Pioneer Theatre Company to Stage Readings of 'i' by Jeff Talbott

Pioneer Theatre Company presents "i" as part of the 2016-2017 Play-by-Play season. The staged readings will take place at the Dumke Auditorium of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) on Friday, January 27 and Saturday, January 28, 2017. "i" is a mysterious love story about the threads that bind us together, set a couple days after tomorrow.

Sarah has had a rough time, but things are looking up. She has a new doctor and she's met a nice guy named Jake - but is Jake a nice guy? And what did the doctor do?

Jeff Talbott's (Playwright) 2011 play The Submission was produced off-Broadway by MCC Theater and received the 2011 Outer Critics Circle and 2012 Laurents/Hatcher Awards. It has since been produced around the country. Another of his plays, The Gravedigger's Lullaby, will have its world premiere in March off-Broadway at The Actor's Company Theatre (TACT). Three Rules for the Dragon (2016) and A Public Education (2015), which was a Play-by-Play reading at PTC, were both finalists for the O'Neill Conference. His plays (including Elliot, All the Stars in the Midnight Sky and How to Build a City) have received workshops and readings at MCC Theater, Chicago Shakespeare, PTC, Premiere Stages, TACT, Crowded Outlet and Route 66.

Guest director Wes Grantom returns to PTC, where he directed the 2015 Play-by-Play Speculator Spirits. Grantom's recent directing credits include Toxic Avenger by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro at Pittsburgh CLO, Lone Star Spirits by Josh Tobiessen (formerly Speculator Spirits) with Crowded Outlet, Eager to Lose by Matthew-Lee Erlbach at Ars Nova, The Cloud by Matt Moses, The Steadfast by Mat Smart and Mine by Bekah Brunstetter for Slant Theatre Project. Grantom also has a number of Broadway credits as resident and associate director, working alongside James Lapine, John Rando, Anthony Page, Rufus Norris and Emma Rice. He is a recipient of the Drama League Fellowship, a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, a graduate of the University of Evansville and the artistic director of Crowded Outlet, based in Queens

Local actress SUSANNA FLORENCE plays the role of Sarah Cooper. She appeared recently in PTC's productions of Fiddler on the Roof and One Man, Two Guvnors, as well as in the Play-by-Play readings of Speculator Spirits, A March Tale and Honor Killing. She holds an M.F.A. from the National Theatre Conservatory.

Equity actor Todd Gearhart plays Jake Bellamy. His array of theatre, film and television credits include Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway, the regional premiere of Sunset Boulevard (for which he was nominated for the IRNE award for best actor), CBS's "Blue Bloods" and The Dark Knight Rises. He is a member of New York's critically-acclaimed TACT. He last appeared at PTC in The Philadelphia Story in 2013.

Local Equity actors COLLEEN BAUM and ALEXANDRA HARBOLD play the remaining characters. Baum most recently appeared in PTC's production of Oliver! and has been seen in theatres throughout the Wasatch Front. Harbold is a local actor, director, dramaturg and theatre educator who has appeared in previous Play-by-Play readings at PTC, including Slow Food and A Public Education.

"i" will be the second installment in PTC's 2016-2017 new play-reading series, running JANUARY 27 and JANUARY 28, 2017, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday matinee, 2:00 p.m. This production will be held in the Dumke Auditorium of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA), The University of Utah, 410 Campus Center Dr, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. Price: $5 per ticket for current PTC Season Ticket Holders; $10 per ticket for general public. For more information, call the Box Office at 801-581-6961 (Open 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., Mon - Fri) or visit www.pioneertheatre.org/play-by-play.

Pioneer Theatre Company operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and Actors' Equity Association, the Union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. Pioneer Theatre Company, Utah's only fully professional theatre, performs at Roy W. and Elizabeth E. Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, located on the University of Utah campus at 300 South and 1400 East in Salt Lake City, easily accessible by TRAX light rail. Free parking is also available and the theatre is equipped with an elevator, handicap parking, hearing assistance devices and other easy-access features.