New Jersey Stage

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Luna Stage Presents World Premiere of The Tallest Building in the World

(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -– Luna Stage proudly presents the world premiere of The Tallest Building in the World by Matt Schatz, a new play that asks us to consider what is gained and what is lost when we try to reach for the sky.  The production runs for five weeks, Thursdays through Sundays, beginning on Thursday, April 14th, with the first of five preview performances.  Opening night is Friday, April 22nd, and the show closes on Sunday, May 15th.  All Thursday performances begin at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays are at 8pm, and Sunday matinees are at 2pm through May 15th, 2011. Tickets are on sale now, $20-$30, on the Luna Stage website: www.lunastage.org or by calling 973-395-5551. The theatre is located at 555 Valley Road, West Orange, NJ, in the heart of the Valley Arts District of Orange and West Orange.

With equal measures of ego and genius, a low level bureaucrat at The Port Authority sets out to build the world's tallest building — an easy task, as long as he can get his architect, his engineer, the owner of the Empire State Building, and the Laws of Physics to cooperate. Based on actual events, The Tallest Building in the World examines the 1960s birth of the World Trade Center towers and the partnerships and friendships that were tested along the way.

David Bonanno leads the outstanding cast of five as "Gino", the engineer turned bureaucrat who must manage all the temperaments and egos to get his project off the ground.  Mr. Bonanno has appeared on Broadway in Light in the Piazza, directed by Bartlett Sher at Lincoln Center Theater, and recently completed a tour with Christopher Lloyd as Howard in Death of a Salesman. 

Pun Bandhu portrays "Yama", the temperamental and reluctant architect who must reinvent his craft to rise to this challenge. Mr. Bandhu received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama and was in the world premieres of AR Gurney's Far East (Williamstown Theatre Festival, directed by Daniel Sullivan) and Theresa Rebeck's The Bells (McCarter Theatre Center, directed by Emily Mann), among others.  He can be seen in the upcoming film Two Days in New York opposite Chris Rock.

Kane Prestenback plays "Lee", the brash young engineer whose revolutionary ideas hold the key to the project's success or failure. Kane recently made his London Theatrical debut at The Old Vic with the TS Eliot US/UK Exchange, hosted by Kevin Spacey, in Anna Moench's Halo/Titanic.

Rounding out the cast are two ensemble players who give life to all of the opposing forces: The Port Authority, displaced Radio Row merchants, and even an iconic building or two.

Drew Dix founded a theater company in the West Village (Theater In Action) and directed the company's operations from 1981-1991. He has performed at the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, the 78th St. Theater Lab and various theatres on Theatre Row and does voice over work with Motion Capture Studios in Manhattan.

Nehassaiu deGannes performed with Alec Baldwin in EQUUS at Guild Hall. Additionally, she has performed in numerous productions at LaMAMA in NYC and regionally at Trinity Rep. 

Playwright Matt Schatz is also a lyricist, composer, and bookwriter whose other full-length plays and musicals include Love Trapezoid, a finalist at the O'Neill National Music Theater Conference and Yale Institute for Music Theatre; Exchanges, with music by Michael Kooman; and The Baby is Blue.  He is a three-time recipient of an EST/Sloan Commission and a two-time Shubert Fellow.

Troy Miller, who is directing the production, holds an MFA in Directing from Trinity Rep in Providence, RI, and is making his Luna Stage debut with The Tallest Building in the World.  His past directing credits include Craig Lucas' Bathroom Humor at Playwrights Horizons and – as both director and choreographer - The Bully with Vital Theatre and Together This time: A rock musical for the NY International Fringe Festival.

The Tallest Building in the World is the final production of Luna Stage's inaugural season in The Valley Arts District. The play was originally commissioned by The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science and Technology Project and was read in Luna's New Moon Play Reading Series in the fall of 2009.

Cheryl Katz, Director of Play Development at Luna Stage, says about the play: "Of course, it is not possible to even mention the words World Trade Center without evoking memories and emotions associated with the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. From the perspective of the present, audiences cannot help but see in these past events, the future that lies ahead, but this play does not seek to comment upon the tragic loss of life associated with the destruction of these iconic buildings ten years ago.  Rather, The Tallest Building in the World tells a story of ingenuity, of persistence and of the desire we all have to be remembered."

1 comment:

  1. We just saw The Tallest Building at the Sunday matinee. This was our first visit to Luna. We were so impressed that we bought subscriptions to the 2011-2012 season.
    The five actors were fabulous. I particularly like the role of the Chrysler Building. The play itself was relevant/timely and extremely well written. The "staging" (it is in the "round/square") though minimalist was right on. The direction, tough with the audience on all sides, and the timing of the scene ends was spot on.
    A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon!
    Don't miss this play!

    ReplyDelete