HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2009: THEATER SERIES Runs 9/18-29 At 45 Bleecker Street Theater

HOWL! Festival presents HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2009: THEATER SERIES
September 18-29 at 45 Bleecker

2009 Theater Series includes limited runs of:

PIC-UP: A SUMMER ROMANCE, the latest from the TWEED Fractured Classicks Series, starring Julie Halston and Sweetie, by Stephen Pell;
GOT YOU by Michael W. Small, starring Heather Laws;
The Common SWALLOW by David Caudle, starring Annie Golden and Elizabeth Rich;
SOP DOLL! A JACK TALE NOH by Lee Ann Brown and Tony Torn;
TRY! TRY! by Frank O'Hara; and CLUTTER by Kristan Prevallet;
plus the return of last season's acclaimed revival of Marc Blitzstein's THE CRADLE WILL ROCK, directed and choreographed by Lisa Brailoff.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE!

Proceeds to benefit HOWL! HELP of The Actors Fund,
the first emergency assistance fund serving downtown artists

Beginning September 18 through September 29, the HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2009: THEATER SERIES offers limited engagements of seven plays: The TWEED Fractured Classicks Series presentation of PIC-UP: A SUMMER ROMANCE by Stephen Pell; GOT YOU by Michael W. Small; The Common SWALLOW by David Caudle; SOP DOLL! A JACK TALE NOH by Lee Ann Brown and Tony Torn; TRY! TRY! by Frank O'Hara and CLUTTER by Kristan Prevallet; plus the return of last season's acclaimed revival of Marc Blitzstein's THE CRADLE WILL ROCK at 45 Bleecker (45 Bleecker Street) in Manhattan.

The HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2009: THEATER SERIES features the following:

PIC-UP: A SUMMER ROMANCE
Friday-Sunday, September 18-20 at 8pm; Tickets: $20

Broadway's comic diva Julie Halston (HAIRSPRAY, THE WOMEN) and drag superstar Sweetie (WIG OUT!) lead the cast of PIC-UP: A SUMMER ROMANCE, the latest installment of the TWEED Fractured Classicks Series of original interpretations of great American plays and movies.

Joining Ms. Halston and Sweetie for this satirical take on 1950's romance and Labor Day picnics are TWEED favorites Jay Rogers, Bradford Scobie, Steve Hayes and Greg Wallach, with cabaret star Bree Benton in her TWEED debut.

PIC-UP: A SUMMER ROMANCE is written by Stephen Pell, of Ridiculous Theatre fame. Kevin Malony is set to direct this deceptively reverent, yet hilarious spin on a classic story; produced by TWEED TheaterWorks, in association with Robbi Kearns.

THE CRADLE WILL ROCK
Monday-Thursday, September 21-24 at 8pm; Tickets: $20

On a June evening in 1938, director Orson Welles, producer John Houseman, and the cast and crew of Marc Blitzstein's new Broadway musical THE CRADLE WILL ROCK were locked out of their theater on opening night by armed servicemen under orders from the Federal government. Without costumes, sets, lights or sound, Welles and Houseman found an unused theater, rented an upright piano, and marched their audience up Broadway for what has become the most historic theatrical opening ever recorded. As legend has it, the entire libretto -- performed from the audience by actors forbidden to step onto the stage -- received a 40-minute standing ovation.

Director and choreographer Lisa Brailoff's revival of this timely, controversial musical about greed, corruption and the plight of the worker -- presented initially this past February by Downtown Music Productions, East Village Concert Series and St. Mark's Church in the Bowery -- returns for four performances as part of HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2009: THEATER SERIES.

"The current economic crisis makes it an opportune time to hear this leftist theatre piece," wrote Anthony Tommasini in The New York Times earlier this year. "THE CRADLE WILL ROCK is a landmark music-theatre work that audiences have heard about but seldom get to see. This bare-bones performance, with a cast of 19 singing on book and being accompanied only by piano, was appropriate to the piece," he added in his review.

THE CRADLE WILL ROCK features book, music and lyrics by Marc Blitzstein. The creative team includes music director Mimi Stern-Wolfe, artistic coordinator Jeannine Otis. Cast of THE CRADLE WILL ROCK is to be announced.

GOT YOU
Thursday and Friday, September 24 and 25 at 8pm; Tickets $10

GOT YOU, a new play by Michael W. Small, peaks into the lives of east villagers Adam and Wendy, a husband and wife who enjoy a daily private game in which they try to trick each other with outrageous lies. One day, when their routine is interrupted by what seems to be another terrorist attack, they become unwitting players in a different sort of deception: one that reveals the fragility of their post-9/11 lives, and leads to deadly consequences.

Heather Laws, best known for her work on Broadway in the 2006 revival of COMPANY, THE BOY FROM OZ and CABARET, leads the cast of GOT YOU which also includes Laura Daniel, Jeremy Ellison-Gladstone, and Fred Rose.

Penny Ayn Maas is set to direct, with sound and lighting design by David Premack.

Playwright Michael W. Small is the co-author of the book for the musical THE IT GIRL and most recently wrote the New York International Fringe 2008 favorite KABOOM!

