WHERE AND WHEN:
March 16 to April 2
Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave. (at E. 10th Street)
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM, Sundays at 3:00 PM
Presented by Theater for the New City
Tickets: $20 general admission, Sundays pay what you can.
Runs 75 min
Critics are invited on or after March 16
Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/fvVEJsq7vbLCymGU6

NEW YORK, February 14 -- With the heat broken in their East Village two-bedroom apartment on New Year's Eve, plans for the evening are on hold for Katy and Jennifer. In desperation, the two recent college graduates try to get to Jennifer's grandmother's place. But when they open the door to leave, they are confronted by a creepy flasher whom they have inadvertently buzzed into the building. Thus is the situation of "Katy and Jennifer vs. The Flasher on New Year's," the newest play by Matt Morillo (author of "Angry Young Women in Low Rise Jeans with High Class Issues"). Theater for the New City, which has been Morillo's creative home since 2007, will present the world premiere of the play March 16 to April 2. Director is Phoebe Leonard Dettmann.

The play is set on the first New Years Eve after 9/11, when Generation X had their whole lives ahead of them but every moment was colored by the shock of the attacks. At this unique time, Katy and Jennifer are savoring their breakthrough into young adulthood and independence. They had both intended to ring in the new year with their boyfriends, celebrating with erotic raptures. But earlier in the evening, Jennifer's boyfriend had turned her off by immature and inappropriate behavior. So as the ball was dropping, he'd gotten the boot. Katy's casual partner, Bobby, has accidentally anesthetized himself with a generous helping of the meds he takes to stave off his PTSD from the attacks. He is zonked out in her bedroom. Slamming the front door to shut out the flasher, Katy and Jennifer look to this now-somnolent example of manliness for protection, with hilarious consequences.

Emily Lappi plays Katy, Bree Ogaldez plays Jennifer and William Burns plays Bobby, Katy's boyfriend. Set design is by Mark Marcante.

Playwright Matt Morillo, originally a film maker, made an auspicious theatrical debut in 2006 with "Angry Young Women In Low Rise Jeans With High Class Issues." The comedy was presented by TNC in 2007 and had an Off-Broadway run in NYC, multiple engagements in Hollywood and Sydney (Australia) and TNC return engagements in 2009, 2010 and 2011, but never seemed to exhaust its audience. It was followed by a thoughtful comedy, "All Aboard the Marriage Hearse" (TNC, 2008), and Morillo's first serious play, "American Soldiers" (TNC, January 2010), a family drama about a woman war veteran's return to her home in Long Island. In 2011, Morillo returned to TNC in comic form with "The Inventor, The Escort, The Photographer, Her Boyfriend and His Girlfriend," a sex comedy of five people barricaded in one apartment building with a fierce snowstorm outside, looking for love in all the wrong places. It subsequently went on to an acclaimed Los Angeles run and won the Teapot Award for Outstanding Theater Performance at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  His serio-comedy "Allen Wilder 2.0 " (TNC, 2016) was a comedy of bungled romance in Levittown, LI between two mid-lifers: one who ran away and one who stayed. His last three projects have all debuted on the West Coast: "All American Sex Addict Woke/AF" (2018), "If We Run" (2019) and a comedy web series, "Mister Harmac," which is currently airing on YouTube. He has also taken up standup comedy; his appearance schedule is on Instagram at @mattmorillo.

Morillo's "Angry Young Women in Low Rise Jeans with High Class Issues," "All Aboard the Marriage Hearse" and "American Soldiers" have all been published by Samuel French Inc.

