BEDBUGS!!! The Concert Plays The Laurie Beechman 9/20

Paul Leschen (music) and Fred Sauter (Book and Lyrics), the downtown, terminally hip, vinyl-cool writing team first presented a reading of their sci-fi, thriller, rock musical BEDBUGS!!! on November 17th, 2007 at New York University's Black Box Theatre. The reaction to their work was so electrically charged its current instantly jolted the uptown producing community.

The title caused as much commotion as the explosive musical energy flowing from the white-hot, arena-ready guitars that dominated the show's seductive score.

The story was as captivating.

This was a musical about the meanest, most parasitic and exploitive species crawling on the face of the earth - bad boyfriends.

It also told the dual stories of a passionate exterminator named Carly and an iconic Canadian pop singer named Dionne Salon; an unlikely but effective pairing in the world war against the new strain of industrial strength bedbugs.

Big stuff.

In late September 2008 BEDBUGS!!! headlined that season's NY Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) where it garnered several awards, critical acclaim and more triumphant word-of-mouth before its sold-out schedule was extended by two added performances which immediately sold-out as well.

The NYMF run was over before many of the Broadway producers and investors could schedule reservations.

The writing team made whatever changes they deemed necessary in a series of developmental readings; the results of which also resulted in a concert version of the highest order of fun as it highlights even further the thrilling score and hysterically funny book.

Two concerts have been booked in New York.

The ticket buyers and the industry have been alerted.

THE STRIPPED-DOWN-FAST-MOVING CONCERTS

Tuesday, September 20 at 7:00pm.
Wednesday, September 21 at 9:30pm.

THE THEATRE

Laurie Beechman Theatre
Located within The West Bank Café
407 West 42nd Street (at 9th Avenue)

TICKETS
$12 cover
$15 f/b minimum

RESERVATIONS
212-695-6909

THE DROP-DEAD BEAUTIFUL CAST
Jenna Leigh Green (Wicked, Bare)
Brian Charles Rooney (Threepenny Opera, POP!)
Chris Hall (Revision Theatre's Rocky Horror Show)
Eric Anderson (South Pacific)
Shannon Conley (lead vocalist for Lez Zeppelin)
Steve Watts (Hurricane at NYMF)
Michael Zahler (Boy in the Bathroom)
Stephen Sheffer (Pre-Broadway Debut)

THE BIOS

Paul Leschen (Composer, Co-Story and Concept) is a Brooklyn-based pianist and composer who was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music for his first musical, Twist. Paul is a collaborator and pianist for the international superstars Scissor Sisters-Mr. Leschen also serves as house pianist, producer and composer for drag queen Hedda Lettuce, and has done similar work in the past for Linda Simpson, Murray Hill and other drag superstars.

Fred Sauter (Book and Lyrics, Co-Story and Concept)holds an MFA from the NYU Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program With his collaborator Paul Leschen he has written "BEDBUGS!!!" and in-development shows "Astronaut Diaper and Other Tales of Modern Love" and their grunge-rock inspired musical spectacular "Karma Kills: A Jukebox Musical Thriller."

SAMUEL BUGGELN (Director) directs downtown and in regional theatre. In NYC, Buggeln was a long-time Artistic Associate with the late Ohio Theatre's Obie-winning resident company Soho Think Tank. Work at the Ohio includes Cressida Among the Greeks, which was nominated for a Drama Desk, as well as Hater (his original translation of Moliere's Misanthrope), The Flight of Icarus, The Last Days of MadaLyn Murray O'Hair, Blue Eyes Black Hair, and the Off-Broadway premiere of Conor McPherson's Rum & Vodka. Other new work developed and directed in New York includes Go-Go Kitty, GO!, which played at the Lucille Lortel Theatre as part of FringeNYC and was that year's Best Play, plus work at the Atlantic, Rattlestick, Hypothetical, New York Theatre Workshop, Theater for the New City, HERE, and Clubbed Thumb. Buggeln is the New York-based Artistic Associate for Portland Stage in Maine, where he has directed many productions. Other regional work includes the Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca, Stageworks/Hudson, Mason Street Warehouse, and Capital Repertory Theatre. Buggeln has received grants from the Peg Sandtvoord Foundation and Dramatists' Guild, is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Directors' Lab, and has been a guest artist with New York Theatre Workshop's summer residency at Dartmouth College.

All photos by: Michael Faulkner