Primary Stages Offers Public The Chance To Contribute To BLACK TIE Set

Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Founder & Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director) is asking for something different through their Year-End Campaign. Rather than a gift for general operating support, they are asking their constituents to contribute year-end dollars to the set for the world premiere production of A.R. Gurney's newest comedy, Black Tie. The realization of the Black Tie scenic plan - the design, construction, furniture and props - will cost approximately $50,000. A generous member of Primary Stages Board of Directors has offered to match all gifts made between now and December 24, 2010, up to $10,000.

"We felt it was time to try something a little different for our year-end campaign," said Primary Stages Managing Director Elliot Fox. "With so many different companies and organizations sending requests at this time of the year, we thought applying their gifts to the creation of the set for Black Tie would provide a more tangible opportunity for donors to support our work." He went on to add, "This way, when they get to the theater they can actually see where their support went. Like many other not-for-profit theater companies, we rely on the support of our community. We wanted to create a scenario in which donors could take a more active role in the production of a new work."

Black Tie, written by A.R. Gurney and directed by Mark Lamos (who return to Primary Stages where they collaborated on the world premiere productions of Indian Blood and Buffalo Gal), will mark the final production of Primary Stages 2010-2011 season. Performances begin Tuesday, January 25, 2011 for a limited run through Sunday, March 20, 2011 at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Opening night is set for Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.

Black Tie finds the Father of the groom, Curtis, who simply wants to make a memorable toast. But before he is able to raise his glass, he must defend the time-honored ways of his past, including his attire. Cultures clash when a surprise guest is announced, threatening to throw convention out the window. Curtis finds that balancing the standards of his late father and the needs of his future family may prove too messy for a black tie affair.

The five-member cast will feature Ari Brand as Teddy, Daniel Davis as Curtis's Father, Gregg Edelman as Curtis, Carolyn McCormick as Mimi, and Elvy Yost as Elsie.

The creative team includes John Arnone (Set), Jess Goldstein (Costumes), Stephen Strawbridge (Lights), John Gromada (Sound), and Faye Armon (Prop Supervisor). The Production Stage Manager is Matthew Melchiorre.

For additional information, or to make a donation to the Year End Campaign to Build Black Tie, please visit the Primary Stages website at www.primarytages.org, or call (212) 840-9705

Primary Stages is an Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to inspiring, supporting and sharing the art of playwriting. We operate on the belief that the future of American theater relies on nurturing individual playwrights and giving them the artistic support needed to create plays of local, national and international significance. As Resident Theater Company of 59E59 Theaters, Primary Stages produces a season of 3-5 plays each year. We develop new works through commissions, workshops, and readings and support playwrights through our two flagship programs - The Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group and the Marvin and Anne Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA). Since our founding in 1984, we have produced more than 100 new works, many of them world premieres, and engaged more than 2,000 theater artists. Through all our activities, Primary Stages advocates for our artists, helping them make important, and often transformative, connections within the theater community.

A representative sampling of our collaborating artists and productions include: Horton Foote's Dividing the Estate (moved to the Booth Theatre on Broadway in 2008); Michael Hollinger's Opus; Brooke Berman's Hunting and Gathering (one of New York Magazine's Top Ten Plays of 2008); Terrence McNally's Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams (starring Nathan Lane and Marian Seldes) and The Stendhal Syndrome (featuring Isabella Rossellini and Richard Thomas); Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter's In the Continuum (which went on to tour the U.S., Africa and Scotland); Tina Howe's Chasing Manet; A.R. Gurney's Buffalo Gal and Indian Blood (which won the 2007 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play); Charlyane Woodard's The Night Watcher; David Ives' All in the Timing (the author's first big success); and Conor McPherson's St. Nicholas (which marked the Irish playwright's U.S. debut).

Primary Stages has been widely and consistently recognized for artistic excellence by industry standard bearers such as the Obie Awards, the Audelco Awards for Excellence in Black Theater, the Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama League Awards, the Drama Desk Awards, the Helen Hayes Awards (Washington, D.C.), the LA Ovation Awards (Los Angeles, CA) and the Joseph Jefferson Awards (Chicago, IL). Primary Stages was honored with the 2008 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work and our Broadway production of Dividing the Estate was nominated for two Tony Awards: Best Play and Best Featured Actress in a Play.

In 2004, we became the proud Resident Theater Company of 59E59 Theaters. The new theater increased Primary Stages national profile as one of the premiere theaters for the development of new work while allowing us to better serve the artistic vision of our artists and the theater going experience of our audience. In 2006, we moved into our current administrative and studio facility on West 38th Street which houses our Marvin and Anne Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA) and our rehearsals, in addition to providing studio space to our developmental work and other not for profit organizations.

 

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