A Collection of Seven BRAND NEW Humorous Short Plays featuring works by
Michael McKeever and Michael Leeds

April 15, 2015

FT. LAUDERDALE, FL: Pigs Do Fly Productions will present No Fear of Flying! – seven brand new humorous short plays – to kick off its second season. The production will run from May 7^th through May 24^th at Andrews Living Arts in Ft. Lauderdale.

Chosen to highlight ‘vibrant, healthy people over the age of 50 doing interesting things with their lives’, the plays were selected with all audiences in mind – their first two productions proved to Pigs Do Fly Production beyond a shadow of a doubt that humor is an ageless commodity!   Six of the seven plays are world premieres, including pieces by well-known local playwrights Michael McKeever and Michael Leeds. Other playwrights include John Kane, Marj O’Neill-Butler, Marv Seigel, Jeffrey Strausser, and Charles West.

Michael McKeever’s and Michael Leeds’ plays were commissioned by Pigs Do Fly Productions; the remaining five were chosen from almost 300 submissions – all read by a committee of six. The top 12 pieces were presented at two consecutive ‘cold readings’ at Books & Books in Coral Gables in August, and audience members were asked to vote for their favorites. Those top five vote-getters along with the two commissioned plays comprise No Fear of Flying!

“I am so excited about this production,” says Pigs Do Fly Productions Executive Producer Ellen Wacher. “We have seven very diverse plays. All different topics. We’ve got seven terrific actors, and two talented directors. And we’ve proved that there’s a market for, and an interest in what we’re doing. Yes…definitely…no fear of flying!”

Wacher and Pigs Do Fly Productions were recently awarded a prestigious Silver Palm Award for ‘for developing works for actors over the age of 50.’

Beverly Blanchette, Todd Caster, Harry Marsh, Michael H. Small, Elissa Solomon, Carol Sussman, and Donna Warfield have been cast in the production. Elena Maria Garcia will direct three of the plays, and Marj O’Neill-Butler will direct four.

“The funnier and more loving aspects of life after fifty is an area of play production that has been neglected in the past,” says O’Neill-Butler, Pigs Do Fly Productions’ artistic director.

The seven 10-minute plays are (see below for playwright bios):

The European Plan by Charles West
Long Story by John Kane
There’s Still Time by Jeffrey Strausser
The Lie by Michael Leeds
Mitzi Has A Meltdown by Michael McKeever
They Called It Teasing by Marj O’Neill-Butler
Signals by Marv Siegel

Tickets for No Fear of Flying! are $25 and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased on line at www.pigsdoflyproductions.com, or by calling 866-811-4111.
All performances will take place at Andrews Living Arts, 23 NW 5^th Street, Ft. Lauderdale, 33301.

For more information about Pigs Do Fly Productions, please visit www.pigsdoflyproductions.com.   For more information about Ellen Wacher, please visit www.ellenwacher.com. To set up interviews, or for photos, please contact Carol Kassie at ckassie@gmail.com / 561-445-9244.

~*~

Pigs Do Fly Productions
presents
No Fear of Flying!
By Various Playwrights
May 7 – 24, 2015
Tickets: $25
Tickets: 866-811-4111 / www.pigsdoflyproductions.com
Performances:
Thursday, Friday, & Saturday: 8 pm
Sunday: 2 pm
All performances will take place at
Andrews Living Arts
23 NW 5^th Street
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

No Fear of Flying! – Playwright Bios:

John Kane (Long Story) is the author of the short plays Are You David Mamet? (Fusion Theatre, 2013, Audience Award) and A Thief in the Night (The Puzzle Play Festival, 2014) and the full length play The Eleven O’Clock Number (world premiere, Rising Action Theatre, Ft. Lauderdale).  He is also the author of the comic mysteries Best Actress (Ballantine Books) and Somebody is Killing the Trophy Wives of Beverly Hills (Books for a Buck).  He lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at JohnKaneLA@aol.com.

Michael Leeds (The Lie) wrote and directed Swinging On A Star (Tony Award nomination-Best Musical). Other plays include The First Step, Who Killed Joan Crawford, The Gift, Starmaker, Mira, Mating Habits of the Urban Mammal and numerous 10 minute plays.  For Film: co-wrote The Simian Line (starring William Hurt & Lynn Redgrave) and The Last Film Festival (starring Dennis Hopper & Jacqueline Bisset). As a director, his South Florida productions have earned numerous Carbonell nominations and Awards. As Associate Artistic Director of Island City Stage his production of The Timekeepers garnered six Carbonell Awards including Best Production of a Play and Best Director. Michael teaches a weekly acting class in Fort Lauderdale and Delray Beach (www.LeedsWorkshop.com).

Michael McKeever’s (Mitzi Has a Meltdown) plays have been produced throughout the United States, Europe and Russia. He is the recipient of numerous Carbonell Awards, Silver Palm Awards and Florida Individual Artist Fellowships. He is also a Carbonell award-winning actor and designer. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Marj O’Neill-Butler (They Called it Teasing), a member of the Dramatists Guild, has had the following plays produced: True Blue, Special Delivery, Flight Fright, Life Imitates Art, At The Bus Stop, Spartan Woman, Leaving Home, What If?, Scavenger Hunt, Missed Connections, Elf Yourself, Chairs, One Less And a Reader’s Theatre Script The Women Of The Beat Generation.   Marj is a proud member of Equity and SAG-AFTRA. Visit her online at www.marjorieoneill-butler.com.

Marv Siegel (Signals) is a prolific playwright and member of the Dramatists Guild. Full-length plays include Generations Apart, The Autobiography Of God As Told To Mel Schneider, Taking Secrets To The Grave, Like Marshmallow Chicks In A Box, Moses Of The New Millenium, Powerballs, Mickey And Anthony, The Hospital Room, and The Biography Of Margaret Dawson. Short plays include This Is Not A Test, Standing Tall, and No Returns. His new full-length comedy Jack Benny Isn’t 39 Any More! has just been published.

Jeffrey Strausser’s (There’s Still Time) latest high school and community theatre productions include Somewhere Else Dreams, The Decorator, The Last Prejudice, Family Matters, The Promise, and Peaks and Valleys. Smith & Kraus included The Promise in its anthology, Best One-Act Plays, 2013. Peaks and Valleys was highly acclaimed by Broadway World last year.

Charles West (The European Plan) recently retired after 37 years of teaching. He has published poetry and fiction, and his novel, The Sacred Disc, was published in 2000. His play, Hamlet’s: It’s a Wonderful Life, was produced by the Camino Real Playhouse in Southern California. As a part of the Woodward Shakespeare Festival, in Fresno, CA, he will appear in Two Gentlemen of Verona this summer.

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