CAST ANNOUNCEMENT: 
PLAYWRIGHTS FOR A CAUSE 
TO BENEFIT FOR THE ALI FORNEY CENTER:

“my sexuality is __________”

PLANET CONNECTIONS’ 2018 PLAYWRIGHTS FOR A CAUSE EVENT.

This year, Planet Connections’ signature event, designed to address a powerful social and topical issue facing our society today through engaging stage works, will explore the distinctions between gender and sexuality. The event will benefit THE ALI FORNEY CENTER, whose mission is to protect LGBTQ youths from the dangers of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently.

The event will be the evening of August 27 at 7:00 p.m. at the Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 E 14th St, New York City.

“We decided to put the event at the Theatre at the 14th Street Y as their mission is one of social awareness and change and is Inspired by the immense diversity the East Village has to offer,” said Glory Kadigan, founder and artistic director of Playwrights for a Cause. “In this way, the venue and the subject matter meld into a collaboration of art and education,” concluded Shaun Peknic, Planet Connections’ producing artistic director.

World Premieres by Lucy Boyle, Migdalia Cruz, Gabrielle Fox, Catherine Filloux,
Regina Taylor, and Lucy Thurber will be presented that evening.

Performers include Tony nominee, Elizabeth A. Davis; Drama Desk Nominee and Obie Winner, Eddie Korbich; along with Broadway notables, Maria-Christina Oliveras and Donna Vivino.  Other renowned artists appearing that night include David Anzuelo, Kim Blanck, Lucy DeVito, John DiMino, John Fico, McKenzie Frye, Esco Jouléy, James B. Kennedy, Bethlehem Million, Susannah Perkins, Bradley James Tejeda, Christina Toth and Kita Updike.

The event will be emceed by Planet Connections artists Laura Sisskin-Fernandez and Mateo Moreno. Tickets are now on sale at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/10308796

ACCEPTING APPLAUSE by Catherine Filloux
Directed by Susan Tenney

featuring

ANNA: Kim Blanck
RUDOLPH: John Fico
KENYON NOBLE: John DiMino

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ANY OTHER NAME by Regina Taylor
Director – Shira-Lee Shalit

featuring

SERENA: Christina Toth
CYNTHIA: McKenzie Frye
ONE: Bethlehem Million

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BANK by Lucy Thurber

featuring

DENISE: Lucy DeVito
CHARLIE: David Anzuelo

GENDER FLUIDS AND OTHER DANGEROUS LIQUIDS by Migdalia Cruz

featuring

TAR: Esco Jouléy
CADI: Kita Updike
BLISS: Maria-Christina Oliveras

Both directed by Glory Kadigan

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HOOTERS by Gabrielle Fox
Directed by Antonio Miniño

featuring

BECCA: Donna Vivino
SAMMY: James B Kennedy

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MANUEL OR THE SOLDIER THAT WASN’T by Lucy Boyle
Directed by Shaun Peknic

featuring

ANNE/MANUEL: Elizabeth A. Davis
KINGSLEY: Eddie Korbich
LYDIA WATTS: Susannah Perkins
JAMES KNOX: Bradley James Tejeda

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Understudies for all plays include Planet Connections Award winners Ramiro Batista, Carlotta Brenton, Mle Chester, Molly Collier, Isra Elsalihie, Michael Gnat, Gina LeMoine, Vinny Eden Ortega and Sarah Grace Sanders.

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THE ACTING COMPANY

DAVID ANZUELO (Charlie, Bank) – Theater acting credits: Fish Men (Intar); The Surgeon & Her Daughters (Cherry Lane Mentor Project);12 Angry Men (Northern Stage); The Motherf#cker With the Hat (Kitchen Theater); Oedipus El Rey (Woolly Mammoth). Film: A Walk Among the Tombstones; Remember Me; Prime. TV: The Americans; Elementary; Blue Bloods; White Collar; Mercy; Deadbeat. 

KIM BLANCK (Anna, Accepting Applause) – NYC credits include this summer’s Shakespeare in the Park production of TWELFTH NIGHT and FOLK WANDERING with Pipeline Theatre Company. Regional fare includes La Jolla Playhouse and Tantrum Theater; usual suspect at The Back Room Shakespeare Project and co-creator of “Basic Witch” (JASH/Amazon Prime). MFA, UC San Diego.

