VERSE DIVERSE Will Make its World Premiere at the Dream Up Festival

"Verse DiVerse" will have its world premiere at Theater for the New City, as part of the Dream Up Festival (Crystal Field, artistic director). The play will be presented Saturday September 10, at 2:00, Monday September 12, at 6:30, Tuesday September 13 at 6:30, Thursday September 15 at 9:00, and Friday September 16 at 6:30. The play is written by Amy Losi and directed by Ashley Adelman. The cast features Monica Blaze Leavitt, David Lamberton, Amy Losi, Esther Ayomide Akinsanya, Johnny Blaze Leavitt, and Brittyn Dion Bonham. The Stage Manager is Alexandria Thomas and the Technical Director is Ken Coughlin.

The play deals with love, loss, change, and the curative power of poetry. According to its playwright, the drama is filled with both humor and pathos, and is set against a backdrop of jazz music and poetry. Amy Losi describes her story as a tapestry. "Close up you see many colorful threads. But when you step back and look at the entire piece, you see how the threads weave together to create a picture."

The cast is headed by off-Broadway veteran, Monica Blaze Leavitt, an Artistic Founding Member of the award-winning theatre company, Transport Group. She has been acting since the age of 11, appearing in over 150 plays around NYC as well as in television and film roles. Monica appears courtesy of Actors' Equity Association, as does her fellow actor, David Lamberton. David has appeared off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway in addition to roles in independent and feature films. He was the original "Sam Adams" for the Boston Beer Company. This is off-off-Broadway veteran Amy Losi's eightieth stage role. In addition to acting, "Verse DiVerse" is her fifth produced play and tenth festival. Her plays have won six awards and the film version of her play, "No Fall My Hand" garnered awards for "Best Female Writer Screenplay" and "Best Female Centered Film." Esther Ayomide Akinsanya, winner of the Best Actress award for her role in that play and film, is part of this ensemble as well. She has appeared in plays, film, and TV. Monica's love interest is played by her real-life husband, Johnny Blaze Leavitt. He is an actor, playwright, and comedian as well as a singer. Brittyn Dion Bonham completes the cast. She currently appears in an immersive theatre show as the fairy tale character, Beauty.

Director Ashley Adelman is also an actor and playwright. She is the founder of the not-for-profit theatre company, Infinite Variety Productions, as well as a resident artist at Frigid NYC, and resident director at the Sedona Arts Academy.