Stage Left Studio's "Frank Women" Features Character Actresses from Five States Channeling American Playwright

New York, NY, August 06, 2012 --(PR.com)-- A dozen-plus actresses and comediennes will channel the female characters of playwright Frank Blocker’s catalogue of American plays for a two-night special event at midtown’s Stage Left Studio, 214 W. 30th Street, August 17 and 18 at 7:30 pm. Works will include selections from Blocker’s established plays as well as several new monologues and performance pieces.

The limited engagement features out-of-town guests Chericia Curtis of Dallas and Lisa Hamilton of Houston, currently on tour in solo show Bald in the Land of Big Hair, each premiering new monologues: “This is Your Mother,” “Lois and Me,” and “Every Day Clothes.” Curtis, a former beauty queen, and Hamilton, now an actress/coach in Texas, are both former Oklahoma high school graduates (along with the playwright), where they were national winners in drama competitions. Another visiting artist is former “Bud Girl” Tam Paquette who takes a break from a film location in Florida to perform the touching homeless lament “The Number Sixteen” and the bawdy “What I Learned From Aunt Mary.”

Joining these guests will be company members from Stage Left’s Forbidden Kiss LIVE!: Gaby Gold, Cheryl King (Grapefruit), Jenn Wehrung, Elza Zagreda (Dating, Depression and Dirtbags) and show regular Valerie Hager. Wehrung will debut the Southern piece “The Kroger What’s Near My House,” taken from interviews done in the Atlanta projects. King will join producer wunderkind Jeremy Neal, who completes the cast for one-page play Sandbag where a game of canasta opens the door to family secrets. Zagreda and Gold will debut “My Cantaloupes” and a monologue from an unproduced work, June’s Bustin’ Out, respectively. Hager will perform the experimental piece “Blue Bridge” which celebrates the beauty of New York City from the point of view of the Verrazano Bridge from Sunset Park.

Seasoned character actresses Amy Heath Bell, Theresa Gambacorta, Stefani Miller and Nomi Tichman also join the show. Bell will portray a Spanish nun and a hotel maid from the play Suite Atlanta (2008). Gambacorta performs a monologue inspired by Blocker’s off-Broadway debut Eula Mae’s Beauty, Bait & Tackle (2001) as well as a selection from The Wisconsinners (2009). Tichman will perform a monologue from the same one-act play which has since become full-length under the name Air Marshals, co-authored with Major James Blocker of the Oklahoma City Fire Department, the playwright’s brother. Miller, who is currently in development with her own show featuring Carol Hall songs, will perform two monologues including the role of Iona Winchester from Macbeth: The Murder Mystery written with Lydia Bolen.

Directors include Karen Baker (University of North Carolina-Greensboro), Kristin Cassidy, Vincent Marano, Regina O’Malley (AMDA), Barry Rowell (Peculiar Works Project) and Abby Williams. Performers Gambacorta, King and Hager will also direct some of the selections.

Blocker is currently starring in self-penned Stabilized Not Controlled, also at Stage Left Studio, Sundays at 5:00 pm. Other plays include Southern Gothic Novel: The Aberdeen, Mississippi Sex-Slave Incident (Drama Desk Award nomination), Good Jew, Patient Number and Kiss and Fade. Blocker’s work includes full-length plays, librettos, short plays, solo plays and monologues influenced by American locations.

Advance tickets are highly recommended due to the limited run. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased through the theatre’s website.