Sixth Annual Midtown Theatre Festival Runs July 18-Aug 7
By: BWW News Desk Jun. 21, 2005
As with last year, the MITF will use both the 65-seat MainStage and 40-seat Jewel Box spaces at the WorkShop Theater, located at 312 West 36th Street, 4th Floor. The Festival will also be going on at the 38-seat Where Eagles Dare Theatre, on the ground floor of 347 West 36th Street, as well as the WED's new 12th Floor 40-seat Studio Space in the same building. Finally, the MITF will take over Smash Studios, located at 307 West 36th Street, 18th Floor, Showcase Suite #1, to present Penny 4 Eyes – a rock and roll musical.
All shows are $15.00, unless otherwise indicated, and all shows offer students and senior discount rates of $12.00, unless otherwise indicated. All theatres are wheelchair accessible, although the Where Eagles Dare Theatre does NOT have wheelchair-accessible bathrooms.
Please note, the Festival begins as early as 11:00 am on Saturdays and Sundays. Patrons not buying tickets in advance should check all dates, times, and prices on www.midtownFestival.org or www.smarttix.com before going to the theatre
Reservations are through www.smarttix.com or (212) 868-4444 unless otherwise indicated. The Festival schedule, as always, is subject to change. The latest information will be continually updated on the Festival website at www.midtownFestival.org (site will be up and running by July 1st if not before).
The WorkShop Theater's MainStage and Jewel Box Space is located at 312 West 36th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues), Fourth Floor.
The Where Eagles Dare Theatre is located at 347 West 36th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues), Ground Floor Theatre & 12th Floor Studio Space.
Smash Studios, NYC are located at 307 West 36th Street, 18th Floor, Showcase Suite #1.
A description and schedules of the featured plays is as follows:
Apathy: The Gen X Musical
Words and Music by Mickey Zetts
Directed by Paul D'Alessandria
Featuring: Fiona Choi, Ethan Gomez, Samantha Leigh Josephs, Ryan G. Metzger, Matt Miniea, Duncan Pflaster, Sami Rudnick*
An Equity Showcase
www.apathythemusical.com
120 Minutes (with intermission)
The story takes place over the course of one blurry-eyed night in the 1990s as we follow the wacky adventures of a drug-dealing vamp and her "friends," including a manic slacker, a goth chick, a party slut, a closet case, and her gulf war vet boyfriend. Mayhem ensues as they trip on acid, undermine authority, and treat everyone to the insane irreverence of those "PC free" days gone by! The show first premiered at Florida Playwright's Theatre in Hollywood, Florida in 1995.
Apathy: The Gen X Musical will be performed on the following dates:
Monday, July 18th at 5pm Sunday, July 31st at 10pm
Friday, July 22nd at 9:30pm Thursday, August 4th at 9:30pm
Sunday, July 24th at 9:30pm Friday, August 5th at 9:30pm
Tuesday, July 26th at 9:30pm Sunday, August 7th at 1pm
Friday, July 29th at 9:30pm
Charles and Diana: The Musical (World Premiere)
Music and Book by Lewis Papier.
Lyrics by Mary Sullivan Struzi
Directed by Clyde Baldo
Cast: Michael Digioia*, Amanda Ladd, Rob Resnick*, Kate Greer*, Tracy Rosten* Kenneth Garner,* Natalie Delena, Kiirsten Kuhi*, Amy Russ*, Monica Russell, Alan Ostroff
An Equity Showcase/120 Minutes (with intermission)
The world premiere of this musical with an '80s pop style flavor offers a unique perspective on the challenges and demons affecting Princess Diana. Her guardian angel grants her the opportunity to live her life again - come see how this cherished figure does a second time around. Filled with music that moves your soul and a beautifully written book, this topical musical is already being talked about. Don't miss it!!!
Charles and Diana: The Musical will be performed on the following dates:
Monday, July 18th at 9:30pm Saturday, July 30th at 1pm
Saturday, July 23rd at 8pm Wednesday, August 3rd at 7pm
Friday, July 29th at 5pm Saturday, August 6th at 11am
Dreamhouse (World Premiere – previously done as staged readings)
Conceived by Ari Laura Kreith and David Wolfson
Music by David Wolfson
Words by Barbara DeCesare
Directed by Ari Laura Kreith
Cast: Jennie Eisenhower*, Amy Hutchins*, Maree Johnson*, Gayla D.
