Performance - Centennial Casting

Penguin Rep Theatre, under the leadership of Joe Brancato, founding Artistic Director, and Andrew M. Horn, Executive Director, presents CENTENNIAL CASTING, a comedy by Gino DiIorio and Nancy Bleemer, beginning Friday, June 14, in Stony Point, New York.

CENTENNIAL CASTING follows the sold-out run of THE SABBATH GIRL, which kicked off the nonprofit professional theatre’s 46th season, and will be produced through July 7.

Love, laughter and mistaken identity take the stage when Vincent DiDonato and his co-workers discover a pile of headshots sent in by actors who have mistaken their metal casting shop for a theatrical casting agency.

According to Mr. Brancato, CENTENNIAL CASTING is “a hilarious romantic escapade as sparks sometimes fly in the most unexpected places.”

The cast, under Mr. Brancato’s direction, includes Coryn Carson as Michele (Regional: LIKE NO ONE'S WATCHING); Grace Experience as Edie (NY: GROUNDED. Regional: SOME PEOPLE HEAR THUNDER, MIDWIVES); Mike Labbadia as Vincent (Off Broadway: ARCADIA, WINTER'S TALE, HEDDA GABLER); Joshua Morgan as Carmine (Broadway: AIN'T TOO PROUD, LES MISERABLES); and Bill Phillips as Doo-Doo (Penguin: AFTER, THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION).

Director Brancato’s credits include Michael McKeever’s DANIEL'S HUSBAND, which transferred from Penguin to Primary Stages at the Cherry Lane Theatre and then onto its commercial production at the Westside Theatre/Upstairs, as well as the same playwright’s AFTER, which moved from Penguin to 59E59 Theaters; Erasmus Fenn’s DROP DEAD PERFECT at Theatre at St. Clements (NY Times Critic’s Pick); THE DEVIL'S MUSIC: THE LIFE & BLUES OF BESSIE SMITH (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Off B’way Alliance, and Audelco Award nominee); FREED (Audelco Award nominee); TRYST (Outer Critics nomination for Best Play) at the Promenade and at Irish Rep; and COBB (Drama Desk winner).

Gino DiIorio (Co-Author) is a New York City-based playwright whose works have been produced all over the U.S. including at New Jersey Rep, Shadowland Stages, Playhouse in the Square, Luna Stage, Arclight Theatre, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, The Washington Stage Guild, Custom Made Theatre, Urban Stages, Seven Angels, The Garter Lane Theatre, and Virginia Stage Company. He is the recipient of the Berrilla Kerr Playwriting Award, E. Desmond Lee Playwriting Prize, and BBC International Playwriting Prize, and is a two-time finalist for the prestigious Laurents Hatcher Award as well as the Yale Drama Series.

Nancy Bleemer (Co-Author) also wrote the play PROVIDENCE, a finalist in HBO’s New Playwrights Festival, which was produced at 59e59 Theaters and made into a short film in 2015.

CENTENNIAL CASTING is designed by Isaac Goldbaum (set), Kadee Mae (costumes), Todd Wren (lights), Idan Sassoni (sound), and Dana R. Weintraub (props). Michael Palmer is production stage manager.

Performances are scheduled at Penguin’s home facility, a repurposed 1880s barn in historic Stony Point (Rockland County), New York. “The converted barn, circa 1880, has never been more inviting” (The New York Times). Says Mr. Horn, “It’s theatre so close you can feel it, with comfortable upholstered seats and no seat more than 30 feet from the stage.” The theatre is air-conditioned and handicap accessible, features assistive hearing devices, and has plenty of free parking.