New City Stage Company is thrilled to be bringing Mike Batistick's Chicken to Philadelphia for the first time, after a very successful run off-Broadway at Michaels Imperioli's Studio Dante. This is the second show of our third season, called "Theatre on the Edge," all of which consists of Philadelphia premieres. This is also the first Philadelphia production of a play by Mr. Batistick, who was a Julliard Playwriting scholar from 2003 to 2005 and is considered to be an up and coming contemporary dramatist who addresses the concerns and lifestyle of working class Americans and immigrants.

The play is about two childhood friends, along with their (ex)wives, a local mechanic, and a dead-beat dad in the Bronx (a nontraditional family, so to speak), who prepare for a cockfight with the intention of using the money to better their lives. Although no the actual cockfight is not seen, there is a live rooster on stage for the duration of the show.

The play runs April 9 through 26, 2009 at the Second Stage at the Adrienne Theatre, located at 2030 Samson Street in Philadelphia. Opening night is Saturday, April 11 at 8 PM. Tickets prices are $18 to $20 for adults, and student and senior tickets are $16 at all times. We have group and school discounts available. Tickets are available for all of our performances by visiting www.newcitystage.org or at the box office one hour before any performance. The performance schedule can be found on our web site.

We welcome the press on opening night for our wine and cheese reception, or to any performance that is convenient to attend. All press inquiries should be directed to Ginger Dayle at info@newcitystage.org or 215-563-7500.

All complimentary press tickets should be requested at least 24 hours in advance. We will be accepting donations of canned food for the Last Chance Equestrian Farm, who kindly allowed us to adopt a rooster for the performance run of Chicken. Those who bring canned food will receive $5 off their ticket price for any performance after opening night. Cans of wet cat and dog food are preferred, but canned vegetables are also acceptable. On Wednesday, April 22, all proceeds from ticket sales for the 8 PM performance will be donated to Last Chance. We will also be accepting cash donations at the door throughout the run of the show. Please visit www.LastChanceRanch.org www.LastChanceRanch.org for more information about our partner organization.

About the Play
With his wife Lina pregnant and his best friend Floyd living on his couch, Wendell takes in a rooster to train for an illegal fight in the Bronx. As they discover that cockfighting is not for the faint of heart, this dysfunctional family comes to blows before the fight ever takes place. Chicken is a devilishly written comedy that investigates power, community, and loss, and searches for grace in the most unlikely places. This play was commissioned and produced last year in by Sopranos star Michael Imperioli at his Studio Dante in NYC. New City Stage is thrilled to be bringing this much talked about show and playwright to Philadelphia.

"It's the sort of play that makes you want to go home and take a long, hot shower." - The New York Post

About the Production
Neill Hartley (Director) is thrilled to back with New City Stage again this season, after providing the "voice of the radio" for the regional premiere of Talk Radio, also performed at the Adrienne. He has previously directed The Woolgatherer, Sunshine, and Angle: A Nightmare in Two Acts for New City Stage and his directing work will been seen again in the 2010-11 season (to be announced soon!). Most recently he has directed Aladdin for AWB and The Prisoner of Second Avenue for Isis Productions.

Neill is involved in several aspects of professional theater. As an actor, he has appeared in many regional productions including Working, Sweeney Todd and Company at the Arden Theatre, God's Country and Aunt Dan and Lemon with InterAct Theatre, Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival and Batboy, The Musical for 1812 Productions, which won a Barrymore Award for best ensemble. He has four one-man shows that he regularly presents: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Spirit of Lindbergh, Sherlock Holmes and the Speckled Band, and P.T. Barnum: The Master Showman. His work can also be seen in commercials and films, and he is a spokesperson for Spray-N-Grow, a national gardening company. He has also directed for Philadelphia Young Playwright's, University of the Arts, Arcadia University, and Luna Theater. Neill is the Artistic Director for "Acting Without Boundaries," a theater company for physically disabled teens and young adults. He is an assistant professor of voice and speech at the University of the Arts and has acted as a speech/dialect coach for several professional theater productions.

The cast of Chicken includes two actors returning to New City Stage, Paul Felder (Floyd) and Kristyn Chouiniere (Rosalind). Paul made his professional debut in Extremities last season and played the lead role in the highly acclaimed production of Talk Radio earlier this season. He was also recently seen in the Philadelphia premiere of Magnetic North at Act II Playhouse in the fall, for which he received rave reviews. He is excited to be playing yet another lead role in an exciting premiere of a new play. Kristyn also appeared in Extremities and was recently on the Second Stage in Flashpoint Theatre Company's Philadelphia premiere of Jump/Cut, and in Lantern Theater's The Hothouse in the fall. She was also featured in the highly acclaimed Mr. Marmalade last season with Theatre Exile, and is happy to be back with New City Stage.

