Zoetic Stage and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County present the world premiere of SOUTH BEACH BABYLON, a wickedly funny, sexy new play by acclaimed Miami playwright Michael McKeever. This production launches Zoetic Stage’s inaugural season and will be directed by the company’s Artistic Director Stuart Meltzer, featuring an all-star cast of South Florida’s best and brightest actors. SOUTH BEACH BABYLON will run December 2-12, 2010 in the Carnival Studio Theater in the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House.
Tickets to SOUTH BEACH BABYLON are on sale now. Tickets are $40, and may be purchased through the Adrienne Arsht Center box office by calling (305) 949-6722, or online at www.arshtcenter.org.
“We are delighted to host the very first performance for Zoetic Stage, a new local theater company sure to become a driving force in Miami’s vibrant, evolving arts scene,” said M. John Richard, president and CEO of the Adrienne Arsht Center. “This season of performances in our Carnival Studio Theater provides a unique performing arts experience for South Florida audiences to get a taste of the very best theater, dance, and music — close-up.”
“I am thrilled to open the doors of Zoetic Stage at Miami’s quintessential home for the performing arts, the Adrienne Arsht Center,” said Stuart Meltzer, Artistic Director of Zoetic Stage. “Michael McKeever’s South Beach Babylon is the perfect play for us to premiere as it represents Zoetic Stage’s commitment to produce and develop daring and exciting new work, bring together the best of South Florida theater artists, and produce a great evening of theater. I feel like I have to pinch myself. We have worked so hard over the past year and its all finally coming together.”
Is it possible to create art without selling one’s soul? This is the question, artfully, hilariously posed in SOUTH BEACH BABYLON, Michael McKeever’s theatrical ode to the daunting task of being an artist in contemporary America. Tracking the lives of five South Beach artists during the weeks leading up to the epic Art Basel event, SOUTH BEACH BABYLON follows each artist’s journey navigating the collision of art and capitalism, pomposity and prestige, and the inevitable South Beach Diet! Featuring a cast of Miami’s finest theatrical talent, SOUTH BEACH BABYLON is directed by Zoetic Stage Artistic Director Stuart Meltzer.
South Florida’s most produced playwright, Michael McKeever has mounted 34 plays in Miami, including his much-acclaimed shorts, showcasing a charming wit and quirky sense of humor. His work has been performed throughout America and Europe, touching on everything from the deep-rooted prejudices of small town America to the delicate dysfunction of society’s wealthiest households. McKeever has been honored with an NEA Residency Grant, three Carbonell Awards, four Curtain Up Awards, and two Florida Individual Artist Fellowships. Also an award-winning actor and designer, McKeever appears in SOUTH BEACH BABYLON as an eccentric choreographer.
Director Stuart Meltzer served as Artistic Director of City Theatre in Miami for two years, where he oversaw and expanded the Summer Shorts Festival, introducing the company’s wildly successful adult-themed undershorts. His directing credits are extensive, spanning theaters in New York and Miami, and includes mounting acclaimed works such as Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf; Aristophanes’ Lysistrata; and Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. A Miami native, Meltzer has served on the faculty of New World School of the Arts and was Head of Theatre at Gulliver Preparatory. He earned his M.F.A. in Directing from the Actors Studio and his B.F. A. from New World School of the Arts.