La MaMa E.T.C. Premieres COMING, APHRODITE!, Runs Thru 3/8

La MaMa E.T.C. and Watson Arts invites everyone to the World Premiere of COMING, APHRODITE! This new musical adapted from the novella by Willa Cather is written and directed by Mary Fulham with lyrics by FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award winner Paul Foglino (Hercules in High Suburbia), and music by Mark Ettinger. Performances run through March 8 at La MaMa (74A East 4th Street).

COMING, APHRODITE! is a love story about a man, a woman, and a dog that explores the pursuit of art and the nature of success. A painter, Don Hedger and his dog, Caesar, live in a one-room apartment. Their daily life is upended when Eden Bower, an aspiring actress who likes to sing show tunes and exercise in the nude, moves in next door.

The production stars Anne Gaynor, Greg Hentis, Liz Kimball, and Clayton Dean Smith with puppetry by Spica Wobbe, sound design by Obie Award winner Tim Schellenbaum, costumes by Ramona Ponce (of Ridiculous Theatrical Company acclaim), sets by Jim Boutin, lighting by Alex Bartenieff and choreography by Heidi Latsky.

Watson Arts, under the artistic direction of award winning director and playwright Mary Fulham, is a resident company of La MaMa E.T.C. In 2005, their original musical Hercules in High Suburbia won a FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award. Fulham's play Devotion received the MECCA (Montreal English Critics Circle) Award. She is also a two-time winner of the Montreal Fringe Festival Frankie Award for Best Comedy for both P.S. 69 and Was that My 15 Minutes? Fulham began her career as an original member of the groundbreaking all-girl performance group The High Heeled Women. The company has also presented acclaimed productions of Balletto Stilletto, a 2006 IT Award Nominee for Outstanding Performance Art Production, and Trophy Wife, a musical based on a Chekhov short story that was nominated for 3 IT Awards.

Multi-instrumentalist, singer, conductor, composer, juggler, and toaster enthusiast Mark Ettinger tours regularly with The Flying Karamazov Brothers, and writes songs and other music the rest of the time. After years of backing songwriters on a variety of instruments on both coasts, he recently release In This World, his own debut as singer/songwriter.

Paul Foglino is the recipient of the 2005 FringeNYC Award for Overall Excellence for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for Hercules in High Suburbia. He also wrote lyrics for Balleto Stiletto, which received a nomination for an Innovative Theatre Award. Previously, he wrote songs and played bass for the country rock act Five Chinese Brothers.