SUGAR RAY to Close April 12 in at New Harlem Besame Restaurant

SUGAR RAY by Laurence Holder, directed by Woodie King Jr. and performed by Reginald L. Wilson, had been extended through April 26 at New Harlem Besame Restaurant in Harlem but will now close April 12, 2016.

SUGAR RAY originally began performances on February 26 and opened on March 6. Upon closing, the show will have played 22 performances.

Bernardo M. Rubie, owner of New Harlem Besame Restaurant, says "Although we are delighted at the show's fine critical reception, we have found that, as first-time theatrical producers, we can't keep it running with our own means. We hope, on behalf of the artists involved, that a commercial producer may appear for this unique and delightful play, to take it onward to either a formal theater or the screen."

Final performances remaining: Sunday April 10 at 2:00 PM, Monday April 11 and Tuesday April 12 at 7:00 PM. New Harlem Besame Restaurant is located at 2070 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. (corner 124th Street, central Harlem).

New Harlem Besame Restaurant presents a site-specific dinner theater production of SUGAR RAY, a biographical play by Laurence Holder about the life and career of Sugar Ray Robinson, the man who was was, pound for pound, the greatest boxer of all time. The venue is a family-owned restaurant that occupies the location of Sugar Ray's own bar/restaurant and business offices during the 50's and 60's. AUDELCO winner Reginald L. Wilson plays the boxer. Director is Woodie King Jr., the much-honored Artistic Director of New Federal Theatre.

In his 25-year professional career, from 1940 to 1965, Sugar Ray Robinson was boxing history's first winner of five divisional championships (in the middle weight and welterweight divisions). This "King of Harlem" was renowned for his litheness, his power and his flamboyant lifestyle outside the ring. His career peaked between 1947 and 1950, before the era of TV boxing, so his style and legacy are less preserved today that those of other boxers, including his admirer, Muhammed Ali. This play recaptures Robinson's life and boxing legacy in a solo show that is exciting to those who idolized him and illuminating to those who grew up after his era.

Tickets: $49 includes show and prix fixe dinner. (Drinks may be ordered à la carte.) Box office: www.smarttix.com; 212-868-4444. Additional info: 646-261-5397. For more information, visit harlembesame.com. Group sales 646-261-5397.

Pictured: Reginald L. Wilson as Sugar Ray Robinson in SUGAR RAY. Photo by Farnaz Taherimotlagh.

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