What Rhymes With America
September 25 through October 4, 2015
THE PRODUCING UNIT PRESENTS
What Rhymes With America
Written by Melissa James Gibson
Directed by Peter Frisch
A father and his teenage daughter stand on either side of a closed door.
Life is unraveling for him, and it is entirely uncertain for her. So begins Melissa
James Gibson's poignant and hysterically funny play about estrangement and the
partially examined life. Four lost souls fight their losing battle for
identity and happiness in an unforgiving world.
Starring Bill Egan, Deborah Bertling, Ariel Eakin
and Ivy Vahanian
Peter Frisch, former Executive Director of the Granada Theater,
stage director of 160 plays, musicals, cabaret and opera, producer of 150 hours
of network television, directs Gibson’s miniature, quirky, gem of a play.
Hank (Bill Egan) is a recently separated dad. Because of the
messy way his marriage is ending, he tries to define a new relationship with
his 16-year old daughter Marlene (Ariel Eakin). Backstage at the Metropolitan
Opera, Hank finds a friend in the needy and unpredictable Sheryl (Ivy Vahanian)
and thanks to a chance meeting, he becomes involved with the seriously
complicated Lydia (Deborah Bertling). What Rhymes With
America examines how Hank adjusts to his new life and juggles relationships
with these three, very different women. The 2012 “dramedy” mixes big laughs with truly heartbreaking moments.
"This touching, sorrowful comedy
[is]…full of compassionate wonder at the innumerable ways in which lives can go
wrong." —NY Times.
"Gibson writes fluidly and beautifully for that Impatient Age, slowing
down our emotional metabolism for deeper scrutiny. —New York Magazine.
"People in Melissa James Gibson's enchanting, tough-minded, 85-minute
play, WHAT RHYMES WITH AMERICA, feel their way around life with an off-balance
neediness that is both morose and unexpectedly engaging —Newsday.
TIMES: Friday, September 25 at 8 pm
Saturday, September 26, at 8:00
pm
Sunday, September 27, at 2:00
pm
Thursday, October 1, at 8:00 pm
Friday, October 2, at 8:00 pm
Saturday, October 3, at 2:00 & 8:00 pm
Sunday, October 4, at 2:00