Here’s the latest story idea to come in via the Virtual Assignment Desk. Want to attend this play and review it? Check out the description below.

The Poor of New York is a bitingly relevant lost American classic by Dion Boucicault, dramatizing a unique and pivotal moment in New York history: the New York Panic of 1857, which is today considered the world’s first global financial crisis. Mixing riotous humor with visceral emotion and political potency, this rip-roaring production features a cast of 25, accompanied by eight live musicians, and reinvigorates the vibrant tradition of American melodrama. The Poor of New York has not been professionally produced in New York since 1931 and will be performed from April 24-27 at the Connelly Theatre in the East Village, an original Victorian building, set on the edge of the notorious 5-Points slums, where much of the action of the play is located.

This play offers a unique window into mid-19th Century American life, whilst powerfully foreshadowing the contemporary New York experience; a New York story with global resonance that speaks to the most pressing concerns of our age. The cast and creative team are actively engaged in a community outreach program that involves a partnership with The Foodbank for New York City, high schools in the East Village and several immigrant community institutions across the city. At the invitation of the Museum of American Finance, there will be a staged reading of the play at the MOAF on April 9th, 2013. www.columbiastages.org

If you’d like to attend and review “The Poor of New York,” or interview one of the cast members, look for the above pitch on our Open Assignments page and volunteer. Have another story you’d like to write or see covered? Pitch it to us via the Virtual Assignment Desk.