Ars Nova Announces Complete Lineup for ANT FESTIVAL, 6/2-28

Ars Nova (Jason Eagan, Artistic Director; Renee Blinkwolt, Managing Director) proudly announces the lineup for its 7th Annual ANT Fest. This year's festival of All New Talent runs from June 2 - 28, featuring fresh new work from some of New York's most exciting emerging artists. From epic rock opera to sexy shadow puppetry, 2014's ANT Fest heats up Ars Nova this summer with four weeks of comedy, music, theater and a fusion of all three you won't see anywhere else.

ANT Fest also provides the opportunity to catch two late night editions of Showgasm, showcasing more of this year's Fest participants alongside Ars Nova's consistent lineup of fresh comedy, music and variety acts. The ANT Fest Lounge is back again, inviting audiences and artists to hang out together and keep the party going late every night while enjoying a full bar featuring beer and pizza from longtime festival sponsors Brooklyn Brewery and Two Boots Pizza. Complete festival schedule & lineup follows.

Now in its seventh year, Ars Nova's annual celebration of All New Talent is a prime destination for an eclectic mix of brand new shows across disciplines and has proven to be an important first step in the lifecycle and development of new works. Through its open submission process, ANT Fest offers a wide range of early career artists a point of entry onto the Ars Nova stage as well as into the greater New York City arts community. This year's call for submissions drew nearly 300 applicants.

Since its inception, ANT Fest has increasingly provided a crucial first step toward an extended artistic relationship with Ars Nova. This year's World Premiere production Charlatan (written by Vinny DePonto and Josh Koenigsberg, directed by Andrew Neisler) was developed after Vinny DePonto's ANT Fest 2012 show Mysterious Delights. Ars Nova's Fall 2013 World Premiere production Eager to Lose (created by Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Wes Grantom, Portia Krieger and Tansy) first took the stage in ANT Fest 2011 before going on to further development.

ANT Fest 2014 plays June 2 - June 28 from Monday - Saturday at 7:00pm. Ars Nova is located at 511 West 54th Street. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at www.arsnovanyc.com, (212) 352-3101, or at the Ars Nova Box Office (30 minutes before showtime, subject to availability).

Showgasm begins at 9:00pm on June 5 and 19 (immediately following ANT Fest shows on those evenings). Tickets are $5 and may be purchased at www.arsnovanyc.com, (212) 352-3101, or at the Ars Nova Box Office (30 minutes before showtime, subject to availability).

SCHEDULE:

Monday, June 2 at 7:00
The Silo
Created by Matt Carney & Noah Mease

The Silo is closing, and we need your help! Wander through a failed research facility and find yourself face-to-face with its quarantined patients in this interactive, science fiction adventure whose outcome is determined by the mysteries you uncover.

Tuesday, June 3 at 7:00
Ike Night
Created by Ikechukwu Ufomadu

Charismatic solo performer Ike Ufomadu - aka: the son that Woody Allen and Frank Sinatra never had - blurs the line between real life and variety show in this evening of comedy and music entertainment.

Wednesday, June 4 at 7:00
The Frito-Lay Project
Written by Skylar Fox & Simon Henriques

Tired of boring, old, meaningless theater? So are Skylar and Simon, two college guys on a mission to make theatre so important that it changes the world! This mockumentary exposes the amusing realities lurking beneath artistic idealism. When the orange Cheeto dust clears, will anyone be safe?

Thursday, June 5 at 7:00
Streepshow! Episode 1
Co-Created by Greg Kozatek & Jay Stull
Written by Jay Stull
Directed by Andrew Neisler
Music & Lyrics by Micah Bucey & Nicholas Williams

Nine Streeps. One house. This reality show send-up follows nine Meryl Streep characters competing for the chance to rewrite their narrative. Watch what happens when these ladies stop being polite and start getting Meryl.

Thursday, June 5 at 9:00
Showgasm, Ars Nova's rowdy variety show/party hybrid hosted by comedian John Early. The drinks are cheap, the acts are fresh, and the music is live! Come. You've never looked better.

