Ensemble Studio Theatre News

Flying Machine Productions presents the Off-Broadway premiere of BLOOD TYPE: RAGU, a new play written and performed by Frank Ingrasciotta. Preview perfomances began February 20th with the official Opening Night on Thursday, March 5th at 7:30 p.m. at the newly restored Actors' Playhouse (100 Seventh Avenue South).

The American Actor's Company (The Traveling Lady) is proud to present the Off-Broadway premiere of The Unseen by Craig Wright. Performances of this limited Off-Broadway engagement will be at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce St) beginning previews March 5th, Opening March 8th and closing March 28th. Performances run Tuesdays ? Sundays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 2 PM, Sundays at 3 PM. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased by calling Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or by going to www.telecharge.com. For more information please visit www.unseentheplay.com.

Flying Machine Productions presents the Off-Broadway premiere of BLOOD TYPE: RAGU, a new play written and performed by Frank Ingrasciotta. Preview perfomances began February 20th with the official Opening Night on Thursday, March 5th at 7:30 p.m. at the newly restored Actors' Playhouse (100 Seventh Avenue South).

Florida Studio Theatre continues it's Stage III Series with ...and L.A. is Burning opening March 4 and continues through March 19, 2009. Called 'a powerful examination of a changing nation' by the Houston Press ...and L.A. is Burning recently received the Smith Prize from the National New Play Network for 2008.

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) begins 2009 with the New York premiere of THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION, a new play by Evan Smith (Psych and The Uneasy Chair at Playwrights Horizons, Remedial English for the Young Playwrights Festival at Playwrights Horizons, Servicemen at The New Group). This will be Mr. Smith's fourth collaboration with the theater company.

Blood Type: RAGU is a hilarious and poignant exploration of the Sicilian immigrant experience based on the life of writer/performer Frank Ingrasciotta. This one-man show features more than 20 characters, who live, love and laugh as they struggle to thrive in a new culture, while nurturing the traditions of the old. It's not drama . . . it's just family! And we all have one, and now you can enjoy the family for $29.50 Tickets Any Day, Any Time!

Emmy-nominated Paul Anthony Stewart stars as Raskolnikov in a gripping 90-minute adaptation of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment at The Cleveland Play House. In addition to numerous New York and regional theatre roles, Stewart, who was nominated for his recurring role on 'Guiding Light,' recently appeared on Broadway in the revivals of Fiddler on the Roof and Cyrano - The Musical. Performed with only three actors, the adaptation of Crime and Punishment by Marilyn Campbell and Cut Columbus is being helmed by the acclaimed director of the 2005 Play House production of I Am My Own Wife, Anders Cato. Crime and Punishment begins in the Drury Theatre at The Cleveland Play House on Friday, February 27 and runs through Sunday, March 22, 2009. Tickets are on sale now at The Cleveland Play House box office by calling 216.795.7000 ext 4 or online at www.clevelandplayhouse.com. Crime and Punishment is presented in promotional partnership with National City and Baker & Hostetler.

Simon Levy directs the West Coast premiere of the original drama about scientific intrigue and competition - and a woman's life in a man's world. Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler opens on March 21 at The Fountain Theatre for a seven-week run through May 3. Low-priced previews begin March 14.

Commander Squish Productions invites you to the Off-Broadway Premiere of THE NEW HOPEVILLE COMICS. A hit at the 2002 New York International Fringe Festival, this new musical features music and lyrics by Nate Weida and a book co-written by Weida and Sarah Donnell. Jim Wren directs an ensemble of 20 actors backed by a 5 piece rock band. This strictly limited engagement runs March 10-28 at American Theater of Actors (315 West 54th Street), former home of the Fringe-to-Off-Broadway transfer of Urinetown.

Frank Ingrasciotta, writer and star of Off-Broadway's Blood Type: RAGU, is set to do a live interview with John 'Cha Cha' Ciarcia on WOR Radio's 'Joey Reynolds Show' tomorrow, February 25th at midnight. Widely known as the 'Unofficial Mayor of Little Italy,' Cha Cha co-hosts the show every Wednesday on WOR, 710AM.

Lust and loneliness meet love in this uncharacteristic coupling of characters. Lanford Wilson's 38th play first opened in Los Angeles in January 1987 and put John Malkovich on the ?international' road to stardom shortly afterwards. Garnering multiple awards in several categories, and written with a ?pas de quatre' style in mind, this contemporary and romantic story begins shortly after a funeral brings four self-distancing and comical characters together.

