BAUDELAIRE'S PASSION Comes to The American Theatre of Actors in September

Baudelaire’s Passion, a New Wave Arts production world premiere written by Henry Keen and directed by Eduard Tolokonnikov, with choreography by Eryc Taylor and an original score by Nate Sasson, is performed in Russian with English supertitles. It features an international cast and team from Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, Siberia, Armenia, and the US, who have participated in prestigious productions worldwide.

The play debuts at the Cullum Theater at The American Theatre of Actors (314 West 54th Street) for a limited 10-show run from September 21-30, 2023. Tickets are $65 for general admission and $100 for the VIP experience, which includes meeting the cast, live performances, art exhibitions, poetry readings, champagne toast, hors d'oeuvres and more.

Charles Baudelaire, the influential 19th-Century French poet, “Enfant Terrible,” and author of the infamous “Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil),” is in Purgatory. Satan and Saint Peter battle for his soul, reviewing his vices and virtues through a haunting fever dream of flashbacks and memories featuring the ghosts from his life. Will love, beauty, and poetry save his soul, or will Baudelaire be condemned to eternal damnation? 

For Berlin-based Jewish Latvian writer Henry Keen (Gennady Kurkin), it was love at first sight when he saw his beloved; he chased her down the street! When war broke out in Ukraine, Keen crossed Europe to be by her side, despite the dangers. In Ukraine, he became a volunteer and news correspondent, as explained in his documentary feature on Freedom TV. While there, he completed Baudelaire’s Passion, an epic drama about one’s quest for love, art and beauty triumphing over the duality of good and evil and even death and time. Ukrainian actor Eugene Beltukov plays Baudelaire in his US stage debut after fleeing the conflict to protect his family in 2022. A portion of the play’s proceeds will go to charities supporting Ukrainian children.

Company & Creative Team

New Wave Arts is a nonprofit organization seeking to uncover the sparks of talent in each of its performers while also serving as a  light unto the audience. New Wave Arts was conceived in  2019 when Leo Grzhonko, a Harvard graduate scholar, and Zeyna Gagne, an actress/producer with a production company “Salon DZ,” were performing together and discovered their shared dream of founding a theatre company that creates original productions of the highest artistic value. New Wave Arts launched its first production at Manhattan’s West End Theater with the play “My Cyrano,” an improvisation written by Taniya Lebedinsky, based on the classic heroic comedy by Edmond Rostand, “Cyrano de Bergerac.” The actors participated in a Theatrical Laboratory with Ilya Kozin, a dedicated teacher and follower of the world-renowned theatrical director Anatoly Vasiliev. After its first production, New Wave Arts became known for its intimate, thought-provoking, and entertaining performances, creating a moving, powerful and amusing evening of theatrical magic audiences adore. 

Henry Keen, aka Gennady Kurkin (Playwright), was born in Riga, Latvia. Decided to pursue creative writing after graduating with an economics degree. Intelligent and dedicated to his profession, Gennady’s becoming another ‘Nabokov’ in his own right: a gifted writer who produces quality work both in English and Russian. His bilingualism gives his prose a special appeal in both form and content.

Eryc Taylor (Choreography) is the Artistic Director of the NYC-based nonprofit dance company Eryc Taylor Dance, its community program, ETD Outreach, and the New Choreographer Grant program for emerging choreographers. Taylor holds an MFA in Dance from NYU Tisch and has been creating and touring work in NYC, nationally and internationally since 1995. ETD's dance film, Uncharted Territory (2020), received critical praise, awards, and film festivals. ETD’s Factory/Refractory (2022), a site-specific immersive dance production inspired by 1990s nightlife, was presented at SLATE NY for 2022 and 2023 residencies and is touring throughout 2023/2024. Rehearsal video with Taylor’s choreography.

Nate Sassoon (Composer) was born in NYC and graduated from Phillips and the University of Oxford with a BA in Music. He is a classical pianist, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer/music producer who creates and performs music in various genres. He has done many classical piano recitals and improvisations in the US and Russia. Venues include Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Steinway Hall, Baker’s Mansion (Russian Sinod), Art and Music Center on Nevsky (St. Petersburg), Andrei Makarevich Club (Moscow), and Scriabin Music Hall. Rehearsal video with original music by Nate Sasson.

Cast:

Eugene Beltukov (Charles Baudelaire) 

Anna Nesterova (Jeanne Duval) 

Elena Ouspenskaia (Mother)

Gala Orlovskaya (Mother) 

Roman Freud (St. Peter)

Lev Grzhonko (Satan)

Carlo Maria Velardi (Alexandr Dumas) 

Badimir (Theophile Gautier) 

Iryna Malygina (Madame Appolonie Sabatier) 

Zeyna Gagne (Madame Appolonie Sabatier) 

Karen Hakobian (Paul Verlaine) 

Konstantin Osodoev (Kronos) 

Art Director and Poster Designer: Alfred Rechester

Costume Designer: Alyona Mak

Assistant Director: Elena Che

General Manager: Victoria Zharova

Publicist: Cindy Sibilsky, inJOY Entertainment 

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