Press Releases

Vassar & New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Theater wraps up its 28th season with an amazing weekend of new plays and musicals.

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY –  Vassar & New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Theater wraps up its 28th season with an explosive weekend of new musicals and plays. Audiences have an additional chance to see the close-to-sold-out Murder Ballad as Powerhouse added a performance on Sunday, July 29, at 7:30pm. All performances to The Power of Duff are now sold-out. Readings Festival 2 reservations are already filled, however there may be tickets available the day of the readings. A wait list will be established at the theater one hour before each curtain. Casting for the readings festival is now finalized. 

• Powerhouse offers four workshop performances of the indie rock musical Murder Ballad by Julia Jordan & Juliana Nash, directed by Trip Cullman, with Daniel Breaker, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Dee Roscioli, and Will Swenson (7/27-29). This sexy, explosive new rock musical explores the complications of love, the compromises we make, and the small betrayals that can ultimately undo us. A love triangle gone wrong, Murder Ballad centers on Sara, an Upper West Side mom who seems to have it all, but whose downtown past lingers enticingly and dangerously in front of her. Created by composer Juliana Nash, front-woman for the 90’s indie rock band Talking to Animals, and award-winning playwright Julia Jordan (Tatjana in Color, Sarah, Plain and Tall), Murder Ballad is directed by Trip Cullman (Lonely, I’m Not; Assistance; A Small Fire). Cullman, a frequent collaborator in the creation of new works at Vassar & New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Theater, also directed the debuts of A Steady Rain, Lloyd Suh’s American Hwangap, The Peterson’s Project, and Sweetness among many others. Musical director Justin Levine's Bonfire Night debuted at Powerhouse in 2010 and he was the musical director for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Choreographer Doug Varone is known for his work in theater, opera, and with his own company Doug Varone & Dancers.  Act now to secure your tickets as there is very limited seating available for these performances.
• All performances of the Mainstage play The Power of Duff by Stephen Belber, directed by Peter DuBois, with Desmin Borges, Dominic Fumusa, Neal Huff, Russell G. Jones, Greg Kinnear, Ilana Levine, Ben Platt, and Jennifer Westfeldt are now sold out.
• Casting highlights for Readings Festival 2 (7/27-29), which includes new plays and musicals by Nathan Englander, Ron Lagomarsino, Warren Leight & Todd Almond, Billy Porter, and The Debate Society, include Chris Bauer (A Streetcar Named Desire, “True Blood”); Obie winner Michael Chernus (In the Wake, Men In Black 3); Matt McGrath (Cabaret, Dalton’s Back); Golden Globe, Emmy, and  Obie Award winner and two-time Tony nominee S. Epatha Merkerson (Come Back Little Sheba, “Law & Order”); two-time Tony winner Ron Rifkin (Cabaret, The Substance of Fire); and Tony nominee Reg Rogers (Holiday). Please note that reservations are filled for all the readings, however a wait list will be established one hour prior to each curtain. We cannot guarantee admission.

Tickets for Murder Ballad are available online and at the campus box office. Go to powerhouse.vassar.edu or visit the Powerhouse Theater box office on the Vassar College campus (124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY): (845) 437-5599 or PHTBoxOffice@vassar.edu.

Cafe on the Quad completes its limited run at the Powerhouse Theater this weekend. Mix the pleasure of groundbreaking live theater with mouth-watering global cuisine as Twisted Soul Food Concepts will offer a menu of progressive American small plates (menu available online). Saturday, July 28, from 5:30-8:00pm. For reservations call (845) 454-2770.

Weekend Schedule

Friday, July 27 – Sunday, July 29

Four performances only:
Friday and Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 2pm and 7:30pm
Martel Musical Workshops (concert readings of works-in-progress)
/ In the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film
Tickets $30

Friday, July 27 – Sunday, July 29

MURDER BALLAD 
By Julia Jordan & Juliana Nash
Directed by Trip Cullman
Musical direction by Justin Levine
Sound design by Leon Rothenberg
Choreography by Doug Varone

A love triangle gone wrong, Murder Ballad centers on Sara, an Upper West Side mom who seems to have it all, but whose downtown past lingers enticingly and dangerously in front of her. Created by composer Juliana Nash, front-woman for the 90’s indie rock band Talking to Animals and award-winning playwright Julia Jordan (Tatjana in Color; Sarah, Plain and Tall), this sexy, explosive, newSound rock musical explores the complications of love, the compromises we make, and the small betrayals that can ultimately undo us. Cast includes Daniel Breaker, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Dee Roscioli, and Will Swenson. With Thomas Juliano (lead guitar), Josh Myers (bass), and Seth Faulk (drums).