ELIZABETH A. DAVIS (Anne/Manuel, Manuel Or The Soldier Who Wasn’t)  – Elizabeth is a Tony Award & Drama Desk Award Nominee, & a NYMF & Innovative Theatre Award winner. BFA, MFA in Theatre Performance. Visit www.elizabethadavis.com for extensive theatre, tv, film & writing credits. www.RevealUnseen.com / www.IndianJoeMusical.com

LUCY DEVITO (Denise, Bank) Theatre: Bump, Hot Mess, How My Grandparents Fell in Love, Love, Loss & What I Wore, The Shoemaker, In Quietness, Lucy, Steel Magnolias (BCP), Bureau of Missing Persons, The Electric Baby (Two River), Any Given Monday (DTC), Miracle at Naples (Huntington), The Diary of Anne Frank.Film: The Comedian, Dumbo, Curmudgeons, Sleepwalk With Me, Leaves of Grass. TV: “Deadbeat”, “Girls”, “Alpha House”, “Melissa & Joey”.

JOHN DIMINO (Kenyon Noble, Accepting Applause) received his BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch and has been performing in NYC since. He was in last year’s festivities in Alex Riad’s The Floor is Lava and can be seen in November at Theater for the New City in Frank J. Avella’s daring, dangerous and beyond relevant play; Lured. www.johndimino.net

JOHN FICO (Rudolph, Accepting Applause) Planet Connections: Monica Bauer’s MADE FOR EACH OTHER and ANNE FRANK IN THE GAZA STRIP (Outstanding Featured Actor – Comedy).  Also AS I LAY DYING (Live Source) A.R. Gurney’s SCREEN PLAY (Flea Theater), IRON CURTAIN (Prospect Theatre), THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING YOU EVER HOID ( NYMF – Outstanding Ensemble). TV/Web: THE BLACKLIST, I LOVE YOU BUT I LIED, THE OUTS.

MCKENZIE FRYE (Cynthia, Any Other Name)  is a multi-disciplined artist & songwriter from Detroit, MI and a Howard University alum. Off Broadway/ Regional Credits include: Syncing Ink, Wig Out!, Damn Yankees! River Deep and Harriet’s Return. Film and TV credits include: wishing…, The Stronger and Law & Order. Workshops include: The Lady Killer’s Love Story, Girl Shakes Loose and Pussy Valley.

ESCO JOULÉY (Tar, Gender Fluids and Other Dangerous Liquids) is an actor, singer, dancer and movement artist originally from Washington DC. NYC Credits: Interstate (Carly), Runaways (Esco), Soft Butter (Soft Butter/ Cold Butter), Galatea (Chorus), The Demise (Magic Theater Player), Beowolf (Warrior), Marisol (Angel), Girl Shakes Loose (Luc), Room For Cream (Sidney). Regional Credits: Man of LaMancha (Sancho Panza), Unnecessary Farce (Bille Dwyer), The Three Musketeers (Porthos), The Marvelous Wonderrettes (Betty Jean), Legally Blonde (Pilar), Anything Goes (Purity). escojouley.com

JAMES B KENNEDY (Sammy, Hooters)  is a Brooklyn based actor. Recent theatre credits; “The Hunting Season”(Teatro Latea, Planet Connections), “All is Bright”(I.R.T., NYC), “Clover” (LaMama, NYC), & “Sousepaw : A Baseball Story” (NYC, MN, INDY, SF Fringe Festivals). Recent film credits; THE Z LIST (web series), MY DINNER WITH SCHWARTZEY (short), SEEKING SUBLET (web series), JACK AND DODGE (web series). Outstanding Actor Award from Planet Connections on their inaugural season.

EDDIE KORBICH (Kingsley, Manuel Or The Soldier Who Wasn’t) Broadway: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, A Christmas Story (Santa), The Little Mermaid (Scuttle), The Drowsy Chaperone (George-Drama Desk nomination), Wicked, Seussical, Carousel (Mr. Snow-LCT) and Sweeney Todd (Tobias-Circle In The Square). Off-Broadway: Assassins, Godspell, A Little Night Music, and Taking a Chance on Love (Obie Award). Film/TV: “Blue Bloods”, “Elementary”, “Law & Order”, “The Deuce”, “Doug” and “Quiz Show.”

