Press Contact: Matt Polk, Wayne Wolfe, Colgan McNeil,
Sasha Pensanti ([email protected])
THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN
TO PLAY FINAL PERFORMANCE SUNDAY, MAY 4, 2014
AT BROADWAY’S BOOTH THEATRE
THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN will play its final performance at Broadway’s Booth Theatre on Sunday, May 4, 2014, having played 22 preview and 16 regular performances. Starring Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons and two-time Tony Award winner Stephen Spinella, THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN began performances on Tuesday, April 1, 2014 and opened Monday, April 21, 2014, following a sold-out, critically acclaimed run at Washington DC’s Arena Stage in the fall of 2013.
Written by Eric Coble and directed by Molly Smith, the Associated Press called THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN “A wry and spirited play. As embodied by these two high-caliber performances, Eric Coble creates a thoughtful, potentially enriching gift to the audience,” with NBC raving, “A funny and touching 90-minute play that will rattle you to your core.”
In a career defining performance Estelle Parsons has been nominated for the 2014 Tony Award for Lead Actress in a Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a play and The Drama League’s Distinguished Performance Award. The New York Times said “the great actor Estelle Parsons is such fun to watch. She gives a bracing, honest and deliciously funny performance.” Variety said Estelle Parsons “gives a stellar and sublime performance.”
“It has been a real pleasure to bring THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN to Broadway” said Larry Kaye, who, along with Van Dean, is one of the two lead producers of the play. “After each performance we have been gratified by hearing stories from our audience of how they are touched by the play, and how the universal issues about family and aging are enabling them to have conversations within their own families about the same topics. We’re so proud of our entire creative and production team who brought this exquisite play to New York. We’re also very grateful to the team at the Arena Stage in Washington who helped launch it, and the Shubert Organization for their support and commitment to new plays.”
“The Velocity of Autumn featured performances by two legendary actors in American theater, Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella, directed by the outstanding Molly Smith, Artistic Director of Arena Stage, in her Broadway debut,” said co-lead producer Van Dean. “We are grateful to them for interpreting the play with so much grace, depth, passion and humanity. We couldn’t ask for a better cast to introduce Eric Coble’s beautiful work to Broadway and we are deeply appreciative of everyone who made this journey possible.”
THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN swirls around Alexandra, a 79-year-old artist in a showdown with her family over whether she can continue to live on her own. In Alexandra’s corner are her wit, her volcanic passion and the fact that she’s barricaded herself in her Brooklyn brownstone with enough Molotov cocktails to take out the block. But her children have their own secret weapon: estranged son Chris who returns after 20 years, crawls through Alexandra’s second floor window, and becomes the family’s unlikely mediator. No sooner are the words “Hi, Mom” uttered than the emotional bombs start detonating. THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN, written by Eric Coble and directed by Molly Smith,is a wickedly funny and wonderfully touching new play about independence and family.
THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN has scenic design by Eugene Lee, costume design by Linda Cho, lighting design by Rui Rita, sound design by Darron L. West, wig design by Paul Huntley, and casting by Geoff Josselson.
THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN is produced by Larry Kaye & HOP Theatricals; Van Dean & The Broadway Consortium; Joan Raffe & Jhett Tolentino; Catherine & Fred Adler; Michael J. Moritz, Jr.; and KIRN Productions in association with Neal Rubinstein; R. Erin Craig/Marcus Potter & Seiler-Smith; Franklin Theatrical & James Valletti/James L. Simon & Stephen Ganns; Kimberly Loren Eaton/Jonathan Demar & Monica Raymund; and Rob Hinderliter & Dominick LaRuffa, Jr./Tony McAnany. Associate producers are Joan & Marvin Rosenberg; Sharleen Cooper Cohen/John Perkoff & Michelle Schaap; Lauren Class Schneider and Craig J. Horsley/Michael Rubenstein.
Tickets for THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN are $65 – $135 and are available at the Booth Theatre box office or through Telecharge.com (212-239-6200 or 800-447-7400). A limited number of $29 rush tickets will be available for each performance at thebox office for that day’s performance(s), limit two tickets per person.
The playing schedule for THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN is as follows: Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm, Wednesday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm.
THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN had its world premiere at Boise Contemporary Theatre in Idaho in April 2011, and played to sold-out audiences at Cleveland’s Beck Center for the Arts in Ohio in April 2012. The Arena Stage production of THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN, directed by Molly Smith, starred Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella and ran from September 6 through October 20, 2013 in the Kreeger Theater. A pioneer not-for-profit resident theater in its 64th Season, Arena Stage is a national center dedicated to American theater.
FOR HIGH-RES PRODUCTION PHOTOS PLEASE VISIT:
FOR THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN WEBSITE PLEASE VISIT:
www.VelocityOfAutumnBroadway.com
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