Press Contact: Judd Hollander &
Cynthia Leathers
Bunch of People Press & Publicity
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For Immediate Release
La Muse Venale Presents
Honestly
Abe
A fact-based musical coming of
age tale of Abraham Lincoln
In repertory with
La Revolucion
and
Moctezuma
Two plays about the reality of
change and the betrayal of beliefs
Beginning April 6th at the Mint
Theater
La Muse Venale presents a musical tale of dreams,
possibilities and heartbreak in Robert L. Hecker's Honestly Abe, which shines a
spotlight on a little-known early chapter in the life of President Abraham
Lincoln. Directed by Joshua A.
Kashinsky, Honestly Abe will begin performances
at the Mint Theater at 311 West 43rd
Street. Honestly Abe will run in repertory
with La Revolucion and Moctezuma, both shows written and
directed by M. Stefan Strozier. Members
of the press are invited to all performances.
Set in Indiana in the late 1820s, and based on historical fact,
Honestly Abe presents the young Abe
Lincoln as a lanky, pranksterous 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.
Featuring a five-piece onstage band, the cast of
Honestly Abe features Ethan
Angelica*, Roy Anthony*, Ashleigh Awusie, Jake Boyd, Richard Brundage*, Leigh
Ellen Caudill*, Amber Coartney, Jessica George*, Peter Gosik*, Dennis Holland*,
Cassie Okenka*, Bridget Ori*, Zak Risinger*, Antoine L Smith*, Jeremy
Zoma.* The Scenic Designer
is Joseph C. Heitman, Lighting Designer: Duane Pagano, Costume Designer:
David Moyer, Production Assistant: Danielle Pedraza. Musical Direction is by Nehemiah Luckett, Choreography is
by Amy Klewitz, and Stage Management is by Gwyndolyn Kay. The production
is an Equity Showcase.
Running in repertory with Honestly Abe are La
Revolucion and Moctezuma, both written and directed
by M. Stefan Strozier, plays that illustrate the bitter irony of change via
revolution, bloodshed and shattered dreams. In La
Revolucion, a musical play about
Mexico's Revolution of 1910, two lovers can only watch
as the fortunes of war and political necessity change the essence of just what
the Revolution means. Based on historical events, the musical features the songs
and corridos of the period as well as elaborate dances and historical costumes.
In Moctezuma, a dramatic clash of two
civilizations takes place when a conquering army uses their enemies own
prophecies and beliefs against them, told with elaborate costumes and dance
routines as well as original songs. The casts of La
Revolucion and Moctezuma feature Alexandra
Turshen, Carolina Santos Read, Gustavo Heredia, Louis Martinez, Angelko Mar,
Daniel Ramos, Marlene Villafane, Suellen Romani, Ash Goldeh, Ronnie Armani, Alex
Montaldo, Lexi Marcero, Joyce Elwick, Jennymar. Stage manager is Reanna Muskovitz,
costume designer is Rebecca Love and choreographer is Alexandra
Turshen.
Robert
L. Hecker enlisted in the Army
Air Corps after Pearl
Harbor. He completed
thirty missions as a lead bombardier on B-17s and was awarded six Air Medals,
four battle stars, a Unit Citation and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Shortly
after the war ended, he began a free-lance writing career for radio and
television. He eventually gave up his day job, working for the Mutual
Broadcasting System in Los Angeles, to write full time, specializing in business,
education and documentary films. His documentary film awards include: San
Francisco Film Festival’s Golden Gate Award, Atlanta Film Festival’s Gold Award,
five Information Film Producers of America “Cindy” Awards, and four
United
States “Cine” awards. He also has had 12 novels
published and five stage plays produced. Honestly Abe is his first musical.
Robert is a graduate of the Pasadena Playhouse
and the Westlake College of Music and a member of the WGA, the Dramatists Guild,
and the Alliance of LA Playwrights.
Joshua A.
Kashinsky’s recent projects include the drama
Anna by Nancy P. Moss (Dorothy
Strelsin Theatre),
a reading of Dead
and Buried by
James McLindon (Luna Stage) and
producing The Mad 7 by Yehuda Hyman (dir. Mara Isaacs) in the NY International
Fringe Festival. Other
directing credits include McCarter Theatre's Youth Ink! Festival and MCC
Theatre's Youth Company. Josh was recently a Directing and Producing Assistant
at McCarter Theatre in Princeton,
NJ where
he assisted Des McAnuff, Amy Morton and Nicholas Martin. As a playwright, his
work has been seen in California,
New
York, Maine and
Ontario. Most
recently his play Heels in the
Sand had a
reading at Woodie King Jr.'s New Federal Theatre. He is the recipient of
the Lipkin Prize and is a Corwin Award winner. Josh is a graduate of the
University of
California,
Santa
Barbara. He received his MFA from
Sarah
Lawrence
College and is
a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.
M. Stefan
Strozier is the founder and
artistic director of La Muse
Venale Acting Troupe. His plays, Guns, Shackles & Winter
Coats, The Whales, The Tragedy of Abraham Lincoln, and The
Green Game, were performed in lengthy runs, off-off and Off-Broadway, and in
the Midtown International Theatre Festival and other festivals and locations.
Additionally, he has written Belzac December Night (a one-act play; the
first of 8 plays about America), and La Revolucion (the first of 4
5-act plays about Mexican history; he is working on the first play in the series
now, called The New World). He has directed seven plays and two staged
readings of a musical, and produced twenty-one plays. His novels, short stories,
poems, essays, plays, and blog are on his Web site at www.mstefanstrozier.org. He has been
published in literary journals (online and in print), magazines, and newspapers.
