DARK PLANET Design Team Announced

Planet Connections' starts out 2020 with announcing it's stellar design team for DARK PLANET: Not Your Mother's Valentine's Day," short plays unapologetically looking at life through a clever - albeit caustic - lens. Frank, Funny, Engaging, Engrossing, and Enlightening, Performing Thursdays & Fridays, February 6 - 21, at the Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 E 14th St, NYC. This event - celebrating the diversity of the performing arts & artists of NYC - will be accompanied by a special Valentine's Day Party hosted by Planet Connections Assistant Artistic Director, Kim Jones. Dark Planet is co-presented by The Theater at the 14th Street Y. Tickets on sale at https://14streety.secure.force.com/ticket#details_a0S1R000009tBdMUAU

Producer Glory Kadigan said, "I'm honored to collaborate with these brilliant designers on this production. They all have wonderfully creative ideas on how to present Three Men With Guns; Shadow Dance; Fievel Dridge, The Great Orator of Fishingstill; The Second Coming; Wild Side; Text Angel; A Day At The Beach; Reconcile, Bitch; Playthings; and Play With Me and I'm looking forward to sharing this evening of shorts with our audience. These scenic, lighting, sound, costume, and property designers teamed with producers and stage managers from the Planet Connections community, are creating theatrical magic!"

This festival will also feature staged readings and is in rep with Lovesong (Imperfect), Jose Rivera's new play opening at the same time.

Tickets for this production are at https://14streety.secure.force.com/ticket#details_a0S1R000009tBDZUA2

Design Team, Stage Managers, and Production Associates:

Charles C Casano (Performance Stage Manager) is an actor/director/stage manager. NY Credits - Mile Marker (Director), Letter of Intention (Director), G-69 Triple XTreme Oscillator (Director),all for Strawberry One Act Festival; Sotto Voce (World Premiere - Author & Director Nilo Cruz); Trash Story (John Jay Black Box w/ Allyce Beasley); Storm Theatre: A Midsummer Night's Dream (actor, SM), Our God's Brother (actor), As You Like it (actor, SM), The President (actor, SM). Other credits: Planet Connections Festival (2012, 2017, 2018), Barefoot Theatre Company - Dog Day Afternoon, Next, (both as an actor), Edge (Angelica Page, DR2), Salome (Al Pacino, The Actors Studio), Hitler's Addendum (Ruby Dee, Estelle Parsons, Actors Studio), Pure Country (Broadway workshop reading, New World Stages; w/Carlin Glynn, Will Chase, Steve Dorff, John Bettis, Peter Masterson: Director).

Claire Caverly (Scenic and Props Designer for A Day At the Beach, Playthings, Second Coming, Shadow Dance, Superstars, Text Angel and Three Men With Guns) is an up and coming scenic/projection designer based in New York. Her theatrical designs and installation pieces have been seen throughout the Northeast region. Favorite credits include: L'Enfant et les Sortilèges at Eastman School of Music and Echo Chambers at Image/Sound Festival. Outside of the theatre, Claire enjoys yoga and spending time with her family.

Joshua Langman (Lighting Designer) has designed lighting, sound, and projections for Ensemble Studio Theatre, Throughline Artists, the Castillo Theatre, Teátrica, Brooklyn Gypsies, The 52nd Street Project, the Jim Henson Foundation, Fordham University, singer/songwriter Cidny Bullens, Between the Seas, Worry Noise Dirt Heat, and many other companies. His design work has been featured in the La MaMa ETC Puppet Festival, the Center at West Park Object Movement Festival, and Planet Connections Theatre Festivity (Outstanding Lighting Design nomination). Joshua has lectured and facilitated workshops on design at Carnegie Hall and other venues. He is pleased to return to Planet Connections for the inaugural Dark Planet festival. Jltheatricaldesign.com

Drew Larimore (Associate Producer) is a playwright who has produced widely in both The United States and Australia. Drew made his Off-Broadway premiere of his new play Out Of Iceland in the spring of 2012 starring Lea Delaria at Walker Space. He has been a semi-finalist at the O'Neill Theatre Conference, The Lark Playwrights' Week, the Heidman Award, the P73 Playwriting Fellowship and a writing residency at Hawthornden Castle in Scotland. A former member of Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA's Playwrights Coalition, he is based out of New York, where he is developing new plays, musicals and original and adapted work for the screen.

Janet Mervin (Costume Designer for A Day At the Beach, Playthings, Shadow Dance, and Superstars) is a four time recipient of Planet Connections Outstanding Costume Design Award. Recent projects: ray gun Say0nara, Steven Mark Tenney (Nylon Fusion) Personae II (El Barrio Artspace exhibition); Italian American Reconciliation, JP Shanley (Royal Family); Fourteen Little Red Huts, Andrei Platanov (International Platanov Festival); Friendly's Fire, John Patrick Bray (Rising Sun Performance Company); Vivian's Music 1969, Monica Bauer (GoodWorksProductions)

James O'Connor (Sound Designer) trained at Pace University. He is very excited to make his Planet Connections debut! He would like to thank the entire Dark Planet team for being very supportive of him and creating a warm and welcoming environment for him!

Adam Samtur (Performance Assistant Stage Manager) is an actor/playwright by nature, but Stage Managing does give him that feeling of unbridled power he so longs for. Dangersparkle & The Lion (Planet Connections Best Musical Winner), The Skype Show (Fringe), 3WEEKS the Opera (14th St. Y), Sex Good; Money Bad (Broken Watch Theater Co.), Twin Towers (Planets Connections), Raya and Sag-In (Golden Fleece), Sweeter Dreams (Cross-Eyed Bear Productions), Hip Hop High (CCC), Natural Life (T. Shreiber), and Woodstock Fringe Festival.

Richard Sommerfield (Rehearsal Stage Manager for A Day At the Beach, Playthings, Second Coming,Shadow Dance, and Superstars) Broadway: 2019 Red Bucket Follies, 25 Years of Disney on Broadway Concert. Off Broadway: The Sorceress (Nat'l Yiddish Theatre), Into the Woods in Concert, Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, Is Anyone Alive Out There? Other NYC: Broadway Bares, The 64th Obie Awards, The Floor is Lava (La Mama, Planet Connections.)

Perri Sparano (Performance Assistant Stage Manager) Perri is a sophomore at Marymount Manhattan College studying Stage Management. Hopes to pursue a career in Stage Management after graduating college. New York credits include: Articulating the Arts at Articulate Theatre Company, Duck at IRT Theatre, International Human Rights Arts Festival at Wild Project.

Christopher Stratis (Line Producer) is thrilled to be working with PCTF again. Chris is a graduate of SBU (BA, Theatre Arts); his studies and interests focus on the intersection of storytelling, design, and technology. Past work includes Executive Producer and Artistic Director of Pocket Theatre for 6 seasons (18 productions), Stage and Production Management, Lighting Design, and Technical Direction/Consulting. Past venues include 3LD, La Mama, 14th St. Y, TNC, The Lion, The Tank... Festivals include: Planet Connections, Broadway Bound, Dream Up, NYNW, Thespis, United Solo...