Opera on Tap to bring SMASHED to FringeNYC, 8/9-15

Brooklyn-based company Opera on Tap will bring the hatchet-wielding icon of the temperance movement, Carrie Nation, to life in its hit production SMASHED: The Carrie Nation Story, which will be presented at The New York International Fringe Festival this August. Performances will be held at The C.O.W. (21 Clinton Street, between Houston and Stanton) on August 9th at 1:45pm, August 10th at 6:30pm, August 12th at 3pm, August 13th at 7:45pm, and August 15th at 9:30pm. The "hilarious slapstick-style opera" (Feast of Music) by composer James Barry and librettist Timothy Braun will be presented in a fully immersive, all-bar-encompassing production, which Opera on Tap is calling 'Opera of the Ridiculous.' smashedtheopera.com | operaontap.org

Giving a new spin to the operatic mainstay of the strong leading lady, SMASHED is an absurdly comic take on the life of Carrie Nation, a radical turn-of-the-century temperance leader who furthered her cause through vandalism-namely, attacking drinking establishments with a hatchet. With stage direction by Jenny Lee Mitchell, musical direction from Mila Henry, costumes by Ramona Ponce, and lighting design by Christopher Weston, the beer-soaked production will feature Krista Wozniak as Carrie Nation, Lynn Berg as the narrator, David Schmidt as The Bartender/The Scientist/God, with Seth Gilman, Christiana Little, Jocelyne O'Toole, Evan McCormick, Cameron Russell, and Patricia Vital.

SMASHED was commissioned by Opera on Tap for the inauguration of its Roadworks Series and received its premiere at HERE Arts Center in April 2013. The series was created to promote new chamber works with a focus on American personalities and aims to provide immersive and entertaining work that is accessible to audiences who may otherwise be outside of the opera community. Future works include Murder in the Key of Death, an immersive murder-mystery opera by Kamala Sankaram, and The Inner Circle, based on TC Boyle's novel about Alfred Kinsey, by composer Daniel Felsenfeld and librettist Kate Gale (set to premiere in 2015).

Hailed as "raucous and sublime" by the New York Sun, Opera on Tap has been bringing opera to the uninitiated in bars, rock venues, and other alternative spaces since 2005. Born at Freddy's Bar and Backroom in Brooklyn, Opera on Tap has gained national press recognition, several performance residencies across the city, and now has sixteen national chapters. For more information, visit OperaonTap.org.

For more information, photos and video, go to www.SmashedtheOpera.com.