Wagner College Theatre Kicks Off Jubilee Season With Staged Reading Of Scott Barnhardt's GAMERS

Wagner College Theatre kicks off its 50th Anniversary Season with a staged reading of GAMERS, a new play written by WCT alum Scott Barnhardt '01, on Sunday, January 21 at 5:00pm at the Stage One Studio Theater. Admission is free.

"Gamers is the theatrical love-child of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and American Buffalo," says playwright Barnhardt. "The dog-eat-dog world of eSports is not known for its sweetness. But when Paul Elliot Anderson - the world's most optimistic orphan, from Somewhere, Ohio - is recruited to the hyper-competitive video gamer workhouse of Harrington Media ... game over."

Directed by Brendan Stackhouse, the cast features WCT alums Daniel Marconi '17 (as Paul Elliot Anderson), Bret Shuford '01 (as Paul Harrington), T.J. Lamando '15 (as @Blaze22), Ailsa Hoke '14 (as @SamDude), Keland Sarno '14 (as @SliptheSquirrel), and Christina DeCicco '02 (as A388p). Stage directions read by Mickey Tennenbaum. Production Stage Manager is Jazmine Minner '17.

Scott Barnhardt (Playwright) A native of Southern California, Scott is currently the Director of Musical Theatre at Orange County School of the Arts, where he graduated from in 1997. He earned his BA in Theater/Speech from Wagner College and received his MFA in Playwriting from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His acting credits include the original Broadway cast of The Book of Mormon (Elder Harris/Elder Thomas, u/s Elder McKinley, Asst. Dance Captain) and the Deaf West Broadway Revival of Big River at Roundabout Theater Company. Other NYC: Yank! (The Old Globe Workshop), Bye Bye Birdie (City Center Encores!) and Behind the Limelight/Chaplin (NYMF). National tours: The Boy Friend directed by Julie Andrews, Big River, the Detroit company of White Christmas directed by Walter Bobbie and the Japanese tour of Disney on Classic with the Tokyo Philharmonic. Film/TV: Frozen (Troll), South Park, The 2012 Tony Awards and commercials for Truth Campaign, Nike and Ocean Spray. He is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association and SAG/AFTRA.

Brendan Stackhouse (Director) Broadway: Fun Home (Assistant Choreographer), Off-Broadway: The Marvelous Wonderettes (Associate Director), Once Upon a Mattress (Assistant Director). Brendan is the resident director for Hemlock Theatre Company (Funny Girl, Big Fish) on Staten Island and the resident choreographer of the Acting Naturally Theatre in Pennsylvania. Proud alumnus with a BS in Arts Administration from Wagner College. By day, Brendan is a 5th grade special ed teacher at the Stephen Gaynor School.

For further information on Wagner College Theatre's 50th anniversary events, call 718-420-4036.