Neal Medlyn's Unpronounceable Symbol is Neal Medlyn's fourth and largest to date pop song tragic-comedic extravaganza. Following the success of his Lionel Richie Opera, R. Kelly cabaret, and wild and bloody spin on Phil Collins, Medlyn takes on the purple, hyper-sexualized world of Prince.
Set to many of Prince's biggest hits and infamous b-sides, all performed onstage by a live band, Neal plays out an evening of seduction and intense internal spiritual conflict between two characters: an engaged cab driver and a messianic libertine. Jealousy, band troubles, violence, death, a dream ballet, decent into hell and the eventual transubstantiation of body fluids and redemption all find their place in an operatic and overblown evening of androgynous musical entertainment.
Co-written and with musical arrangements by Tony-Award Nominated and Obie winner
Kenny Mellman; Herb of Kiki & Herb and co-creator, with
Bridget Everett and
Michael Patrick King ("Sex and the City") of At Least It's Pink. Neal will also be joined by Adrienne Truscott, lauded choreographer and half of the award winning neo-vaudeville duo the Wau Wau Sisters, who will also contribute choreography, and Carmine Covelli.
There will also be special surprise cameos by downtown luminaries such as Murray Hill and others!
Neal Medlyn was born and raised in East Texas. He began doing solo performances in his living room in Kilgore, Texas, and played in a variety of bands. He moved to Austin, Texas and began doing shows in public, everywhere from poetry readings to the city park to a Motel 6. He subsequently moved to Berlin, Germany and performed there for three months. Now, he lives in New York and his work has appeared at the New Museum for Contemporary Art, Joe's Pub, Performance Space 122, the Public Theater (as a featured performer in Suzan Lori Parks' 365 Days/365 Plays) Fez under Time Café, the Knitting Factory mainstage, Ars Nova, Galapagos Art Space, Here Arts Center and various others. He has staged dozens of original works, among them the sold-out The Neal Medlyn Experience Live! (a faithful live re-creation of a Beyonce concert DVD); Neal Medlyn's Lionel Richie Opera; and
Kenny Mellman + Neal Medlyn = R. Kelly with
Kenny Mellman of Kiki & Herb. He has toured extensively around the U.S., and been invited to the T:B:A Festival in Portland and appeared in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival Late Night Cabaret. He was awarded the title of M
R. Lower East Side in 2004 and co-starred with
Karen Finley in George and Martha. In addition to performing, he has appeared in several Rev. Jen Miller/Nick Zedd films, go-go danced, written horoscopes, appeared in dances by Adrienne Truscott and David Neumann, and been to a party with Monica Lewinsky. He has been written about in the New York Times, the Onion, Time Out New York, Gothamist, and was featured on NPR's Here Now. His original Internet TV show "NEAL MEDLYN'S LAND OF MAKE BELIEVE" (a kid's show/soap opera about stuffed animals who have complicated sex lives and plot to destroy each other) was bought and shown on NERVE.COM and was highly rated and widely viewed.
Performance Space 122 is New York's ultimate destination for cutting-edge theatre, dance, music, live art and cross-media. Founded in 1979, Performance Space 122 is dedicated to supporting and presenting artists whose work challenges the traditional boundaries of dance, theatre, music, and performance. Committed to exploring innovative form as well as material, P.S. 122 is steadfast in its search for pioneering artists from a diversity of cultures and points of view.
Neal Medlyn's Unpronounceable Symbol opens Wednesday, July 9 at 8:00pm and runs through Sunday, July 20 on the following schedule: Wednesday-Sunday at 8:00pm, with an additional 11:00pm show on Saturday. Tickets: $20 each, $15 (students/seniors), $10 (P.S. 122 members). Tickets may be purchased online at
www.ps122.org or via phone at (212) 352-3101. Performance Space 122 is located at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street, New York, New York 10009.
www.ps122.org.
