'Sopranos' Star Cerbone in 'Merging' at Horror Festival

Former "Sopranos" star Jason Cerbone will appear in Charles Messina's new play Merging that will debut at The Players Theatre in Manhattan in October as part of the theatre's Shortened Attention Span Horror Festival.   In Merging, Cerbone plays the tormented father of a missing child.   The play centers around an estranged couple, whose infant has suddenly and inexplicably gone missing and the detective who is trying to solve the case.

Merging is written and directed by Messina, who previously directed the hit off-Broadway shows Mercury: The Afterlife and Times of a Rock God and Cirque Jacqueline.  Messina is also directing the big-budget musical Be My Love, about the life of Mario Lanza, written by Richard Vetere, and produced by Phil Ramone and Sonny Grosso, which also premieres in October at The Tilles Center.  For the big screen, Messina has written They're Just My Friends, which was released in fall 2006 and starred Lord Jamar, Malik Yoba, and Bruce Altman.  He has also written the film Spy starring Vincent Pastore,  Frank Vincent, and Ben Curtis. Currently Messina is set to direct the mob-horror film Payback's A Bitch, starring Frank Vincent, Vincent Pastore, John "Cha Cha" Ciarcia, and Tony Danza.

The cast of Merging includes Gina Ferranti, who starred in Messina's The Great Divide in 2005, as well as New York character actor Ernest Mingione ("Law and Order").

The Shortened Attention Span Horror Festival begins on October 11 and continues through October 28 at The Players Theatre Loft.  The festival will present 18 new plays running under 30 minutes each over 3 weekends.  Each week the audience will select a favorite with the three winning plays to be presented in the 199 seat Players Theatre on Halloween. For more info: www.theplayerstheatre.com

Merging opens a limited run as part of the Shortened Attention Span Horror Festival and runs Week 3 of the Festival, October 25-28, with a special performance on Oct 31.   Show times Thursday through Saturday at 8PM; Sunday at 3PM and Wednesday October 31 at 7:30PM.

The Players Theatre is located at 115 MacDougal Street (between West 3rd and Bleecker Streets).  Tickets are $17 and available

Tickets: $17, call 212-212-352-3101 or visit www.theatermania.com

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