Today Is My Birthday
World Premiere by an Award-Winning Playwright
WINNER! Henry Hewes Design Award for Notable Effects, Sound Design - Palmer Hefferan
November 28–December 23, 2017
VENUE
New Ohio Theater
154 Christopher Street
New York, NY 10014
TICKETS
General Admission:
Nov. 28–Dec. 10: $20
Dec. 12–23: $30
Reserved Seat: $40
CAST
Jonathan Brooks
Ugo Chukwu
Ron Domingo
Jennifer Ikeda
Emily Kuroda
Nadine Malouf
CREATIVE TEAM
Dane Laffrey (Set Design)
Jessica Pabst (Costume Design)
Jen Schriever (Lighting Design)
Palmer Hefferan (Sound Design/Live Foley Artist)
Alison Mantilla (Prop Design)
Kara Kaufman (Prod. Stage Manager)
Justin Myhre (Asst. Stage Manager)
Intuitive Prod. Mgmt. (Production Management)
Carly D. Shiner (Asst. Lighting)
Nok Kanchanabanca (Asst. Sound)
Sinan Zafar (Asst. Sound)
Liz Frino (Asst. Props)
Caterina Nonis (Asst. Director)
Maya Eilam (Graphic Design)
SYNOPSIS
Emily, a would-be writer, retreats home to O’ahu after Manhattan finally gets the best of her. Trading one island for another doesn’t help, though, and when she stumbles into a gig as an actor on a shock-jock radio dating show, she finds herself strangely determined to turn fantasy into reality. Told through a playful mixture of phone calls, voicemails, and live radio spots, Today Is My Birthday is a comedy about loneliness in the age of connection.
REVIEWS
TIME OUT NEW YORK: ‘Today Is My Birthday’ Review – 4 Stars
“Today Is My Birthday is a gift. Most playwrights today get our phone-obsessed, zero-contact reality wrong, but Stanton nails it…it’s a rollicking show – you’ll laugh and laugh.”
NEW YORK TIMES: In ‘Today Is My Birthday,’ Love is a Butt-Dial
“Ms. Ikeda, an indispensable Off Broadway regular and a noted audiobook narrator, threads a difficult needle here, creating a character whose apparent competence and cheerful snark belie a crumbling core…[Page 73’s] alumni include multiple prizewinners like Quiara Alegría Hudes, Robert Askins, Samuel D. Hunter and Heidi Schreck. Ms. Stanton belongs among them.”
THEATERMANIA: ‘Today Is My Birthday’ Review
“[Today Is My Birthday] really gets its unique charm, though, from the complex sound design of Palmer Hefferan, who serves as a Foley artist while simultaneously executing a multitude of other diverse sound cues.”
EXEUNT NYC: ‘Today is My Birthday’ at New Ohio Theater
“In 2017, it shouldn’t be refreshing or noteworthy that [Page 73’s] roster of excellent young writers, not to mention their cast, reflects the breadth and diversity of American voices and perspectives. But, since that’s still rarer than it should be, I will note only that Susan Soon He Stanton joins a long line of exciting writers produced by Page 73, and I’m excited to see what both she and the company will do next.”
LEARN MORE
BROOKLYN RAIL: The Light and the Dark of Susan Soon He Stanton
“There is a slyness to Susan’s work where just when you think you understand the world you are in, an unexpected layer reveals itself.”
TDF Stages: Playwright Susan Soon He Stanton Has Two Shows Running This Month
“[Susan] Stanton’s not taking this busy moment for granted. ‘I feel even more driven to do so much more,’ she says.”
FROM A PREVIOUS WORKSHOP: Sundance Theatre Lab: The Sound Design of “Today Is My Birthday”
All Photos by Jeremy Daniel
