Press FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/ LISTING, PLEASE!
Press contact: Timothy Haskell at 212.307.1118/ timothy@publicityoutfitters.com   [Click for PDF version]

April 28th, 2005 (New York, NY) - The Chocolate Factory and High Fidelity Theater are proud to present the world premiere of the complete theatrical experience: The Architecture of Sight text by Robert Lawson, music by the popular alt-rock band Uncle Moon, directed and choreographed by Henry Akona beginning Thursday, May 19th and ending Saturday, June 4th. Performances are at The Chocolate Factory (5-49 49th Avenue in Long Island City) and run Thursdays & Sundays at 8 PM. Tickets are $15 and can be reserved by calling 718.482.7069. As part of the production there is also a gallery installation by notable photographer Alice Attie. For more information please go to www.highfidelitytheater.org or www.chocolatefactorytheater.org.

Environmental theatre at its most complete and potent, The Architecture of Sight is a noir tale set in an abstracted, surreal 1940's New York where The Chocolate Factory has been transformed into a seedy speakeasy. Nick Blank is a photographer who has placed the lens between himself, his life and the woman he loves (a woman he has never seen outside of a photograph). Spiraling down into despair, Nick tries to escape himself at the Café Amnesia where a series of sideshow acts enable him to forget…but only for a fleeting moment. When he is forced to confront his fragmented memory he has to solve the puzzle of his life only to find out he doesn't like what he discovers!

Scored by the off-kilter jazz/Klezmer/Weill sound of Uncle Moon, Architecture is a multi-media event designed to activate all of the spaces at the Factory and of the audience's senses, in its use of staging, image, film and sound. The gallery of the theatre will serve as the entryway to Architecture and will feature the stunning images of Alice Attie ("The Changing Face of Harlem").

The cast includes: Jonathan Farmer, Rebecca Gomes, Shauna Kelly, Meridith Loren Nicholaev, Forrest Simmons, Nadia Taalbi, Erik White and Liz Wisan. The band Uncle Moon is Trey Kay, Carl Riehl, Scott Selig and Fritz Van Orden.

"I'm hesitant to call this a 'musical'", says director Henry Akona "I feel that word is so loaded and implies something else. I quite simply wanted to work with the band Uncle Moon on a play and we collaborated to create the musical element of this production. It is both a play with music and a rock opera at the same time. All of this play was collaborative. Every line tailored to the actor, every bit of staging tailored to the space!"

Artistic director and playwright Robert Lawson's work includes: …but the rain is full of ghosts at the Kennedy Center, and independent feature film, Safety Glass, slated to begin shooting later this year starring Peter Sarsgaard, Mandy Moore, and Michelle Williams.

Henry Akona (Director/Choreographer) directed Pandora's Box: A vaudeville for High Fidelity Theater at the John Houseman. He is the co-director of the Journey Theater Project at The Immigrant's Theater Project and is directing a reading of a new play by Dawn Jameson for the New Indigenous Voices Festival at The Culture Project in May.

Alice Attie is a visual artist who lives and works in New York City. She recently published a book of photographs entitled "Harlem on the Verge"; a second book is due to appear in the fall of 2005 on the meeting place of art and medicine. Her drawings were recently shown at The Drawing Center in New York City and are currently included in a show at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Connecticut.

Uncle Moon is a five-piece acoustic band that explores the rich sounds of the double bass, accordion, saxophone, violin, and guitar to create a diverse range of eclectic musical experiences. Sometimes funny, sometimes touching and always innovative.

DJ Potter is providing all technical aspects, lighting design and cinematography.