Quaid and others who have performed on its stage, Artistic Director Angelina Fiordellisi set out to revive the theatre's spirit and preserve its history, providing opportunities for bold new voices today when she founded a resident non-profit theatre company in 1997. She also undertook a major renovation of the building (once part of a farm in 19th century New York) and its stages, including the creation of the 60-seat Studio Theatre and the celebrated Cherry Lane Mentor Project in 1998.

Now in its 11th season, the Mentor Project was founded by Ms. Fiordellisi, playwright Michael Weller and Susann Brinkley and is the cornerstone of Cherry Lane's development programs, matching, as it does, pre-eminent dramatists with aspiring playwrights in a one-to-one mentoring relationship. Each Mentor works with a playwright to perfect a single work during the season-long process, culminating in a showcase production. Previous accomplished playwrights who have mentored emerging writers include David Auburn, Charles Fuller, Tony Kushner, Marsha Norman, Alfred Uhry, Jules Feiffer, the late Wendy Wasserstein, A.R. Gurney, David Henry Hwang, Craig Lucas, Theresa Rebeck, Ed Bullins and Lynn Nottage. From the program's outset, Edward Albee has participated as the Mentor's Mentor by attending readings and performances, as well as conducting a yearly master class.

The Mentor Project has helped one third of its alumni gain both professional and public notice as their works have gone on to Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional and international productions, including, of course, Ms. O'Connor's JAILBAIT, which will enjoy something of a double debut as it premieres on Cherry Lane's newest Off-Broadway stage in March.

Ms. Fiordellisi is the Cherry Lane Theatre's Artistic Director; James King is Managing Director.

Performances of JAILBAIT are run March 19 through April 25 at the Cherry Pit (155 Bank Street, between Washington and West Streets); Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8:00pm; Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00pm and 10:00pm, with additional performances March 23 and March 24 at 7:00pm; and the following exception: Friday, March 27 at 8:00pm. Tickets are $40 (Students/Seniors $20 at the door, with valid ID). For reservations, call SmartTix at 212-868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com. For additional information, visit www.cherrylanetheatre.com.

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