CAP21: Monday Night Reading Series

The Monday Night Reading Series for Spring 2008 will feature two new works by emerging writers and a celebration of Stephen Sondheim. The Dorothy Strelsin New Works Series will feature Urban Acts, and Of Course. Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along will be presented over two evenings as part of the Barbara Wolff Classics Series.

Urban Acts (February 25) by Susan Cameron is a new piece comprised of five satirical one-acts. Travel with seven New Yorkers – through an emotional breakdown shooting a national commercial, a chance encounter with an ex in an airport, a prayer for a dying Mother and more – in an evening of plays about surviving love and loss in the Big Apple.
Of Course (March 10)by Linda Carlson explores some important questions about modern identity. Has reverence for chemical enhancement and plastic surgery made us forget who we are? Is it possible that our facades mean more to us than the people we love? What happens when a woman who believes she is not loveable if she is not beautiful gets a disfiguring disease and what kind of damage does her belief do to the people who love her? What will it take for her to choose life?
Merrily We Roll Along (March 17, 24), with book by George Furth and Lyrics and Music by Stephen Sondheim, is a musical adaptation of the George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s play. The show tracks the story of three successful people looking back on their lost friendship. Frank, Mary, and Charley grew up to realize their dreams and goals, but may have paid a greater price than they anticipated. Journey backwards in time, recalling rivalries, jealousies, triumphs, failures, and loves both unrequited and reciprocal, as the three seek to discover how they got from “there” to “here.” Featuring musical classics such as "Not a Day Goes By," "Good Thing Going," and "Old Friends," Merrily We Roll Along reflects on friendship: how it evolves, transforms, breaks apart and brings people together.