| Lakisha May, Richard Masur, Constance Shulman & More Star in World Premiere of DIRTY LAUNDRY at WP Theater | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 11:36 am EDT 08/23/24 | |
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| WP THEATER & SPARK THEATRICAL'S WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF DIRTY LAUNDRY TO FEATURE SASHA DIAMOND, YVETTE GANIER, AMY JO JACKSON, RICHARD MASUR, LAKISHA MAY, AND CONSTANCE SHULMAN PLAYING SEPTEMBER 21 - OCTOBER 20 AT WP THEATER WP Theater (Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty and Managing Director Michael Sag) together with Spark Theatrical/Laurie Bernhard, is thrilled to announce that the world premiere of quirky comedy Dirty Laundry, starting rehearsals on Tuesday, August 27, will star Sasha Diamond (WP's Regretfully, So the Birds Are, Significant Other) as Red, Yvette Ganier (The Bedwetter, "New Amsterdam") as Blue, Amy Jo Jackson ("Dicks: The Musical") as Green, Lakisha May (Jaja's African Hair Braiding, "Blue Bloods") as Me, Emmy Award nominee Richard Masur (Prayer for the French Republic, "Younger") as My Dad, and Drama Desk Award nominee Constance Shulman ("Orange is the New Black", The Rose Tattoo) as Another Woman. Dirty Laundry is a new play written by Mathilde Dratwa (Milk and Gall, A Play about David Mamet Writing a Play about Harvey Weinstein) and will be directed Off-Broadway by WP's former BOLD Associate Artistic Director Rebecca Martinez (Sancocho, The Comedy of Errors). Set Design is by Raul Abrego, Costume Design is by Lux Haac, Lighting Design is by Cat Tate Starmer, Sound Design is by Tosin Olufolabi, Intimacy Direction is by Judi Lewis Ockler, Props by Samantha Tutasi and the Stage Management team is Fran Acuña-Almiron and Celina Revollar. Casting by Kelly Gillespie, C.S.A. Performances begin September 21 at WP Theater (2162 Broadway, at 76th Street). After the woman who unites them dies, three people grapple with love, loss, lust...and household chores. Meanwhile, a spin cycle of voices pings with questions: are you still a daughter when your mother dies? Are you still the other woman when the first woman is gone? And maybe more importantly–how do you clean all that Dirty Laundry? By special arrangement with Spark Theatrical/Laurie Bernhard, Dirty Laundry runs from September 21 through October 20, with an official opening night on October 6. "WP THEATER ENSURES THE FUTURE IS FEMALE" Playbill "AN IMPORTANT, RISK-TAKING ORGANIZATION." New York Magazine "WP THEATER IS ENDURINGLY VITAL." The New York Times WP Theater, now in its 47th Season, is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing and promoting the work of Women+ at every stage in their careers. For almost five decades we have served as leaders at the forefront of a global movement towards gender parity, and the example we set and the artists we have fostered have grown into a robust and thriving community of artists in theater and beyond. WP Theater received a 2018 Lucille Lortel Award, a 2019 Obie Award, and a 2020 Drama Desk Award, all for Outstanding Body of Work, recognizing WP's unique place and vital work in the theatrical landscape. WP empowers Women+ of all kinds to reach their full potential and, in doing so, challenges preconceptions about the kinds of plays Women+ write and the stories they tell. As the premiere launching pad for some of the most influential Women+ theater artists today, our work has had a significant impact on the field at large. Nearly every prolific female theater artist has been through our doors, including 2024 Tony Winner for Best Direction of a Musical, Danya Taymor, 2019 Tony Winner for Best Direction of a Musical, Rachel Chavkin, 2018 Tony Winner for Best Direction of a Play, Rebecca Taichman, 2013 Tony Winner for Best Direction of a Play, Pam MacKinnon, 2013 Tony Winner for Best Direction of a Musical, Diane Paulus, 2023 Pulitzer Prize Winner Eboni Booth, 2018 Pulitzer Prize Winner Martyna Majok, and two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner Lynn Nottage. These powerful women found an artistic home at WP and are a testament to our role as a driving cultural force. WP was founded in 1978 by visionary producer, Julia Miles, to address the significant under-representation of women in theater. Today, WP accomplishes its mission through several fundamental programs, including: the WP Lab, a celebrated two-year mentorship and new play development program for Women+ playwrights, directors,and