New York Times Critic Takes the Stage with THREE TRUE STORIES, 7/16

As a critic for The New York Times, Neil Genzlinger has reviewed countless plays, television shows and films, but on July 16, 19 and 20 he'll be the one doing the performing as he presents a trio of monologues at the Midtown International Theater Festival.

Genzlinger's show is called THREE TRUE STORIES: TALES FROM A FLUMMOXED FATHERHOOD, and it consists of three monologues written over a 25-year span. They are loosely related in that they feature cameos by the same child: at birth, as a young teenager and as a young adult. But these stories are more about the father than about the kid, and about the odd moments that parenting brings and the skewed lessons to be learned from them.

"I've told pieces of these stories before in various settings and had some good response," Genzlinger said. "The festival gives me a chance to see how they work together. I'm not claiming to be a parenting guru; I'm just a guy who has been amused by some of the odd, serendipitous moments that have come with the journey, and I hope others might be too."

The show is in the Jewel Box Theater, 312 West 36th Street, fourth floor, playing on Tuesday, July 16, at 6 p.m.; Friday, July 19, at 8 p.m.; and Saturday, July 20, at 4:45 p.m.

The Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival's 2013 Season runs from July 15 to Aug. 4, 2013, at the June Havoc Theater and the Dorothy Strelsin Theater, both on the first floor of the Theater Building complex; and the Main Stage Theater and the Jewel Box Theater, on the fourth floor.

John Chatterton created the MITF in 2000, a Midtown alternative to other theater festivals, as a way to present the finest Off-Off Broadway talent in convenience, comfort, and safety. In 2003, the MITF moved its activities to their current location. In 2008 the festival expanded from two theaters in that building to four, at the WorkShop Theater Company and Abingdon Theatre Company spaces. The MITF's artistic emphasis is on the script itself, and therefore the festival focuses on effective but minimal production values. For more information, visit www.midtownfestival.org.