CREATIVE ATLAS AND NEW WAVE ARTS ANNOUNCE FIRST REVIVAL OF ACCLAIMED BILINGUAL REIMAGINING OF A.R. GURNEY’S LOVE LETTERS, directed by Gera Sandler and starring Maria Atlas & Lev Grzhonko. 

The Landmark Production Returns to the American Theatre of Actors for a Strictly Limited 7-Performance Engagement for the Holidays

NEW YORK, NY — Creative Atlas and New Wave Arts are proud to announce the return of their celebrated, cross-cultural staging of A.R. Gurney’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated, internationally acclaimed masterpiece, Love Letters. One of the most frequently staged and enduringly decorated dramas of modern American theatre, Gurney’s tour de force has moved audiences around the globe for its singular emotional honesty and literary elegance.

Directed by award-winning director and actor Gera Sandler (Unorthodox, Transatlantic, The Singing Windmills), this landmark revival reunites original stars Maria Atlas (founder of Creative Atlas) and Lev Grzhonko (founder of New Wave Arts) in the iconic roles they originated during the production’s breakthrough New York premiere. Sandler and Atlas also recently partnered as the co-founders of Play The Lead, an innovative, NYC-based acting school dedicated to empowering both professional actors and non-actors through craft and personal presence.

The strictly limited holiday engagement will run December 16 through December 20, 2026, returning to its original creative home at The Sargent Theatre at the American Theatre of Actors (ATA), located at 314 West 54th Street in Manhattan.

Performed in Russian with English supertitles, this production bridges two distinct theatrical worlds: the psychological depth and fiery emotional expressiveness of the classical Russian school paired with the iconic, minimalist restraint of American dramatic writing. Stripping away theatrical excess to lay bare the fragile mechanics of human connection, this staging reimagines the script as an intimate living dialogue. Enhancing the drama, vocal tracks and songs from Maria Atlas’s recent album are performed live on stage throughout the play, serving as a dynamic, living acoustic soundtrack that underscores the narrative’s heartbeat.

Love Letters chronicles the lifelong correspondence between childhood friends Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III. Unfolding entirely through decades of handwritten notes, birthday cards, and letters spanning childhood innocence, fiery ambition, painful longing, and unspoken truths, the play reveals an enduring bond that manages to outlast physical separation, divergent life choices, and time itself.

“What if the most beautiful chapter of your life is the letter you still haven’t written?” asks star and co-producer Maria Atlas. “Now more than ever, this reimagined staging of Love Letters explores how words penned across a lifetime can transcend distance and division, proving that honest communication—in its rawest, most vulnerable form—remains our greatest act of love.”

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE & VENUE DETAILS

WHAT: Love Letters by A.R. Gurney (Bilingual Staging in Russian with English Supertitles)

PRESENTED BY: Creative Atlas & New Wave Arts

DIRECTED BY: Gera Sandler

STARRING: Maria Atlas (Melissa Gardner) & Lev Grzhonko (Andrew Makepeace Ladd III)

WHERE: The Sargent Theatre at the American Theatre of Actors (ATA)

314 West 54th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10019

(Between 8th & 9th Avenues | Subway: C/E/1 to 50th St, N/Q/R/W to 57th St-7th Ave)

WHEN: Wednesday, December 16 – Sunday, December 20, 2026 (7 Performances Only)

Wednesday, December 16 at 8:00 PM
Thursday, December 17 at 8:00 PM
Friday, December 18 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, December 19 at 3:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Sunday, December 20 at 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM
RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes (performed without intermission)

TICKETS & RESERVATIONS:

Tickets are on sale now. For advance reservations, group bookings, and press comps, visit https://gurneyloveletters.love/ or contact the American Theatre of Actors box office. Seating is strictly limited, and advance purchase is highly recommended.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

MARIA ATLAS (Melissa / Founder, Creative Atlas / Co-Founder, Play The Lead) is an accomplished American/Russian stage and screen actress, creative producer, and singer-songwriter celebrated for her luminous screen presence and emotional range across dramatic and contemporary roles. Praised by critics for performances marked by “magnetic vulnerability, fierce intelligence, and effortless stage authority,” her recent theatrical work includes a commanding performance in The Naked Woman, where critics said she had “the voice of an angel.” On the global stage, Atlas achieved wide international acclaim as a key creative producer for the closing ceremonies of the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Through her company Creative Atlas, she champions cross-cultural and socially conscious works, including pioneering arts and theater initiatives for at-risk youth and teens in foster care. Together with Gera Sandler, she co-founded Play The Lead, an NYC acting academy training both industry professionals and individuals seeking creative confidence. In Love Letters, Atlas not only stars as Melissa but also delivers live vocal performances of tracks from her recent album as the play’s living soundtrack.

LEV GRZHONKO (Andy / Founder, New Wave Arts) brings a singular perspective to the stage, combining a rigorous background as a Harvard-trained economist and businessman with an accomplished career as an actor, director, and producer. After earning early acclaim directing short films, Grzhonko transitioned into live theatre drawn by its palpable, immediate electricity—a medium where an artist must “breathe with the audience or you lose them.” As co-founder of New Wave Arts, he champions intimate, high-signal productions built around raw human stakes rather than hollow spectacle. In A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters, Grzhonko discovers an ideal vehicle for this artistic philosophy, interpreting the work as a profound examination of the “math of missed chances and the grace of connection”—a classic piece that acts as a “Stradivarius if you dare to play it plainly.”

GERA SANDLER (Director / Co-Founder, Play The Lead) is an award-winning actor, stage director, writer, composer, and educator. Born in the Soviet Union and raised in Israel, Sandler graduated from the Beit Zvi School of Performing Arts before starring with Gesher Theater in Molière’s Don Juan and Isaac Bashevis Singer’s The Last Devil. For over 15 years, he served as a leading actor at Israel’s Yiddishpiel Theatre, starring in The Rothschilds: A Musical, A Simple Story, and The Magician of Lublin. In New York, his acting credits include Covers, Knock, and Old New Year with the Lost & Found Project, alongside major productions as a key company member of New Yiddish Rep. As a stage director, Sandler has helmed classical dramas, original plays, operas, and youth productions for On Cue and Folksbiene, including directing and starring in two sold-out Off-Broadway runs and the national tour of The Singing Windmills. His screen credits span over 30 international films and series, including the Cannes-awarded Jellyfish, Natalie Portman’s A Tale of Love and Darkness, the hit sitcom The Eighties, and Netflix’s Unorthodox and Transatlantic. Together with Maria Atlas, he co-founded the NYC-based acting school Play The Lead.

ABOUT THE PRODUCING COMPANIES

CREATIVE ATLAS is an international production powerhouse committed to producing socially conscious, innovative, and cross-cultural stage and screen works that bridge diverse global communities through the universal language of art.

NEW WAVE ARTS is an independent theatrical company founded to cultivate high-signal, character-driven storytelling. Rejecting ornamental excess, New Wave Arts prioritizes raw human intimacy, intellectual rigor, and authentic connection between artist and audience.

THE AMERICAN THEATRE OF ACTORS was founded in 1976 by James Jennings. The American Theatre of Actors (ATA) is one of New York City’s most storied Off-Off-Broadway developmental institutions, having presented thousands of new plays and classical adaptations while serving as an indispensable launching pad for generations of American actors, writers, and directors.

TICKETS & RESERVATIONS:

Tickets are on sale now. For advance reservations, group sales, and press comps, visit https://gurneyloveletters.love/ or purchase directly through the American Theatre of Actors box office. Early booking is strongly advised due to strictly limited seating.