producers; the Domestic Partner residency program; the Developmental series of workshops and readings; the Commissioning series, and the Mainstage series, which features a full season of Off-Broadway productions written and directed by extraordinary theater artists. Current artists under commission are: Donnetta Lavinia Grays, Emily Kaczmarek, MJ Kaufman, Sylvia Khoury, Zizi Majid, Rehana Mirza, Zoe Sarnak, Rachel Wax, and Leah Nanako Winkler. When we say Women+ we mean: cis women, trans, non-binary, or gender-nonconforming people and all gender identities which have been systematically oppressed throughout history in the theater and beyond. WP offers tickets from $10 to $100 for all performances of every show each season with no need for subscription or membership. Everyone is welcome and we have a price that is accessible for all. For more information, please visit www.WPTheater.org. Spark Theatrical/Laurie Bernhard An attorney by trade, Laurie founded Bernhard Solutions, specializing in strategic consulting for nonprofits before turning to theatrical producing. After completing the Commercial Theatre Institute's (CTI) Producers' Intensive at the O'Neill Center and other CTI programs, Laurie began developing and producing new plays that address social impact and enrich audiences by encouraging dialogue and expanding perspectives. She credits her producing career to Debbie Allen's, FREEZE FRAME...Stop the Madness, a powerful production about gun violence and growing up in South Central LA, as Laurie's inspiration for developing shows with hard hitting, challenging and timely subjects. Laurie serves on the Boards of Ojai Playwrights Conference, and Thunder River Theatre Company. Currently, she has multiple projects in development and production. www.sparktheatrical.com DOWNLOAD HEADSHOTS HERE @WPtheater # # # BIOGRAPHIES: SASHA DIAMOND (Red) (she/her) New York: Regretfully, So the Birds Are (Playwrights Horizons & WP Theatre), Peerless (Primary Stages), Once Upon a (Korean) Time (Ma-Yi), Teenage Dick (Ma-Yi & The Public), Bobbie Clearly (Roundabout), Significant Other (Broadway), Kentucky (Ensemble Studio Theatre), and others. Television credits include: "Mystic Christmas" (Hallmark), "The Equalizer" (CBS), "Bull" (CBS), "New Amsterdam" (NBC), "NCIS: New Orleans" (CBS), "Magnum: PI" (CBS), "Tommy" (CBS). YVETTE GANIER (Blue) is a 2024 NAACP Image Award Nominee as producer for the documentary film, Fast Dreams (winner, 2023 Best Documentary Essence Film Festival). An Obie award-winner, Yvette is recognized for her outstanding performance as Prix in Kia Corthron's Breath Boom off-Broadway at Playwright's Horizons. She is widely acclaimed for her work with playwright August Wilson originating the roles of Rena in the professional premiere of Jitney and Black Mary in Gem of the Ocean, and critically acclaimed for her performance as Tonya in King Hedley II at the Goodman Theatre. Some of Yvette's other credits include BROADWAY: The Miracle Worker and King Hedley ll; LONDON: Jitney (Olivier for Best New Play) OFF-BROADWAY and NEW YORK: The Slow Room, The Block, Pitbulls, Breath Boom, Jitney, For Colored Girls; REGIONAL THEATER: The Goodman and Steppenwolf theaters in Chicago; The Mark Taper Forum in LA; The Curran Theater in San Francisco; Baltimore CenterStage; Philadelphia Theatre Company, The Wilma Theatre and Freedom Theatre; Hartford Stage; Cleveland Playhouse; Actors Theatre of Louisville; Seattle Rep and The Intiman in Seattle. Yvette's FILM/TV credits include roles on Netflix, Showtime, NBC, CBS, ABC, Lifetime. Yvette recurred in "New Amsterdam" on NBC as Nurse Linda Weber for all five seasons. She also starred as LaDonna Gooden in the digital series, Ms/Manage, and is currently starring in The Table (2023 Jury Prize Essence Film Fest) both on Black Oak TV. As a writer, Yvette was a member of the 2021 Orchard Project's Greenhouse Lab to develop her pilot, Wynnefield, which received an Honorable Mention at the 2023 Big Apple Film Festival. She is co-writer of the pilot, Growing Wild, with Shona Tucker based on her solo show. She is also developing two feature scripts in the horror genre. A recent highlight is Yvette has been commissioned by The New Black Fest to write and perform a solo show about her work with August Wilson. Yvette has been an adjunct professor at NYU where she teaches her August Wilson Acting Class and currently teaches at the University of Louisville. Some of Yvette's other producing credits