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stlukestheatre — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:54:39 +0000

NOW PLAYING AT ACTORS TEMPLE THEATRE:

Black Angels Over Tuskegee

Cuff Me: The Fifty Shades of Grey Musical Parody

Rain Pryor’s Fried Chicken and Latkes

Siren’s Heart… Norma Jean and Marilyn Monroe in Purgatory

Honestly Abe

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Cuff Me: The Fifty Shades of Grey Musical Parody

stlukestheatre — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:37:44 +0000

Cuff Me! The Fifty Shades of Grey Musical Parody is the unauthorized hilarious parody of the Fifty Shades of Grey book phenomenon! Grab your girlfriends and get ready to laugh at this sexy, and hysterical romp, Cuff Me! The Fifty Shades of Grey Musical Parody, will have you dancing in the aisles as the cast of four belts out hilarious parodies of popular hit songs from Britney Spear’s “Hit Me One More Time ” and Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” while spoofing the Fifty Shades of Grey book!

Price Range

$46.50 – $69.50 (Ticket prices include a $1.50 Facility Fee.)

Wednesday / Thursday at 8pm

Saturday at 8pm / Sunday at 2pm

Audience :

May be inappropriate for 17 and under.
Children under the age of 4 are not permitted in the theatre.

First Preview Date	Opening Date	On Sale Through
March 27, 2013	April 3, 2013	May 19, 2013

Box Office Hours

Opens 45 minutes prior to the performance.

Tickets are also available at St. Luke’s Box Office, 308 West 46 Street (between 8th & 9th Aves).

Cuff Me: The Fifty Shades of Grey Musical Parody Cast Members:

Matthew Brian Bagley, Laurie Gardner, Alex Gonzalez, Tina Jensen

Cuff Me: The Fifty Shades of Grey Musical Parody Creative Team

Author: Brad McMurran, Jeremiah Albers, Tim Flaherty, Sonya Carter
Lyrics: Brad McMurran, Jeremiah Albers, Sean Devereux
Director: Sonya Carter
Producer: Entertainment Events, Inc.
Press Agent: David Gersten & Associates

NOW Playing: Siren’s Heart… Norma Jean and Marilyn Monroe in Purgatory

stlukestheatre — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:19:08 +0000

Siren’s Heart is not the familiar victim narrative about Marilyn Monroe. She is still a living icon in the hearts and minds of millions, but in her own time, Norma Jean was suffocated by the mask of Marilyn & the weight of living up to that impossible ideal of beauty, crushed her. Siren’s Heart, imagines another place where we see Marilyn, or Norma Jean, as she might have been; as she wanted to be: the well-rounded, unhaunted person she couldn’t be in her all-too-brief life.

“Louisa Bradshaw is riveting! Her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe, frozen in time, excites as I’ve rarely seen happen on stage. Lissa Moira’s direction & dramaturgy are stunning. It perfectly captures the thoughts of playwright Walt Stepp, on a side of Marilyn never expressed before.”
- Joe Franklin, Bloomberg Radio

“The great success of the show is that Louisa Bradshaw presents Monroe as a rather ordinary woman who just cannot figure out why she became so famous. She looks at her from the outside & sees a plain & troubled woman hurled into a worldwide stardom that she could not handle.”
- Bruce Chadwick, History News Network

“In Walt Stepp’s Siren’s Heart we witness a provocative, intelligent, soul-searching woman. Louisa Bradshaw gives a tour-de-force performance… she does not attempt to impersonate Marilyn; she embodies Norma Jean & shares her life with us. Lissa Moira directs with verve & purpose!”
- Bill Bradford, Hi! Drama

“Caldi applausi a tutti!”
- Mario Fratti, Oggi

Performance Schedule:
Saturday at 5 PM

For tickets call 212-239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com

NOW Playing: Rain Pryor’s Fried Chicken and Latkes

stlukestheatre — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 23:33:12 +0000

Fried Chicken & Latkes, written and conceived by Rain Pryor, is a hero’s journey from the standpoint of a person born into a world of “Us vs. Them” – but not quite an “us” and not quite a “them”. Told through heavy characterization and a few songs, the story takes us on a journey of racial identity, family, spiritual growth and love. She gives us a glimpse into the universe that was her childhood and is her life, morphing effortlessly, into the people around her, we all end up completely identifying with her story.

Rain Pryor grew up Black and Jewish in Beverly Hills. The year was 1969, the year was of shout and protest against mans inhumane spirit. Through hate, racism, fear, loss and love – Rain dives into her search for heritage and meaning by “becoming” her grandmother Bernice – discussing everything from her shana madel’s marriage to the black comedian Richard Pryor, to the fact that Jews have been Jews for six thousand seven hundred and sixty six year. She equally inhabits her other grandmother, Mamma – discussing “niggers”, white folk, and running a whore house in Peoria, IL, : these were two cultures that helped her to triumph over racial lines and stereotypes.