Friday, June 6 at 7:00
GOOD MEN WANTED
Written by Kevin Armento
Directed by Jaki Bradley
Choreographed by Ani Taj

It's 1863, and five badass women ditch their petticoats and dress as men to fight in the Civil War. This adrenaline-fueled portrait of five real women blends drama, dance and pop music to chronicle a chapter of American history that's not in any textbook.

Saturday, June 7 at 7:00
The Highwayman
Written & Directed by Knud Adams
Music by Kate Hamilton & Nick Lerangis

Desperate to win popularity and dates, two teenage misfits try to adapt Alfred Noyes' century-old poem 'The Highwayman" into a garage-rock-opera. It's going to be a disaster. In the miserable crucible that is American High School, two fearsome artists are born.

Monday, June 9 at 7:00
People Tell Me Things
Written by Peter Gil-Sheridan
Directed by Morgan Gould

Storyteller and playwright Peter Gil-Sheridan can't help it. People tell him things. All kinds of hilarious, tragic and stupid things. And now he's telling you. So grab a drink and have a listen. It'll only hurt a little.

Tuesday, June 10 at 7:00
Jeff and Buttons
Written by Chris Manley & Jeff Seal
Directed by Joe Schiappa

Jeff and Buttons are putting on a vaudeville show, even though they have no clue what vaudeville is! This two-man comedy duo is like Laurel and Hardy on a bender with the Marx Brothers, drunk dialing Beckett.

Wednesday, June 11 at 7:00
SeaWife
Created by Seth Moore & The Lobbyists
Developed & Directed by Liz Carlson

With influences ranging from bluegrass to pop, rising New York band The Lobbyists combine their folk rooted sound with modern storytelling, inspired by classic nautical lit, for this concert version of their full-on ghostly experience. Oh and there's a Leviathan!

Thursday, June 12 at 7:00
Too Many Lenas 3: Let Them Eat Cake
Created & Directed by David Bernstein
Written by Brittany Allen, Sam Corbin, Tessa Skara, Haley Traub, Elizabeth Trieu, Jaime Wright

A coven of six Lena Dunhams are holed up in a Brooklyn loft, enacting the daily rituals of extreme millennial self-dramatization. As success weighs heavier and heavier on them, can the Lenas retain their individuality and avoid becoming the ultimate cliché?

Friday, June 13 at 7:00
Ermyntrude and Esmerelda, A Naughty Puppet Play
Adapted by Hunter S. Kaczorowski
Directed by Margot Bordelon

Edwardian teenagers Ermyntrude and Esmeralda are devoted pen pals who share everything-especially titillating discoveries about pussy-cats and bow-wows-in this very adult evening of shadow puppetry and turn-of-the-century sexuality from the perspective of two very, very, very curious young ladies.

Saturday, June 14 at 7:00
The Shirtwaist Sisters
Created by Lynn Andrews, Savannah Frazier, Nicole Weiss

What happens when Hank Williams, The Andrews Sisters, and Beyoncé have a sleepover? An evening of boogie-woogie country-western, tight swing harmonies, and torch-tales of lovers lost from the sultry, sweet Shirtwaist Sisters.

Monday, June 16 at 7:00
Condolences from the Future!
Written & Directed by Chris Barlow
Music by Eric Littmann

A collision of past and present! Radio play and stage play! Foley audio and futuristic technology! Join Margaret and her sidekick Clyde, the Last Unicorn on Earth, as they attempt to save time itself in this live-action radio-play odyssey.

Tuesday, June 17 at 7:00
Ain't Gonna Make It
Co-Created by Lauren Dubowski, Nick Hussong, Cole Lewis, Masha Tsimring
Directed by Cole Lewis

Enter Eric's hallucinogenic dreams, where the desires of life meet death in a bluesy musical explosion. This rock n' roll hybrid explores the meaning and certainty of knowing: You. Are. Gonna. Die.

Wednesday, June 18 at 7:00
The Bakken Formations: Tales from the New West
Co-Created by Clare Drobot & Fritz Myers
Book & Lyrics by Clare Drobot
Music by Fritz Myers
Directed by Jade King Carroll

Inspired by a series of journalistic revelations about life in and around the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota, this vibrant, folk song cycle questions what it means to face reality in the latest iteration of the American Dream.