include Co-producer on 99 Ways feature, Joy Road, and the short film, Bottom, an early work by Sundance Jury Award winner Chinonye Chukwu. Other acting awards include the NAACP Theater Award, AUDELCO Award, Los Angeles Ovations Award, Dallas Theater Critics Award, Cleveland Critics Circle Award. AMY JO JACKSON (Green) (they/she): WP Debut! NYC: Ensemble Studio Theater, Company XIV, Prospect, Red Bull, NY Shakespeare Exchange, Exit Pursued by a Bear. Fav Regional: Singin' in the Rain (Weston), Fun Home (SpeakEasy Stage), Cabaret (Flat Rock), Little Mermaid (Arkansas Rep), Cymbeline (Opera House Arts), Film/TV: Dicks: The Musical (A24), High Maintenance, and the singing voice of a crab in Under the Boardwalk (Paramount). They won a 2022 Bistro Award for their acclaimed Tennessee Williams solo show The Brass Menagerie (official selection of the 2022 Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival and 2023 Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis). Her play You Know What They Say About Scorned Women was a 2024 winner of the Red Bull Short New Play Festival. Their original musical Hatchetation (@hatchetationthemusical) was a 2021 selection at the O'Neill (NMTC) and the 2023 Kilroy's List/Web. She was a finalist for the 2022 Larson Grant and is the recipient of a 2023 EST/Sloan Commission. Their work as a nightlife artist has found them on just about every cabaret and comedy stage in NYC, with solo engagements at 54 Below, Joe's Pub, the Green Room 42 and the Duplex. This one's for Jeff and the fam. RICHARD MASUR (My Dad) Here is a sampling of his 52 year career: Broadway: Prayer For The French Republic, Lucky Guy, Democracy, and The Changing Room; Off-Broadway (partial): Sarah, Sarah, The Ruby Sunrise, Fetch Clay, Make Man, Relevance, The Net Will Appear. He has appeared in over 60 feature films, including Who'll Stop the Rain; The Thing; Heartburn; Risky Business; Under Fire; My Girl; License to Drive; Another Year Together; Before, During and After; and Hudson. TV series (partial) – "The Girls on the Bus", "Kaleidoscope", "Transparent", "Younger", "Girls", "Bull", "The Good Wife", "The Good Fight", "Orange Is the New Black", "Red Oaks", "MASH", "One Day at a Time". Over 40 TV movies including - Fallen Angel, Adam, The Burning Bed (Emmy Nomination), It, And The Band Played On, and 61*. He was most recently seen on the HBO Max series "The Girls On The Bus". Former National President, VP and Board Member of Screen Actors Guild & National Board Member of SAG-AFTRA. For a full list of his credits go to imdb.com. LAKISHA MAY (Me) (she/her) Broadway: Jaja's African Hair Braiding, Skeleton Crew (Manhattan Theatre Club); Off-Broadway: Everybody, In The Blood (Signature Theatre Company), Sojourners (NYTW, Playwright's Realm), The Miser (Moliere in the Park); Regional Theater: La Jolla Playhouse, American Conservatory Theater, Alliance Theater, Arden Theatre, Marin Theater Company, and others. Film & TV: Historias del Canal, City on a Hill, Boardwalk Empire, Law & Order: SVU, Forever, Blue Bloods and others. Education: MFA, The American Conservatory Theater. BA, Spelman College. Lakisha creates her own work and has produced projects with Nikyatu Jusu, Rashad Frett, Saheem Ali, Monkeypaw Productions, and others. kishamay.com @kisha_may CONSTANCE SHULMAN (Another Woman): Recent: Summerworks/Winterworks at Clubbed Thumb (Find Me Here/Chairs), The Best We Could, Manhattan Theater Club, Shhhh, Atlantic Theater Company, The Rose Tattoo, Roundabout, Broadway, Bobbie Clearly, Roundabout Underground (Drama Desk Nomination). TV: "The Curse", SHO; "Orange Is The New Black" (three time SAG award for Best Ensemble in a comedy series), "DOUG", animated series Nickelodeon/Disney. Film: From Fried Green Tomatoes to Strawberry Mansion. MATHILDE DRATWA (Playwright) is a Belgian playwright and screenwriter based in Brooklyn. Her plays include Dirty Laundry (world premiere WP), which was commissioned and released as an audio play by Audible, for which she won the Henley Rose Award; Milk & Gall (world premiere Theatre503, London, published by Nick Hern Books); A Play about David Mamet Writing a Play about Harvey Weinstein; and Esther Perel Ruined My Life. Her work has been presented by the Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, the Ojai Playwrights Conference, Roundabout Theatre Company, Rattlestick, Berkshire Theatre Group, American Players Theater, LAByrinth Theater Company, the Cape Cod Theater Project, and in