Road Less Traveled Productions to Honor A.R. Gurney, 5/5

A.R. Gurney, a Buffalo native and nationally produced playwright, will be honored in Buffalo on Saturday, May 5 ^th , by Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP) at its 2012 Spring Gala. Mr. Gurney is RLTP's 2012 American Theatre Master and author of the upcoming production, Ancestral Voices , the third and final selection of RLTP's three-year cycle of Gurney's work.

RLTP's 2012 Spring Gala will begin May 5 ^th with a 7:30pm performance of Ancestral Voices at The Road Less Traveled Theater (639 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203) and continue at 9:15pm with a cocktail reception at The Saturn Club (977 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14209). Not coincidentally, The Saturn Club is the setting for much of the action of Ancestral Voices ; multiple generations of Gurney's family (upon whose story the play is based) have enjoyed membership at the club.

"We are dedicated to the development of original works by playwrights from Western New York. We developed this retrospective to honor Buffalo's most successful native playwright," said Scott Behrend, RLTP's Artistic & Executive Director, "and we felt it a very classy and appropriate touch, particularly considering the play's content, to culminate our celebration of Mr. Gurney at The Saturn Club." Behrend continued, "We are grateful for The Saturn Club membership's amazing support of our efforts."

A handful of tickets to the Gala, which include admission to the May 5 ^th performance and reception, are available at $100 per person. Due to theatre seating limitations, RLTP also will make available a limited number of reception-only tickets, for patrons who would like to join RLTP and Mr. Gurney at The Saturn Club; reception-only admission is $50 per person.Tickets may be purchased by phone at (716) 629-3069.

Prior to the Gala, Mr. Gurney also will speak with local playwrights and theatre artists, including those enrolled in RLTP's New Play Workshop, at an invitation-only event on May 5 ^th . This in-depth Q&A session will be moderated by RLTP co-founder and Literary Director Jon Elston. Saturn Club members will be admitted to this pre-Gala event as part of their Gala ticket purchases. Depending on seating availability, RLTP also will make available a limited number of general admission tickets at $20 per person. Again, tickets may be purchased by phone at (716) 629-3069.

Ancestral Voices is set in Buffalo in the early 1940s and focuses on young Eddie, whose idyllic family life has begun to unravel following a shocking announcement from the clan's patriarch. RLTP Resident Actor Bob Grabowski will play Eddie; he is joined by Lisa Vitrano, David Hayes, Joe Natale, and Kathleen Betsko-Yale under the direction of Scott Behrend, who will stage the work in a fashion similar to that of Gurney's Screen Play, which RLTP produced in 2011. Ancestral Voices opens Friday, April 20 ^th at the Road Less Traveled Theater and continues through May 13 ^th , 2012. 

A.R. Gurney is RLTP's fifth American Theatre Master. RLTP began its celebration of theatre artists of national stature in 2008, when American Theatre Master Eric Bogosian visited the organization; subsequent American Theatre Masters have included James Rebhorn, Edward Albee, and Stephen Adly Guirgis.