Photo Flash: First Look at Ground UP Productions' RUBBER DUCKS AND SUNSETS

Ground UP Productions presents the World Premiere of Rubber Ducks and Sunsets, written by Catya McMullen and directed by Kate Middleton, with original music by Reel Big Fish's Scott Klopfenstein. Rubber Ducks and Sunsets runs from July 12 - 27, 2013 in a limited engagement at the Gene Frankel Theatre, located at 24 Bond Street between Lafayette & Bowery in New York City. Previews began July 12 for a July 15 opening. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Edible Arrangements...Rock and Roll...Lucky Merkins...and Grief. Rubber Ducks and Sunsets tells the story of five Brooklyn twenty something's who come together following the death of their friend, Al. They cope in unique ways - anything from performing rock concerts in bathrooms, to competing in the drug filled triathlon knock off "the Iron Bro," to uncovering the strange secrets of Al's past. With heart and humor, Catya McMullen's play explores the recklessness of youth, the nature of greatness, and how we can try to live for those who have died.

The cast includes Josh Evans, Zac Moon, Christine Mottram, Anna Stromberg (The Bad and the Better, Collision, HotelMotel with The Amoralists) and JD Taylor.

The creative team includes NYIT Award nominee Travis McHale (Set Design), NYIT Award winner David Sexton (Lighting Design), Off-Broadway Alliance Award winner Amanda Jenks (Costume Design) and Chris Schardin (Sound Design). Kate August is the Production Stage Manager.

Catya McMullen is a Brooklyn-based playwright and native New Yorker. Her play Missed Connection recently won the 2012 Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival and was directed by Leslye Headland. She is the author of four full length plays (The Collective, Rubber Ducks and Sunsets, Everything is Probably Going to be Okay and Rock me Like a Hurricane) along with numerous shorts. McMullen is the founder of the "September Challenge Brunch Series" and has been produced or developed work with The Middle Voice Theater Company (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Ground UP Productions, Ugly Rhino, ESPA at Primary Stages and UNC Chapel Hill's Department of Dramatic Art. She is a company member of The Middle Voice Theater Company and the Educational Director for Ground UP. She graduated from UNC-CH with Honors in 2011, and was the recipient of the Max Steele Senior Prize in Fiction and the Suzanne Bolch Literary Award.

Kate Middleton (Director) is the founding member and Artistic Director of Ground UP Productions. She directed the critically acclaimed new musical The People vs. Mona, which The New York Times called, "Good-natured down-home fun," Variety said was "A hootin' good time," and the New York Innovative Theatre Awards nominated for "Best Production of a Musical." She has also directed The Trestle At Pope Lick Creek at UNC-Chapel Hill (Best Direction by The Independent Weekly's "Best of 2008") and T.S. Eliot and The Women, in association with NYU's Department of International Studies.

Performances are Wednesdays - Saturdays at 7pm, Mondays at 7pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $25 and $18 for students and seniors and can be purchased online at http://www.GroundUPProductions.org or by calling 800-838-3006. Tickets for the opening gala on Monday, July 15 are $55 and includes a post-show party. Rubber Ducks and Sunsets contains strong language and adult themes, and is appropriate for mature audiences 18 and up. The running time is 2 hours including intermission. The theater is accessible from the B, D, F, M trains to Broadway/Lafayette or the #6 train to Bleecker St.

Ground UP Productions creates honest, intimate theatre. They believe in telling character driven stories with heart, bringing to life "The New Classics" - new works as well as old favorites produced in unique ways. They take pride in the aesthetic: design, attention to detail, and clever use of space. They believe theatre should be approachable and fun, and they want their audiences to feel included, impressed and inspired. 2013 is Ground UP's 8th season.

Photo Credit: Randy Morrison

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