London at the Young Vic. Mathilde is an inaugural Powers Playwriting Fellow at the Old Globe, an Affiliated Writer at the Playwrights' Center, and was recently a member of the Orchard Project's Greenhouse, a Dramatist Guild Foundation Playwriting Fellow and a member of New York Foundation for the Arts' Immigrant Artist Program. She also writes for film and television; she has developed content for Netflix, FX, Chernin Entertainment, LuckyChap, Endeavor, Dirty Films, Red Wagon, Sony/TriStar and Wiip. REBECCA MARTINEZ (Director) (she/her) is a multidisciplinary director and the Cohort Collaborations Director for One Nation/One Project. Recent projects: Bite Me (WP Theater / Colt Coeur), It Happened in Key West (Fulton Theatre), Sancocho (WP Theater / Latinx Playwrights Circle / SOL Project), Living and Breathing (Two River), Los Complicados (EST Marathon), Randy's Dandy Coaster Castle (Egg & Spoon Collective), Songs About Trains (Working Theater and Radical Evolution), Somewhere Over the Border (Syracuse Stage and Geva Theatre). Rebecca co-adapted and directed the 2023 & 2024 touring bilingual musical production of The Comedy of Errors (The Public Theater's Mobile Unit, Drama Desk Nomination, Outstanding Adaptation). She has developed new work with The Public Theater, Amas Musical Theater, the O'Neill, Latinx Playwrights Circle, the Sol Project, NAMT, INTAR, Working Theater, The Playwrights Realm, among others. As Cohort Collaborations Director for One Nation/One Project, Rebecca worked alongside participating communities to imagine, plan, and create public, large-scale participatory art and health projects which debuted simultaneously on July 27, 2024 under the campaign Arts for EveryBody. Her work leading up to July 27th aimed to strengthen bonds and deepen cross-sector relationships across the arts, health, and municipal governments in each community – laying a foundation for equitable and lasting community development. Affiliations: Member of the Obie Award-winning Sol Project Collective, Co-facilitator of the WP Directors Lab, 2021 TCG Rising Leaders of Color, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, INTAR's Unit52, New Georges Affiliated Artist, Drama League Directing Fellow, member of SDC. Awards: Colorado Henry Award for Directing; four Portland, Oregon Drammy Awards; Lilla Jewel Award for Women Artists. Rebecca is originally from Colorado with ancestral roots in the Southwest and Bohemia. Rebeccamartinez.org RAUL ABREGO (Set Design) is a set designer for Opera, Theater and Television. His work has been seen at The Juilliard Opera Center, The Manhattan School of Music, The Spoleto Opera Festival in Italy, The Rattlestick, Cherry Lane Theater and Intar. Noted Recent projects: with WP: Sancocho by Christin Eve Cato Directed by Rebecca Martinez, Adamandi for Princeton University, book and lyrics by Mel Hornyak and Elliot Valentine Lee Directed by Georgina Escobar, Ain't Misbehavin' for Barrington Stage and Geva Theater Center, directed by Jeffrey Page. The Brobot Johnson Experience by Darian Dauchan at The Bushwick Starr, Living and Breathing by Mando Alvarado Directed by Rebecca Martinez for Two River Theater, How to Melt Ice by Amalia Oliva Rojas for Boundless Theater Company and New Perspectives directed by Elena Araoz. Assistant Art Director credits for Television include: "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" Season 3 & 4, Ghost (Power Book 2) and John Wick, Art Director for Falling Water (pilot), "The Outcasts" (film) and Production Designer for 2009 film "Cruzando". LUX HAAC (Costume Design) Broadway: The Thanksgiving Play. Off-Broadway/New York: Manahatta, Mobile Unit: The Comedy of Errors (The Public Theater); Between Two Knees, Number Our Days: A Photographic Oratorio (PAC NYC); On That Day in Amsterdam (Primary Stages/59E59); 53% Of (Second Stage Uptown); Songs About Trains (Radical Evolution/Working Theater/New Ohio Theatre); Giizhibaa Giizhig | Revolving Sky (Incoming! Under the Radar/The Public Theater); Eureka Day (Colt Coeur/Walkerspace); Ajijaak on Turtle Island (IBEX Puppetry/New Victory Theater); R + J (Hypokrit NYC/Access Theater); ¡Figaro! (90210) (The Duke on 42nd Street). Regional: For the People (Guthrie Theater); The Wizard of Oz (Geva Theatre); Between Two Knees (OSF, Yale Rep, McCarter Theatre Center, Seattle Rep); Espejos: Clean (Hartford Stage, Syracuse Stage); LEAR (Cal Shakes); Kim's Convenience (Westport Country Playhouse, TheatreSquared); Yoga Play, Ragtime (PlayMakers Repertory Company); Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Arizona Theatre Company); Kamloopa (WAM Theatre); I and You, Annapurna (Syracuse Stage); Hear Me Say My Name (Discovery Theater/NMAI); Native Gardens (Syracuse Stage, Geva Theatre, Portland Center Stage). Upcoming: Dial M For Murder (Syracuse Stage). luxhaac.com @luxhaac CAT TATE STARMER (Lighting Design) Off Broadway: Georgia Mertching is Dead, White People (Ensemble Studio Theatre); Hold These Truths, MacBeth, Richard III (Epic Theatre Ensemble); American Jornalero (Working Theatre); Recent Regional designs include the world premier of Thornton Wilder's The Emporium, Servant of Two Masters, A Christmas Carol, 1984 (LDI Design Achievement Award)(Alley Theatre); Once (Kansas City Rep); A Thousand Maids, Living and Breathing (Two River Theatre); Hurricane Diane, They Promised Her the Moon (Old Globe); Steel Magnolias, Frankenstein (LIT Design Award) (Guthrie Theatre); Hold These Truths (Theatreworks: Silicon Valley, Guthrie Theatre, ACT Seattle, Playmakers Rep, The Cultch, Vancouver); Buzz (Alabama Shakespeare Theatre); The Great Immensity (The Civilians); Wickets (HERE); Seven (World Premiere at 92nd St. Y); The People Next Door (Yale Rep). Cat has been a guest lecturer and designer at Yale, Juilliard, Barnard, Princeton, Brown, and Bard College. Cat designed the architectural lighting for Plaza 33, a pedestrian plaza near Penn Station in NYC and received two Lumen awards and a SOURCE Award for her work with Focus Lighting. She has been an adjunct professor at Fordham University and is currently a lecturer at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts. MFA: Yale School of Drama. TOSIN OLUFOLABI (Sound Design) (she/her) is a sound designer, deviser, facilitator, and performer who received her education at the University of Richmond. After internships at two regional theaters, Berkshire Theatre Group, and Barrington Stage Company, she began professionally designing at SPARC, a children's theater in Richmond VA. After graduating, she performed and sound designed at Raleigh Little Theatre in Stick Fly and dog & pony dc's Beertown and later joined dog & pony dc as a company member. Then she was selected as the 2016 - 2017 sound apprentice for Olney Theatre Center where she assistant designed Proof. Since becoming a freelance artist her work includes NYC: Stargazers (Page 73); Bite Me (WP Theater). REGIONAL: The Thanksgiving Play (Steppenwolf Theatre); Gloria (2018 Helen Hayes Nomination for Outstanding Sound Design for a Hayes Production); There's Always the Hudson and Hi, Are You Single?; Incendiary; The Sensational Sea Mink-ettes (Woolly Mammoth); Ain't No Mo' (Woolly Mammoth/Baltimore Center Stage); Life is a Dream (Baltimore Center Stage); Crying on Television, Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, The Sound Inside, The Chinese Lady, Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Everyman Theater); School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play; it's not a trip it's a journey (Round House Theatre); Sense & Sensibility (The Village); Moses, Fires in the Mirror (Theater J); The Thanksgiving Play (Olney Theatre Center); A Wind in the Door (Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences). OTHER: Lovers' Vows (We Happy Few); My Barking Dog (Edge of the Universe Players 2); She Sings Light, Hatpin Panic, & Shakespeare's Worst (Capital Fringe); Ties That Bind, Caucasian Chalk Circle, & Antigone (Catholic University); God is Dead & April is Getting Married (Three Muses); Peepshow (dog & pony dc); Abortion Road Trip, & Soldier Poet (Theatre Prometheus); Lela & Co. (Factory 449); Blacktop Sky (York College). Assistant design credits include Sally and Tom, Manahatta, & Plays of the Plague Year (The Public); Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (The Kennedy Center TYA); One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest & Baggage (Gallaudet University); Zomo the Rabbit: A Hip-Hop Creation Myth, Thumbelina, Anatole & Davy Copperfield (Imagination Stage); Still Life with Rocket (Theater Alliance); and Proof (Olney Theatre Center). Most of her experience as a performer was in devised shows, such as Peepshow & DISCOVERED! (dog and pony dc), and Treasure Island (We Happy Few). Furthermore, she has designed two short films, Midheaven, an art film about life in Atlanta, and Silver Bullet, a dreamy animation. |
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