Randle Mell’s one-man show Anna and Me, an emotional and metaphysical voyage through the 1990’s, debuts at the 21st Powerhouse Season

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POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — "' Two Powerhouse Theatre Season pioneers, playwright/actor Randle Mell and director/producer Max Mayer, will join forces for the world premiere of the new one-man-play Anna and Me, July 1-2 at the 21st Vassar and York Stage and Film Powerhouse Theatre Season. Anna and Me will be a free special presentation at the Powerhouse Theatre, with reserved tickets required.

Mell, amember of the company from the very first Powerhouse Season, takes you on apersonal, metaphysical and emotional odyssey through the 1990's in Anna and Me, an entertaining, touching and provocative piece about the struggles of a New York actor trying to make it in Los Angeles

Max Mayer is a co-founder of New York Stage and Film. He has directed numerous Powerhouse debuts of new works, including Lee Blessing's one-man show Chesapeake, Eric Overmyer's Dark Rapture, John Patrick Shanley's the dreamer examines his pillow, and George F. Walker's Nothing Sacred, among many others. He has directed at numerous acclaimed theatres such as the Steppenwolf, Second Stage, Atlantic, Long Wharf, Arena Stage, and WPA. He has written for both stage and film. Theatre credits include James and The Handless Maiden (Los Angeles, 2002), The Sleeping Hippo (off-Broadway, 1996), and Hand to Hand (Powerhouse, 1994). Mayer has written or co-written the screenplays to Better Living (which he directed as an independent feature in 1998 with Olympia Dukakis and Roy Scheider), The Doorman, Present Tense,Intersection, and Runaway Lake.

In the 1985 inaugural Powerhouse season, Randle Mell played "Murk" in John Patrick Shanley's Savage in Limbo. The following year he performed at Powerhouse in his own play, The Measure of Man, co-written with Tony Albatemarco. Mell has appeared on Broadway in The Rainmaker, Macbeth (with Christopher Plummer and Glenda Jackson), and Noises Off. He received a Drama Desk Award nomination for his performance in the off-Broadway production of The Cradle Will Rock, directed by John Houseman. His films include Cookie's Fortune, Grand Canyon, Wyatt Earp, City of Hope, Eight Men Out, and Fearless.

Three performances of Anna and Me will be presented at the Powerhouse Theatre, with shows at 7:00 p.m. on Friday July 1 and Saturday July 2, and an additional 2:00 p.m. Saturday matinee The performances are free and require a reservation, which may be made online at http://powerhouse.vassar.edu, by phone at (845) 437-5599 and (845) 437-7235 or, or by visiting the Powerhouse Box Office on Vassar's Poughkeepsie, New York campus.

Since 1985, Vassar and the New York Stage and Film's Powerhouse Season has premiered numerous new works destined for on- and off-Broadway production, and have made Poughkeepsie a theatre destination for thousands of theatre lovers. Powerhouse has also trained an entire generation of young artists through its annual summer apprentice training program that produces an outdoor repertory series on the Vassar campus. More than 200 professional playwrights, directors, actors, and designers, and more than 50 apprentices from high schools and colleges across the United States, live and work together each summer in a rich collaborative environment on the Vassar campus.

Further information on the Vassar and New York Stage and Film Powerhouse Season can be found at http://powerhouse.vassar.edu.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations or information on accessibility should contact Campus Activities Office at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

This article was posted on Wednesday, June 22nd, 2005.