Three-time Emmy Award winner Cady McClain stars in a new drama about forbidden love and impending war.
February 12 - 28, 2026 at West End Theatre
Five Evenings Theater in association with New Wave Arts Theatre Collective and EventMuze present the New York premiere of BENEATH THE ICE OF THE VISTULA, a new play with music opening February 12 at West End Theater. It is written by Roman Freud and directed by Eduard Tolokonnikov, featuring original music by acclaimed composer Inessa Zaretsky, and starring 3-time Emmy Award winner Cady McClain (All My Children, As the World Turns, Days of Our Lives) who reunites with her Orson’s Shadow co-star Brad Fryman for the second time this season.
In BENEATH THE ICE OF THE VISTULA, a reclusive Jewish composer and his Polish cook form a volatile bond in the weeks leading up to the Nazi invasion, forcing them to confront art, love, and survival in a world on the brink of collapse. Set in Warsaw on the eve of World War II, the play reflects on the vanished world of pre-war European Jewish culture — its music, literature, theater, and everyday life — and on the fragile human connections that persist even as catastrophe approaches. While the historical background is grave, the play itself is not bleak; it is a declaration of life, filled with warmth, irony, tenderness, and moments of humor that affirm the resilience of the human spirit.
In addition to Cady McLain and Brad Fryman, the cast for BENEATH THE ICE OF THE VISTULA includes Roman Freud and Lev Grzhonko. The production team features Jenya Shekhter (scenic design), Natalia Danilova (costumes) Denis Zabiyaka (sound design), Hunter Lustberg (lighting), Karli Fisher (stage manager) and Marina Philidor (producer).
BENEATH THE ICE OF THE VISTULA runs February 12 - 28, Wednesday - Friday at 7pm, Saturday at 2pm and 7pm and Sunday at 2pm. The West End Theatre at St. Paul & St. Andrew UMC is located at 263 West 86th Street. Tickets are $55 - $70. For tickets and more info visit www.beneathiceofvistulaplay.com.
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Roman Freud is a Moscow-born actor, playwright, and Artistic Director of Five Evenings Theater. A graduate of The Schukin Theater School, he has appeared in over thirty New York productions, including Three Sisters (Vershinin), The Master and Margarita (Voland), and his own Singing Windmills. His plays — Ask Joseph, Singing Windmills, Aleksey Aleksandrovich, and Asteroid B-612 — have been staged at leading Off-Broadway venues, exploring art, exile, and resilience.
Cady McClain is a history making three-time Emmy© award-winning actress, taking home the gold for her roles on All My Children (Best Juvenile, 1990), As the World Turns (Best Supporting Actress, 2004), and Days of Our Lives (Best Guest Performer, 2021). According to Deadline, she made history as the first woman to win a Daytime Emmy© for three different characters on three different daytime series. She now playing the role of “Pamela Curtis” on Beyond the Gates - airing on CBS, BET, and Paramount Plus. Beyond the Gates was recently named one of the best TV shows of 2025 by Entertainment Weekly. Recently, she played the role of “Joan Plowright” in Orson’s Shadow by Austin Pendleton (dir. Austin Pendleton and David Schweizer), “Shirley” in the iconic Shirley Valentine (dir. Roy Steinberg) at Cape May Stage, and “Carole” in What Happened Was (dir. Austin Pendleton) at The Chain Summer One Act Festival 2025. Other memorable theatrical productions McClain has performed in include David Ives’ The Red Address (dir. Pam Berlin) at Second Stage Theater, Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing at Lincoln Center Theater, A Comedy of Errors at the Hudson Guild Theater, and Barefoot in the Park at the Westbury and Valley Forge Music Fair theaters. She has also performed in two one-woman performance art pieces: Mona7 and Inventions of Farewell (HERE Theatre). Television credits include multiple episodes of Law and Order SVU (opposite Amanda Seyfried, Mariska Hargitay and Michael O’Keefe, and again opposite Ice T and Kevin Kane).
Eduard Tolokonnikov is a New York–based theater director known for emotionally immersive, psychologically rich productions that blend intimate performance with bold visual storytelling. A graduate of one of Europe’s leading drama academies, he later pursued doctoral research in theatre arts and founded New York’s Acting and Directing Laboratory in 2020. His recent credits include the Off-Broadway premiere of Baudelaire’s Passion (2023, 2025 revival) ; Five Evenings, an Off-Off-Broadway hit extended after a sold-out debut; and Don Nigel’s In the Wilderness of Demons (Off-Broadway premiere). Tolokonnikov’s work focuses on atmosphere, rhythm, and emotion—creating theatrical worlds that resonate deeply with audiences.
Award-winning composer Inessa Zaretsky wrote the original solo cello score for Beneath the Ice of the Vistula, embodying both the play’s fractured emotional core and the creative struggle of Adam, its composer-protagonist. The cello becomes both narrator and witness, its resonant timbre evoking longing, despair, and resilience. Shifting between minimalism and dissonance, the music draws on echoes of prewar European melodies to conjure memory, loss, and endurance.