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Tag Archives: Eytan Deray

Celebrating Jewish Pride – A Free Reading of A PEOPLE by L M Feldman at Island City Stage on August 25th

28 Monday Jul 2025

Posted by Carol Kassie in Uncategorized, YI Love Jewish, Yiddishkayt Initiative

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A People, Ana Marie Caise, Autumn Kioti-Horn, Avi Hoffman, Eytan Deray, Free Reading, Island City Stage, Jewish Identity, Jewish Pride, L M Feldman, Laura Turnbull, Lela Elam, LGBTQ+, Rayner Gabriel

Celebrating Jewish Pride

Love Jewish to present a Free Staged Reading of
A People
by L M Feldman
Directed by Avi Hoffman
August 25th at Island City Stage
Love Jewish is dedicated to give a voice to contemporary Jewish LGBTQ+
artists and content creators.

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com /561-445-9244

July 28, 2025

WILTON MANORS, FL:  In celebration of Jewish Pride, Love Jewish, a division of Yiddishkayt Initiative, will present a staged reading of playwright L M Feldman’s theatrical mosaic A People as their inaugural season presentation. The performance will take place on August 25th at 7 pm at Island City Stage. 

Directed by Avi Hoffman and featuring South Florida favorites Ana Marie Calise, Eytan Deray, Lela Elam, Rayner Gabriel, Avi Hoffman, Autumn Kioti-Horn, Laura Turnbull, and others, A People will take audiences on a magical lyrical journey into heritage, tradition, religion, and humanity. 

Feldman holds up a mirror to 5000 years of Jewish identity and history, reminding us that we are all descendants from somewhere, and we can choose to deny our lineage, wrestle with it, or embrace it. Sometimes hilarious and sometimes terrifyingly honest, A People’s ensemble will take on a mass of old and new-world personalities to create snippets of life the way we see it, the way we want it, and the way it is.  

Utilizing the performing arts, media, publishing, education, language, and literature, the mission of Love Jewish is to Advocate for Jewish Pride, Build Cultural Bridges and Challenge Antisemitism Through the Arts by promoting Jewish history and life, and their far-reaching impact on the contemporary world. Based in Miami-Dade County, in proud partnership with the University of Miami and Florida Atlantic University, YI Love Jewish builds engagement and forges multicultural and diverse connections through an immersive and varied range of programming for audiences worldwide.

Tickets for A People are free, with a suggested donation of $10, and are now available.  They can be purchased online at www.YILoveJewish.org/events. Island City Stage is located at 2304 North Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors (33305). 

For more information about A People, Love Jewish, and Yiddishkayt Initiative please visit https://yilovejewish.org.  To arrange interviews, photos, or requests to see the performance, please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244. 

~

A People
By L M Feldman
Monday, August 25th at 7 pm
Tickets: FREE ($10 Suggested Donation)
To reserve:  https://yilovejewish.org/events
The performance will take place at
Island City Stage
2304 North Dixie Highway
Wilton Manors, FL  33305

L M Feldman is a queer, feminist playwright (and circus artist) who pens plays that are wildly theatrical but deeply intimate. Formally ambitious plays that move and take up space. Plays that are questioning, wrestling, and asking. Plays without answers. Plays about women and queers, plays about outsiders and searchers. Plays grappling with voice and agency, opportunity and access, history and its wake. Plays about the human connection. Plays that seek to be a greater, communal, rare theatrical event in which something transcendent transpires – for those both onstage & off.

Her plays include Thrive, or What You Will (Page 73 Residency, New Georges Audrey Residency); Another Kind Of Silence (Magic Theatre Virgin Play Festival, PlayPenn Conference, Playwrights Realm Fellowship, FEWW Prize Honorable Mention); Amanuensis (Georgetown University); A People (Orbiter 3, Jewish Plays Project); The Egg-Layers (Jane Chambers Honorable Mention, New Georges/Barnard College commission); Grace, or The Art of Climbing (Denver Center, Art House Productions, Nice People Theatre, ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award Nomination, Barrymore Nomination); ensemble-devised works, including Gumshoe (New Paradise Labs + Free Library of Philadelphia + Rosenbach Museum), War of the Worlds: Philadelphia (Swim Pony + Drexel University), And If You Lose Your Way, Or A Food Odyssey (The Invisible Dog, New York Innovative Theatre Award Nomination), and others; and a baker’s dozen of short plays. She has been nominated for the Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwright Award, Wendy Wasserstein Prize, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award. She was awarded an artist grant through the Boomerang Fund and a creation grant from the State of Vermont, and she has been an artist-in-residence at Terra Firma, SPACE at Ryder Farm, the School of Making Thinking, Tofte Lake Center, Montana Artists Refuge, Montana Repertory Theatre, Sewanee University of the South, Cornell University, and Theater Emory/Brave New Works Festival. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, L is also a New Georges Affiliated Artist, a devised-work collaborator, a teacher of playwriting (Bryn Mawr College, Lantern Theatre/Jefferson Medical School, PlayPenn), and a freelance dramaturg.