Rain’s father, legendary actor/comedian, Richard Pryor, gave her a sharp sense of timing and character. Her mother imbued her life with political consciousness to stand up for what you believe in!

Fried Chicken & Latkes, teaches us that living an authentic life is not about “where do I stand”- it’s about “ Here, I stand.” It will take you back in time and move you forward making you laugh, think and cry.

Performance Schedule
Saturday 2 PM
Sunday 5 PM
Monday 7 PM

To purchase tickets please visit www.telecharge.com or call 212-239-6200.

Jets attendance at Black Angels Over Tuskegee featured in the New York Times!

stlukestheatre — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 20:15:13 +0000

Black Angels Over Tuskegee (front row) with the New York Jets
(© Tristan Fuge)" width="502" height="299" border="0" />

After Cameo on Cable, Jets Hit Broadway

By BRUCE WEBER

The police stopped rush-hour traffic at Eighth Avenue and West 47th Street on Wednesday so the buses could pass through and their passengers, burly men in jackets and ties, could make the curtain. These were the Jets, en route to the off-Broadway Actors Temple Theater. It was just before 9 a.m., earlier even for actors than for professional athletes.

“Last time I did a 9 a.m. show I was in the third grade,” said Layon Gray, who wrote, directed and performed in the play “Black Angels Over Tuskegee.” “I was a tree.”

But the Jets had a luncheon scheduled and then they were off to Philadelphia, where they will play the Eagles Thursday night in their final preseason game. If they were going to see the show and absorb its message about comradeship and loyalty and pride, it had to be early. Everyone was there (well, not Darrelle Revis), including Coach Rex Ryan and the team owner, Woody Johnson.

It was an odd scene, a parade of huge, well-dressed guys filing quietly and obediently into the tiny theater, where several took up more than one seat apiece. A bystander prompted a sizable lineman: “Better than practice, right?”

“I’d rather be practicing,” he responded.

How did this come to pass? Serendipitously.

The play, part history and civics lesson, part inspirational narrative, concerns half a dozen men who during World War II were among the United States’ first black military aviators, known popularly as the Tuskegee Airmen, and who cohere into the proverbial band of brothers. It has been running since February to modest reviews — “an agreeable drama,” The New York Times called it — and one day last spring Ray Anderson, the N.F.L.’s executive vice president for football operations, was walking after dinner with his wife, Buffie, passed by the theater and decided to buy tickets.

Afterward, taken by its themes, its historical poignance and its relevance, racially speaking, to a league whose players are overwhelmingly black, the Andersons were thrilled, and Buffie suggested to her husband that he take his staff to see it. He did, and he subsequently issued a statement extolling the play as “a dynamic teambuilding experience.”

He added, ‘Black Angels’ is a must-see.”

(Anderson could have more use for his skills as a drama critic in a few weeks when “Lombardi,” a new play about the Green Bay Packers coach, opens on Broadway, with the N.F.L. as a producer.)

Buffie Anderson also sent her friend, Sara Hickmann, to the show. Hickmann, formerly director of the N.F.L.’s player assistance services, is now a Jets staff psychologist.

“And the entire time I was watching it, I was thinking, ‘I have to figure out way to get the team to see this,’ ” Hickmann said. “It was so relevant to what they’re trying to do, coming from all walks of life and maybe not always loving everyone on the team, needing to be away from family and friends, experiencing life tragedies. There were similarities in terms of the kind of banter the characters engage in, in terms of being educated and having role models.”

Hickmann took her idea to the Jets’ general manager, Mike Tannenbaum, who approved it, and the league also approved the outing as part of the life-skills program that each team is required to provide for its players. At first, the Jets talked about inviting the performers to their training camp, but Hickmann wanted the players in the theater.

“There’s something about the humility of the building when you walk in,” she said.

The players were a respectful, attentive audience, and a reasonably appreciative one, though there was some confusion about how long to applaud, and the actors’ curtain call concluded in silence. Still, they were murmuring approval on the way out and several asked to purchase T-shirts, though there was a limited supply in size XXXL.

“The play was as good as advertised,” Ryan said. “The message was outstanding, about teamwork, the way you have to take care of each other, the way you have to go through adversity and still go out and function on a high level.”

Jason Taylor, the linebacker signed from the Miami Dolphins, saw the play as being about “guys coming together and not letting someone else tell you what you can’t be.”

He acknowledged that some of his teammates may have initially rolled their eyes at the idea that watching a play together might be beneficial. But he thought the majority found it both relevant and moving.

“I found myself getting emotional at times,” he said. “You can sit in a room full of testosterone and big tough guys. But if you let your guard down and let your guard down and be a true man, you’ll find something in it for you.”

As for the actors, they were delighted, too.

“We saw a few tears shed by those big fellas,” said Thom Scott II, who plays Abraham, a voluble but sensitive young man who has the added burden of looking out for his brother, who is prone to fits.

