East 3rd Productions Presents STRANGE SNOW, Opens 5/13

East 3RD Productions, the acclaimed Production Company that recently presented A Bicycle Country and The Weird Sisters as well as the short film "Tapeworm", is proud to present Stephen Metcalfe's postwar drama STRANGE SNOW. Performances will be held at The Theater at 2 Great Jones Street in New York City (near West 3rd & Broadway) from May 12th through June 11th, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Saturdays at 3:00 pm. The show will have one preview on Thursday, May 12th and officially open on Friday, May 13th at 8 pm. For tickets, please visit brownpapertickets.com. For more information, visit east3rd.org.

STRANGE SNOW will star Michael Mallard*, Kathleen Wallace* and Francisco Solorzano* and will be directed by Ricardo Riethmuller. The design team includes sound design by James Bigbee Garver, light design by Eric Nightengale, costume design by Jennie West Alexander and production design by Michael Mallard.
*Member, Actors Equity Association
STRANGE SNOW, a play about hope, endearment and the human spirit, takes place in April, 1983. An early spring snow covers the ground; preserving a lost beauty beneath it - a stale house bereft of any life force, a haunted specter of time... Within this strange snow, a brother seeks to repress the dreams and aspirations he once sought. A sister grasps at the chance to realize her beauty and potential to love again. A friend searches for his own redemption in the companionship left within the ruins of the Vietnam War.

The show will be performed at the theater at 2 Great Jones Street, a vacant storefront that at one time had been a restaurant. Director Ricardo Riethmuller said of the space: "In searching for a venue to house STRANGE SNOW, we were looking for alternative spaces in which to give this play a different quality than that of a traditional theater. Despite the challenges that present themselves by being a non-traditional space, The Theater @ 2 Great Jones serendipitously supports the needs of the production design. Because STRANGE SNOW is about the hope of reconciling a past in order to progress forward, staging the play in this venue is also a commentary on using an array of vacant lots for theatrical purposes and the hopes of theatre thriving in these spaces."

STRANGE SNOW was commissioned by The Manhattan Theatre Club and received its world premiere there on January 20, 1982 and was directed by Thomas Bullard. The film, Jacknife, with Robert De Niro and Ed Harris, is based on the play and was released in 1989.

STRANGE SNOW will have a preview performance on Thursday, May 12th and will officially open on May 13th and run through June 11th. The play is performed in two acts with one intermission. More information is available at www.east3rd.org.

Lorraine Rodriguez-Reyes is the producer of Strange Snow; Director: Ricardo Riethmuller; Stage Manger: Joanna Leigh Jacobsen*.

The mission of East 3RD Productions is to facilitate art anytime, anywhere, any way, empowering artists to create multidisciplinary work, which communicates across social, cultural, and political lines. Through its three divisions: East 3rd Ensemble, East 3rd Cinema, and East 3rd Visual, the company seeks out innovative, intellectual, and exciting work, nurturing the creative impulses of its permanent members, collaborators, and future theatre artists.

East 3rd recently produced its first short film, "Tapeworm" written and directed by Margaret Laney. "Tapeworm" premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in San Rafael, CA and at the Gotham Screen International Film Festival in NYC where it won Best Short Film and Best Actress in a Short Film. "Tapeworm" was also recently presented at the SoHo Film Festival in NYC, the Vail Film Festival, in Vail, CO and the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, CA. For more info visit www.east3rd.org.
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BIOS

