THE SHIVA CLUB to Premiere at Midtown International Theatre Festival

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Performances will take place July 11th at 3:30PM and July 12th at 5:30PM.

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The Shiva Club, a ten minute comedy by award winning writer Stephen Cole , will have its New York premiere as part of the Midtown International Theatre Festivals Short Play Lab on July 11th at 3:30PM and July 12th at 5:30PM. The cast features Susan J. Jacks , Joy Lynn Jacobs, Lisa Kane Meckes & Jocelyn Weston.

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What happens when four Mahjong players get hungry and discover an app on their phone called “Who's Dead Now?” that tells them not only who died today but what kind of ethnic food their “shiva” will feature? Will they eat their fill or find something more sinister about the app?

Stephen Cole (Writer & Director) has had a 25 year career in the theatre that has taken him & his musicals from New York City to London to the Middle East & Australia. His Off-Broadway musical After the Fair (music by Matthew Ward ; winner of 5 Dallas Theatre Awards for its world premiere) was nominated for the Outer Critic's Circle Award for Best Musical & was subsequently produced in London to great acclaim. The Night of the Hunter (music by Claibe Richardson ) won the prestigious Edward Kleban Award for Stephen & was produced in San Francisco where it was nominated for several Bay Area Theatre Awards. The musical was also produced in NYC as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival and at Lyric Stage in Dallas with a full orchestra. The award winning concept CD features Ron Raines & Dorothy Loudon . Saturday Night At Grossinger's (music by Claibe Richardson ) had successful runs in Dallas (starring Gavin MacLeod ), LA, Florida & Sonoma, CA. Broadway legend Chita Rivera toured in his show Casper (music by Matthew Ward ) right before the pandemic. Casper was reborn as Casper-The Friendly Musical & played to rave reviews at Cincinnati Children's Theatre. Hal Linden & Dee Hoty starred in the world premiere of his musical adaptation of Dodsworth (music by Jeffrey Saver ) at Casa Manana. Their next musical Time After Time had its world premiere at the Pittsburgh Playhouse under the direction of Gabriel Barre . Other produced shows include Merlin's Apprentice & Rock Odyssey, which had ten seasons of productions at the Adrienne Arscht Center Miami. With David Evans , Stephen wrote Merman's Apprentice, which was a smash hit at Birdland in NYC & has a cast album on Jay Records. The show was produced in 2019 in Sonoma, CA to rave reviews, winning the SF Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Score. Stephen's latest musical (with David Krane ), Goin' Hollywood, had its world premiere at WaterTower Theatre in Texas & the Dallas Morning News said 'Hooray for Goin' Hollywood. A Brilliant New Musical.' It will soon be produced in London. Stephen made his fiction debut with MARY & ETHEL…and Mikey Who? which garnered rave reviews. Stephen has also published other books including That Book About That Girl & I Could Have Sung All Night, the Marni Nixon story (currently in development as a feature film), Noel Coward & Charles Strouse 's memoir Put On A Happy Face. Stephen created, wrote & executive produced a new web-series entitled Coney Island Surprise starring Anita Gillette , winning numerous awards & featured in film festivals across the US. Stephen's one man show (based on his critically acclaimed memoir) CAMELTON will make its UK premiere as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival running for the entire month of August. Stephen is the recipient of a Gilman-Gonzales Falla Commendation for musical theatre and is a Hermitage Fellow. Visit www.stephencolewriter.org for more information.

Susan J. Jacks has done LOTS of productions of Fiddler on the Roof (MUNY, Paper Mill, Maltz Jupiter and Gateway), a ton of other shows in the US and overseas, a bunch of Off-Broadway shows, two movies (Crooklyn and The Chaperone), and four episodes of What Would You Do. susanjjacks.com , @susan_j_jacks

Joy Lynn Jacobs's professional adventures so far include - Broadway: Marie Christine; The Music Man; Broadway tours - Ragtime, Show Boat. Off-Broadway: Professional Woman (original), Menopause the Musical. Regional: Punky – Grumpy Old Men; Mama Morton – Chicago; Station Agent – The Railway Children; Sofia Storm – Running Mates; Grace Bodell – Fireflies; Mrs. Alexander – Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime; Constance - Proof of Love; Mother Abyss – Sound of Music; Sadie - Having Our Say; Lola – Jar the Floor; Aunt Eller – Oklahoma; Wanda - Crowns; Reno Sweeney - Anything Goes; Lady Thiang - King & I; Aldonza - Man of La Mancha; Armelia - Ain't Misbehavin. TV: Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Harlem, Blacklist, Manifest, Luke Cage, House of Cards, Nurse Jackie, etc!

Lisa Meckes is a Long Island based actor who has been active in all modalities of performance, Main Stage theater, Children's theatre, Day-repertory theatre and film. With nearly 100 previous productions she is thrilled to be working with this talented group of women in The Shiva Club.

Jocelyn Weston has been performing in plays, musical revues and television shows for many years. Among her favorite roles are Veta Louise in Harvey, Mrs. Blacklock in A Murder is Announced and Nat in Rabbit Hole. She is delighted to perform in Stephen Cole 's The Shiva Club!

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-off-broadway/article/THE-SHIVA-CLUB-Will-Premiere-at-Midtown-International-Theatre-Festival-20260616)._