New Musical Adaptation of HAMLET to Play Planet Connections, 6/21-7/9

The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity presents NIX, a new musical adaptation of Hamlet driven by a muscular, vulnerable heroine, putting herself in harm's way for justice. After receiving the PCTF Award for outstanding lyrics, & nominations for Outstanding, Direction, Script & Production in 2015, Katherine Brann Fredricks helms a cast of seven, including Laurel Caruso, Darilyn Castillo*, Carlos Martin*, Toni Martin*, Damian Norfleet*, Jody Reynard*, and Nicholas Sotack*. Six performances of NIX will be staged at the Paradise Factory, Upstairs Theatre, 64 E. 4th St., NYC from June 21-July 9 as part of The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. The Festivity will take place June 13 - July 10 at the Paradise Factory in New York City.

Petra is a war widow, supporting herself & her daughter by hauling waste water away from fracking wells. When a water quality engineer suddenly disappears, Petra blows the whistle on her boss to uncover the mystery. Petra's in love with a Mayor who can't take action without hard data; working for an entrepreneur who pumps out disinformation faster than oil; called crazy for valuing health over local industry. This contemporary musical adaptation of Hamlet features rap, latin & rock music styles. NIX is a mix of Shakespeare's most famous play & Erin Brockovich. Tell a rich man he could lose everything and see what happens.

In 2001, National Geographic photographer Barry Tessman - who was talking with me about making an energy documentary - died under suspicious circumstances. When Barry's father pushed for a police investigation, people started calling him crazy. It all reminded me of the murderer investigation in Hamlet: accusations of insanity, suspicion of corruption and murder, and no clear path to truth. Whether Barry Tessman died in an accident, as the man who was supposed to go boating with him claimed - or whether he was murdered, NIX is for Barry. Because environmentalists lives matter.

NIX proudly benefits Women Make Movies, a national non-profit feminist media arts organization which supports women filmmakers through its internationally recognized Distribution and Production Assistance Program. WMM films received 2 of the 9 Peabody awards for documentary this year and projects from the organization's Production Assistance Program premiered at Sundance and Cannes and were short-listed for an Academy Award! To receive regular updates from WMM, sign up for their E-Newsletter. Support WMM by shopping at Amazon Smile. For more information, you can visit www.wmm.com.

NIX is presented by the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. Producer/Director/Script: Katherine Brann Fredricks; Composer: Massimo Malavasi; Musical Director: Salomon Lerner; Choreographer: Shelly Hutchinson; Lighting Designer: Andrew Scharwath; Casting: Cindi Rush, CSA; Graphics: Mary Williams; Publicist: Paul Siebold/Off Off PR.

NIX plays the following schedule as part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity: Tuesday June 21 @ 9:00pm; Friday June 24 @ 5:30pm; Saturday June 25 @ 12:30pm; Sunday June 26 @ 8:15pm; Thursday July 7 @ 5:30pm; and Saturday July 9 @ 5:15pm.

Tickets are $18 and can be purchased by visiting PlanetConnections.org or by calling 866-811-4111.

The runtime for NIX is approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.