Christian Campbell, the star of Reefer Madness: The Musical, tick, tick... BOOM! and Trick, will headline the cast of the New York premiere of Magnetic North, a play by William Donnelly about the perilous space between flirtation and betrayal. Joining Campbell in the cast will be Scott Richard Foster (Broadway's Brooklyn the Musical, Sessions), Heather Lee Harper (Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange) and Sarah Shahinian (Lincoln Center's Picnic at Hanging Rock). The production will be directed by Jeremy Dobrish (Signs of Life, Spain, Judas and Me).
The announcement was made today by The Active Theater (Nathaniel Shaw, artistic director) and Greg Schaffert (Burn The Floor, All Shook Up, Bat Boy the Musical, Striking 12), producers of the production.
In Magnetic North, James (Campbell) reconnects with Mara (Harper), an old girlfriend, during a period of crisis in his marriage to Leigh (Shahinian). Their casual meeting brings half-forgotten memories and questionable desires suddenly to the surface. After James tells a co-worker (Foster) of the meeting, the casual get-together slowly begins to erode everything James and Mara believed to be true. A charged tale of intimacy, temptation and the shadowy border between flirtation and betrayal, Magnetic North is the winner of the 2006 Clauder Competition for Best New Play. It had its world premiere at Portland Stage in Portland, Maine in April 2008 and was subsequently produced at the Act II Playhouse in Ambler, Pennsylvania.
William Donnelly served as resident playwright for the Massachusetts-based Industrial Theatre from 1997 to 2008. His plays have been produced by Unicorn Theatre (Kansas City, MO), Sphere (Los Angeles), Mad Cat (Miami) and Theater Alliance (Washington, D.C). A number of his short plays have been published by Baker's Plays. He was awarded a Playwriting/New Theatre Works grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and was twice named a Clauder Competition Finalist in addition to winning the award in 2006.
Jeremy Dobrish's Off Broadway directing credits include Signs of Life at Amas, Spain at MCC (Lortel nomination for Veanne Cox), Election Day at Second Stage (Lortel nomination for Lorenzo Pisoni), Judas and Me (Outstanding performance award, Leslie Kritzer and Barbara Walsh) and Drift for NYMF (outstanding performance award, Christian Campbell), Dancing with Abandon (Outstanding Direction award - Fringe NYC), Ted Kaczynski Killed People With Bombs for SPF, The Joys of Sex at The Variety Arts Theatre, Class Mothers ‘68, a one woman show starring Priscilla Lopez (Drama Desk nomination, best solo performance), and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at the Century Center. Other Off Broadway directing credits include productions at The Promenade, WPA, The Kirk, Soho Playhouse, Actor's Playhouse, The Zipper and two seasons with the Young Playwrights Festival.
Scenic Design for Magnetic North is by Alexis Distler (associate scenic designer for The Toxic Avenger Off Broadway). Costume design is by Bobby Pearce (Tony Award nomination for Taboo). Lighting design is by Michael Gottlieb (associate lighting designer of Broadway's A Tale of Two Cities; The Master Builder at The Irish Rep). Sound design is by Jacob Subotnick (The People Speak at The Culture Project). Angela Kiessel (Broadway Backwards) is the production stage manager.
The performance schedule for Magnetic North is as follows: May 6 at 7pm, May 7 at 8pm, May 8 at 8pm, May 9 at 3pm, May 10 at 7pm, May 12 at 7pm, May 13 at 7pm, May 14 at 8pm, May 15 at 8pm, May 16 at 3pm. Performances will be held at The Workshop Theater, 312 West 36th Street. Tickets are $18 ($15 for students) and can be purchased by logging onto TheActiveTheater.com
