(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- Stand up mainstay Mark Riccadonna's Stage for Comedy, currently a monthly Tuesday night event at The Black Box PAC, is a development series for writers designed to launch new (and under produced) pieces for stage or screen with dynamic script-in-hand performances presented live onstage by professional actors and directors. On May 10th @ 7:30pm, the East Coast premiere reading of Ken Levine's What Is Murder? is on tap, a hysterical farce from the writer of sit-com classics such as 'MASH', 'CHEERS', 'FRASIER', and 'THE SIMPSONS'.
Ken Levine is an Emmy winning writer/director/playwright/major league baseball announcer/cartoonist. Ken has written over 200 episodes of television for such shows as MASH, Cheers, Frasier, the Simpsons, and Wings. He has directed over 60 TV episodes and has co-written the movie, VOLUNTEERS starring Tom Hanks and John Candy. He has been the play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, and San Diego Padres and hosted Dodger Talk for eight seasons. He has six published full-length stage plays that have been performed in New York, Los Angeles, and around the world. Ken has won a primetime Emmy, two Writers Guild Awards, a Peoples’ Choice Award, Peabody and Humanitas recognition. Currently Ken hosts a podcast, Hollywood & Levine, writes a blog, byKenLevine.com, and is a contributing cartoonist to the New Yorker Magazine. He’s done more but that’s enough.
Tickets are $20 and are available for purchase online.
Mark Riccadonna moved to NYC in search of himself and happiness. He pursued Theatre at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, joining “The Company” after graduation. Soon after, Mark stumbled upon Stand-Up Comedy and found success as a storyteller, performing throughout New York City, and ‘on the road’. Mark also performs for Armed Forces Entertainment and has entertained U.S. and U.N. Troops worldwide, performing around the world. Outside of comedy, Mark is an accomplished actor, writer and even director. Most recently Mark has a lead role in the feature film “Days of Power”, played Cooler in “Un$uited” and was a contributing writer for Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update”, Columnist and Travel writer for “Todays Man” Magazine, Wrote and Directed “Radio Gods” television Pilot, starred in “Game Night” (Winner of the International Film Festival NYC) been seen on AXS TV’s “Live at Gotham”, FOX’s “Laughs”, heard on Sirius XM and Bob and Tom, and also has a hit Podcast “Drinks Jokes and Storytelling” which now has its own channel on Twitch.tv/drinksJokesNStorytelling.
Black Box Performing Arts Center is located at 49 E Palisade Avenue in Englewood, New Jersey. Black Box Performing Arts Center (BBPAC), a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in Teaneck 2015 and relocated to 49 East Palisade Avenue in Englewood in 2019, and Black Box Studios (BBS), which has operated in Bergen County since 2007, together form Northern NJ’s premiere theater and performing arts school combo. BBPAC is a working professional theater run by The Black Box Rep Company, a group of collaborative artists engaging in collaborative, cutting-edge theater. The tight-knit community self-generates full seasons of cutting edge theater, reviving classics both old and newer, while also developing original works for the intimate stage. Many of these professionals double as teaching artists for Black Box Studios, running classes and workshops at the theater and at various schools and organizations in the area, for students currently ranging in age from 9 to 81. Our team is also focused on presenting other art forms within the space, such as comedy and music, as we host the emergence of a new and unique artistic community.