Morgan*, Suzan Postel*
An Equity Showcase/120 Minutes (with intermission)
Songs and searches based on the poetry of Barbara DeCesare Five actresses give voice to a contemporary Everywoman as she grapples with love, sex, motherhood, Mom, insanity, death -- and love. The subtle humor and dark lyricism of Barbara DeCesare's poetry map the chaotic landscape between adulthood and maturity.
Dreamhouse will be performed on the following dates:
Thursday, July 21st at 7:30pm Sunday, July 31st at 1pm
Saturday, July 23rd at 11am Monday, August 1st at 7pm
Thursday, July 28th at 5pm Friday, August 5th at 5pm
Feasting on Cardigans (World Premiere)
By Mark Eisman
Directed by Amy Henault
Cast: Ian Pfister*, Kate Sandberg*, Katie Barrett*, Andrea Gallo*, Tyler Samuel Lee. Oberon Theatre Ensemble
An Equity Showcase.
www.oberontheatre.org
$19.00/ 90 Minutes
Set during the 2005 Great Moth Clothing Infestation of New York City, exterminators Haff and Rose-Marie are on the front lines. In the midst of it all, Rose-Marie announces she wants a baby and feels Haff would be the ideal contributor, but Haff's fiancée Lenah is really bugged by the idea. A comedic Sci-Fi parable about parenthood and Mothra. Be safe. Wear Cotton.
Feasting on Cardigans will be performed on the following dates:
Friday, July 22nd at 5:30pm Saturday, July 30th at 8:00pm
Sunday, July 24th at 1:30pm Thursday, August 4th at 5:30pm
Monday, July 25th at 9:30pm Saturday, August 6th at 1:30pm
Glory Road
Book and Lyrics by Greg Senf, Music by Gregory Max
From an idea by Jamie Heck
Musical direction, Jeremy Rosen Directed by George Wolf Reily
Cast: Chet Carlin*, Beth Chiarelli, Michael Finkelstein*, Kristen Hammer, Barbara Litt*, Jeannine Otis, Eric Petersen,*Jessie Thatcher
An Equity Showcase/120 Minutes
The musical Moliere might have written if there had been TV evangelists in 17th century France! Glory Road follows the rise of a simple country family's television ministry while a modern-day Tartuffe schemes to take it over for himself. Be careful who you put your faith in! Featuring Hip-Hop Hall of Famer Jeannine Otis.
Glory Road will be performed on the following dates:
Thursday, July 21st at 5pm Saturday, July 30th at 10pm
Saturday, July 23rd at 1:30pm Tuesday, August 2nd at 9:30pm
Wednesday, July 27th at 5pm Sunday, August 7th at 7:30pm
Invisible Child (World Premiere)
Written and Performed by Lisa Barri
Directed and Choreographed by Don Johanson
Original Score by William Catanzaro
With Dancers: Tabitha Boulding, Robera Mathes, and Karlen Schreiber
www.horizontheatricalproductions.org
90 Minutes
Invisible Child is the story of Ginger, a woman who wants to please everyone else and loses herself in the process. In a moment of epiphany, she realizes she must listen to her inner voice. An exciting and unique play combining monologues, music, and dance. A show that will move you and make you think.
Invisible Child will be performed on the following dates:
Wednesday, July 20th at 7:30pm Sunday, July 31st at 3:30pm
Saturday, July 23rd at 6pm Monday, August 1st at 9:30pm
Monday, July 25th at 7:30pm Friday, August 5th at 7:30pm
It's Only a Play
by Terrence McNally
Produced by Jack Dowd in association with John Capo Productions
Directed by John Capo
cast: Yuval David, Frederick Hamilton, Cynthia Henderson, Betty Hudson, Sheila Mart, Charles Marti, Glenn Peters, John Squire
www.johncapoproductions.com
90 Minutes (performed with an intermission)
It's the opening night party for The Golden Egg on Broadway and waiting for the reviews are the excitable young author, the brilliant but unstable director, the pill-popping leading lady, and the playwright's best friend, an egotistical stage actor who has "gone Hollywood" to star in a mediocre television series. Joining them are a toady drama critic, a would-be chorus boy and a hard-boiled taxi driver. As reviews pour in and euphoria slides into despair, the narcissism, ambition, childishness and plain irrationality which infuses the theater take over. The result is side-splittingly funny.
