The People’s Critic in front of Sardi’s in NYC
The very best in Performing Arts Critiques are now available! David Dow Bentley III shares his insights on a vast array of Fine Arts presentations! If you don’t have access to his columns in newspapers from the East Coast to the Gulf Coast and points between, why not enjoy them in the comfort of your own home on the world wide web at http://www.ThePeoplesCritic.com? He may be coming soon to a theater near you!
Join David Dow Bentley III “on the road” as he continues to beautifully capture in words, the essence of performances of all kinds across this great land. Where will he strike next in his mission to highlight the best of entertainment in America?
David Dow Bentley III, writes columns about performing arts which are featured in newspapers from the East Coast to the Gulf Coast. He is a member of The American Theatre Critics Association, The International Theatre Critics Association, The Lambs Club, and had long service as editor of The Lambs’ Script. Mr. Bentley may be contacted via e-mail at ThePeoplesCritic3@gmail.com
Dear David,
Come see a little of The Wooster Group’s next show, “Early Shaker Spirituals” with an ensemble cast that includes Frances McDormand, Cynthia Hedstrom, Elizabeth LeCompte, Modesto Jimenez, Bobby McElver, Bebe Miller, Andrew Schneider, Suzzy Roche, and directed by Kate Valk. We’ve a special open studio rehearsal on April 30 at 5 PM at The Performing Garage (33 Wooster Street NYC).
The show runs May 17 – June 15, 2014 at The Performing Garage.
This newest Wooster Group production is based on a 1976 LP of Shaker hymns recorded by the sisters of the last Shaker community in Sabbathday Lake, Maine deconstructed/reconstructed in The Wooster Groups own magical way.
Happy to send a press release. Promise an amazing preview…or call on us for press seats at performance.
Sincerely
Jonathan
Jonathan Marder + Company
O: 646.638.2479
M: 917.685.8596
Dear Mr. Bentley, I am writing to thank you for your rave review of my show BROWNSVILLE BRED back in 2011 when it performed at 59E59 Theaters. I am bringing it back to the place I first grew it, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Hoping you would reprint your review with the new showtimes and information or choose to do a new piece on the play, which is also my true coming of age story.
Here is the new press release
Thanks for your work in promoting independent theater.
BROWNSVILLE BRED RETURNS TO THE NUYORICAN POETS CAFE
Multiple Award Winning One Woman Play, Brownsville Bred, Returns To the Nuyorican Poets Café, for a Limited Run
New York, New York May TK, 2014 –After more than five years, multiple awards, rave reviews, a sold out Off Broadway run, corporate and college tours, and a book deal with Parachute Publishing, Elaine Del Valle’s autobiographical one woman play, BROWNSVILLE BRED, returns to where it all started— Nuyorican Poets Café (236 East 3rd Street, between Avenues B & C, in the East Village). Directed by Pamela Moller Kareman, BROWNSVILLE BRED begins performances on Monday, July 7 at for a limited engagment through Monday, August 25. The performance schedule is Mondays at 7:15 PM. Tickets are $20, and are available by calling 212-780-9386 or visiting http://www.BrownsvilleBred.com
BROWNSVILLE BRED is the spirited tale of a young Nuyorican girl growing up in the 1980s in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in NYC. Beginning at the Langston Hughes Projects and chronicling her journey out of Brownsville, Elaine Del Valle’s hilarious and harrowing story is at once frightening, exhilarating and ultimately triumphant.
BROWNSVILLE BRED was called an “onstage triumph” by the New York Times. The New York Post said, “By the end of this moving evening, you’ll be cheering her unstoppable joy and the inner strength it took to earn it.” It was a Top Pick in the New York Daily News. WCBS Radio called Elaine Del Valle, “the female John Leguizamo!”
“BROWNSVILLE BRED is one of the most successful shows in the Cafe’s history. We are thrilled to host Elaine Del Valle and Brownsville Bred again,” said Daniel Gallant, Executive Director at the Nuyorican.

Elaine Del Valle (writer/performer) was named a 2013 “TRENDSETTER” at the Multicultural Media Forum. The Soulfrito Arts Foundation honored her as an “Inspiring Artist”, and CNN called her a “Woman of Note.” She studied acting under the legendary Wynn Handman, and it was in his studio that she wrote and developed her autobiographical, multiple award winning, one woman play, Brownsville Bred. Del Valle owns and operates Del Valle Productions and Casting, noted for its cross-cultural Spanish/English language casting services in the New York City commercial markets and funding the work of other young and diverse filmmakers. Elaine Del Valle is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Writers Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, AEA and is a SAG signatory producer. She writes, directs and produces the comedy web series, Reasons Y I’m Single, which was recently reviewed as “Boldly Hilarious” and featured as an official selection of such prestigious festivals and events as The NYLA International Film Festival, and Hispanicize 2014. http://www.ReasonsY.com
Nuyorican Poets Café has served for over 40 years as a home for groundbreaking works of poetry, music, theater and visual arts. A multicultural and multi-arts institution, the Cafe gives voice to a diverse group of rising poets, actors, filmmakers and musicians who have not yet found consistent havens for their work. The Cafe champions the use of poetry, jazz, theater, hip hop and spoken word as means of social empowerment for minority and underprivileged artists. Allen Ginsberg called the Cafe “the most integrated place on the planet.”
Brownsville Bred is a critically acclaimed one woman play, written, performed and lived by Elaine Del Valle. The play has won The Network’s “One-Act Festival”, Teatro La Tea’s “The One Festival”, and nominations by The LA Theatre Review and NY Innovative Theatre Awards. It was produced at New York City’s legendary Nuyorican Poets Café, where it reigned as having “the most successful run in the establishments’ 37-year history.” There the play was discovered by Pamela Moller-Kareman (Artistic Director of The Neighborhood Playhouse and Westchester’s Schoolhouse Theater) who went on to co-produce and direct Brownsville Bred to rave reviews and sold-out performances first at Westchester’s Schoolhouse Theatre and then off Broadway at the prestigious 59E59 Theaters, which garnered the story an HOLA (Hispanic Organization for Latino Actors) Award and a book deal currently being packed by Parachute Publishing as a young adult novel. Visit http://www.BrownsvilleBred.com for clips and information.
Howdy David,
Time machine back to 1984! We would love to get you out to Footloose, the musical. We are playing through August 7th. Check us out at http://www.Stageworkstx.org.