CHESS, A NEW BRAIN, IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU Highlight The Gallery Players' Season 51

Gallery Players launches into their second half-century as they announce an exciting 51st Season of Fun and Games.

Following the pattern of last year's hits, Season 51 starts off with another family-friendly blockbuster, Annie opening September 16th. Then two recent Broadway successes: first, following its Broadway run with Bradley Cooper, Gallery presents Bernard Pomerance's The Elephant Man opening October 28, then the hilarious musical farce It Shoulda Been You, whose Broadway stint featured Tyne Daly and Harriet Harris, opens on December 1. The New Year begins with the William Finn and James Lapine musical, A New Brain on January 27 and Neil Simon's classic comedy Plaza Suite on March 10. Concluding the Mainstage line up will be Chess, with lyrics by Tim Rice (Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar) and music by Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson of ABBA on April 21.

Following the Mainstage season is the 21st annual Black Box New Play Festival on May 31, which premieres new one-act and full-length plays by local playwrights developed and honed through a playwright-driven collaborative process aimed at polishing their craft.

Gallery also continues its successful OVERTURES series, which presents staged readings of brand new musicals offering patrons first hand insight into the creative process of developing a new show, and the opportunity to "hear it here first".

Tickets for Annie and Chess are $30 for Adults; all other Mainstage and Black Box tickets are $25 for Adults and $20 for senior citizens, students, and children 12 and under.

Individual OVERTURES tickets are $10 each. A variety of subscription plans are available, and can be purchased 24/7 online at www.galleryplayers.com or by calling OvationTix at 212-352-3101 (phone hours 9-9 weekdays, 10-6 weekends).

The Gallery Players has been a New York institution since 1967. Their season comprises both classic and contemporary plays and musicals alongside new work. Gallery has received the Off-Off Broadway Review's 2000 Award for Lifetime Achievement, a multitude of New York Innovative Theater (IT) nominations and awards, and has earned the reputation of "New York's Best Kept Secret."

The Gallery Players is located at 199 14th Street, between 4th and 5th Avenues, in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Take the F or G Train to 4th Avenue or the R Train to 9th Street. By car: the BQE to Hamilton Avenue, to 14th Street. For additional information, visit the Gallery Players website at galleryplayers.com.