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Guest: Andrew Benvenuti, the director of Lilies at the Theater Center
The Drama Company Website
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The Drama Company NYC (Andrew Benvenuti, artistic director; Sara Laursen, executive director) today announced the live, Off-Broadway premiere of Lilies, or The Revival of a Romantic Drama written by Michel Marc Bouchrd with English translation by Linda Gaboriau, and direction by Andrew Benvenuti. Lilies – fully staged for the first time in New York City – will be presented at The Theater Center (50th & Broadway) with an all-male cast of 11 actors. Previews begin Wednesday, May 5 for an official opening night of Monday, May 17.
Lilies will be one of the first, new indoor theater productions of 2021 – performed with a live cast of actors on stage – to be presented inside an Off-Broadway venue. Last month, Lilies was recorded live, outdoors, and presented by The Drama Company NYC as a streaming, on-demand production (March 26-28).
Set against a backdrop of revenge, obsession, and love, Lilies tells the story of Simon Doucet, recently released from prison after serving a 30-year sentence for a crime he did not commit. He arranges a private meeting with his former school friend, Jean Bilodeau, now a powerful Bishop. Simon and his friends, all former prison inmates, revisit the harrowing events that occurred during their final year at St. Sebastian’s school for boys.
Lilies features an all-male cast of 11 actors. Returning from the March 2021 streaming production are Grant Hale as Jean Bilodeau; Florimond Le Goupil-Maier as Count Vallier De Tilly; Bill Morton as Countess Marie-Laure de Tilly; Drew Paton as Father St. Michael and Baron De Hue; and J.P. Ross as Lydie Anne De Rozier. Joining the cast for the Lilies Off-Broadway premiere are J.J. Miller as Simon 1952/Timothee Doucet; Hartley Parker as Simon Ducet 1912; Devon Savage as Student/Baroness De Hue; Marc Verzatt as Bishop Bilodeau; and Grant Evan and Max Richards in the ensemble.
The creative team for Lilies, led by director Andrew Benvenuti, features costume design by Caitlyn Piccirillo, lighting design by Reid Sullivan. Josh Bowen is assistant director and production stage manager. Sara Laursen is company manager.
ABOUT THE DRAMA COMPANY NYC
The Drama Company NYC (Andrew Benvenuti, artistic director; Sara Laursen, executive director) is a New York City-based, not-for-profit theater company, founded in 2018, with fiscal sponsorship through Fractured Atlas. We are committed to developing new and original works by American authors and staging full productions of US premieres and classic pieces of theater. Our 2021 virtual season opened with an extended run of John Cariani’s critically-acclaimed play Almost, Maine (directed by Sara Laursen); Lilies, or The Revival of a Romantic Drama by Michel Marc Bouchrd (directed by Andrew Benvenuti); and Proof, David Auburn’s 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning play (directed by Sara Laursen). Every dollar we receive from tax-deductible donations will go towards furthering our goal of making high-quality, live theater accessible and affordable for our NYC community and theatergoers everywhere. For more information, visit, tdcnyc.org.
Host: Jena Tesse Fox | Twitter | Instagram
Jena Tesse Fox has been writing about theater for more than 10 years for numerous publications, including Playbill Magazine, BroadwayWorld.com, Time Out New York and HowlRound.com. She is a voting member of the Drama Desk Awards, and is a contributor to BroadwayRadio
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