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Tribeca rooftop gala for the Ground Up Theater Company in New York. Photos by Douglas Harrington

New York City - In the best of times, keeping an independent theater company afloat is a struggle, but in this economy it can be described as nothing short of a miracle. Well, for the past five years that miracle has been realized by the Off-Off Broadway Ground Up Theater Company. Over 100 of their supporters gathered on June 19 on a Tribeca rooftop for a 1960s styled gala to celebrate the achievements of this downtown Manhattan favorite.

"Barefoot In The Park" cast: Tom Moglia, Eric Purcell, Guy Olivieri, Kate Middleton, Amelia White and Brian Lafontaine.

Kate Middleton, who many may remember from her performance in Joe Pintauro's recent "Cathedral" at the Manhattan Theater Source, is the Producing Artistic Director of Ground Up and is its most enthusiastic and energetic advocate. I asked Middleton what makes her theater company so unique, "It is made up of people who love art for the right reasons. It is environmental theater, the minute the audience walks into the space, they are in the play, they are part of the play. They are very much flies on the wall. We don't drag them up, but they may be sitting on a couch and an actor will sit on the arm of that couch during the play. It is all around them, it makes it fun for them and very different."

Ground Up may not drag their audience members up on stage, but one of the many silent auction prizes at the gala included the opportunity to have a walk-on part in the company's upcoming production of Neil Simon's 1960s classic, "Barefoot In The Park," which is Ground Up's 14th full stage production with Middleton playing the female lead of Corie Bratter. The event also included a scavenger hunt, face paintings, a tarot card reader, a magician and a balloon clown. Attendees also dined and danced to the music of Apollo Run.

Slight of hand magician Matt Wayne.

"Barefoot In The Park" director Lon Bumgarner described the company's interpretation of their upcoming production, "It is an extremely funny play, but you can't hit the joke always, it has got actual depth to it, it has got character based depth to it and that is where the humor comes from. We are doing everything in our power to let the humor come from the way people truthfully exist on stage. We are going for the laughs and the substance."

Other members of the cast include Amelia White, Eric Purcell, Brian Lafontaine, Tom Moglia and Guy Olivieri, appearing in his fifth Ground Up production, who plays Middleton's newlywed husband Paul Bratter. He gave me his take on the play, "It is the same 1960s comedy, but we are being very true to the time period and we are not pandering in anyway. We are being true to the relationships as they would have existed in the 1960s. There are some shocking things in the way people related to each other in 1963 and we are indulging all of them."

Long-time supporter Matt Olin spoke of the quality of Ground Up's productions, "I think Ground Up is a fantastic theater company that has really come into its own in New York. Off-Broadway theater can sometimes be a crap shoot, but the thing about Kate [Middleton] and the entire team she has put behind her is that they do consistently good work, whether it is drama or comedy. It is a company that I think has shown New York that they are the up and coming theater company in the city."

Off-Off Broadway theater at its best, "Barefoot In The Park" will run July 8 through July 25 at The Manhattan Theater Source, 177 MacDougal Street in the Village. Tickets are a bargain at $25 and $20 for seniors and students. For more information and to reserve tickets call 212-358-3921 or go to www.groundupproductions.org