Theatre darlings and downtown staples stepped out for the debut performance of Rita Kalnejais's This Beautiful Future last Tuesday at the Cherry Lane Theater.

The play - a portrait of a young couple's first love complicated by the context of war - is dizzying and wonderful. As Director Jack Serio shared, “This Beautiful Future has been a passion project of mine for many years. It’s a play that defies description and genre and reminds us why we go to the theater and I’m so thrilled that it’s finally open at Cherry Lane. I hope that people will leave challenged and engaged. It’s difficult play, it’s also a beautiful play. I hope it speaks to a new generation of theater goers, especially folks who have felt like theater wasn’t for them. More than anything, I hope people fall in love.”

This Beautiful Future is a smart, creative, and wild experience that’s not to miss in its six-week run at Cherry Lane.

Opening night included many fimilar faces such as Ben McKenzie, Hugh Dancy, Oliver Roth, Fancesca Carpanini, Harry Richardson, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Ben Ahlers, Louisa, Chase Sui Reneé Rapp, Paul McGill, Eric Kuhn, Cory Michael Smith, Ato Blankson Wood, James, Cusati Moyer, Aasif Mandvi, Jack Serio, Paloma Garcia-Lee, Jason Eagan, Morena Baccarin, Louisa Jacobson, Morena Baccarin, Cara Buono, Ben Ahlers,Nicole Brydon Bloom, and Harry Richardson. Post-performance, the evening's festivities continued at Cow Girl in the West Village with cocktails, quesadillas and, of course, karaoke.

[Photos courtesy This Beautiful Future via Bruce Glikas and Emilio Madrid]

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