Michael Mallard (Megs) is an actor, photographer, and designer. He received his MFA from the National Theater Conservatory, and his BFA from Texas State University. He has performed with Arkansas Repertory Theater, The Denver Center, and toured with Romeo & Juliet as part of the NEA's Shakespeare Across America Tour. He has acted in industrial films, commercials, and has recorded numerous voice-overs. During Michael's three years at the National Theater Conservatory, he had the opportunity to train in an array of movement and vocal studies including the Skinner releasing technique, the Fitzmaurice method, as well as low-flying trapeze. He has since joined East 3RD Productions as Director of Production and serves as a core creative member. In addition to being an actor and production designer, Michael is also a photographer and has helped in the development of East 3rd's latest department, East 3rd Visual. In addition to being a member of East 3rd he is also active with aMios Theater Company and the Ensembull$h!t trapeze workshop.
Francisco Solorzano (David) Theater: Most recently seen in Sins Of The Mother at Florida Stage following the Gloucester Stage Company production. Adapted, acted and directed in the workshop and world premiere of Dog Day Afternoon (Theatre Row Theatres). Select acting credits: World premiere of Horovitz's What Strong Fences Make (Bleecker Street Theatre, Boston Theatre Marathon), Nilo Cruz's Bicycle Country (Spanish Repertory Theatre, Theatre Row Theatres), The Water Engine (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh, Scotland), Horovitz's The Indian Wants the Bronx (Gloucester Stage Company/78th Street Theatre Lab) & A Mother's Love (Boston Playwrights Theatre), Beirut Rocks (EST Marathon, dir Jo Bonney), Sins of the Mother (with Ethan Hawke as well as Bobby Cannavale, Michael Stuhlbarg and John Doman, dir by Jo Bonney at numerous locations including The Actor's Studio, Bleecker Street Theatre, 59E59), 45th anniversary revival of Lanford Wilson's Balm In Gilead. Film: And The World Goes Round (Cannes Short Film Corner), Love Simple (HBO NYC Latino Film Festival) and Between Something and Nothing (NYC's NEW FEST Film Festival.) BFA: CUNY'S Brooklyn College; a founder and Producing Artistic Director of the Barefoot Theatre Company since 1999. Recipient of the Graduate Theater Organization of Brooklyn College, CUNY's Alumnus of the Year Award.

Kathleen Wallace (Martha) is a recent graduate of the National Theater Conservatory. Some of her favorite roles include Catherine in Proof, Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, and Patient, a role she originated in the world premiere of Dennis Lehane's Coronado, which was a NY Times Critic's Pick. Kathleen has a BA from Yale and is a Liquid Strength instructor. She is a member of three companies in NYC: aMios, Fight or Flight, and East 3RD Productions. For more info visit: www.KathleenWallace.com

Ricardo Riethmuller (Artistic Director, Producer, Director) is a director, performer, and producer as well as a graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Upon graduating, he has worked in independent theatre and is honored to have been a part of The South Wing and The Nettles Artists Collective. Ricardo is also proud to have studied with Anne Bogart's Siti Company, and to have taken a residency at Robert Wilson's Watermill Center. As a founding member of East 3RD Productions, he has directed, designed and produced for the company as well as built collaborations with Barefoot Theatre Company and aMios Theater Company. For East 3RD Productions, he has directed The Weird Sisters, A Lasting Impression, 70/70 Horovitz Project: Horovitz Marathon, and SHOTZ. He has produced all of the company's theatrical and cinematic projects.

Lorraine Rodriguez-Reyes?(Actor, Managing Director, Producer) is an actress and producer. She received her MFA from The American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre School at Harvard University and her BA in Theatre Arts from SUNY New Paltz. She has produced and performed in numerous films and plays. Some of her production credits include: Associate Producer for CAPICU (which won Best Short at the Poconos Film Festival), Associate Producer for Rising Sun Falling Star (78th St Theatre Lab) and The Room (Howl Theatre Festival, NYC). As an actor she has appeared at Columbia Stages (Columbia University), Theatre Row Theatres, the A.R.T., and The Moscow Art Theater. Ms. Rodriguez-Reyes has been seen on HBO's The Sopranos, ABC's Primetime Negligent Nanny, and the Discovery Learning Channel Cookin in Brooklyn. She joined East 3RD Productions in 2008 as Producer for the first main-stage show, The Weird Sisters, and has gone on to become Managing Director. She has produced all of East 3rd's theatrical and cinematic productions as well as starring in the second main-stage production, A Bicycle Country, at Theatre Row Theatres. Lorraine is also a member of Barefoot Theatre Company.

Stephen Metcalfe (Playwright) was born and raised in Connecticut. He attended Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. His stage plays include Vikings, Strange Snow, Half a Lifetime, The Incredibly Famous Will Rivers, Lovers and Hours, Sorrows and Sons, White Linen, Baseball Play, Emily. Half a Lifetime was produced by HBO in 1986. His screenplays include Jacknife and Cousins. Metcalfe is the recipient of the CAAPS grant, and a National Endowment of the Arts grant in playwriting. He is a member of The Playwrights Unit at The Manhattan Theatre Club and is an Associate Artist of The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego