Local
LOCAL STOP
Brooklyn in the Fringe
LOCAL STOP
Brooklyn in the Fringe
July 2005
How diverse is our borough? Here’s a sampling of the 30+ Brooklyn-based companies participating in this year’s festivalities.
For performance times and venues, check out: www.fringenyc.org
A Certain Level Of Commitment (an actor prepares)
First Person Productions
Writer/Director: Brandon Wolcott
Brandon Wolcott is quite possibly the greatest performer in the world. It is time the people knew. This show could mark the beginning of his great ascent. (or not)
1h 5m www.greatestperformerintheworld.com
Beyond
Fredrick Byers Productions
Writer:Book by Helga Krauss, Music and English translation by Danny Ashkenasi
Director: Danny Ashkenasi
A Little Night Opera. Quirky. Lyrical. Metaphysical. A soprano hovers between life and death. Two angels guide her in the Beyond, acting as her husband, son, lover, therapist, plastic surgeon… from the creator of 04’s critically praised "Book of Job".
1h 5m www.geocities.com/dfashkenasi/beyond
Byuioo
Commander Squish Productions
Writer:Nate Weida
Director: Jimmy Kilduff
What does it mean? Beautiful. A gibberish funk-rock musical where the characters defend a friend wrongly accused for the murder of a circus ringmaster. Prepare to be rocked.
1h 15m www.byuioo.com
Dance With Me, Harker
Wallis Knot Inc.
Writer:Eileen Connolly, freely adapted from Bram Stoker
Director: Eileen Connolly
Choreographer: Eileen Connolly & Richard Omar
A saucy revamped Dracula: naked vampire brides wrapped in plastic, our heroine on ballet pointe, a hip go-go and ballroom dancing Dracula, blood martinis for thirsty vampires, Nuns knitting long red scarves, bat marionettes, Transylvanian documentary interviews, multi-language texts.
1h 30m www.wallisknot.org
.dependent study
Andrew Schneider in Association with big|picture|group
Writer:Andrew Schneider
Director: Andrew Schneider
Lies. Alcohol. Mascara. Video tape and a meat-cleaver become the tools through which dependence is studied. Feel good about yourself and laugh until you don’t think it’s funny anymore. See the big picture. 1h 20m. www.bigpicturegroup.org
ELECTRA VOTES
Blunt Theater Company
Writer:Sheila Morgan
A politically charged adaptation of the Greek tragedy. A shellshocked Orestes returns from war to avenge his father’s murder. When he reunites with his sister Electra, a liberal radio talk show host, they plot to assassinate the tyrant, Aegisthus. 1h 0m. www.blunttheater.org
Extra Virgin
Extra Virgin Productions
Writer:Written by Howard Walters
Director: Michael Melamedoff
Two men have sex after meeting in an m4m chatroom. Elias thinks it’s the first time they have met. Noah is about to remind him it’s not.
1h 0m. www.hometown.aol.com/extravirginplay
Faker
Bully Productions
Writer:Book and Lyrics by Karen Weinberg, Co-composed by Karen Weinberg and Jonathan Wagner
Director: Norm Holly
Choreographer: Scott Ferguson
A Jewish lesbian gets an extreme makeover and rockets to superstardom. The accompanist’s "truth buzzer" spurs this one-woman show’s author to mini-confessions of the reality behind the fiction. In the race for fame, she won by a nose. 50m www.karenweinberg.com/Faker.htm
Feud: Fire on the Mountain
New York Theatre Experiment
Writer/Director: Creighton James
The classic, true story of the bloodiest, most notorious feud in American history is reinvented with a dark comic flavor. Underlying tensions explode between the Hatfields and McCoys, building to a provocative, gripping climax. What happened to Love Thy Neighbor?
2h. www.newyorktheatreexperiment.org/feud.htm
Film Noix
Temerity Theatre
Writer:Ed Malin
Director: John DeBenedetto
El Conde Nasty is being hunted by sexy secret agents from all over the world. What does he know? Did Haley’s Comet drive him loopy? Is the truth more druid than you think? Perhaps there’s something irregular about Uranus… 55m www.temeritytheatre.com
Genius Famous
spurn Productions
Writer:Jason Atkinson
Director: Ryan J. Davis
Richard is a talented songwriter with aspirations of glory. His chance arrives with a music-writing competition from the Songwriting Factory… will he become a GENIUS FAMOUS, or will Vordenstein, the dreaded creator of "Feel Pain" music, prevail?
1h 20m www.geniusfamous.com
Hercules in High Suburbia
Watson Arts
Writer: Mary Fulham, Music and Lyrics: Paul Foglino
Director: Mary Fulham, Musical Director: Paul Foglino
A comic rock-n-roll update of Euripides’ tragedy set in a gated community where wealth and fame are no guarantees against the power of wickedness or the malevolence of chance. "One of the best Off-Broadway musicals in many a year!" -Backstage
1h 15m
Legend Of The Gypsy Bride
Sacred Clowns Productions
Writer:Book and Lyrics by David Jenness with music and dances by the Gypsies of Transylvania
Director: Koby Benvenesti
Choreographer: Andrea Kalan, Chemda
A quarrelsome Gypsy band, living under a highway in Queens, tells the darkly comic tale of a Gypsy stripper and her suitors. Songs and choreography inspired by authentic Gypsy melodies and dances from Transylvania, mixed with Gospel, Funk and Blues.
2h. www.sacredclowns.com
Letter from Poland
Altfel Spus Productions
Writer: Michael Wrynn Doyle
Director: Peter Schmitz
An overzealous student directs Polish missionaries in a staging of The Good Samaritan. Can Jesus’s love withstand the Meisner Technique? This comedic solo performance examines the passion we bring to theatre and the redemption we find within it.
1h. www.letterfrompoland.com
The Lizards
Exposed Brick Productions
Writer:Alan Bowne
Director: Damon W. Arrington
A World Premiere. A thrill ride set in the summer of 1983. Three hustlers lose 25 grams of heroin in a cluttered East Village apartment. With time running out, the trio is forced to slither and scatter like reptiles. 1h 30m. www.exposedtheatre.com
The Magnificent Hour
Experimental Troupe Comedy
Writer:by Seth Cooperman, Jamil Ellis, Kevin Flinn, Anne Johnson, Natalie Kim, Gene Perelson, Chris Chan Roberson
Director:
The government has declared that murder will be legal for one hour. Watch as the hour plays out in real-time! At the mercy of time and audience participation, not even the actors know how this dark comedic experiment will end.
1h 15m www.magnificenthour.com
Manatee
SeaCow Productions
Writer:Alex Moggridge
Director: Patrick McNulty
Terrence and Ray aren’t certain where they are. Come see this intrepid duo cling to survival in a world of disappearing llamas, suspicious syntax, and a dwindling supply of Hostess snacks. From SeaCow Productions comes a remarkably unremarkable black comedy.
1h 15m www.seacowproductions.com
Match Me
Under The Skin
Writer:written by:Aurin Squire, concept by: Niketa Calame & Kerry-Jayne Wilson
Director: Denyse Owens
Two women match wits in a contest for sanity. As their tales begin to disintegrate, friends become rivals, and their stories become their only hope for salvation. Match Me is an absurdist trip through the minds of two disturbed women.
40m. www.angelfire.com/art3/undertheskin.
Movie Geek
The Charlie B. Theater Company
Writer:by Dylan Dawson, co-conceived by Dylan Dawson and Andy Donald
Director: Andy Donald
The spoof follows the adventurous life of Hollywood’s best-kept secret who changes cinema forever. Like "Citizen Kane" and Ken Burns, the Geek’s story unfolds in interviews and reenactments that remind us why we escape to movies. With surprise celebrity videos!
www.charliebcompany.com
No Return
Writer:Carolyn Connelly, Heather Daniels, Laura Reyna
Director: Rosaleen Knoepfel, Linsey Bostwick, Guest Directors
Once you leave, you can’t go back. From the streets of Flatbush, mountains of Appalachia, and the Rio Grande Valley, three unrelenting queer voices crash through genres to bring you tales of leaving home, losing innocence, and holding onto hope.
1h 30m
Pride and Soul
Black 33 Productions
Writer:Written and Performed by Stephanie Marshall and Keith "Wild Child" Middleton
Director: Directed by Allison Easter
Pride and Soul is the voice of a new hybrid of funk, folk, rock and soul. Vying for a slot on Manhattan Cable, Pride Jones and Papa Scott Soul invite you to their live "audition" as they rock the house promoting peace, unity and squirrel safety. But with quirky guest-stars and zany mishaps, will they make the cut?
1h 10m . www.prideandsoul.com
ScrewBall
Tony Lepore, Producer
Writer:Douglas McFerran
Director: Aaron Mullen
Welcome to Providence, Rhode Island! Home to jerks, loonies, and nymphomaniacs. Meet a sexy femme fatale, two English blokes under her spell, and her jealous Russian waiter husband. A master class in post-industrial nuttiness. Screwball is the new Awesome!
1h 30m. www.angrybubble.com
Some Unfortunate Hour
hope theatre, inc.
Writer:Kelly McAllister
Director: Christopher Grabowski
Kelly McAllister’s new play. Poor Mad Tom has just signed his divorce papers and is getting quite drunk, contemplating the possibility that he may be an asshole. Warning: This play is full of bad words, sexual innuendo, and foolishness.
2h 0m. www.hopetheatre.org
Supposedly
Wax Lips
Writer:Barbara Cassidy
Director: Barbara Cassidy
Two young women get high in a bathroom. A family of four tries to function. Two mannequins have dinner. It all means something. Supposedly. A new drama from Playwrights’ Horizons 2003 Barrie Stavis nominee.
1h 5m. www.supposedly.info
SUV: The Musical!
Neo-Shtick Theater
Writer:Gersh Kuntzman and Marc Dinkin
Director: Eric Oleson
Choreographer: Katharine Workum
A classic, three-hankie, "boy-meets-girl, boy-designs-really-big-SUV-for-girl, girl-leaves-boy-for-environmental-activist, boy-is-sentenced-to-death-for-crimes-against-humanity" story. Hero Max Blank battles the entrenched interests, a double-dealing Saudi sheik, and two randy crash test dummies to foil Behemoth Motor Corporation’s plot to destroy America.
1h 50m
www.suvthemusical.com
The Three of Clubs
Writer/Director:Gila Sand
Choreographer: Gila Sand; Jen Slaw
A Circus Play in 59 Breathless Minutes: Enter the world of The Three of Clubs, as three perpetually late young comedians race to keep up with their show of wild juggling, stiltwalking, high-leaping, magic and mayhem. These boys need help!
0h 59m Local Comedy FringeJR
www.3ofclubs.org
Toby
Pilot House, The Theater Company
Writer:Anthony P. Pennino
Director: Don Jordan
Toby is a comedy about desperate New York actors, Toby and Toby, who accept a job performing Beckett's Waiting for Godot in Vermont. However, they soon become trapped in a never-ending production where the inconceivable becomes a paranoid reality.
1h 30m. www.pilothousetheater.org
Tokyo Nostalgia
Theatre Arts Japan
Director: Eriko Ogawa
Tokyo Nostalgia is a collection of stories originally from early 20th century Japan, about the lives of ordinary Japanese people. They focus not on the glorified Samurai or world leaders, but on the beauty of the day to day.
1h 30m Local Comedy Drama
home.earthlink.net/~theatreartsjapan
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