He is the founder, CEO, and publisher of World
Audience Publishers, and the editor-in-chief of Audience
Magazine.
Founded in 2004 by M. Stefan
Strozier, La Muse Venale Acting
Troupe is a 501c3, tax-exempt, professional, non-profit theater company
dedicated to creating art through theater. La Muse seeks to bring excellent
theater to those who do not normally experience theater. For more information,
go to www.lamusevenale.org.
Honestly
Abe, La Revolucion and Moctezuma will be performed in
repertory at the Mint Theater Space, located at
311 West
43rd Street on the 3rd Floor.
Honestly
Abe will be performed from
April 9-24. Show times are
Wednesday at 2pm, Thursday and Friday at 8:30pm, Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 7:30pm. The Sunday, April 24th performance is at
2pm.
La
Revolucion will be preformed
from April 6-23. Show times are
Wednesday. April 6th at 8pm, Thursday,
April 7th at 8:30pm, Saturday, April 9th at 8:30pm, Sunday, April 10th at
3:30pm, Monday, April 11th at 8pm, Tuesday, April 12th at 8pm, Wednesday, April
13th at 8:30pm, Thursday, April 14th at 2pm, Saturday, April 16th at 8:30pm,
Sunday, April 17th at 3:30pm, Monday, the 18th at 3:30pm, Wednesday April 20th
at 8:30pm, Thursday, April 21st at 2pm, Saturday, April 23rd at
8:30pm
Moctezuma will be performed from April 8-23. Show times are
Friday, April 8th at 4pm, Saturday, April 9th at 6pm, Sunday, April 10th at 1pm,
Monday, April 11th at 6pm, Wednesday, April 13th at 6pm, Friday, April 15th at
3pm, Sunday, April 17th at 1pm, Wednesday, April 20th at 6pn and Sunday, April
23rd at 6pm.
All tickets are $18.00, $15.00 for
students and seniors. Reservations:
866-811-4111 or https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/806425 (Honestly Abe), https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/806455 (La
Revolucion), https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/806485 (Moctezuma).
Information for Listing
Editors
WHAT:
Honestly
Abe
by Robert L.
Hecker
Directed by Joshua A.
Kashinsky
Scenic Designer: Joseph C.
Heitman
Lighting Designer: Duane
Pagano
Costume Designer: David
Moyer
Production Assistant: Danielle
Pedraza
Musical
Direction: Nehemiah Luckett:
Choreography: Amy Klewitz
Stage Management:
Gwyndolyn Kay
Presented by: La Muse
Venale
Featuring:
Ethan
Angelica*, Roy Anthony*, Ashleigh Awusie, Jake Boyd, Richard Brundage*, Leigh
Ellen Caudill*, Amber Coartney, Jessica George*, Peter Gosik*, Dennis Holland*,
Cassie Okenka*, Bridget Ori*, Zak Risinger*, Antoine L Smith*, Jeremy
Zoma*
The production is an Equity
Showcase.
Synopsis:
Playwright Robert L. Hecker shines a spotlight on
a little-known period in the life of Abraham Lincoln, examining his teenage
years where the young man was more known as a prankster than a statesman and a
dreamer instead of a lawyer. Honestly Abe is a coming of age
story and a tale of dreams, possibilities and heartbreak, told in story and
song. Directed by M. Stefan
Strozier, Honestly Abe runs in repertory with
La Revolucion and Moctezuma, two musical plays written and directed by Strozier
telling of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and the conquest of the Aztecs by
Cortes, both showing the tragedy, irony and hypocrisy that change can
bring.
WHERE:
Mint
Theater
311 West 43rd Street (between 8th
& 9th Avenues), 3rd Floor
WHEN:
April 6th-April
23
Honestly Abe
April
9-24
Wednesday at 2pm
Thursday and Friday at 8:30pm
Saturday at 2pm
Sunday at 7:30pm.
Sunday, April 24th performance is at
2pm.
La Revolucion
April
6-23
Wednesday, April 6th at 8pm
Thursday,
April 7th at 8:30pm
Saturday, April 9th at 8:30pm
Sunday, April 10th at 3:30pm
Monday, April 11th at 8pm
Tuesday, April 12th at 8pm
Wednesday, April 13th at 8:30pm
Thursday, April 14th at 2pm
Saturday, April 16th at 8:30pm
Sunday, April 17th at 3:30pm
Monday, the 18th at 3:30pm
Wednesday April 20th at 8:30pm
Thursday, April 21st at 2pm
Saturday, April 23rd at 8:30pm
Moctezuma
April
8-23
Friday, April 8th at 4pm
Saturday, April 9th at 6pm
Sunday, April 10th at 1pm
Monday, April 11th at 6pm
Wednesday, April 13th at 6pm
Friday, April 15th at 3pm
Sunday, April 17th at 1pm
Wednesday, April 20th at 6pm
Sunday, April 23rd at 6pm
TICKETS:
All tickets: $18.00,
$15.00 for students and seniors
RESERVATIONS:
866-811-4111 or
https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/806425 (Honestly Abe) https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/806455 (La
Revolucion) https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/806485 (Moctezuma)
SUBWAY INFORMATION:
Take the A, C or E train to
42nd
Street
Members of the press are invited to
all performances.
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