For Immediate Release: March 23, 2006
Media Contact: Amanda Digiandomenico, BCKSEET Productions, 215.923.0210

Join BCKSEET Productions for Manuel Puig’s masterpiece KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN. In the play that inspired the TONY-Award-winning musical, journey in and out of two men’s psyches, spirits and ideals as they are faced with one common reality: the cold cell imprisoning not only their bodies, but also their opposing values. Performances will be held Fridays and Saturdays, May 5th through 20th, at the Society Hill Playhouse’s Red Room. Doors open at 7pm; the show starts at 7:30pm. Tickets cost $18 in advance and $21 at the door. The ticket price includes admission to the show, one drink and a $1 donation to ActionAIDS. General student admission is only $16 (discounted tickets do not include drink). All proceeds from the Opening Night May 5th performance will be donated to ActionAIDS.

Written by Argentine novelist Manuel Puig, KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN first originated as a novel in 1976. In 1985, the film version was released starring Raul Julia as Valentin and William Hurt as Molina. The musical version of the story appeared on Broadway in 1993 and went on to win a TONY Award. KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN, or El beso de la mujer araña, is the story of two prisoners, Molina and Valentin, and their relationship in a South American prison. Molina, an effeminate and openly homosexual window-dresser, is in jail for "corruption of a minor," while Valentin is a political prisoner trying to overthrow the government. The two men, seemingly opposite in every way, form an intimate bond in their cell, and their relationship changes both of them in profound ways.

BCKSEET Productions is pleased to bring this piece back to Philadelphia and the Society Hill Playhouse’s Red Room in particular. In 1987, during the premiere season of the Red Room, KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN made its Philadelphia premiere. Almost 20 years later, BCKSEET is geared up for its own presentation of Puig’s work. Having produced Patrick Marber’s Closer and Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, Part I during the 2004-2005 season, BCKSEET Productions is no stranger to intense, character-driven dramas. Director Christopher L. Butterfield is excited to undertake the challenge of Puig’s text: "The piece is saturated with the human conditions of self-expression, discovery, and conflict. The inner voices of Valentin and Molina are so full. They are worlds apart in background and life style, yet when pushed together under extraordinary circumstances they form an inseparable bond.”

Butterfield hails from Boston where he received a BFA from Emerson College. In Boston, he worked on two premiere original works: How Things Got To Be This Way (Director/Production Design) and the AmerikAn trip tik (Assistant to the Playwright/Director). In 2004, the Guatemalan American Institute commissioned the BCKSEET Production of his reduction and staging of Shakespeare’s Othello for an extended and widely acclaimed run. During the 2005 Philly LiveArts Festival, he directed BCKSEET’s premiere workshop staging of Hung on a Blonde Ponytail: An Act of Rock. His reduction of Shakespeare’s Macbeth will be presented at The Academy Theatre in Bordentown, NJ, this April. This is his 10th production with BCKSEET, for whom he is an Artistic Associate.

G. DeCandia and Oscar Dubon will be portraying Molina and Valentin, respectively. DeCandia, the Producing Artistic Director of BCKSEET, holds a BFA in Acting from Emerson College. As an actor, he was the Mark/Roger US in the 1st National Tour of RENT, Dr. Frank-n-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Academy Theatre and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in New Hampshire (NHTA Best Actor Award). He also originated the music, text and characters in the workshop of Hung on a Blonde Ponytail for the 2005 Philly LiveArts Festival. Dubon, originally from Guatemala, has performed with the Art Studio Kodaly in their productions of The Phantom of the Opera (Raoul), West Side Story (Tony), The King and I (Lun Tha) and Les Miserables (ensemble). His previous BCKSEET experience includes Othello (Iago), Little Shop of Horrors (Seymour Krelborn) and Closer (Larry).

For the past five years, BCKSEET Productions has launched shows in Boston (where it was founded at Emerson College), New York City and Guatemala. This year marks its second season in Philadelphia and as the resident company of the Society Hill Playhouse’s Red Room. In addition to producing last season’s Closer and Angels in America, BCKSEET Productions participated in the 2005 Philly Fringe/LiveArts Festival with their workshop of Hung on a Blonde Ponytail and in the Philadelphia Theatre Alliance’s Free Night of Theatre with their reading of Alpha Female—two new and original works.

BCKSEET Productions is a fresh theatre company whose mission is “to produce art with the talents of multidisciplinary artists who educate, entertain and enlighten society with the ideals of classical, contemporary and original cutting edge works of art.” BCKSEET has also demonstrated a strong commitment to the community by hosting benefits and donating past shows’ proceeds to such organizations as ActionAIDS.

KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN will be held Fridays and Saturdays, May 5th-20th, at the Red Room at Society Hill Playhouse at 507 S 8th Street in Philadelphia. Doors open at 7pm, and the performance starts at 7:30pm. Tickets cost $18 in advance and $21 at the door. The ticket price includes admission to the show, one drink and a $1 donation to ActionAIDS. Student and senior admission is only $16 (not including drink). All proceeds from the Opening Night May 5th performance will be donated to ActionAIDS. Tickets are available at the Society Hill Playhouse or by calling 215-923-0210.

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