"F**king Hipsters!" a new musical comedy with book by Keythe Farley ("Bat Boy: The Musical"), lyrics by Lori Scarlett ("Break Up Notebook") and music by Ms. Scarlett and John Ballinger, receives its world premiere production as part of the 2011 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) tonight at 8:00 pm at the Signature Theatre: Peter Norton Space at 555 W. 42nd St. The production is directed by Two-time Tony Nominee John Carrafa ("Urinetown", "Love, Valour, Compassion").
Other performances will take place Wed. Sept. 28 at 1:00pm, Sat. Oct 1 at 1:00pm and 5:00pm, Sunday, Oct 2 at 9:00pm, Wed. Oct. 5 at 9:00pm and Sat. Oct. 8 at 1:00pm.
"F**king Hipsters!" is set in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and follows Lars (Brandon Wardell of "Catch Me if You Can"), lead-singer for the indie band Mark Twain's Moustache. Lars is the hipster king: he has a successful music career, he's idealistic and socially active, plus, he brews his own beer. Lars' world is thrown into turmoil when he meets the young Korean-American spitfire Josie Harvey (Emily Borromeo) one night after a show. Josie immediately penetrates the hipster scene with her beauty, smarts and sexual aggressiveness. But bad luck follows Josie: her abusive ex-boyfriend drained her bank account and her apartment has termites. When she moves into The Moustache Loft to seek refuge, she throws Lars' relationships with keyboardist Evangeline (Heather Robb of The Spring Standards ), and the inter-racial-gay-married-born-again rhythm section of Buck (Luke Smith) and Tomatoes (Kyle Lamar Mitchell) into turmoil. Will The Moustache survive? Will Josie?
"I'm not really a Hipster," says Mr. Farley. "I'm more of a Slacker. That's what they called us back in 1991, when I was 26. But it's the same ethos-- young people who are content to spend their days making art and making love. Hipsters are just the latest Bohemians. ‘Fucking Hipsters!' celebrates them in grand fashion."
"I'm a big fan of Hipster music," says Ms. Scarlett, whose new musical "Break Up Notebook" recently opened in Asbury Park. "I love Yuck! and Uffie, but I'm also a big fan of the three-minute pop song. Creating a musical-comedy that centers around a hipster band really allowed me to write in a lot of different styles. It's been fun!"
Co-composer John Ballinger, who has toured as a guitar-player with Rufus Wainwright's band, has this to say about working with Ms. Scarlett, "She is an incredible songwriter-- tuneful and bold. She gets right to the heart what's called for musically and story-wise."
The creative team is rounded-out by a bevvy of Broadway designers: set designer Beowulf Boritt ("Rock of Ages"), costume designer Ann Closs-Farley ("The Pee Wee Herman Show") lighting designer Jason Lyons ("Rock of Ages"), sound designer Michael Vincent Skinner ("Bossa Nova"), and projection designer Aaron Rhyne ("Bonnie and Clyde"). Fight choreography will be handled by Rick Sordelet ("The Adams Family") and the pit-band (led by Mr. Ballinger) includes players from "Jersey Boys." General Management provided by Reed Ridgley, Production Stage Management by Lindsay Turteltaub. "All we had to do was hand folks the script and score, and everyone just started signing up." says Ballinger.
The cast of "F**king Hipsters" includes F. Michael Haynie, Jennifer Bowles ("American Idiot") and Jeff Tuohy playing a number of roles each.
"When I first read F**king Hipsters! I was struck by how brilliantly it represents the world we live in right now." says Carrafa. "We email, text, chat, call, Skype and FaceTime, but what is the content of our communication, really? Who are we becoming to each other? What is the new community we are all a part of? If it sounds lofty, it is. I believe F**king Hipsters! is a story that deserves to be shouted from every rooftop...or sung by a kick ass rock band."