The Common SWALLOW
Friday and Saturday, September 25 and 26 at 8pm; and Sunday, September 27 at 3pm and 8pm
Tickets $15

Annie Golden, whose Broadway credits include HAIR, THE FULL MONTY and XANADU, stars in The Common SWALLOW, a new play by David Caudle (THE SUNKEN LIVING ROOM) about a Midwestern town's annual food fair.

Locals converge along the banks of a muddy river to sample pulled pork, baked beans, and corn on the cob in this tasty new play, directed by Kirsten Kelly. Jim, a 19-year-old runaway comes to the fair looking for meth; while Karen, a New Yorker on a rare return to her roots, picks at her barbequed chicken, potato salad, and A VERY OLD would; and her townie brother, Tripp, sharpens his teeth on some juicy ribs -- and simmering sibling rivalry. What they really crave is a good helping of love and acceptance, and a taste of "welcome home."

The cast includes Steppenwolf-favorite Elizabeth Rich and Julie Jesneck; additional cast of The Common SWALLOW is to be announced.

The Common SWALLOW was developed in the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group at Primary Stages. David Caudle's plays include the award-winning THE SUNKEN LIVING ROOM (Best Drama of '06, Miami Sun Post), IN DEVELOPMENT, VISITING OURS, DAMSEL, and THE SECOND HOUSE.

SOP DOLL! A JACK TALE NOH
Saturday and Sunday, September 26 and 27 at 8pm; Tickets $10

Award-winning poet Lee Ann Brown and actor/director Tony Torn collaborate on the new play SOP DOLL! A JACK TALE NOH -- a spooky Appalachian tale of witches, ghosts, and shape-shifting wildcats, told in the style of Japanese ritualistic Noh drama.

Along with special guests, to be announced, the cast of SOP DOLL! A JACK TALE NOH includes Tony Torn, Lee Ann Brown, Miranda Torn, and Julie Patton.

TRY! TRY! and CLUTTER
Monday and Tuesday, September 28 and 29 at 8pm; Tickets $10
Verse Theater Manhattan presents a Poets Theatre Double Bill of two short lyric plays: TRY! TRY! by Frank O'Hara and CLUTTER by Kristan Prevallet.

In TRY! TRY!, a soldier returns home from the war to confront his wife and her lover. An unnerving blend of Greek tragedy and Hollywood farce, TRY! TRY! was first published in 1951 and is among Mr. O'Hara's earliest theatre pieces. Both delightful and unsettling, the play is one of the award-winning late poet's most lyrical and accessible works.

Frank O'Hara (1926-1966) posthumously received the National Book Award for Poetry in 1972. He was a key figure in the postwar New York School of poets and painters which includes poets John Ashbery and James Schuyler, and painters Larry Rivers and John Jaspers.

One-act lyric drama CLUTTER by Kristan Prevallet ("I, Afterlife: Essay in Mourning Time") is a love story about social absurdity and poetic crisis. In CLUTTER, a girl searches for meaning in words that make sense only to her, and a boy tries to make sense out of chaos by re-arranging the furniture. Both share the same muse: a voice from the radio who reveals the secret that might bring them back together.

Director and cast of TRY! TRY! and CLUTTER are to be announced.

The HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2009 is an extended series of theater, music, performance art and film with programs running throughout the month of September at 45 Bleecker (45 Bleecker Street), Millennium Film Workshop (66 East 4th Street), New Museum (235 Bowery), Bowery Poetry Club (308 Bowery) and St. Mark's Church in the Bowery (131 East 10th Street). For full details about HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2009 and its various series, visit www.howlfestival.com or www.eastvillagehowler.blogspot.com

Proceeds from the HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2009 will benefit HOWL! HELP -- administered by The Actors Fund -- which provides emergency assistance to qualified performing artists in crisis.

HELP (HOWL! EMERGENCY LIFE PROJECT) OF THE ACTORS FUND is a wonderful new community resource created to support artists who have made or continue to make their careers in NYC's East Village a nd Lower East Side and are in need of emergency assistance. Eligible artists include participants in the annual Howl Festival and those in the East Village Arts Community of theatre, music, performance, dance, multimedia, the spoken word and visual arts. Assistance is based on need and qualifying work history. This fund provides emergency assistance to qualified performing artists in crisis and offers other Actors Fund support services.

THE ACTORS FUND is a national human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment. The Fund - which supports both performers and everyone behind the scenes in theatre, film, TV, music, dance, radio and opera - is a safety net, providing social services and emergency assistance, health services and health insurance information, employment and training programs and housing support for those who are in need, crisis or transition. Learn more about The Actors Fund's services and programs at www.actorsfund.org.

Tickets for HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2009: THEATER SERIES are $10, $15 or $20 and can be purchased at the 45 Bleecker box office (north side of Bleecker Street, between Lafayette & Mott Streets) on line at http://www.brownpapertickets.com. HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2009: THEATER SERIES run September 18-29 at 8pm, with a 3pm matinee of The Common SWALLOW on Sunday, September 27. Cash only at the door.

The annual outdoor HOWL! Festival runs September 4-6 in and around Tompkins Square Park, between 7th and 10th Streets and Avenues A and B in the East Village.

For more information, including complete schedule of events, for the festival and subsequent HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2009, visit www.howlfestival.com or www.eastvillagehowler.blogspot.com