Johnny Darlin Brings IN THE CLOSET to FringeNYC

Johnny Darlin and the Queer South Present:
Johnny Darlin: In the Closet!

Johnny Darlin and the Queer South are proud to present the WORLD PREMIERE of Johnny Darlin: In the Closet as part of the 20th annual New York International Fringe Festival! It's an explosive hour-long multimedia concert playing at Drom on August 14th at 12:30pm, August 16th at 7:00pm, August 17th at 5:30pm, August 24th at 6:00pm, and August 26th at 9:00pm!

Growing up a fan of the arena pop spectacles of Britney Spears and *NSYNC, multimedia artist Johnny Darlin has spent years wondering what his version of this art form would be like. Not quite a musical, not quite a concert, Johnny Darlin: In the Closet is his reckoning with this life-long question. What follows is a live concept album retelling Darlin's southern Baptist coming out story from childhood revelations to first celebrity crush to sending his first nude picture, but broadened by the coming-of-age experiences of the wider queer population. Live music, dance, video projection art and home videos, monologues, prose, and poetry by both closeted and out LGBTQ people from all over the country take center stage and help relay the story of Johnny Darlin's modern pop catalog. The end result is a cohesive, inclusive, yet complicated tale of identity and growth focused on growing up an outsider, secret desires, loves, fetishes, and sexual awakenings. It infers that everyone has something they're hiding and begs the question: "What does it take to come out?," while performers do this exact thing, once and for all, live on stage.

Johnny Darlin: In The Closet features live music from Johnny Darlin, Francis Steakknife, Pincha Jones, and Brooklyn punk trio Gandor Chorale. It is choreographed by Pia Vinson, fresh off her work with Samantha Urbani, and features dancing by Quenton Stuckey and Alberte Nilausen. Live video art will be performed by Johnny Darlin and JPEGSTRIPES. Storytelling will be presented by over fifteen dramatists collectively known as "The Queer South."

For more information, please visit johnnydarlin.com/in-the-closet! Get your tickets at: www.fringenyc.org/basic_page.php?ltr=J!.

Get a taste of Johnny in action below!