FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

PRESS CONTACT: Brett Singer (212)575-0263

Att: Listings and Assignment Editors

New Cast For ROSES IN DECEMBER!

Paul Ben-Victor, star of DAREDEVIL, THE INVISIBLE MAN and more

will join the cast of

Roses In December

One Week Only! April 1st through April 6th!

At Urban Stages, 259 West 30th Street (between 7th and 8th)

Urban Stages’ production of Roses In December has a new cast member – noted character actor Paul Ben-Victor (Daredevil, “The Invisible Man”, “NYPD Blue”) will take over for Victor Slezak, beginning this Tuesday, April 2nd, and will continue through April 6th.  The play, written by Victor L. Cahn and directed by Urban Stages Producing Director T. L. Reilly, also stars Keira Naughton (Dance Of Death, daughter of James Naughton), who has been with the show since the run began in February.  Performances are at Urban Stages, 259 West 30th Street (between 7th and 8th avenues).

Told entirely in letters that each character writes to the other (not unlike A. R. Gurney’s seminal Love Letters), Victor L. Cahn’s Roses In December is part mystery, part memoirs and part romance.  A young PhD candidate named Carolyn has been assigned the task of recruiting famously reclusive author Joel Gordon to attend Alumni Weekend.  Joel repeatedly declines, but Carolyn’s tenacity engages them in a series of letters that deepens into a friendship revealing a secret from Gordon’s past- it may bring to light who Carolyn’s real father is.  Mr. Cahn is a professor of English at Skidmore College, where Ms. Naughton earned her Bachelor’s Degree.

Joining the cast is Paul Ben-Victor, who most recently appeared on screen with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner in Daredevil.  Mr. Ben-Victor has appeared in more than fifty films and television series; notable roles include Hobbes on the Sci-Fi Channel series “The Invisible Man”, the film The Corruptor with Mark Wahlberg and Chow Yun Fat, and Moe Howard in ABC’s bio-pic “The Three Stooges”.  He began his career onstage (appearing at the American Place Theater, among other venues) and has been wanting to return to the theater for some time.  Mr. Ben-Victor joins Keira Naughton, who appeared on Broadway last season in Dance Of Death starring Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren, among other Broadway and off-Broadway appearances.  Set and lighting design is by long-time Urban Stages’ collaborator Roman Tartarowicz, and original music is by Sergei Dreznin, a composer and concert pianist who performs regularly at Carnegie Hall.

Reviews for Roses have been overwhelmingly positive.  The New York Times wrote that ROSES is “witty”, and that Keira Naughton possesses “a good deal of onstage charm”.  Broadway.com writes that “Roses In December stacks up well against A. R. Gurney’s Love Letters… it's not difficult to imagine that Roses in December could stay in bloom for quite some time with any number of actors stepping into Cahn's flowery drama,” praising Keira Naughton’s “winning performance.”  The Chelsea Clinton News called Roses “a gem of a play”, Talkin’ Broadway says that “Cahn and [the director] T. L. Reilly create beautiful music in Roses” in and The New York Theater Experience says that Roses is “a lovely new play…warm and satisfying.”

Roses In December will continue through Sunday, April 6th.  Please note that this is a new closing date; the company plans to bring the show back in the Fall.  Performances are Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3pm.  Tickets are $35.00 and may be purchased by calling Smarttix at 212-206-1515, or online at www.urbanstages.org.  Photos are available for download at www.brettsinger.com/pics/rosesindecember.html.

Roses In December

A New Play by Victor L. Cahn, Directed by T. L. Reilly

Starring Keira Naughton and Paul Ben-Victor

At Urban Stages, 259 West 30th Street (between 7th and 8th avenues)

SCHEDULE:             Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm

             Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3pm

TICKETS:             All Seats $35, call Smarttix at 212-206-1515, or visit www.urbanstages.org