Horse Trade Theater Group will once again present their annual October tradition, the critical acclaimed, New York Innovative Theatre Award nominated, Pumpkin Pie Show! Featuring all new stories written by Clay McLeod Chapman (Hostage Song at The Kraine; Fear Mongers at Dixon Place), performed by Clay and Hanna Cheek (Hostage Song; Goodbar with Waterwell) with original music by Kyle Jarrow (Obie Award for A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant; music & lyrics for Hostage Song) performed by new husband and wife duo, Sky-Pony!

This year, The Pumpkin Pie Show is all about the love. We will be sharing tales of romance—some true, others ripped from the hearts (and headlines) of others.

ASCENDING THE STAIRWAY: Attention, 7th graders: Learn how to make out to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" through this step-by-step tale of tonguing.

DAUGHTER OF C.H.U.D.:  Hanna Cheek’s love-life is in shambles—and it’s all thanks to her dad, Douglas Cheek, director of 80's horror film "C.H.U.D." (or Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers). But does an über-fan hold the key to happiness?

MICHELLE: A man recounts leading the search party for his next-door neighbor’s missing teenage daughter.

CONDO LOTHARIO: Thanks to advances in treating erectile dysfunction, an outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases spreads throughout the elderly residents of a local retirement community. Based on a true story.

CLAY McLEOD CHAPMAN (Writer/Performer) is the creator of the rigorous storytelling session The Pumpkin Pie Show. He is the author of rest area, a collection of short stories, and miss corpus, a novel. Currently, he is writing a trilogy of children's novels titled The Tribe—book one, Homeroom Headhunters, is slated for publication in 2013. He is writing the book for a new musical with Grammy-winner Bruce Hornsby called SCKBSTD, directed by John Rando. He wrote the book for the musical Hostage Song with Obie-winner Kyle Jarrow. He also writes for Marvel Comics, Fangoria Magazine, and teaches writing at The Actors Studio MFA Program at Pace University.

“[There is] a new generation of theater artists reared on a diet of vampires, zombies and charming serial killers… At the forefront is Clay McLeod Chapman, whose “Pumpkin Pie Show” channels the spirit of H. P. Lovecraft.” Jason Zinoman, The New York Times

HANNA CHEEK (Performer) with Waterwell, has devised and performed in Goodbar, Chill & Serve, Sweetness & Light, The Persians…a comedy about war with five songs, Marco Millions (based on lies) and The|King|Operetta. With The Pumpkin Pie Show: Hostage Song (The Kraine Theater), Junta High (PS122), Cardiac Shadow (PS122), Saint Hanna... (The Kraine Theater), Ringside Seats (Belt Theatre), Rise Perverts Rise (Red Room), Big Top (Red Room) and The Birds and the Bees (Red Room). Other NYC Credits: The Amulet (78th Street Lab), First You're Born (Playwrights Horizon), Broken Boughs (Blue Heron Arts Center), Judith, a comedy troupe (The Kitchen). LA credits: Bad Touch: A Sketchy Show (Masquerade Theatre) and improv at IO West. At Sarah Lawrence College: The Seagull and Kindertransport. London credits: Lady Macbeth (Bridge Lane Theatre). TV credits: The West Wing, Titus and MTV’s Undressed.

“Hanna Cheek is an actor of rare gifts, and someday Hollywood will steal her, so you have to snatch at every chance to see her onstage.” Helen Shaw, Time Out NY

KYLE JARROW (Sky-Pony) is a writer and musician based in New York City. He writes for the stage as well as film and television and he plays in the rock band Super Mirage. He won the prestigious OBIE Award at age 24 for his Off-Broadway hit play A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant, which has subsequently been produced all over the country. Kyle wrote the film Armless, adapted from his play of the same name, which was an official selection of Sundance Film Festival 2010. Other stage plays include Love Kills, Trigger, President Harding is a Rock Star, Rip Me Open (co-writer), Hostage Song (music & lyrics), Gorilla Man (script available from Samuel French), and Whisper House (with Tony-winner Duncan Sheik, record now available from RCA/Victor). 

Kyle has developed television projects for CW, ABC, Lion's Gate, Fox TVS, and Deline Pictures among others, and is currently working on a feature project for MTV Films. Kyle's playwriting work encompasses both music theater and straight plays, and has been presented at The Old Globe, New York Theatre Workshop, Performance Space 122, New York Stage & Film, The John Houseman Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Abron Arts Center, HERE Arts Center, The Hangar Theatre, and Dad's Garage among others. He's particularly known for incorporating rock and pop music into the theater, a topic that he's written and spoken about widely. Kyle was a 2005-2006 Dramatists Guild Fellow. He was nominated for a 2004 Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Award and a 2004 Backstage West Garland Award, and was runner-up for the 2002 Princess Grace Playwriting Award. He was also winner of the John Golden Prize.

LAUREN WORSHAM (Sky-Pony) is a New York-based actress and singer whose favorite roles include Amy in Where's Charley at New York City Center, Cunegonde in New York City Opera's Candide, Lili in Goodspeed Opera House’s Carnival (dir. Darko Tresnjak), Cinderella in Kansas City Rep’s Into the Woods (dir. Moises Kaufman), Clara in Weston Playhouse’s The Light in the Piazza and Olive in the first National tour of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Other theatre credits include Jerry Springer the Opera at Carnegie Hall, Master Class (Sophie) at Paper Mill Playhouse and The Fantasticks (Luisa) at Emelin Theatre. Lauren has participated in workshops and readings of Picnic at Hanging Rock (Daniel Zaitchik) at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Mermaid in a Jar (Royce Vavrek/Rachel Peters) and The Chemist's Wife (Julianne Wick-Davis/Rachel Jett/Will Aronson) at Tisch, Le Fou (Bekah Brunstetter/Julia Meinwald/Robert Shapiro) at New Georges and Mirror, Mirror (Sarah Treem) at Playwrights Horizons.

"Lauren Worsham should have been nominated for a Tony Award." 
Charles Isherwood, The New York Times