Lyric Stage Company of Boston to Stage BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK, 3/29-4/27

BY-THE-WAY-MEET-VERA-STARK-20010101

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston presents BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK by Lynn Nottage, March 29 - April 27, 2013.

In a new screwball comedy, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage takes a funny and irreverent look at racial stereotypes in Hollywood. By the Way, Meet Vera Stark is a seventy-year journey through the life of Vera Stark, a headstrong African-American maid and budding actress, and her tangled relationship with her boss, a white Hollywood star desperately grasping to hold on to her career. When circumstances collide and both women land roles in the same Southern epic, the story behind the cameras leaves Vera with a surprising and controversial legacy scholars will debate for years to come.

Directed by Summer L. Williams, BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK features Scenic Design by David Towlun, Costume Design by Tyler Kinney, Lighting Design by Franklin Meissner, Jr.**, Sound Design by Ed Young, Film and Media Design by Johnathan Carr, Dialect Coach Nina Zendejas, Production Stage Manager Robin Grady* and Assistant Stage Manager Samantha Setayesh.

The cast includes Kelby T. Akin*, Gregory Balla, Lyndsay Allyn Cox, Hannah Husband, Kris Sidberry*, Terrell Donnell Sledge* and Kami Rushell Smith*.

*Member of Actors Equity Association (AEA) ** United Scenic Artists (USA-Local 829)

BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK will run March 29 - April 27, 2003, playing Wednesdays, Thursdays - 7:30pm, Wednesday matinees - 2pm, February 20, March 13, Fridays - 8pm, Saturdays - 3pm & 8pm and Sundays - 3pm. Post-show talkbacks: Sundays, February March 31, April 14 after 3pm performance. Press opening: Sunday, March 31, 3pm. VIP opening: Wednesday, April 3, 7:30pm(post-show reception with cast and crew - open to all ticket holders). All shows play The Lyric Stage, 140 Clarendon Street, Copley Square, Boston, Mass.

Tickets are $25 - $58: Seniors - $5 off regular price; Student rush - $10. Group rates available. Box Office: 617-585-5678 or online at lyricstage.com.

ABOUT THE CAST:

Kelby T. Akin* (Slasvick/Brad) appeared at The Lyric Stage earlier this season in Moisès Kaufman's 33 Variations. Other Lyric Stage credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008-09 season) and The Understudy (2010-11 season). Other area credits include Hamlet, Paul, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Glass Menagerie, Romeo and Juliet, and Much Ado About Nothing (Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre), Take Me Out (Foothills Theatre), As You Like It and Curse of the Starving Class (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company/American Voices Reading Series), Richard III, A Christmas Carol (2007), All the King's Men (Trinity Repertory Company), and The King Stag (Elemental Theatre). Kelby has also worked with Guerilla Shakespeare Project on productions in RI and NY. He received his M.F.A. in Theatre Studies from Brown University.

Gregory Balla (Maxmillian/Peter) is making his Lyric Stage debut. Greg is a cast member with Blue Man Group here in Boston, having previously performed with the troupe in New York, Chicago, and internationally aboard Norwegian Epic. Other Boston credits include Ragtime (Fiddlehead Theatre Co). He trains regularly at the Michael Chekhov Actors Studio of Boston and holds a B.A. in Theatre Performance from Fordham University.

Lyndsay Allyn Cox (Lottie/Carment Levy-Green) is making her Lyric Stage debut. Boston area acting credits include: Zombie Double Feature (New Exhibition Room), Dearly Departed, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Intimate Apparel, All in the Timing (The Footlight Club), The Overwhelming (Company One), The Heidi Chronicles (The Longwood Players), ClimACTS (The Theater Offensive). In addition Lyndsay has directed for several Boston theatre companies including The Theater Offensive, Fresh Ink, and Another Country Productions. Lyndsay is the managing director of Fresh Ink Theatre Company. She studied acting at both Appalachian State University and the University of Florida. She holds a B.A. in theatre performance and a minor in vocal music.

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