Kathleen Chalfant, Walter Charles and More Set for American National Theatre's 2/25 Readings

The American National Theatre (Sean Cullen, Founder/Artistic Director) to present readings of THE IMMIGRANT (4PM), written by Mark Harelik, directed by Randal Myler; and THE LEGACY, or WHAT THE JEWS BELIEVE (7:30PM), written & directed by Mark Harelik, on Monday, February 25, 2013. The ANT readings will take place at Theatre Row's Clurman Theatre (410 West 42 Street). Tickets are FREE to the public. Reservations can be made by contacting info@americannationaltheatre.org, or by calling 323.252.8474.

THE IMMIGRANT, by Mark Harelik, directed by Randal Myler
Monday, February 25 at 4PM
Rural Central Texas, 1909: A young Russian-Jewish immigrant, newly arrived in America through the port of Galveston, pulls his banana cart into the hamlet of Hamilton. Fleeing the vicious pogroms of his homeland, he has left his sought refuge in the land of the free. Able to speak only Yiddish, alone in the midst of a staunchly Christian community, he begs for shelter. Over the next 30 years, he makes a home and raises a family in this tiny town. The Immigrant is the story of a young Russian-Jewish couple and the local couple that take them in, as religion meets religion, culture meets culture, fear meets fear, and love meets love. This is the true story of Haskell Harelik, the Immigrant.

The Immigrant has played around the country in over two dozen regional theatres, including:
ACT, Actors Theater of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alley Theater, Arena Stage, the Mark Taper Forum, Capital Rep, Northlight Theater and the Old Globe Theatre.

The American National Theatre: Staged Readings of Two Plays by Mark Harelik/P. 2 of 2

THE LEGACY, or WHAT THE JEWS BELIEVE, written and directed by Mark Harelik,
Monday, February 25 at 7:30PM
Rural Central Texas, 1962: The Immigrant's son, Dave, still lives in the old family home that his father built. The family is still the only Jewish family in this isolated country town. As his son Nathan faces the (to him) bizarre prospect of becoming Bar Mitzvah, his wife Rachel faces an even greater crisis of faith. As Dave encounters the remoteness of his community, and the even further distance from the faith of his father, his entire family faces the legacy left behind by their immigrant forebears: What do the Jews believe? This is a fictionalized account of the next generation of the family introduced in the Immigrant, and the 2nd play in Mark Harelik's unfinished Texas saga of one Jewish-American family.

The Legacy was first presented at the Old Globe Theatre.

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