MTS Benefit To Feature Sketches From Family Guy Writers

manhattantheatresource's spring benefit will feature a special Spontaneous Combustion - a program of sketches created on the fly by writers from TV's ingenuous comedy "Family Guy" - Saturday, May 3, 2008 at the theatre's Greenwich Village home (177 MacDougal St.).  Performances are at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm. 
 
Spontaneous Combustion is manhattantheatresource's (The Source) 48-hour play festival.  Writers are paired with two actors and given an opening line and a cultural reference that must be used in their sketches.  Then, it's a race against the clock to put together an evening of four to eight minute short plays in less than two days. 
 
For the 32nd edition of Spontaneous Combustion, the Source will team up with writers from one of TV's hottest shows, "Family Guy", to create the wildest, most unpredictable version yet.   Danny Smith, co-executive producer of "Family Guy", is on the Source's board of directors, and arranged for the show's writers to participate in this one-of-a-kind event.  The cast includes James Edward Becton, Bill C. Davis (playwright, Mass Appeal), Sarah Doudna, Stuart Green, Kate Middleton (Ground UP Productions), Barbara Mundy, Ridley Parson, and Brandon Ruckdashel (Ascension, Twist, A Body Without A Head).
 
The spring benefit will also feature a silent auction and music by Joe Travers.  Guests will have the opportunity to bid on a customized New York City walking tour for 15 people, tickets to Signature Theatre's sold-out show The Occupant, artwork by John Watts and much more.
 
All proceeds benefit manhattantheatresource, a non-profit arts service and producing organization located in the heart of Greenwich Village.  Recently named one of the "top five Off-Off Broadway theatres" by New York Magazine, the Source's 50-seat theatre and cabaret have provided opportunities for more than 4,500 artists to work in over 650 productions since opening in 2000. Broadway-bound, Obie Award-winning [title of show] enjoyed its first production at the Source.  Richard Vetere's Machiavelli and Coronado by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River) also had their world premieres at the theatre. 
 
The special spring benefit Spontaneous Combustion performances will be held Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm at manhattantheatresource (177 MacDougal Street, between Waverly Place and West 8th Street, Subway: A/C/E or B/D/F/V to West 4th).  Tickets are $30 at http://www.theatresource.org.