Concert of A CRUISE LINE to be Performed at Don't Tell Mama

A concert of new songs from the upcoming musical, A Cruise Line, composed by Rick Knight and directed by Spider Duncan Christopher, will be performed at Don't Tell Mama, 343 West 46th Street NYC. There are nine performances starting Thursday, September 1st. September 1st-2nd, 6th, 9th, 14th, 15th, and 16th at 9:15 PM. Two special memorial shows will be presented on Sunday, September 11th and Monday, September 12th, both at 7pm. Reservations can be made by calling Don't Tell Mama at 212.757.0788 or going to their website at www.DontTellMamaNYC.com.

Admission is $20 with a two-drink minimum (cash only please). Proceeds from the September 11th and 12th shows will go to selected foundations helping the victims and families of 9/11 First Responders. This is a unique presentation for the venue as it normally is utilized as a cabaret and not a concert venue for a new production.

A CRUISE LINE's concert will include 16 songs performed by an ethnically and culturally diverse ensemble cast of 11 which represents the diversity of the characters of the show and which includes Andi Bohs, Joe Dawson, Lisa Deane, Ken Gartman, Drew Hale, Ryan Hartman, Howah Hung, Dana Hunter, Michael Kours, Liz McKendry, Jody Mullen, Zal Owen, Andrew Pacho, Ross Pivec, Yolanda Robinson, Marshall Simon, and Cedric Yau. All of the stories swirl around each other as the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches. It's a dramatic comedy that presents a message described as every bit as paradigm shifting as Hair and Rent. The show's tag line is "Once you connect the dots, you can color outside the lines." Knight and Christopher regard it as further Aquarian Age study of how humanity is evolving.

"The concert is an opportunity for us to present the songs of the show so people can see how powerfully and effectively they stand on their own, outside of a fully staged production," says Rick Knight, playwright and composer .

"The story takes a hard look at the last decade and shows how much our perceptions got shifted by the events of 9/11 but in essence, it's a moral tale that illustrates over and over our choice of love over fear," says director Spider Duncan Christopher, the seasoned New York theater director who began staging works in the 1960s. With issues as intense in the cultural mindset as the fall of the Twin Towers the author found it important to include the natural comedic aspects of life that come out no matter what the situation may be.

"Nothing is funny about 9/11 and I don't make light of the events. In fact, that episode in our cultural memory is so vivid and potent, that the only way to present it effectively on stage in my mind was to temper it with comic asides, meaningful melodies and poetic lyrics," according to Rick Knight. "Laughter through tears is one of the best ways to purge the lingering demons that many of us still have with regard to the deeper wounds in our lives."

Knight and Christopher first considered the concept of the show in January of 2008 when Knight was working on his first show "The Rainbow Room". They started looking at the metaphysical implications of what was going on in our culture as a result of the trauma we had internalized after the towers fell.

Issues like the continual economic downturn, multiple wars that have lasted an entire decade, and the increasing erosion of personal freedoms all made distinct impressions on Knight and Christopher. Seeing how that was weighing on the hearts and minds of not only New Yorkers, but for people across the nation, they believe it deserves artistic attention. "One might think none of this is particularly funny but when you step back and observe how people try to navigate through the mayhem, it becomes a sort of societal slapstick that enables the audience to consider their own problems with less gravity and worry and with more light-heartedness and optimism." According to Knight.

Knight consciously crafted a story where there were no stars and each of the 11 characters is part of a larger mosaic with their individual stories weaving together a clearer picture of what it takes to get by in current times.

After the cabaret concert finishes with its final performance on Friday, September 16, Knight and Christopher will be working on a full production of the show in 2012. "By then," comments Knight, "the story about which I was writing in the near future will have become the recent past. There's no prophetic declaration in the story, just an acknowledgment of the responsibility we all have as humans to take care of one another through good times and bad."