Circus Amok Premieres MOO, Now thru September 23

Obie and Bessie Award-winning Circus Amok, New York City's only one-ring, traveling political circus, once again lands in neighborhood parks throughout the city for the world premiere of its new production, "MOO." All performances have a running-time of one hour and are free to the public, playing Saturdays and Sundays, today, September 8-23, 2012.

From the worlds of Ringling brothers Circus, Bread and Puppet Theater, the Judson dance theater, the new burlesque, and the Theater of the Ridiculous springs Circus Amok!! In this extravaganza not to be missed, the multi-talented, seven-member troupe and five-piece Circus Amok Band will amaze and astound audiences with "MOO," a thrilling escapade of danger, mystery, mayhem and madness. This bona fide traveling circus, which tours public parks from Coney Island to Harlem, will delight and incite audiences throughout the city.

In "MOO," we encounter a circus under siege! Creditors are knocking down the doors, performers disappearing left and right, and there's a cow on the loose! But the show must go on! Astounding acrobats, stunning stilters, dancing cows, and catastrophic clowns all forge ahead while a wire-walker teeters on The Edge of sanity. Cops, creditors and Carol Channing mix it up in this not-to-be-missed spectacle!

The performance schedule is as follows:

Today, September 8 - 2pm
COFFEY PARK, Brooklyn (Red Hook)
Dwight and Verona Streets
B61 Bus

Sunday, September 9 - 1pm and 4pm:
FT. GREENE PARK, Brooklyn
Myrtle Ave and St. Edward's Street
?B, Q, R to Dekalb, or G to Fulton

Saturday, September 15 - 2pm:
SOCRATES SCULPTURE GARDEN, Long Island City, Queens
Broadway & Vernon Boulevard.
Q or N to Broadway.

Sunday, September 16 - 1pm and 4pm:
MARCUS GARVEY PARK, Harlem
Madison Avenue & East 122nd Street
?4, 5, 6 to 125th Street, or 2, 3 to 125th Street.

Saturday, September 22 - 2pm:
ST MARY'S PARK, South Bronx
?St. Ann's Avenue & East 149th Street
2, 5 to 3rd Ave – 149th Street

Sunday, September 23 - 1pm and 4pm:
TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK, East Village, Manhattan
?Avenue A & East 7th Street
L to 1st Ave, 6 to Astor Place, or F to 2nd Ave

The Circus Amok Troupe is comprised of Ashley Brockington, Greg Corbino, Sarah East Johnson, Victor Vauban Jr., Carlton Ward, and Cathy Weis, under the direction of ringleader and Circus Amok founder Jennifer Miller. The Band, under the direction of Jenny Romaine, includes Mary Feaster, Lee Frisari, Jessica Lurie and Tina Richerson.

Founded in 1989, Circus Amok brings to New York City's diverse neighborhoods, streets and playing fields free, provocative, entertaining public art that addresses the contemporary social justice issues that touch New Yorkers: immigration, public schools, affordable housing, healthcare access, police brutality, the environment, security post 9/11, and the war in Iraq.

Circus Amok is "a thriving [reinvention] of the circus form, borrowing drag fabulousness from Charles Ludlam's Theater of the Ridiculous, large scale transformation using whole-body masks from Bread and Puppet Theater, and the outdoor bally and verbal rhythm and repertoire from the sideshow, as well as movement vocabulary from post-modern dance," notes scholar and puppeteer Mark Sussman ("Disturbing the Peace: 20th Century Radical Street Performance," 2001) "The troupe balances danger with laughter, slipping its critique between the pies in the face and the surreal, scary, and sometimes gender-bent characters of the charivari."

Visit WWW.CIRCUSAMOK.ORG for late-breaking news and weather updates.

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