It's Only a Play will be performed on the following dates:
Tuesday, July 19th at 9:30pm Wednesday, July 27th at 7:30pm Wednesday, July 20th at 3pm Wednesday, August 3rd at 3pm
Saturday, July 23rd at 4pm Saturday, August 6th at 10pm
Monday, July 25th at 5:30pm Sunday, August 7th at 5:30pm
On the Couch With Nora Armami (solo show)
Written and performed by Nora Armani
Directed by François Kergourlay
www.noraarmani.com
$20.00/90 Minutes
Back by popular demand from last year's MITF sell-out run! Egyptian-Armenian-American actress Nora Armani returns with her one-woman show where she talks about her multi-cultural heritage while trying to come to grips with the fact that she doesn't fully belong to any of them. Told with humor and nostalgia in prose, poetry and song, with music from France, Italy, Egypt and Armenia.
On The Couch With Nora Armani will be performed on the following dates:
Friday, July 22nd at 7:30pm Tuesday, August 2nd at 7:30pm
Saturday, July 30th at 3:30pm
Peace Now
Written and directed by Tom Peterson
Exit 69 Productions
Cast: Michael C. Maronna*, Frank Harts*, Carter Jackson*, Genia Michaela*, Cameron Blair*, Cameron Peterson*, Matthew Decapua*, Christian Pedersen*, Adrianne Rae-Rodgers*, Kim Shaw
www.peacenowplay.com
An Equity Showcase/90 Minutes
Based on actual events. In May of 1970, students at a Northeastern University take over their administration building to protest the Vietnam War. They argue, flirt, debate, chant, plot and sing for three days until it all boils to a surprising conclusion.
Peace Now will be performed on the following dates:
Tuesday, July 19th at 5pm Sunday, July 31st at 11am
Sunday, July 24th at 3:30pm Saturday, August 6th at 5:30pm
Thursday, July 28th at 7:30pm Sunday, August 7th at 11am
Shooting Yourself in the Foot (World Premiere)
Written by Marci Adilman & Jessica Jill Turner
Directed by: Melissa Boswell & Jane Steinberg
Conceived by The Kiva Theater Company
An Equity Showcase/90 minutes
Upon returning from a year long tour of duty in Iraq, Private Rusty Rottirur finds himself lost in the murkiness of his own memories. Rusty is haunted by his imagination and the stories he has heard and told. "Shooting Yourself in the Foot" tells this soldier's struggle to sift the truth, or the closest thing to it, from his memory and imagination. This play is based on actual interviews with Private Rottirur, conducted by The Kiva Theatre Company during May of 2005.
Shooting Yourself in the Foot will be performed on the following dates:
Thursday, July 21st at 10pm Sunday, July 31st at 5:30pm
Saturday, July 24th at 7:30pm Wednesday, August 3rd at 5pm
Tuesday, July 26th at 7:30pm Sunday, August 7th at 3:30pm
Spit It Out!
Directed by Sarah Gurfield
Musical Director: Donna Kelly
Writers: Amy Coleman and Valerie Smaldone
Featuring Amy Coleman* Valerie Smaldone* Stephen Bienskie*
The Spit it Out! Blues Band: Andy Bassford, Donna Kelly
Two Sides of a Coin Productions
www.twosidesofacoin.com
An Equity Showcase/90 Minutes
Spit It Out! is about living "outside the box", no matter what box you happen to be in. A comical and endearing look at the transformational power of an unlikely friendship between two women, nine songs, one boyfriend, two husbands, a bartender, six sets, three musicians, seven network executives, impending middle-age, burgeoning success, threatened fame and a whole lot of blues goin' on.
