COMING SOON OFF-BROADWAY
COMING SOON OFF-BROADWAY
TOMMASO CARTIA
& Boundless Theater
Present
NEWS
NEWS
Casting has been revealed for the upcoming industry reading of David James Parr's SLAP&TICKLE, which will be presented at the Laurie Beechman Theatre November 12, 2025.
The ensemble cast will include Dan Amboyer (Younger), Christopher Borg (The Confession of Lily Dare), Antwayn Hopper (CATS: The Jellicle Ball, A Strange Loop), Pooya Mohseni (English), James Scully (Oh, Mary!), Wesley Taylor (Rock of Ages, The Addams Family), and Matthew Wilkas (Gayby, So Help Me Todd).
about
That’s the first rule at THE SANCTUARY— the last surviving gay bathhouse in New York City circa 2010, where our story takes place. Step into a fading haven where desire lives in the shadows & anonymity means safety…
Lose yourself in the world of SLAP&TICKLE, a darkly funny & thought provoking theatrical experience immersing you in the interconnected lives of a group of queer transgenerational characters on a journey of sexual awakening & self-discovery.
From the raw intimacy of bathhouse culture and sex clubs to the rise of social media and dating Apps, the play spotlights the queer community’s evolving quest for connection, identity and the timeless human need for belonging.
SLAP&TICKLE captures a pivotal moment of cultural shift as a lost generation of queer elders who came of age in the wake of AIDS pass down the unspoken rules of their world — the slaps and the tickles, the codes of survival & resilience — to a younger generation raised in the era of social media. Where the invisible has to become visible, but true connection can be lost.
It’s a honest, defiant, and celebratory piece that honors the battles fought for queer liberation and visibility—battles that are far from over. At a time when hard-won progress is under attack and queer lives are once again being canceled, this play isn’t just relevant; it’s necessary.
Where desire & danger meet: what would you risk to be yourself?
THE EXPERIENCE
The play is a living time capsule that transforms the theatre into THE SANCTUARY bathhouse. A sensory world where drag, dance, nightlife culture, and music from the era unfold all around.
Guests enter with a secret code and are greeted by the bouncer FRANK, who checks IDs and ushers them into a thrust-like arena space where the boundary between audience and performer dissolves.
A torch-singer homage to Bette Midler’s performances at Continental Baths threads through the experience.
Meet the Team
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David is an award-winning, NYC-based writer, playwright and director with over 20 years of experience in the theater industry. His play Eleanor Rigby Is Waiting was made into an independent film which premiered at the 2019 Manhattan Film Festival, winning Best Dramatic Independent Feature. His plays Slap&Tickle, Pluto Is Listening, and Albee Damned have been produced all across the U.S. including Chicago, Dallas, New York, Provincetown and St. Petersburg. His script Mimi at the 44th Parallel was a Top 10 Finalist at the 2019 Austin Film Festival. He is a two-time winner of the Tennessee Williams Short Fiction award and a Founder of Boundless Theater.
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Chad Austin is an award winning director and producer and the Producing Artistic Director of Abingdon Theatre Company. Since his time at ATC, Austin created the One Night Only series; work includes Wade Dooley’s THE PROMPTER starring Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons; Alex Edelman’s award-winning JUST FOR US; BACK by Matt Webster starring Emmy nominee Madeline Brewer and Tony Award nominee James Cuasti-Moyer; and more. Career highlights include JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR LIVE IN CONCERT on NBC; MAYBE TOMORROW at the A.R.T./New York Mezzanine Theatre starring Tony Award nominee Elizabeth A. Davis and Younger's Dan Amboyer; 5 Broadway World Awards for ROBIN & ME: MY LITTLE SPARK OF MADNESS including Best New Play and Best Director at Theatre Row, Hedgerow Theatre, and Pittsburgh Playhouse; PETER AND THE WOLF with the Hampton Ballet Theatre; Executive Producer of Abingdon Virtual films premiering internationally at festivals including Dance Camera West, Cannes World Film Festival, Prague International Film Awards, Flickers’ Rhode Island, and more; among many others.
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Tommaso Cartia is a NYC-based theatre producer and the artistic director of Boundless Theater (A Stage Without Borders) producing theatrical experiences & exclusively original shows with the mission of shining a light on the underground scene of theatre fostering an authentically independent theater movement. Tommaso has 20 years of experience in the field of entertainment & media communications, PR and marketing. Recent productions include Stranger Interludes (in development); Boy Meets Girl debuting at the Queerly Festival this Spring 2025; Eleanor Rigby Is Waiting - Immersive Experience; Broadway Barfly Live with Rob Driemeyer; Pluto Is Listening. He holds a BA in theatre, film, media and cultural events from the University Cattolica of Milan; a Master Degree in creative writing & entertainment industry from New York Film Academy; a Master Degree in Marketing for entertainment from the Morris School of Economics. He is also a graduate from the Teatro Carcano of Milano Academy of Dramatic Arts.
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Benjamin C. Feldman is a founder of Feldman, Golinski, Reedy + Ben Zvi PLLC, together with co-founders M. Kilburg Reedy, Pamela M. Golinski, and Leslie Ben-Zvi. An attorney practicing in the areas of stage, motion picture, non-profit, television, fine art, documentary, and start-up and finance, Ben represents influencers, producers, funders and creatives.
Ben was the production and financing counsel on three PBS POV documentaries that premiered at the Sundance and Tribeca Festivals in 2018.
A member of the Broadway League, Ben has been a lead producer on Broadway and has earned nominations for three Tony Awards (winning once, for Pippin). Ben has been above the title on both plays and musicals, and on both new works and revivals, since he started producing in 2013. He also has produced Off and Off-Off Broadway, and has served on the boards of the Hourglass Group and Ars Nova. He currently serves on the Board of Advisors of Symphony Space and is a Director at the Chase Brock Experience.
Ben garnered much of his Broadway experience as a representative of authors (he was thanked at the Tony Awards when his clients won the score and libretto awards for Urinetown) and as the production counsel for shows including the “Best Musical” winner Memphis.
Ben is currently producing the film adaptation of Urinetown and has associate produced three motion pictures.
Ben is a graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall, Yale College and NYU Law. He is a US Memorial Holocaust Museum volunteer and resides in New York City, South Beach and Gloucester, MA.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
