Wide Eyed Productions' JACK AND THE BEANSTALK Plays As Part Of NY Int'l Fringe Fest 8/14-30

Wide Eyed Productions proudly presents their first children's play: an original commissioned work, JACK AND THE SOY BEANSTALK, as part of The 13th annual New York International Fringe Festival (a presentation of The Present Company) - FringeJR - Downtown Manhattan, August 14th - 30th, 2009.

Follow Jack up the beanstalk once more in this zany, 45-minute musical romp.

Times have changed, and Jack faces new obstacles on his journey like how to make his truck go without gasoline, his crop grow without fertile topsoil, and his mother to stop selling off his precious video games! With the help of a friendly farmer and a gallant, golden goose Jack learns that sometimes you have to take a leap of faith, but that when you do, you'd better be prepared for anything- like maybe, oh, ...a giant!

Filled with comedy, puppetry, and lots of heart, JACK AND THE SOY BEANSTALK plants the seeds of self-reliance, conservationism, and good ol' American ingenuity. It's sure to be giant hit with parents and kids alike.

JACK AND THE SOY BEANSTALK kicks off Wide Eyed Productions' third season and marks their first contribution to the genre of children's theatre. Wide Eyed commissioned the family show from playwright and company member Jerrod Bogard in 2008. The development process included a workshop with The Tank's SLAM Theatre where ‘JACK' won the SLAM Champion Prize in December 08'.

The company

Laura Hall*, Sky Seals*, Okieriete Onaodowan, Brianne Mai, Jake Paque,
and Carlos Avilas as Jack.

Emily Fellner leads the three-piece band of live musicians.

*appears courtesy Actors' Equity Association.
Creator/Director: Jerrod Bogard

A graduate of Florida School of the Arts, Jerrod began his show business career as a puppeteer for Bits ‘N Pieces in Tampa, FL. Jerrod has written, directed and performed productions for children and adults all around the U.S. and Europe and taught workshops on improvisation and classical theatre styles at grade schools and colleges across the country. Performed an original shadow puppet show at the Prague International Festival of Puppet Arts in the Czech Republic. Wrote and directed the short film Gatorman (Best Mini-Picture- Bare Bones International Film Festival). His plays have been produced in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Plays written include: Plays for the Sunni Triangle (Winner "Most Outstanding Script" - Endtimes Productions' One-act Festival, NYC); Hugging the Shoulder (semi-finalist O'Neill Playwrights Conference). In Sheep's Clothing (Best Play Nominee - Strawberry One-Act Festival). Most recently a showcase of his one-act plays was produced at The Players Loft in New York City. In a review of the collection, Martin Denton of NYTheatre.com called him "a welcome addition to the panoply of American Playwrights, and certainly one to keep an eye on." Jerrod is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America. Visit him at www.inkythumbs.com.
Composer/Performer: Sky Seals

Sky Seals can currently be seen as Dylan in the long-running Off Broadway show "Sessions" at the Algonquin Theater. Sky is a co-founder of Wide Eyed Productions where he has been seen on stage as Jason in "The Medea" and Don Pedro in "Much Ado About Nothing", and off stage assistant directing, stage managing, and co-designing the set for "A Devil Inside". He performed for 3 years in the ensemble of the Storybook Island Children's Theater in South Dakota and co-wrote the show "The Swashgiggler's and their Time Machine". He also teaches beginner/intermediate guitar and voice lessons for all ages!

Artistic Director, Wide Eyed Productions: Kristin Skye Hoffmann

Kristin Skye Hoffmann is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Wide Eyed Productions. She is also a member of the nytheatre.com review squad. Kristin has directed such pieces A Midsummer Night's Dream (Queen's Garden Stage), Much Ado About Nothing (Wide Eyed Productions), The Accommodation by Paul Cohen (Endtimes Vignette's for the Apocalypse), The Medea (Wide Eyed Productions/Hudson Shakespeare Company), Plays for the Sunni Triangle by Jerrod Bogard and In Sheep's Clothing (Strawberry One Act Festival Finalist). She also Assistant Directed Hugging the Shoulder for NY Fringe06. She is a part time acting coach and full-time artist and lover of life. She is incredibly grateful for all the WEP members, her mother and most importantly this brilliant cast and production team.

Wide Eyed is...
Wide Eyed Productions is a New York-based collective dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the creation of risk-taking, relevant theatre. Through a core ensemble committed to both the birth of contemporary works and the rebirth of classic texts, it is our goal through collaborative process to discover and create new theatre that stimulates the imagination and awakens the public's passion for high standards in performing arts.

All performances are at VENUE #3 - Dixon Place,
161A Chrystie Street, (Between Rivington & Delancey Streets)

Tickets $15 for adults; $10 for kids 12-yrs and younger.
For tickets visit www.FringeNYC.org