“I think this play offers a lot that can help them for their Super Bowl run; I’m rooting for them now,” Scott said after admitting he has always been a Steelers fan.

To see the original article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/sports/football/02jets.html?ref=sports

NOW PLAYING: Honestly Abe!

stlukestheatre — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:10:59 +0000

Set in Indiana in the late 1820s, and based on historical fact, “Honestly Abe” presents the young Abe Lincoln as a lanky, prankster boy who loves to read and who can tell a yarn with the best of them. Close to both his mother and sister, while never quite seeing eye-to-eye with his father, Abe dreams of the day he can quit the family farm, leave his life of “rail-splitting” in the past and become a riverboat pilot. But family tragedies, a desire for revenge and the advice of a close friend will cause him to change his plans, setting him on the path toward the law and politics, but not before leaving someone very special behind.

Tickets range from $15 to $35 and are available at www.telecharge.com and 212-239-6200.

The show runs 90 minutes with no intermission.
For more information, go to www.lamusevenale.org
Lamusevenale@gmail.com
646-620-7406.

La Muse Venale, Inc. presents Robert L. Hecker’s,” Honestly Abe”, a musical tale of dreams, possibilities and heartbreak, shining a light on a little-known early chapter in the life of President Abraham Lincoln. Directed by M. Stefan Stozier, “Honestly Abe” is held at The Actors’ Temple located at 339 West 47th Street, every Friday at 2:00 pm and Sundays at 11:00 am.

ONE NIGHT ONLY: Melodies of Spring

stlukestheatre — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:46:43 +0000

ONE NIGHT ONLY: MELODIES OF SPRING
April 14, 2013 at 7:30 PM

For more information, please visit the Melodies of NYC website.

–

For tickets call 212-239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com

BRONTË: CLOSED.

stlukestheatre — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:11:01 +0000

William Luce wrote Brontë first as a radio play for Julie Harris to perform on Masterpiece Radio Theatre, Elinor Stout directing. Entitled Currer Bell, Esquire (Charlotte’s nom de plume), this production won three broadcasting awards: The Peabody Award, Columbia University’s Armstrong Award and the Ohio State Award. Miss Harris next recorded the play for Caedmon Records, directed by Ward Botsford. With the new title of Brontë, the play’s third presentation became Irish Television’s movie version, directed by Delbert Mann and filmed on location in the moor country of County Wicklow. The film premiered in Lincoln Center, followed by Public Television presentations in North America and the UK. Brontë‘s final incarnation was Luce’s current stage version with Harris being directed by Kristoffer Tabori and subsequently by Charles Nelson Reilly. Brontë has had theater productions throughout the United States, Canada, Scandinavia, South America, Europe and Japan.

Performance Schedule
Thursday 8 PM
Saturday 4:30 PM

For more information, visit the show’s website!

To purchase tickets please visit www.telecharge.com or call 212-239-6200.

CLOSED: Tin Pan Alley

stlukestheatre — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:34:26 +0000

The original iTunes, TIN PAN ALLEY is a stroll down musical memory lane, featuring classic song-and-dance tunes, a winning cast and a sunny vibe that helps make the production feel fresh. With hits that have become ingrained in our collective memory like “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “It Had To Be You,” and “Give My Regards to Broadway,” don’t be surprised if you catch yourself singing along with the cast. Filled with great songs and toe-tapping dance numbers, TIN PAN ALLEY is one street on which you’ll want to stay for an evening of musical enjoyment.

Gene Castle and Karla Shook
Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg

“…the real thrill of the evening is Castle’s choreography. It’s expert and beautifully executed. Tap dancing and marvelous moves like this don’t grow on many stages.”
-Peter Filicia

Performance Schedule:
Saturday at 3 PM
Sunday at 2 PM

To purchase tickets, call 212-239-6200, visit www.telecharge.com
or visit our main box office at St. Luke’s Theatre,
308 W. 46th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues),
any day between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Loni Ackerman, Gene Castle, Karla Shook and Brad Bradley
Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg

CLOSED: Innocent Flesh

stlukestheatre — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:44:12 +0000

MZL LLC
in association with
Diana C. Zollicoffer
Michael Mann
Kenyetta Lethridge
present

A haunting one-act play written by
KENYETTA LETHRIDGE
about teen prostitution and human trafficking in America

“It is vital that we take notice and not turn our backs on what is ugly.”

Innocent Flesh is a stage play that follows the lives of four teenage girls as they experience and expose the hardship and realities of the sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking of children in America.

Innocent Flesh is written in a multi-layered style that uses poetry, dance, and a modern take on the classic Greek Chorus to express the many struggles and obstacles that young girls face. Lethridge unveils the secrets of how girls from all walks of life can find themselves on the streets, their bodies being sold to men.

Performance Schedule:
Thursday at 8 PM
Sunday at 4 PM

CLOSED as of May 3, 2012.