(Click on each image to enlarge it, then right click on the enlarged image and ‘save image as’ or ‘copy image’)

L M Feldman
Avi Hoffman

World Premiere: EDUCATING ASHER Debuts at Empire Stage July 29 – August 14

18 Monday Jul 2022

Posted by Carol Kassie in Clients, Empire Stage

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Tags

Educating Asher, Empire Stage, Eytan Deray, Fort Lauderdale Theatre, Michael Harper, Murphy Hayes, Noah Levine, Seth Trucks

A World Premiere at Empire Stage

Eytan Deray’s  
Educating Asher
Debuts July 29 – August 14, 2022

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

July 18, 2022

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL:  Multi-talented South Florida actor and cabaret artist Eytan Deray has added playwright to the list of his accomplishments.  His new play, Educating Asher, will have its world premiere at Empire Stage.  The production will open at July 29th and run through August 14th at the popular Fort Lauderdale venue.  

Eytan Deray

“I started writing Educating Asher 5 years ago as personal therapy after finding out about a beloved teacher’s passing,” Deray explains. “Now it’s a fully realized portrait of grief, friendships between generational gaps, and the importance of teachers/mentors in our life. This play is for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, and my hope is that audiences will leave the theatre not just moved, but ready to start a much-needed conversation.”

Hiding in the kitchen at a reception for a funeral, Asher is not quite sure how to process his grief over the loss of his former middle school teacher, Elliott Weiss, who he hasn’t spoken to or seen in five years. His boyfriend Mark tries to encourage him to talk to Mr. Weiss’s widower, Nick, but to no avail. Soon enough, Asher is forced to confront his grief when Elliott’s ghost appears in the kitchen with him. It’s only now that Elliott is gone that Asher can finally say everything he ever wanted to the teacher that changed his life.

Seth Trucks

“Eytan’s play is deeply personal, somewhat autobiographical, and he has brought in a team of his close friends to help him tell this story,” says Educating Asher’s director Seth Trucks. “It’s been a very powerful experience, the cast is amazing, are all working beautifully together, and I cannot wait to share his play with everyone.”

Trucks has cast Murphy Hayes as Elliott, Michael Harper as Mark, and Noah Levine as Nick.  Eytan Deray will play Asher.

Harold Petion will serve as the production’s Stage Manager.  Lighting Design is by Preston Bircher, Set Design is by Johnbarry Green and Jordon Armstrong, and Sound Design is by Seth Trucks.

Tickets for Educating Asher are $25 and are available online at www.empirestage.com or by calling 954-678-1496.  Performances are on Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, and on Sunday at 5 pm. All performances will take place Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304.

For more information about Educating Asher, to arrange to see a performance, or for interviews or photos, please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244.

Educating Asher
July 29 – August 14, 2022By Eytan Deray
Directed by Seth Trucks
Tickets: $25
For tickets:
www.empirestage.com / 954-678-1496
Performances:
Friday & Saturday at 8 pm
Sunday at 5 pm
All performances take place at 
Empire Stage
1140 N. Flagler Drive
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304

  • Eytan Deray
  • Michael Harper
  • Murphy Hayes
  • Noah Levine
  • Seth Trucks
  • Murphy Hayes, Eytan Deray, Noah Levine
  • Murphy Hayes, Eytan Deray
  • Murphy Hayes, Eytan Deray
  • Michael Harper, Eytan Deray
  • Murphy Hayes, Eytan Deray
  • Eytan Deray
  • Murphy Hayes, Eytan Deray, Noah Levine

GREASE to Run at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center January 21 – 30, 2022

15 Wednesday Dec 2021

Posted by Carol Kassie in Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, MNM Theatre Company

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Alexandra Dow, Amber Mandic, Andrea Guardo, Angela Morando Taylor, Ashley Rubin, Brian Pedra, Caryl Fantel, Cindi Blank Taylor, Cliff Burgess, Clifford Spulock, Dorian Quinn, Eytan Deray, Grease, Jennifer McClain, Jessie Dez, Johnbarry Green, Jonathan Van Dyke, Jordan Gonzalez, Jordon Armstrong, Justin Lore, Justin Thompson, Larry Buzzeo, Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, LPAC, Marcie Gorman, Meg Frost, Michael Harper, Michael Materdomini, MNM Theatre Company, musical comedy, Musical Theatre, Nia Bourne, Penny Williams, Ryan Michael James