Prior to his theatrical shift, Morillo was a fixture on the New York independent film scene for ten years. He debuted at age 23 with his romantic comedy, "The Pretenders," a film with a cast of unknowns and a non-existent budget that became an enjoyable, funny and ultimately touching film about twenty-somethings struggling with life's ups and downs. His next project, "Good Tidings," was a fifteen-minute short film about a young girl suffering through her parents' divorce. It received great praise at film festivals for its realism and honesty. Morillo's third film, "Maid Of Honor," was a true breakthrough. A twenty-five minute comedy about a simple guy trying to hook up with the maid of honor at a wedding, it was a hit on the festival circuit, winning three awards, playing to sold-out theaters and leaving audiences laughing and begging for copies of the film. He returned to on-camera productions with an "Angry Young Women in Low Rise Jeans with High Class Issues" web series in 2013.

Director Phoebe Leonard Dettmann is an actor, writer, director and founding member of Randomly Specific Theatre (randomlyspecifictheatre.com). She was born and trained in Australia and became an American citizen four years ago. Dettman first met Matt Morillo in 2007 when she appeared in the Australian Premiere of "Angry Young Women in Low Rise Jeans With High Class Issues." She writes that Morillo entrusted his latest play to her "after fifteen years of fast friendship and countless all you can eat sushi and saki nights" through which he became cognizant of her wit and great good humor. Her Australian theater credits include:  "Stairwell" (Actor/Writer) at Old Fitzroy in Sydney. Her New York credits include "Secondary Pitch," "Learning To Skip," "Accumulated Heartbreak Disorder" (Actor/Writer), "Koalas Are Dicks," "Arbuckle Syndrome" and "Fistful of Cake Pocketful of Miracles" (Director) for Randomly Specific Theatre and "Othello: The Panther" and "Salome: Princess of N’Orleans" at Rebel Theatre.

Bree Ogaldez (Jennifer) is an Afro-Caribbean, NYC-based actress and singer who recently appeared as Abe Lincoln in "Hair" (Cortland Repertory Theatre) and Assata/Lotus in "Lotus and the Unlikely Crew" at NYTF Winterfest. Recent screen credits include indie film "Someone Somewhere" and the pilot spec "Shadow Cast." (www.breeogaldez.com)

Emily Lappi (Katy) is making her NYC debut. She graduated from South Coast Repertory’s Acting Intensive Program in 2014 and recently made her Equity principal debut as Shelby in "Steel Magnolias." California credits include "A Christmas Carol" at South Coast Repertory, "Heaven on Earth "at La Jolla Playhouse and "Moon Over Buffalo" (Rosalind) at STAGEStheatre (OC Weekly Best Ensemble of 2017). Films include the indie horror film "One Night in Ravenwood," the web series "Angry Young Women in Low Rise Jeans with High Class Issues" and the indie pilot "Cut Loose." (www.emilylappi.com)

William Burns (Bobby) recently appeared in "We Will Rock You" with Theater Workshop of Nantucket and "Staten Island! The Musical" at The Tank Theater with ThisIZZit Productions. He is an ensemble member of Open Hydrant Theater Company @ The Point, located in the Bronx.

Morillo writes, "TNC has afforded me the opportunity that is the dream of every artist.  To be able to hone my abilities in an environment where they support, promote, nurture and inspire you to push, grow, and stretch all of your abilities to levels that perhaps even you yourself do not think are possible. I can’t explain how happy I am to be back here…at home!"

RECENT PRESS CLIPPINGS ON
PLAYS BY MATT MORILLO

The Inventor, The Escort, The Photographer, Her Boyfriend and His Girlfriend"
"In Matt Morillo's engaging, funny sex romp....Morillo is exploring a generation's sex mores, asking if anything can be changed when confrontations take place. In these two independent comedies he exposes much more than he hides." -- Larry Litt, New York Theatre Wire
"A quick-witted, literate entertainment" -- Joel Benjamin, TheaterScene.net

Allen Wilder 2.0
"Alternative and edgy...fun yet poignant" -- Theaterscene.net
"A night of laughs and a very deep reflection on life" -- New York Theatre Wire
"A reasoned look at the world from a skilled playwright/director--what's not to like?" -- Front Row Center

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Critics are invited on or after March 16 (opening date)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fvVEJsq7vbLCymGU6