Playwrights Horizons Opens Online Lottery for First Preview of MILES FOR MARY

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) begins accepting entries today, Tuesday, January 2, for the LIVE for FIVE online lottery for $5 tickets to the New York stage return of MILES FOR MARY, a new play created by The Mad Ones. The play is written by Marc Bovino, Joe Curnutte, Michael Dalto, Lila Neugebauer and Stephanie Wright Thompson; in collaboration with Sarah Lunnie and the creative ensemble of Amy Staats and Stacey Yen. Directed by Lila Neugebauer, the production received critical acclaim during its smash run at The Bushwick Starr in Brooklyn during the fall of 2016. This new limited engagement at Playwrights Horizons marks the production's Off-Broadway debut.

MILES FOR MARY is a part of Playwrights Horizons' new Redux Series, which joins forces with kindred theater companies to remount their productions at Playwrights for a wider audience.

The LIVE for FIVE lottery for MILES FOR MARY will be for tickets to the first preview on Thursday evening, January 11 at 7:30 PM at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street). The production has an Opening Night set for Monday, January 22 at 7PM and will play a limited engagement through Sunday, February 4.

Celebrating over a decade, LIVE for FIVE was created by Playwrights Horizons in 2007 as part of their Arts Access program to reach out to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a full-price theater ticket. The ticketing initiative makes a limited number of $5 tickets available for the first preview performance of each Playwrights Horizons production through a lottery via the company's website (www.phnyc.org). Since its inception, over 2,000 theatergoers have been able to attend the theater thanks to the LIVE for FIVE initiative.

Details for the LIVE for FIVE lottery are as follows: beginning today, Tuesday, January 2 at 12 Noon, theatergoers can enter the lottery by filling out an entry form at www.phnyc.org/L45. Entries will be accepted until Thursday, January 4 at 12 Noon. Winners of the lottery will be notified via email no later than 3PM on Thursday, January 4 with instructions on how to book their $5 tickets. Unclaimed tickets will be offered via email to a limited standby list starting at 12 Noon on Friday, January 5 on a first-come, first-served basis. One or two tickets may be purchased by winners for $5 each.

The entire, acclaimed original cast of MILES FOR MARY will return, featuring The Mad Ones company members Marc Bovino, Joe Curnutte, Michael Dalto, and Stephanie Wright Thompson, as well as Amy Staats (The Sluts of Sutton Drive at Ensemble Studio Theatre) and Stacey Yen (John at ACT).

It's 1988 and the planning committee for Garrison High School's ninth annual Miles For Mary Telethon is fired up and ready to go. Across subcommittee sessions in the Phys Ed teachers' lounge, The Mad Ones assemble an analog elegy to the camcorder 1980s, Girls Track and Field, and the consecrated American High School.

The production features scenic design by Amy Rubin, costume design by Ásta Bennie Hostetter, lighting design by Mike Inwood and sound design by Stowe Nelson. Production Stage Manager is John C. Moore.

MILES FOR MARY was a New York Times Critics' Pick, where Ben Brantley called the play, "So funny and unexpectedly touching! As a depiction of earnest amateurs being creative, MILES FOR MARY provides an ideal showcase for The Mad Ones' strengths. As directed by Lila Neugebauer, fast establishing herself as one of the finest ensemble directors in New York, and with a precision-tuned six-member cast - whose performances are so indivisibly linked that it would be an injustice to single one out - the production cannily plumbs the dysfunction in group dynamics." The production was also named a Critics' Pick by Time Out New York, which gave it 5 Stars.

MILES FOR MARY was developed with support from The Bushwick Starr and world premiered during their 2016-2017 season.

The performance schedule for MILES FOR MARY will be Tuesdays through Fridays at 7:30 PM, Saturdays at 2 & 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2 & 7PM. Single tickets, $40-65, may be purchased online via www.phnyc.org, by phone at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily) and in person at the Ticket Central Box Office, 416 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues).

Also reflecting Playwrights Horizons' ongoing commitment to making its productions more affordable to younger audiences, the theater company will offer HOTtix, $30 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before showtime, to patrons aged 30 and under. Proof of age required. One ticket per person, per purchase. Cash only.

LIVE for FIVE and HOTtix are two of Playwrights Horizons' popular Arts Access initiatives, which allow the institution to reach out to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a full-price theater ticket. This program is supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, McGraw Hill Financial and an anonymous Individual Donor.

Currently in previews on the Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater is MANKIND, the world premiere of a Playwrights Horizons commissioned new play written and directed by two-time Obie Award winner Robert O'Hara, featuring Tony Award nominee, Emmy and Obie winner André De Shields, Bobby Moreno, Anson Mount, Stephen Schnetzer, Ariel Shafir and David Ryan Smith (opens January 8). Following MANKIND, the Playwrights Horizons 2017/2018 Season will continue with THIS FLAT EARTH, the world premiere of a new play by Lindsey Ferrentino, directed by Tony Award winner Rebecca Taichman (March 2018); DANCE NATION, the world premiere of a new Susan Smith Blackburn Prize-winning play by Obie Award winner Clare Barron, directed by Obie Award winner Lee Sunday Evans (April 2018); and conclude with LOG CABIN, the world premiere of a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Jordan Harrison, directed by Tony Award and Obie Award winner Pam MacKinnon, featuring Jesse Tyler Ferguson (June 2018).

4-Show Subscription packages are now available for the remaining productions in Playwrights Horizons' 2017/2018 Season ($195). In addition to discounts on all season productions, subscribers receive priority booking and seating, ticket exchange privileges, parking and dining discounts, and exclusive mailings of Playwrights Horizons Bulletins. Flex Passes (customizable bundle, $220+) and Memberships ($45 to join, $25 preview tickets) are also now on sale. Packages are available at www.phnyc.org.

Patron Program Memberships begin at $1,500 (all but $550 is tax-deductible) and include two reserved house seats and personalized concierge service to all six Playwrights Horizons productions, as well as a variety of exclusive benefits including invitations to attend special events with artists, staff and board members. Complete benefits list at www.phnyc.org.

Playwrights Horizons' season productions are generously supported in part by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Playwrights Horizons is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and the Time Warner Foundation.

Photo Credit: The Mad Ones

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