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A GLANCE AT NEW YORK
** Edinburgh Hit Makes Off-Broadway Transfer **
Limited Engagement! October 12 - November 17 at Axis Theatre

"4 Stars -- One of the freshest pieces of theatre on the Fringe... Fusing the old-fashioned saucy farce of vaudeville to contemporary NYC trends for mass-character storytelling, Axis have created a new art form wholly specific to their city" -- The List, Edinburgh

"Stylistically impressive... A polished cast, no-nonsense staging and the considered inclusion of two unpretentious musical numbers make for a satisfying piece of theatre." -- Edinburgh Evening News

"The maturely confident ensemble was operatic...and flowed in a liquid-like seamlessness, evoking the authentic sense of the raw, tatty and dangerous world of New York in 1848." -- Total Theatre

After a workshop production in 2003 and a 2007 hit in Edinburgh, Axis Company will present an Off-Broadway revival of Benjamin A. Baker's 1848 melodrama A GLANCE AT NEW YORK. The original production of this vaudeville play following the adventures of Mose The Fireman became the biggest theatrical sensation of 1848 and played to packed houses for years. Known as the toughest man in the nation's toughest city, Baker's Mose was a brave trailblazer for a new kind of American theatre populated by recognizable characters that spoke to the common man. The Axis production is an experimental event carefully adapted by the Company for a contemporary audience. A GLANCE AT NEW YORK is directed by Randy Sharp and will be produced under an Equity Off-Broadway contract. Previews begin October 12 with opening scheduled for Friday, October 19th.

A GLANCE AT NEW YORK is set during a particularly dangerous and raw period in New York City history. The play is an unmitigated conglomeration of vulgarity and illiteracy following a burly firefighter named Big Mose. Known as the toughest man in the nation's toughest city, Mose spends much of his time beating whomever is in his path before rushing off to rescue a screaming innocent from a burning tenement.

Benjamin A. Baker was a volunteer fireman with Engine Co. #15 who also worked as an actor and prompter at Mitchell's Olympic Theater (on Broadway between Howard & Grand Street -- where A GLANCE AT NEW YORK was originally staged). The play was based on Moses Humphrey, an Irish printer employed by The New York Sun and a real-life volunteer fireman. Annals of the New York Stage (1927) called the play "one of the greatest successes ever known in the history of the New York stage." After the overwhelming success of A GLANCE AT NEW YORK, Baker again used Mose as the central character in New York as It Is (1848). Continued interest in the Mose character was capitalized immediately by other writers and actors and the term "Mosaic play," as they became known, was born.

The cast for A GLANCE AT NEW YORK features Regina Betancourt, Ian Tooley, Brian Barnhart, David Crabb, George Demas, Laurie Kilmartin, Marlene Berner, Edgar Oliver, Britt Genelin, Jim Sterling, and Marc Palmieri. The production features lighting by David Zeffren and assistant lighting designer Amy Harper, sound and music arrangements by Steve Fontaine, and costumes by Lee Harper and Matthew Simonelli. Unlike the workshop production in 2003, the current production does not include multimedia elements.

Axis Company was formed with a mission to present aggressive surrealism, classic vaudeville turns, and vanguard adaptation. Past productions include the New York Premiere of Sarah Kane's Crave (starring Deborah Harry), Samuel Beckett's Play, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, and Buchner's Woyczek, among numerous original works.

A GLANCE AT NEW YORK will be presented October 12 - November 17, Friday - Saturday at 8:00pm with an added performance on Tuesday Oct. 16 at 8pm. The Axis Theatre is located at One Sheridan Square (just off 7th Avenue, accessible from the 1/9 train at Sheridan Square). Running time is 50 minutes. Tickets are $20, available at AxisCompany.org or 212-352-3101.