Malina, Arcade, Etc. Set for Off-Off-Bway 'BANG!,' 5/15

Peculiar Works Project, producers of the acclaimed site-specific performance, OFF Stage: the West Village Fragments, will present "BANG! For Your Buck" at the East 13th Street Theater, 136 East 13th Street, for one performance only on Tuesday, May 15 at 7 pm. 

The performance benefit will celebrate the origins of the Off-Off Broadway movement, with new works and classic songs from such OOB founders as Tom Eyen (Dreamgirls), Paul Foster (Tom Paine), William M. Hoffman (As Is), Rochelle Owens (Futz), Robert Patrick (Kennedy's Children), and Megan Terry (Viet Rock).  A special focus of the evening will be a tribute to director Robert Dahdah, who staged many of the earliest plays at Caffe Cino in the '60s, making him a prime OOB instigator and inspiration to those who have come after.

Performers will include Penny Arcade (Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore!), Ellie Covan (artistic director, Dixon Place), John Fleck (NEA 4), O-Lan Jones (The Truman Show, Mars Attacks!), Judith Malina and Hanon Resnikov (co-directors, The Living Theatre), Nicky Paraiso, James Scruggs (Purity), and Peggy Shaw (Menopausal Gentleman).

The Bang! For Your Buck Honorary Benefit Committee includes John Gilman (actor), Lisa Kron (Well), Everett Quinton (actor, The Ridiculous Theatrical Company), Ellen Stewart (artistic director, La MaMa E.T.C.), Diane Torr (performance artist), Doric Wilson (playwright, managing director, TOSOS II), Jim Fina, Julie Hamberg (former associate artistic director, Vital Theatre Company), Jeff Janisheski (associate artistic director, Classic Stage Company), Eric S. Malter, Renee Philippi (artistic director, Concrete Temple Theatre), Gabriel Shanks (director, The Drama League), and Richard Sheinmel (actor, playwright).

The benefit is directed by Nancy Robillard, with musical direction by Benjamin Ickies.  All proceeds will go toward Peculiar Works' June 2007 production, OFF Stage: the East Village Fragments.

"In 2005, PECULIAR WORKS (Co-Artistic Directors Ralph Lewis, Catherine Porter, Barry Rowell) embarked on a two-year journey into the plays and venues that most defined the beginnings of Off-Off Broadway.  It set its sights back 50 years ago when a spark of revolution turned Greenwich Village into a hot spot of artistic experimentation.  In fall of 2006, a multi-venue traveling performance through historic Greenwich Village took three tours per night on a 2-hour 'performance heritage trail.' Along the way, audiences experienced an original multidisciplinary performance punctuated by short scenes from over a dozen landmark plays at the actual sites where they were originally performed," state press notes.

"Born of the Pass-the-Hat circuit, Coffeehouse Theater, and Anti-War Protest actions, the Off-Off Broadway movement found its heart and soul in downtown NYC.  Over the past few years, some important theater venues, such as Circle in the Square, Sullivan Street Playhouse, Variety Arts, Perry Street Theater, Gene Frankel Theater and the Provincetown Playhouse, have been demolished or are targeted for destruction.  With 'OFF Stage,' PECULIAR WORKS voyages into the birth of NYC's alternative theater movement: Off-Off Broadway.  With that voyage, they are aim to draw attention to the hidden secrets behind the incredible spaces that New Yorkers walk by everyday—important sites that have supported so many significant plays and colorful characters."

Ticket prices, if ordered by May 10th, are $50 for reception and performance, $25 for performance only ($75/$35 after).  Tickets include silent auction and raffle featuring theatre tickets for In the Heights, Bill W. and Dr. Bob, Second Stage Theater, Dixon Place, HERE Arts Center, Concrete Temple Theatre and more.  Benefit tickets are available from Theatermania, 212-352-3101 or online at theatermania.com.

BANG! For Your Buck Photo Collage courtesy of Robert Patrick (http://hometown.aol.com/rbrtptrck/Dailypage1.html/)