MNM Theatre Company
North End Theatre Company and
The City of Lauderhill

to present

January 21 – 30, 2022

“Perhaps more than any other musical, Grease embodies those seven words most commonly heard in the theater just before the curtain rises: ‘Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.’”
 ~
Syracuse.com

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

December 16, 2021

LAUDERHILL, FL:  Grease, the rollicking rock ‘n roll musical that is both an homage to the idealism and the music of the 50s, and a satirical look at teenagers’ universal and age-old desire to be provocative and rebellious, is the first joint production of MNM Theatre Company, North End Theatre Company, and the City of Lauderhill.  Grease will open on January 14th at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center (LPAC) and run through January 30th.  

At Rydell High School the ‘T-Birds’ are acting tough and stealing hub caps, and their gum-snapping, chain-smoking ‘Pink Ladies’ are looking hot in bobby sox and pedal pushers. But at the heart of Grease is the romance between top Burger Boy hot-rodder Danny Zuko and sweet ‘new girl in town’ Sandy Dumbrowski.   Can Danny maintain his ‘cool dude’ status and still make Sandy his girl?!

Grease has become one of the world’s most popular musicals and has a cult-like following – especially among teens. The show’s book, music, and lyrics are by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, and the show features such iconic classics as “Summer Nights”, “Hopelessly Devoted to You”, “Beauty School Dropout”, “Greased Lightning”, and “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee”. 

The show debuted Off-Broadway on February 14, 1972, at the Eden Theatre in New York City, and transferred to Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre, and later to the Royale Theatre, closing on April 13, 1980 after a record-breaking 3,388 performances. The film adaptation of Grease premiered in 1978 and over forty years later remains on the list of the top 10 highest grossing movie musicals of all time.  

Jonathan Van Dyke

“Grease is still the word, and I can’t wait to take everyone back to 1959 and Rydell High,” says the show’s director, Jonathan Van Dyke. “We are so excited about this dynamic cast and sharing this nostalgic show with fans and perhaps introducing patrons to their first Grease experience.” 

Van Dyke has populated Rydell High with an impressively talented cast:  Dorian Quinn will play Danny Zuko and Jessica Fernandez has been chosen to play Sandy Dumbrowski.  Other cast members include Jordan Gonzalez as Rizzo, Ashley Rubin as Frenchie, Caiti Marlowe as Patty Simcox, Kat Gold as Jan, Meg Frost as Marty, Ryan James as Kenickie, Brian Piedra as Doody, Michael Harper as Roger, Michael Materdomini as Sonny, Alexandra Dow as Cha-Cha, Eytan Deray as Eugene, Jennifer McClain as Miss Lynch, and Larry Buzzeo as Vince Fontaine.

Marcie Gorman

“I love this show!”, says MNM Theatre Company’s Producing Artistic Director and CEO, Marcie Gorman. “Grease, to me, is the perfect way to begin our new relationship with North End Theatre Company and LPAC.  It’s upbeat, it’s fun, the songs are so recognizable, and it appeals to audiences of all ages.  It’s ‘greased lightning!’”

Desorae Giles-Smith, City Manager for the City of Lauderhill agrees: “The City of Lauderhill is looking forward to an amazing 2022 Broadway season in partnership with MNM Theatre Company and North End Theater Company,” she says.  “We are so pleased to be a part of bringing our community high-quality musicals and entertainment, and Grease is sure to continue that tradition when it opens at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center in January.”

Carbonell and Silver Palm Award-winner Caryl Fantel is Grease’s Music Director and Angela Morando Taylor is the show’s Choreographer.  Scenic Designer and Scenic Artist is Cindi Blank Taylor, Lighting Designer is Clifford Spulock, Sound Designer is Justin Thompson, Costume Designer is Penny Williams, Props are by Jaimie Brothman and Jacob Altman, and Wigs are by Justin Lore.   Grease’s Technical Director is Johnbarry Green, Production Manager is Jordon Armstrong, Stage Manager is Amber Mandic, and the Assistant Stage Manager is Andrea Guardo.

Grease will run from January 21st – January 30th, 2022.  Tickets are $45 to $65 and are available online at www.lpacfl.com or by calling 954-777-2055. Subscriptions to the Broadway at LPAC series (Grease, Sister Act, and Guys and Dolls) are also on sale, and various subscription packages are available.

Lauderhill Performing Arts Center recommends that face coverings be worn.

The Lauderhill Performing Arts Center is located at 3800 NW 11th Place (33311), in the Central Broward Regional Park on the Northeast corner of Sunrise Boulevard and State Road 7.  For more information about LPAC visit https://www.lpacfl.com.