Spit It Out! will be performed on the following dates:
Sunday, July 18th at 7:30pm Saturday, July 30th at 11am
Wednesday, July 20th at 9:30pm Monday, August 1st at 5pm
Sunday, July 24th at 5:30pm Wednesday, August 3rd at 9:30pm
Tuesday, July 26th at 5:30pm Sunday, August 6th at 3:30pm
Friday, July 29th at 7:30pm
21 Stories: A Broadway tale
by G.W. Stevens
www.21storiesabroadwaytale.com
(contains explicit language)
120 Minutes (with intermission)
A boy from the North of England and a girl from Tyler, Texas head for New York with dreams of making it there in this Romeo and Juliet story set against the backdrop of some of the "Mega" musicals that hit Broadway in the 80's.
21 Stories: A Broadway Tale will be performed on the following dates:
Tuesday, July 19th at 7pm Sunday, July 31st at 7:30pm
Wednesday, July 20th at 5pm Tuesday, August 2nd at 5pm
Sunday, July 24th at 11am Saturday, August 6th at 7:30pm
Wednesday, July 27th at 9:30pm Sunday, August 7th at 10pm
Saturday, July 30th at 5:30pm
WorkShop Theater, Jewel Box Space
312 West 36th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues) 4th Floor
The Baby is Blue
written by Matt Schatz
directed by S. Caden Hethorn
Incumbo Theater Company
Cast: Ethan Baum, Ayelet Blumberg, Mark Montgomery, Elizabeth Schmidt*
www.incumbotheatercompany.com
90 Minutes
Steve is haunted by the distant memory of his little sister. Angel can't escape the song he wishes he'd never written. How far will they go to deny their shared pasts? An imaginative drama that explores the tragic consequences of a child's game.
The Baby is Blue will be performed on the following dates:
Wednesday, July 20th at 9:30pm Friday, July 29th at 7:30pm
Sunday, July 24th at 11:30am Tuesday, August 2nd at 7:30pm
Monday, July 25th at 7:30pm Sunday, August 6th at 1:30pm
Black Panther Women
Women of Color Productions
Info on this show will be posted at www.midtownFestival.org in the coming weeks.
Black Panther Women will be performed on the following dates:
Wednesday, July 20th at 7:30pm Saturday, August 6th at 7:30pm
Sunday, July 31st at 3:30pm
Cervix with a Smile
Performed by Elisa DeCarlo
Book & Lyrics by Elisa DeCarlo
Music by Elisa DeCarlo and Ellen Mandel
Directed by Vince DeGeorge
www.elisadecarlo.com
70 Minutes
In this provocative new musical for adults only, Elisa DeCarlo, star of last year's hit "Toasted," serves you a sampling of the many perversions of sex, power and ordinary kitchen utensils. This hilarious and slightly disturbing show-de-force features songs and monologues written and performed by DeCarlo including: Dream Date with Jesus, You Stained my Furniture and Broke my Heart, as well as Donald Rumsfeld, You Blow Me Away, Love Lobotomy and If I Could Talk to the Animals.
Cervix with a Smile will be performed on the following dates:
Thursday, July 21st at 7:30pm Saturday, July 30th at 9:30pm
Sunday, July 24th at 9:30pm Thursday, August 4th at 5:30pm
Monday, July 25th at 9:30pm Saturday, August 6th at 3:30pm
Cex and the Sity
Created and Produced by Robin Ackerman and Marjorie Suvalle
Written by Rick Suvalle
Directed by Michael Ormond
Original Music by: Joshua Rosali
Cast: Elizabeth Bowden, Sam Dingman, Chris Flynn, Theresa Fowle Jim Longo, Jay Spece, Marjorie Suvall
90 Minutes
Cex and the Sity is a parody of the wildly popular cable show "Sex and the City". With the help of a whole lot of laughter, our fabulous foursome pokes fun at fashion, relationships and femininity. After last years of sold out performances the "girls" are back as part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival for another stab at the catwalk.
Cex and the Sity will be performed on the following dates:
Monday, July 18th at 7:30pm Saturday, July 30th at 5:30pm
Friday, July 22nd at 7:30pm Thursday, August 4th at 9:30pm
Wednesday, July 27th at 7:30pm Sunday, August 7th at 3:30pm
End Caligula
Presented by Unartistically Frustrated Productions
90 Minutes
This dramedy details the final days of the Emperor Caligula and the two senators who seek to end his reign, because sleeping with horses is just plain wrong.