Ethan Lipkin (Wendell) is making his NCSC debut in the lead role. Most recently he has appeared in the Wilma Theater's Amadeus, As You Like It in Clark Park with the Commonwealth Classis Theatre Company, Vagabond Acting Troupe's Rag and Bone, Walking Fish's Gender Defenders, and The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium's A Streetcar Named Durang. Barrymore Award winner Charlotte Northeast (Lina) is also making her debut with NCSC in a lead role. Her Philadelphia area performances include Hate Mail and Street of Useful Things (Act II Playhouse), Game of Love & Chance and Love's Labor's Lost (Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company), Fat Pig (GreenLight Philly Fringe), Tape (TOW Theatre), and her best supporting actress awarded role in Skin In Flames with InterAct Theatre. The rest of cast includes long time Philadelphia actors Donovan Hagins (Geronimo) and Mark Jacobson (Felix) in supporting roles.

Nigel Bock is the name of the rooster that is featured in the show. He was adopted by New City Stage for this project from the Last Change Equestrian Farm in Quakertown, PA. He will be donated to a local "no kill" farm to live and roam free after the run of the show. "Working with a live animal certainly has its challenges," says Producing Artistic Director Ginger Dayle, "but this entire process has been exciting and result has exceeded my expectations." Ms. Dayle is the founder of New City Stage and a freelance grant writer whose many clients have included local animal rights organizations.

About the Playwright
Mike Batistick (Playwright) was a two-year Juilliard Playwriting Fellow from 2003-05, a Fulbright Fellow to Taiwan, and a graduate of Fordham University in the Bronx. Member: MCC Playwrights' Coalition, Partial Comfort Productions, and Arts Nova Play Group. He has been commissioned to write original works for the Atlantic Theater Company. Chicken, Ponies, and Port Authority Throw Down are available through Dramatists Play Service. Chicken was produced Off-Broadway by Studio Dante in the spring of 2007, and premiered in the UK at London's Theatro Technis in April 2008. In February 2009, the play moved Off-West End to London's Hackney Empire. Bodega Lung Fat, originally a part of the Public Theater's New York Now! Series, was produced on London's Off-West End in the spring of 2009. Urban Legend, a short play, was a part of the 2008 Source Theater Festival in Washington, D.C. Port Authority Throw Down was produced Off-Broadway by the Culture Project in the winter of2006. Ponies, which premiered Off-Broadway at Studio Dante in 2004, was produced at Gloucester Stage in Massachusetts in the summer of 2007. Flag was produced at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY in 2006. Mr. Batistick grew up in New Jersey and currently resides in Brooklyn.

About New City Stage Company

Our mission:
New City Stage Company is dedicated to presenting high quality professional theatre that engages audiences on a variety of levels; not only entertaining them but also encouraging awareness of issues relevant to the community. We draw our season from contemporary and classical works, with a special focus on including Philadelphia premieres from playwrights whose work and stories are not normally found in the region.

Our history:
New City Stage Company came onto the Philadelphia theatre scene in September of 2006 with the world premiere of "Angel, A Nightmare in Two Acts" by Jo Davidsmeyer. This controversial play depicted the life of real life Nazi War criminal Irma Grese, who worked as a guard in the S.S. at the Auschwitz concentration camps and had an illicit affair with the notorious Dr. Joseph Mengele. The playwright attended and gave two talk back nights, and the play received several reviews.

New City Stage Company is a 501(c)3 not for profit producing company that employs both union and nonunion actors, directors, and crew.

We commission and create fully mounted productions of plays that come from a variety of sources - classical works, contemporary plays, reader's theatre, literature, film, and works-in-progress.

We start the employment process in the region first, in order to utilize many of our local artists and technicians.

We strive to bring as many Philadelphia and world premieres to the stage as possible, as well as presenting well known pieces in ways that are unexpected, unique, or nontraditional.

Our productions are accessible to many facets of the community, with a special emphasis on bringing schools and universities in contact with our work. We also choose one or more non-profit organizations as partners for each production, helping them to raise funds and spread awareness of their cause.