This Beautiful City at the Vineyard Theatre

The Vineyard Theatre will present the New York premiere of The Civilians' newest work This Beautiful City, in a co-production with Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group, opening at The Vineyard Theatre on 22 Feb 2009, following previews from 3 Feb and running through to 15 Mar 2009.

Written by Steven Cosson and Jim Lewis, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, This Beautiful City explores the growth of the evangelical Christian movement, and like The Civilians' Off-Broadway 'Gone Missing' last season, This Beautiful City is a docu-drama in nature, drawn principally from interviews The Civilians have conducted with people involved with or affected by the mega-church movement in Colorado Springs.

A play with music, This Beautiful City was created from interviews by Emily Ackerman, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Brad Herberlee, Stephen Plunkett, Alison Weller and the authors with actual persons over the course of 10 weeks in Colorado Springs. Every leading church in the area participated in the project, as did numerous civic organizations, progressive activists, and individuals from all walks of life.

Presented at the Humana Festival of New American Plays this past spring in Louisville, Kentucky, This Beautiful City subsequently had its Los Angeles premiere at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre prior to its upcoming bow at The Vineyard this winter.

Directed by Steven Cosson, the cast of This Beautiful City includes Emily Ackerman, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Brad Heberlee, Brandon Miller, Stephen Plunkett and Alison Weller, along with musicians Chris Biesterfeldt, Benjamin Campbell and Richard Huntley. Music direction is by Erik James.

The production has set design by Neil Patel, costume design by Alix Hester, lighting design by David Weiner, sound design by Ken Travis, and projection design by Jason Thompson. Choreography is by John Carrafa.

Since its founding in 2001 by Artistic Director Steven Cosson, The Civilians have created seven original shows: 'Canard, Canard,' 'Goose?' 'The Ladies,' 'Paris Commune,' 'Gone Missing,' '(I Am) Nobody's Lunch,' ,Shadow Of Himself, and This Beautiful City.

The Civilians' work has produced throughout New York and at theaters nationally including A.R.T., La Jolla Playhouse, HBO's US Comedy Festival, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. The company has also toured nationally and internationally to universities, arts presenters and festivals. The Civilians received an Obie in 2004 in recognition of its accomplishments in its first two seasons of work.