Frank Ingrasciotta, writer and star of Off-Broadway's Blood Type: RAGU, is set to do a live interview with John 'Cha Cha' Ciarcia on WOR Radio's 'Joey Reynolds Show' tomorrow, February 25th at midnight. Widely known as the 'Unofficial Mayor of Little Italy,' Cha Cha co-hosts the show every Wednesday on WOR, 710AM.

Frank Ingrasciotta, writer and star of Off-Broadway's Blood Type: RAGU, is set to do a live interview with Anthony Scillia (aka Tony Mangia) on his highly popular radio show this Sunday, February 22 at 4 p.m. on WPCS-FM (88.7 in Wayne, NJ). The Tony Mangia Show - Radio: Italiian Style is the only Italian/American radio show in New Jersey. The show feeds off of Anthony's love of his Italian culture and heritage. Frank Ingrasciotta's interview can be heard live at www.WPRadio887.org.

Flying Machine Productions cordially invites you to the Off-Broadway premiere of Blood Type: RAGU, a new play written and performed by Frank Ingrasciotta, and directed by Ted Sod. Performances will begin February 20th. Blood Type: RAGU is a hilarious and poignant exploration of the Sicilian immigrant experience based on the life of writer/performer Frank Ingrasciotta. This one-man show features more than 20 characters, who live, love and laugh as they struggle to thrive in a new culture, while nurturing the traditions of the old. It's not drama . . . it's just family! And we all have one. You don't have to be Italian to enjoy Blood Type: RAGU.

The newly renovated Actors' Playhouse will reopen next month with 'Blood Type: RAGU', Frank Ingrasciotta's single-actor, multicharacter show about four decades of a Sicilian family's experiences in the U.S. Actors' Playhouse is located at 100 Seventh Avenue South (between Bleecker & Christopher Streets). Preview peformances begin on February 20th, with an official opening night scheduled for March 5th, 2009. The production is the first to play the downtown space since filmmaker Lawrence Page bought it last year.

Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) is proud to announce the final production of its 2008-2009 season - the world premiere of Leslie Ayvazian's play MAKE ME, directed by Atlantic associate artistic director Christian Parker. Casting will be announced shortly.

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes the return of Godlight Theatre Company with Alan Lyddiard's adaptation of George Orwell's 1984, directed by Joe Tantalo. 1984 begins previews on Friday, March 13 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 19. Opening Night is Wednesday, March 25 at 8:30 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday at 7:30 PM, Wednesday - Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM and 8:30 PM and Sunday at 3:30 PM.

Ma-Yi Theater Company in association with Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company, will present the world premiere production of 'SOUL SAMURAI,' written by Qui Nguyen and directed by Robert Ross Parker, with fight choreography by Mr. Nguyen, when it begins performances on February 14 at HERE Arts Center(www.here.org), 145 Sixth Avenue (between Spring and Broome Streets, enter on Dominick Street). 'SOUL SAMURAI' will officially open on Thursday, February 19 at 8:30 p.m. This Off Broadway limited engagement will run through Sunday, March 15.

The Unseen is notable writer of stage and television Craig Wright's (TV's 'Lost', 'Dirty, Sexy Money', and the theatre's Recent Tragic Events and The Pavilion, et al) psychological potboiler about two prisoners trying to crack the code of their cryptic imprisonment by a brutal, totalitarian regime. Only familiar to each other by their voices, the two men keep each other mentally and emotionally going through the cell walls as they share stories of their interrogations and torture, putting the pieces together about who their captors are and what it would take to get out. The puzzle is further complicated with the introduction of a new prisoner placed near them who only poses more questions than answers.

The Unseen is notable writer of stage and television Craig Wright's (TV's 'Lost', 'Dirty, Sexy Money', and the theatre's Recent Tragic Events and The Pavilion, et al) psychological potboiler about two prisoners trying to crack the code of their cryptic imprisonment by a brutal, totalitarian regime. Only familiar to each other by their voices, the two men keep each other mentally and emotionally going through the cell walls as they share stories of their interrogations and torture, putting the pieces together about who their captors are and what it would take to get out. The puzzle is further complicated with the introduction of a new prisoner placed near them who only poses more questions than answers.