The acclaimed New Place Players returns with The Masque of Night
A Romeo & Juliet Cabaret
February 15, 2024
NEW PLACE PLAYERS
Proudly Presents
“powerful, believable performances” - JK Clarke, Theater Pizzazz on Othello
“After 14 productions of Othello this is the one ‘I've enjoyed the most’" - Peter Filichia, Broadway Radio
“New Place Players’ Othello offers a captivating, close-up, fully realized production of an iconic Shakespearean tragedy enriched with a complex interplay of elements that immerses us in both history and a timeless human theme. It’s what makes a classic a classic and what makes this an experience that shouldn’t be missed.” - Deb Miller, DC Metro Arts
“The closeness between the actors, who are trained in the Lecoq movements, and the audience created an unspoken camraderie, as if we were fellow citizens familiar with the characters and setting.” - This Week in New York on Othello
THE MASQUE OF NIGHT
A ROMEO AND JULIET CABARET
Music Direction by FLAVIO GAETE
Directed by JANINA PICARD and CRAIG BACON
THREE PERFORMANCE OFF-BROADWAY ENGAGEMENT
MARCH 8 - MARCH 10, 2024
AT CASA CLARA
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
NEW PLACE PLAYERS is pleased to announce the limited Off-Broadway engagement of THE MASQUE OF NIGHT, directed by Janina Picard and Craig Bacon. A musical cabaret based on Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, THE MASQUE OF NIGHT will play at Off-Broadway’s Casa Clara (218 E 25th St, New York, NY, 10010). Performances begin Friday, March 8, and continue through Sunday, March 10. Tickets are $45 and available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-masque-of-night-tickets-811509596047. Press are invited to attend any performance.
After an extraordinary run of Othello at Casa Clara in the spring of 2023, New Place Players return to Gramercy in NYC with THE MASQUE OF NIGHT. Accompanying Shakespeare’s text with chamber music and song (weaving both classical and contemporary), the four musician-actors will transport you to the very heart of the lovers’ timeless journey.
Casa Clara, a former foundry and stone sculpture atelier provides the perfect immersive venue with sofas, dining chairs, a skylight, balconies, and a fabulous collection of eclectic art. With forty-plus guests in such a glorious living space, THE MASQUE OF NIGHT is a soirée not to be missed!
THE MASQUE OF NIGHT stars Maximilian Macdonald (Romeo), Libby Lindsey (Juliet), Anna Bikales (Nurse), and Flavio Gaete (Peter, Mercutio, Friar Lawrence, Balthazar). Bikales and Gaete also serve as principal musicians. The cast is understudied by Jorge Carrion (Romeo) and Clara Tristan (Juliet).
The production is produced by New Place Players. The Production Manager is Aaron McDaniel and the General Manager is Leah Michalos. THE MASQUE OF NIGHT features graphic design by Cristian Gastelo. Kenji Golden serves as Music Intern. Publicity by Katie Rosin/Kampfire PR.
THE MASQUE OF NIGHT for three nights only:
Friday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 10 at 3:00 p.m.
Tickets are $45 and are now available online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-masque-of-night-tickets-811509596047. A limited number of standing-room tickets are available for $25.
Running Time: 90 minutes (no intermission)
IG: @newplaceplayersnyc
BIOGRAPHIES
CRAIG BACON (Co-Director) is a director, actor, and voice teacher designated by Kristin Linklater in 1998 to teach her technique “Freeing the Natural Voice”. He has taught at the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University since 2011 and other faculty appointments include SUNY Purchase, Columbia University, Fordham University, NYU (Atlantic Theater Company), National Theater Institute (US and UK), The Actors Centre (London), The Linklater Center, and Shakespeare & Co. (Lenox, MA). Some of Craig’s directing work includes The Mercury Theatre in England (Macbeth, The Tempest, The Crucible); SUNY Purchase (The Winter’s Tale, By the Bog of Cats, and LAByrinth Theater Company’s One-Acts co-directed with Richard Crawford). He is founder and artistic director of New Place Players where he directed Twelfth Night and co-directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream with James Ortiz. Some of Craig’s extensive acting work includes Prospero in The Tempest (New Place Players); Henry IV, Pt. 1; Much Ado About Nothing; Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare & Co.); Cymbeline; The Rover; Twelfth Night (Lincoln Center Inst.); One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf; A Christmas Carol (American Drama Group, Europe); Kenneth Lonergan’s Borderlines; Off-Shore Wind w/William Hickey, and Sunday’s Child w/Celeste Holm (HB Playwrights). Craig trained extensively with Uta Hagen, Herbert Berghof, Tina Packer, and of course his mentor, the master teacher Kristin Linklater.
JANINA PICARD (Co-Director) is a German-born actor, director and teacher of dreamwork for artists based in NYC. With over a decade of professional experience working as stage and film actor in both Europe and the United States, her directorial vision is deeply influenced by working with the unconscious. She assisted, trained and studied extensively with her mentor Sandra Seacat in Los Angeles and has furthered her studies of dreamwork with the C.G. Jung Institute Berlin and the C.G. Jung Centre Dublin. She has been coaching artists privately and teaching workshops internationally since 2020.
FLAVIO GAETE (Music Director) has worked as a musician, sound designer, actor, arts administrator and teacher for the last 20+ years. He has collaborated with a wide variety of ensembles in music, theater, film, and dance. Some of his latest collaborations have been with New Place Players as music director for Othello, film composer Renaud Barbier for his latest film soundtrack, Petit Pays and the Orquesta de Cámara de Chile for their 2018-19 season. Flavio has been a guest lecturer at Sciences Po Paris-Reims, NY University and Dubspot and has taught extensively throughout NYC and . Flavio has also played with various orchestras and ensembles, including the Orquesta de Cámara de Chile, Distinguished Concerts International NY, The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, the Manhattan Camerata, Nikolett Pankovits and various others, having performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, among others.
NEW PLACE PLAYERS embodies the power of Shakespeare’s plays, performing in intimate, found spaces, integrated with original live chamber music. The company employs both experienced musicians and actors and recent MFA graduates, empowering a new generation of theater artists.
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Listings Information:
Who: New Place Players
What: THE MASQUE OF NIGHT
Where: Casa Clara (218 E 25th, New York, NY, 10012)
When: March 8 - March 10
How: $45
New Place Players return to Gramercy in NYC with THE MASQUE OF NIGHT. Accompanying Shakespeare’s text with chamber music and song (weaving both classical and contemporary), the four musician-actors will transport you to the very heart of the lovers’ timeless journey.