LOVENESS, a New Play by Craig 'muMs' Grant, Comes to FringeNYC, 8/10-23

Craig "muMs" Grant (actor, writer, poet and LAByrinth Theater Co. member) and V. Steinberg Productions, in association with The Present Company as part of the 18th Annual New York International Fringe Festival, present the World premiere of "muMs" second play LOVENESS: I WILL ONLY LOVE YOU ONCE, directed by Jill DeArmon (co-founder Developing Artists Theater Company, former Managing Director LAByrinth Theater Co.) at Fringe Venue #17 - The Players Theater (115 MacDougal Street, between West 3rd and Bleecker) in Manhattan.

LOVENESS will be presented on the following dates/times: Sunday, August 10 at 12noon, Sunday, August 17 at 7:45pm, Wednesday, August 20 at 7:15pm, Friday, August 22 at 4:45pm, and Saturday, August 23 at 7pm

LOVENESS is an urban poetic satirical melodrama, a poetic dance between the experiential level of human reality - dulled by our fruitless search to complete ourselves through a romantic partner - and an exploration of the deeper, more accurate levels of emotion and the measure of how far we have to go to unlock their truth. LOVENESS is manifested as the story of Carlyle and Isabelle, who fall for one another. They assume it is love but then must face their true intentions and self-deception.

The production features Meridith Nicholaev ("Mirror Man," "Mad About the Boy"), Talym Jinn Kim (RACE, RELIGION & POLITICS, A WINTER PARTY), Kelley Rae O'Donnell (FIGHT GIRL BATTLE WORLD, HOT BUBBLES), and Marco Greco ("Hannibal," "Sleepers").

The play was developed at the LAByrinth Theater Company (Mimi O'Donnell, Artistic Director), at both the Barn Reading Series and the Summer Intensive Series. Labyrinth members on the LOVENESS cast and crew include: Craig "muMs" Grant, Jill DeArmon, Talym Jinn Kim, Kelley Rae O'Donnell, and Marco Greco.

muMs' other play PARADOX OF THE URBAN CLICHÉ will be produced Fall 2014 by Poetic Theater Productions.

Craig 'muMs' Grant (playwright) is an American Poet, Actor and Playwright. He has performed on New York City stages for more than 20 years. muMs is best known for playing Arnold Jackson aka Poet on the HBO hit show OZ. At the same time muMs is an internationally known Poet- performing at over 200 cafe's, Colleges and Universities across the U.S., Europe and Africa. muMs is a proud member of the Labyrinth Theater Company, debuting in such productions as the critically acclaimed LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT and A VIEW FROM 151st STREET, both performed Off-Broadway at the NYC's Public Theater. With the Labyrinth, muMs has also workshopped two of his own plays, PARADOX OF THE URBAN CLICHÉ and LOVENESS: I will only love you once. Some of muMs' acting credits include: The Knick, Side Effects, Law and Order SVU, Law and Order, Cold Case, Chappelle's show, Boston Legal, Law and Order Criminal Intent, The Sopranos, Dark Water, Everyday People, Bamboozled... amongst others.

Jill DeArmon (director) is a proprietor of Center Stage NY, and has taught theater at ps11, Rebels With Applause, and The Lee Strasburg Institute. She was the Managing Director of LAByrinth Theater Company (Artistic Directors: Philip Seymour Hoffman & John Ortiz) from 1999-2002, and she is co-founder of Developing Artists Theater Company. Jill's New York choreography credits include: Stopless (LAByrinth Theater Company), Erin Cressida Wilson's Trail of Her Inner Thigh (LAByrinth), John Patrick Shanley's first musical A Winter Party (LAByrinth Theater Company), A Taste of Honey (Theatre 22), and Vanessa Hidary's Culture Bandit (Nuyorican Poets Cafe). Jill's Producing credits include; LAByrinth Theater Company's Stopless, In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings, and Culture Bandit & Darwaza. Her directing credits include: David Deblinger's Cockamamie Soup, Developing Artists' Runaways, Knee High to a Microphone, We Said Out Loud, These Days, Billy Sleepyhead and LAByrinth Theater Company's The Fairy Tale Project by Webb Wilcoxen.

LOVENESS: I WILL ONLY LOVE YOU ONCE plays at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, between Bleecker and West 3rd St. August 10th through August 23rd, with performances SUN 8/10 @ NOON, SUN 8/17 @ 7:45PM, WED 8/20 @ 7:15PM, FRI 8/22 @ 4:45PM, and SAT 8/23 @ 7PM. Tickets are $18 in advance at www.fringeNYC.org. Tickets can also be purchased at www.fringeonthefly.com.

For more information and to contribute to the LOVENESS kickstarter campaign, go to: www.lovenesstheplay.com.