Thursday, June 19 at 7:00
Daniel Koren: The Most Important Thing
Created by Daniel Koren

A composer's stream of consciousness is on full display in this bizarre and visually electric show at the intersection of virtuosic piano, trippy projections, floating heads and eccentric commentary.

Thursday, June 19 at 9:00
Showgasm, Ars Nova's rowdy variety show/party hybrid hosted by comedian John Early. The drinks are cheap, the acts are fresh, and the music is live! Come. You've never looked better.

Friday, June 20 at 7:00
Underground Railroad Game
Created by Jennifer Kidwell & Scott Sheppard
Directed by Sarah Sanford

A pair of middle school teachers set off into treacherous territory with their controversial take on living history. The audience becomes their students in this darkly comic meditation on how the past continues to infect our present.

Saturday, June 21 at 7:00
This Changes
Written & Directed by Matt Gehring

What's the life of a comic character after the joke lands? What's it like when Target Lady or Two Wild and Crazy Guys face a death in the family? This sketch show explores comic characters beyond their punchlines in a show full of funny and just a little bit of tenderness.

Monday, June 23 at 7:00
Montana Pitches Their Feature Film, The Man Who Owns the Stars, to a Major Animation Studio: A Trial Run
Created by MONTANA
Co-Written by Conor Eifler, Emily Kaplan, Ben Vigus & Jeff White
Directed by Kate Eminger

We're doing the most important pitch of our lives and you're invited to our trial run! If you like STARS, ITALIANS, EVIL CORPORATIONS, CHASE SCENES, EMOTIONAL GUT-PUNCHES, STARS, SURPRISE ENDINGS, and STARS, you should definitely come. This presentation/show will explode the intersection of theater and film while telling you the best-animated story ever pitched.

Tuesday, June 24 at 7:00
...baby no more times
Written and Developed by Mary Birbaum, Melissa Lusk, Caroline V. McGraw

Who run the world? GIRLS. This live concert is a feminine fistfight between the power of pop music and all its weird messages about body image, gender roles, freakum dresses and genies in bottles.

Wednesday, June 25 at 7:00
Stompcat in Lawndale
Created by Mark Sonnenblick & Will Moritz

Your old classmates Will and Mark were asked to play your 5-year high school reunion. What the planning committee doesn't know is that they've joined a cult that worships a mystical cardboard cat. Come dance and chant to the explosive, electro-disco-dance music at this high-energy concert/reunion experience!

Thursday, June 26 at 7:00
I Heard Sex Noises: A Glimpse at Gardening on Roosevelt Island
Created by Andrew Farmer, Claire Rothrock & Ryann Weir
Directed by Annie Tippe

Orgies. Drugs. Arson. Lawn Gnomes. Best in Show meets The Crucible in this mockumentary look at the Roosevelt Island Garden Club's descent into chaos. Inspired by true events covered in The New York Times. The rest we made up.

Friday, June 27 at 7:00
Cyclops: A Rock Opera
Written by Chas LiBretto, Landon Marcus & Louis Butelli
Music by Landon Marcus with Benjamin Sherman
Directed by Louis Butelli

A glam-rock adaptation of Euripides' Cyclops, featuring The Satyrs, a rock band of shirtless goat men, a flesh-hungry Cyclops with a penchant for singing about the one who got away, and Odysseus, a ukulele-toting soldier just trying to get home.

Saturday, June 28 at 7:00
1969: The Second Man
Music & Lyrics by Jacob Brandt
Book by Jacob Brandt & Simon de Carvalho
Directed by Lilleth Glimcher

Paying tribute to one of America's most important second-bests, this folk-punk song cycle/puppet-show/history lesson explores the imagined jealousy and disappointment of Buzz Aldrin, the second astronaut to walk on the moon.

Ars Nova is committed to developing and producing theater, comedy and music artists in the early stages of their professional careers. Its unique development programs are designed to support outside-the-box thinking and encourage innovative, genre-bending work. By providing a safe environment where risk-taking and collaboration are paramount, Ars Nova gives voice to a new generation of artists and audiences, pushing the boundaries of live entertainment by nurturing creative ideas into smart, surprising new work. For more information on Ars Nova's programs, visit www.arsnovanyc.com. Ars Nova was founded in memory of Gabe Wiener.