Always important to have a good title. As long as nobody unfreezes Walt Disney, this production should be safe.
MICKEY MOUSE IS DEAD stops at 59E59 Theaters before heading to the
Edinburgh Fringe, as part of EAST TO EDINBURGH 2006
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New York, New York June 23, 2006—59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans,
Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) is proud to
welcome the exciting new company Spankin’ Yanks and their NYC
premiere of MICKEY MOUSE IS DEAD by Justin Sherin and directed by
Gordon Carver. Part of EAST TO EDINBURGH at 59E59 Theaters, MICKEY
MOUSE IS DEAD begins performances on Tuesday, July 11 for a limited
engagement through Sunday, July 23. Opening Night is Wednesday, July
12 at 7 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday – Sunday at 7 PM.
Tickets are $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 members) and can be purchased by
calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at
www.ticketcentral.com. 59E59 Theaters is located at 59 East 59th
Street, between Park and Madison Avenues.
Hollywood, 1952. Are the Communists coming? Senator McCarthy hunts
Reds, the Rosenbergs are doomed to die, and Walt Disney spies for the
FBI. Harris and Finch, scriptwriters at the Disney Studio, are
plotting to unionize. Walt’s just been called to name names. How much
does he know about them? Can Grace, Finch’s trust-fund girlfriend,
penetrate Walt’s private playground? How far will Walt go to save
Mickey Mouse from becoming a Commie Yid? A searing look into
friendship, national identity and the politics of paranoia, the
Happiest Place on Earth will never be the same.MICKEY MOUSE IS DEAD marks NYC premiere up-and-coming playwright
Justin Sherin. Produced by Spankin’ Yanks, a new production company
that draws its creative team from the graduate program at the
prestigious Yale School of Drama, MICKEY MOUSE IS DEAD is a gripping
piece by a young company that has already made a sensation at the
Edinburgh Fringe with 2004’s Fringe First Award-winning production of
Rolin Jones’ The Jammer. Jones subsequently went on to receive a
Pulitzer nomination and Obie Award for his play The Intelligent
Design of Jenny Chow.Gordon Carver (director) is the founder and director of Spankin’
Yanks. He directed and produced the European premiere of The Jammer
by Rolin Jones (Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, Off-Broadway 2005)
at the Edinburgh Fringe 2004, which was awarded a Fringe First for
Outstanding New Writing. He has directed a number of productions at
Yale’s Cabaret theatre, including Heiner Muller’s Philoctetes, an
original devised work, and ‘An Evening of Beckett Shorts.’ He has
recently assisted productions of American Buffalo (with Chris Noth)
and The Father at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, 2005, and just
finished collaborating on the world premiere production of Marcus
Gardley’s Dance of the Holy Ghost: a play on memory at the Yale
Repertory Theatre. He received his MFA from Yale School of Drama in
May 2006.Justin Sherin’s (playwright) plays have been produced and developed
in London at the Royal Court Theatre, the Old Vic, and Theatre 503/
Latchmere, and in the US at the Hangar Theatre and the Cherry Lane
Alternative. He has directed many new plays, as well as work by
Harold Pinter, Caryl Churchill and Lanford Wilson. He has taught
playwriting and directing at Yale Repertory Theatre’s Dwight/Edgewood
Project. Associate Director, Yale Cabaret. MFA expected May 2007,
Yale School of Drama.The cast includes Marnye Young (NY credits include W.E.T.; Absolutely
True the Musical, directed by Trip Cullman, at Yale Rep), Anthony
Manna (New York credits include Keen Company’s The Hasty Heart; The
Taming of the Shrew, directed by Mark Lamos, at Yale Rep) and Joe
Tapper (Glengarry Glen Ross at the Yale Cabaret Theater).###