All performances are SOLD OUT
Mainstage (fully staged and designed works-in-progress)
/ In the Powerhouse Theater
$35

Through Sunday, July 29

THE POWER OF DUFF
By Stephen Belber
Directed by Peter DuBois

Charles Duff, a news anchor in a mid-market backwater, has an unexpected spiritual awakening on live TV.  His prayers, and their answers, change his audience, his family, and his own life forever. Stephen Belber (Tape, Match, Dusk Rings a Bell, Fault Lines) returns to the Powerhouse alongside Peter DuBois (Sons of the Prophet, Becky Shaw, Jack Goes Boating, All New People). The cast includes Desmin Borges, Dominic Fumusa, Neal Huff, Russell G. Jones, Greg Kinnear, Ilana Levine, Ben Platt, and Jennifer Westfeldt.
Reservations filled / Admission by wait list only
Readings Festival 2
/ In the Susan Stein Shiva Theater
Seating in the Susan Stein Shiva Theater is general admission and the theater opens 15 minutes before curtain. There is no late seating.

Friday, July 27 at 8pm

While I Yet Live
By Billy Porter
Directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskander
With Bryan Terrell Clark, Susan Heyward, Larry Marshall, S. Epatha Merkerson, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Shona Tucker, Akilah Walker, and Sharon Washington.

Saturday, July 28 at 12noon

Untitled World’s Fair Play
Written and directed by The Debate Society (Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen playwrights; Oliver Butler director)
With Pun Bandhu, Griffin Birney, Hannah Bos, Jim Poulos, Reg Rogers, and Corey Sullivan.

Saturday, July 28 at 8pm

Jerome
By Ron Lagomarsino
Directed by Maria Mileaf
With Chris Bauer, Michael Chernus, Robert Clohessy, Peter Gerety, and Eric Gold.

Sunday, July 29 at 12noon

The Twenty-Seventh Man
By Nathan Englander
Directed by Barry Edelstein
With Ross Carmichael, Robert Dorfman, Daniel Oreskes, Richard Poe, Ron Rifkin, and Noah Robbins

Sunday, July 29 at 5pm

A Separate Peace
By Warren Leight & Todd Almond
Directed by Stafford Arima
Musical direction by J. Oconer Navarro
With Jessica Barr, Richard Cerato, Pierce Cravens, Curt Hansen, Brian Charles Johnson, Julie Mattison, Matt McGrath, Gabrielle Stravelli, and Christopher Wood

About Vassar & New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Theater

Each summer Vassar & New York Stage and Film's Powerhouse Theater presents new plays and musicals in development, many of which go on to reach wider audiences, including Stephen Karam’s Sons of the Prophet (Roundabout Theater); Michael Mayer and Peter Parnell’s re-imagining of Lerner & Lowe’s On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (St James Theater); Seminar by Theresa Rebeck (Golden Theater); Gabriel Kahane & Seth Bockley’s new musical February House (The Public Theater); and Storefront Church, John Patrick Shanley’s final installment to his “Church and State” trilogy that began with Doubt (Atlantic Theatre< Company).  Other projects developed at the Powerhouse include the Tony Award-winning Side Man and Tru; the multi-award-winning Doubt; the groundbreaking Broadway musical American Idiot, and A Steady Rain, produced on Broadway in 2009 with Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig.

The result of a unique collaboration between New York Stage and Film and Vassar College, the Powerhouse program consists of an eight-week residency on the Vassar campus during which more than 250 professional artists and 40 apprentices live and work together to create new theater works.

New York Stage and Film is the not-for-profit company dedicated to both emerging and established artists in the development of new works for theater and film.  Since 1985 New York Stage and Film has played a significant role in the development of new plays, provided a home for a diverse group of artists free from critical and commercial pressures and established itself as a vital cultural institution for residents of the Hudson Valley and the New York metropolitan region.  For more information, visit www.newyorkstageandfilm.org/.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential, liberal arts college founded in 1861. Consistently ranked as one of the country’s best liberal arts colleges, Vassar is renowned for its long history of curricular innovation, and for the natural and architectural beauty of its campus. More than 50 academic departments and degree programs — from Anthropology to Cognitive Sciences to Urban Studies — encompass the arts, foreign languages, natural sciences, and social services, and combine to offer a curriculum of more than 1,000 courses.  Vassar College is sited in New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley in Poughkeepsie, NY. For directions and travel information, go to powerhouse.vassar.edu/visit/.

The Powerhouse Theater season at Vassar College strives to make its performances and facilities accessible to all our patrons. If you have questions, would like to request an accommodation or service, or would like to receive additional information about accessibility at Powerhouse Theater, Martel Theater, or the Shiva Theater, please contact us or visit our website: powerhouse.vassar.edu/accessibility. For additional information or if you have questions, need assistance, or an accommodation not mentioned on the website, please contact the Powerhouse Theater Program office at (845) 437-5907 or powerhouse@vassar.edu.

Posted by Office of Communications Tuesday, July 24, 2012