THE HEIRS OF PRETENDING Will Premiere at LAB Theater Project

LAB Theater Project will present the premier of the new play, The Heirs of Pretending, by Jared Eberlein.  Set backstage at a theater, this sweet, melancholy comedy charts what happens when the dream of being in front of an audience again runs up against the realities of age, family, rivalry, and the nature of theater itself.

Playwright Jared Eberlein worked for nearly a decade as an actor in New York before turning his focus to the page.  His plays, musicals, and cabaret acts have been read and produced up and down the eastern seaboard and in Los Angeles.  This is the third time LAB has produced new works of his, starting with Precious Thieves (2018), and three short plays in An Evening with Eberlein (2021).  The Heirs of Pretending is directed by LAB’s founding Executive Producer, Owen Robertson -- who has been encouraging Eberlein’s script for Heirs since its original draft in 2015 -- and features local actors David Malloy, Rick Fernandez, Mandy Keen, James Skinner, and Cas Hardy.  The costumes are by Corinne Todd, Rick Anthony designed the sound, and director Robertson designed the set and lights.

About the Play:

Veteran actor Burton Quinn is finally making his grand comeback in the Broadway musical he loves, the one that first brought him fame as a young man.  Except that this time, the out-of-town tryouts are way out in the sticks, he has aged out of his beloved romantic lead role, and he has to share his dressing room with the new -- and very green – romantic lead.  And if that weren’t bad enough, just before curtain, his son arrives with unwelcome news, and Burton must face a choice between the demands of his family and that of a mistress – the theater – that has always taken and never given back.  Could his dream of returning just really be a dream?

To the director, Owen Robertson, the father-son relationship caught his attention when he first read Heirs.  “Burton and John’s journey in this play rings deeply with me,” Robertson said, “and echoes some of the journey for my son and me.  A father’s question of legacy, relationship, and love is deep and can be agonizing.”  “I was terrified my son could grow up wishing I was more conventional,” agreed playwright Eberlein, “wishing that his father was more like the “normal” dad his friends had; dads who had Saturday nights free for camping and not eight o’clock curtains.”

The Heirs of Pretending runs for three weekends, November 2-19.  Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday matinees at 3:00 pm in LAB’s theater space at 812 E. Henderson Ave., on the western edge of Ybor City.  Taped performances will also be available on demand, starting November 16 through November 30.  Audience members who purchase on-demand tickets will be emailed a link to the video site.  LAB Theater Project reserves the right to adjust the number of seats available in response to CDC guidance to protect the health and well-being of our audiences, cast, and crew.

Tickets for The Heirs of Pretending are $31 online and $35 at the door, and are available through LAB’s website, https://www.labtheaterproject.com.  For questions or interview requests, please contact the Box Office at 813-586-4272, or email us at information@labtheaterproject.com.

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