BETHLEHEM MILLION (ONE, Any Other Name) Of Ethiopian descent and growing up in Switzerland her recent projects have been “Onward: a concert to benefit good chance theatre”, Celebration! and the NYU Reality Show.

MARIA-CHRISTINA OLIVERAS (Bliss, Gender Fluids and Other Dangerous Liquids)  Broadway: Amelie (cast album); Machinal; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. World Premieres: Soft Power (CTG/Ahmanson); Here Lies Love (The Public; cast album); Pretty Filthy (The Civilians; cast album); Taylor Mac’s 24 Decade…(St. Ann’s Warehouse); And Miles to Go (PCP); Reading Under the Influence (DR2); The Really Big Once (Target Margin); After (PCP). Other Off-Broadway: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Public); Romeo and Juliet (NYSF/Public); Zorba! (Encores); Night Sky (BPAC). Regional: Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep, Williamstown, Long Wharf, Huntington, Baltimore Centerstage, Sundance, O’Neill, among others. Selected Film/TV: Manhattan Night, St. Vincent, “The Blacklist,” “Nurse Jackie”, “Law & Order:SVU”

SUSANNAH PERKINS (Lydia Watts, Manuel Or The Soldier That Wasn’t) Off-Broadway: The Low Road (The Public), The Wolves (Lincoln Center/Playwrights Realm), The Rape Of The Sabine Women… (Playwrights Realm). Other New York: Sisters On The Ground (PHTS/Clubbed Thumb), Every Angel Is Brutal (Clubbed Thumb). Regional: Night Of The Iguana (ART), The Wolves (NYSAF). TV: Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. BFA: NYU Tisch. Obie and Drama Desk awards.

BRADLEY JAMES TEJEDA (James Knox, Manuel Or The Soldier That Wasn’t) Recent graduate of the Yale School of Drama in 2016, recent projects include: Two River Theatre’s Productions, El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Nebraska Repertory Theatre’s The Lord of the Flies, and The Light Fantastic Mobile Theatre Co.’s A View From The Bridge. Born and raised in south San Antonio, TX, he works on playing guitar and writing poetry and plays.

CHRISTINA TOTH (Serena, Any Other Name) is a graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. Her latest credits include Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black Season 6 (Recurring: Annalisa), LAZARUS (New York Theatre Workshop) directed by Ivo van Hove and The Woolgatherer (LaTea Theatre) directed by Chazz Palminteri, for the which she won Best Actress at the Planet Connections Festivity Awards.  www.christinatoth.com

KITA UPDIKE (Cadi, Gender Fluids and Other Dangerous Liquids) Recent Theater Credits: Reckoning… (Public Theater, dir. Billy Porter), Click (Westport), The Village (Workshop) Film/TV: The Misandrists, Difficult People (Hulu).  Instagram @chippewajane

DONNA VIVINO (Becca, Hooters)  – Broadway: “Wicked” (Elphaba), “Les Miserables”, “Hairspray”, “Fame Becomes Me”, “Saturday Night Fever”. TV/Film: “Submissions Only”, “Sopranos”, “All My Children”. Most recent: “Finks” (Theatreworks Silicon Valley),  “Merrily We Roll Along” (Best Actress Los Angeles Ovation Nomination). Twitter/Instagram @donnavivino

Staff of PLAYWRIGHTS FOR A CAUSE

Founder & Producer: Glory Kadigan
Associate Producer: Shaun Peknic
Managing Director: Jenna Lazar
Assistant Managing: Director Ashley Nickas
Associate Artistic Director: Vinny Eden Ortega
Green/Charities Director: Akia Squitieri
Marketing Director: Ariel Estrada
Special Events Director: Ariel Francoeur
Technical Director: Mary Greene
Director of Public Relations: Jay Michaels
Lighting Designer: Benjamin Ehrenreich
Sound Designer: Jacob Subotnick
Costume Designer: Ariel Pellman
Casting Director: Robin Carus
Production Stage Manager: Katheryn Meister

2018 marks Planet Connections’ 10th year
and Playwrights for a Cause’s sixth year.