For more information about MNM Theatre Company (www.mnmtheatre.org/) and North End Theater Company and/or the Broadway at  LPAC series, please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

Grease
January 21 – 30, 2022

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey
Tickets: $45-$65
For tickets:  www.lpacfl.com or www.mnmtheatre.org or
Call 954-777-2055
Performances:
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday at 7:30 pm
Saturday & Sunday at 2:00 pm
All performances at
The Lauderhill Performing Arts Center (LPAC)
3800 NW 11th Place
Lauderhill, FL  33311


  • Jonathan Van Dyke
  • Caryl Fantel
  • Eytan Deray
  • Larry Buzzeo
  • Michael Materdomini
  • Michael Harper
  • Brian Piedra
  • Jessie Dez
  • Jordan Gonzalez
  • Ryan Michael James

DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at the LPAC – February 20 – March 8

06 Thursday Feb 2020

Posted by Carol Kassie in Clients, Lauderhill Performing Arts Center

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Tags

Ashley Rubin, Bailee Cudmore, Beauty and the Beast, Brandon Santos, Broadway Palm, Colleen Pagano, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Erica Seelig, Eytan Deray, Frank Hughes, James Arthur Douglas, Jaxon James, Jennifer Fain, Jesse Luttrell, Joel Libed, Kiersten Benzing, Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, Lauderhill Theatre, Lauren Cagnetta, Lila Drowos, LPAC, Lyla Chaubal, Megan Urz, Musical Theatre, Peter Librach, Rebecca Kelley, Robert Alaya, Sam Lariviere, Samson Poland, Scoob Decker, Shannon Connolly, Travis Brown, Tyler Counts

Lauderhill Performing Arts Center (LPAC) in Collaboration with
Broadway Palm presents
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
February 20 – March 8, 2020

“As Broadway musicals go, Beauty and the Beast belongs right up there with the Empire State Building, F. A. O. Schwarz and the Circle Line boat tours.”
~ David Richards, The New York Times, April 19, 1994

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

February 6, 2020

LAUDERHILL, FL: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center and Broadway Palm’s final production of their inaugural season, will open on February 20th and run through March 8th.

Based on the beloved Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast is filled with magical moments, spectacular costumes, and of course, a classic love story.  The award-winning musical, which played for thirteen years on Broadway, can be described as the perfect family entertainment – and a marvelous introduction to theatre for children of all ages.

This ‘tale as old as time’ tells the story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end, and he will be transformed into his former self. But time is running out, and if the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity.

Beauty and the Beast will be directed and choreographed by Amy McCleary.  Her work on Kinky Boots, which is just finishing its successful LPAC run garnered rave reviews and standing ovations. The show’s musical director is Lizzie Webb. 

McCleary’s cast includes James Arthur Douglas as the Beast, Rebecca Kelley as Belle, Jesse Luttrell as Gaston, Travis Brown as Lumiere, Frank Hughes as Cogsworth, and Shannon Connolly as Mrs Potts. South Florida actors Eytan Deray will play LeFou, Peter Librach will play Maurice, and Colleen Pagano will be Wardrobe. Young locals Jaxon James and Samson Poland will share the role of Chip.  Other South Floridians cast are Brandon Santos, Robert Alaya, Tyler Counts, Jennifer Fain, Bailee Cudmore, Lauren Cagnetta, Ashley Rubin, Erica Seelig, Lyla Chaubal, and Lila Drowos.  Sam Lariviere, Joel Libed, “Scoob” Decker, Kiersten Benzing, and Megan Urz are also cast.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast will run from February 20th – March 3rd. Ticket prices range from $35 – $55 and are available online at https://lpacfl.com or by calling 954-777-2055.  Performances are on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30 pm, and Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 pm.

The Lauderhill Performing Arts Center (LPAC) has hosted numerous theatrical events and productions since it opened its doors in January 2016 and has grown its audiences to include theatre patrons from not only Broward County, but Miami/Dade and Palm Beach counties as well. The theatre is located at 3800 NW 11th Place (33311), in the Central Broward Regional Park on the Northeast corner of Sunrise Boulevard and State Road 7.  For more information about LPAC visit https://lpacfl.com.

For more information about  Disney’s Beauty and the Beast please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244.

~

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
February 20 – March 3
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice
Book by Linda Woolverton
Tickets:  954-777-2055 / https://lpacfl.com/
Performances:  Thursday, Friday, & Saturday at 7:30 pm
Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday at 2 pm
Tickets:  $35 – $55
All performances at
The Lauderhill Performing Arts Center (LPAC)
3800 NW 11th Place
Lauderhill, FL 33311
https://lpacfl.com/
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