Actors Theatre of Indiana (ATI) will welcome the talented Hollywood star Richard Riehle to the upcoming TheatreLAB Series reading of Lee Blessing’s A Family Line at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. The Reading will be presented at The Studio Theater at The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.
Riehle
Riehle’s career has spanned over four decades. His is one of the most recognizable faces in the industry as he has appeared in over 397 films and has made multiple television appearances. Some of his most notable movies include Casino, Office Space, Fried Green Tomatoes, Executive Decision, Lethal Weapon 4, Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Fugitive.
His television credits include Murder, She Wrote, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The West Wing, ER, Grounded for Life, The Young and the Restless and the Star Trek television series.
In this new piece, Jonah, played by Riehle, is the white grandfather of Finn, a mixed-race 15-year-old whom he has just met. Taking place during the pandemic, Finn has just lost his mother to COVID-19 and is being sent to live with his estranged father. Jonah is assigned to drive Finn across the country. As they spend 24 hours together in the car, will they find common ground? Will they discover a family bond? Will they even reach their destination?
Riehle will be joined by Carmel High School graduate Jake Letts as Finn. Letts went on to Ball State University where he graduated with a BFA in Musical Theater. A true lover of music, he started as an instrumentalist and branched into classical voice and theater in high school. He recently appeared as Rosencrantz in Hamlet (Discovering Broadway). Letts’ favorite past roles include The Doctor in Matilda (Weathervane Playhouse) and Jack Kelly in Newsies (The Tarkington Theater).
Unger
Letts
Directing The Family Line will be Jane Unger. Past ATI productions include Alabama Story and Lombardi. Jane is the founding Artistic Director of Profile Theatre Project, Portland, Ore., whose mission celebrates the playwright by presenting a full season of plays by a single writer. In 15 years helming Profile she produced and directed work by playwrights such as Arthur Miller, Neil Simon and Lee Blessing, working directly with many great writers on new play development. Among the awards Jane has received are the Portland Drammy Award for Best Director for Profile’s inaugural production Wings and the Drammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Tickets are available at atistage.org or by calling the Box Office at The Center for the Performing Arts at (317) 843-3800.
This play is rated PG-13 for language.
About Actors Theatre of Indiana
Actors Theatre of Indiana was co-founded in 2005 by Cynthia Collins, Don Farrell, and Judy Fitzgerald with a mission to celebrate the power of theater and contribute to the quality of life in Central Indiana by offering high quality professional theater performances and programs that engage, inspire, educate, and entertain. An award-winning Equity Professional Theater company, Actors Theatre of Indiana is the resident professional theater company of The Studio Theater at The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, now in its 16th season of high-powered musical theater productions, world premieres, and innovative community works.
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