End Caligula will be performed on the following dates:
Thursday, July 21st at 9:30pm Saturday, July 30th at 1:30pm
Saturday, July 23rd at 7:30pm Wednesday, August 3rd at 9:30pm
Tuesday, July 26th at 7:30pm Sunday, August 7th at 5:30pm
Flyers and Other Tales
Written by: Kate Marks, Directed by: Heidi Handelsman
An Equity Showcase
www.flyersandothertales.com/90 Minutes
They shove flyers in your hand, entertain you on subways, and help you go to heaven ... whether you want to or not. Told with a vaudeville wit, these darkly comic one-acts lay bare the everyday mania of the folks that live in your peripheral vision.
Flyers and Other Tales will be performed on the following dates:
Thursday, July 21st at 5:30pm Sunday, July 31st at 1:30pm
Sunday, July 24th at 7:30pm Tuesday, August 2nd at 9:30pm
Friday, July 29th at 9:30pm Friday, August 5th at 5:30pm
The Girls Who Wore Black (World Premiere)
Directed by JoEllen Notte
Cast: Nicole Carpino, Anna Howland, Margaux Laskey, Michele Weiss, Beth White
Adapted by JoEllen Notte from the writings of Elise Cowen, Diane di Prima, Joyce Johnson, Hettie Jones, Leo Skir and Anne Waldma
(While Kerouac, Ginsberg and Burroughs were breaking rules, these five women were breaking ground)
http://thegirlswhoworeblack.tripod.com/
90 Minutes
The women of the Beat Generation are the epitome of cool. They were black-stocking hipsters, renegade artists, intellectual muses and gypsy poets who changed our culture forever. Step inside their world in this fusion of drama and poetry.
The Girls Who Wore Black will be performed on the following dates:
Monday, July 18th at 9:30pm Sunday, July 31st at 9:30pm
Saturday, July 23rd at 1:30pm Friday, August 5th at 7:30pm
Tuesday, July 26th at 9:30pm Sunday, August 7th at 11:30am
Good Opinions (World Premiere)
written by Anne Fizzard
directed by Katrin Hilbe
Featuring Nicole Taylor*, Marc Geller*, Stephen Morfesis, Andrew
Dawson*, Oliver Conant, and others TBA
An Equity Showcase
90 Minutes (performed with an intermission)
In this gentle comic send up of the foibles of the theatrical world, a coat-check girl in a theater-district restaurant foretells, without realizing it, the reviews of a New York Times theater critic. A top Broadway director finds her mysterious talent irresistible, and a "convenient" romance ensues ... with unpredictable results!"
Good Opinions will be performed on the following dates:
Saturday, July 23rd at 11:30am Sunday, July 31st at 5:30pm
Sunday, July 24th at 3:30pm Monday, August 1st at 9:30pm
Thursday, July 28th at 7:30pm Saturday, August 6th at 9:30pm
Grieving for Genevieve (World Premiere)
Written by Kathleen Warnock
Directed by Peter Bloch
Cast: Karen Stanion, Susan Barnes Walker, Jo Anne Bonn*
And Equity Showcase
www.enavantplaywrights.org
90 Minutes
The Peck sisters and their mother gather for middle sister Delilah's wedding. It's her third try but it may not be the charm. Oldest sister, Danni, the one who lives in New York (and doesn't talk about her personal life) arrives unexpectedly. She's not in the wedding, but youngest sister Angel, a nun, is. Their mother Genevieve, retired nurse, full-time guilt merchant, wants all her girls to pull together and help each other out. Suddenly they have to…for a completely different reason.
Grieving for Genevieve will be performed on the following dates:
Friday, July 22nd at 5:30pm Sunday, July 31st at 7:30pm
Saturday, July 23rd at 3:30pm Friday, August 5th at 9:30pm
Thursday, July 28th at 5:30pm Saturday, August 6th at 5:30pm
Savior
By Daniel R. O'Brien
Directed by Christopher Carter Sanderson
Produced by Tragicomic Theatre
Cast: Jy Murphy,* Hilary Howard,* Jeff Barry*
An Equity Showcase
90 Minutes
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