COLLEGE FUN Benefit Premiere to be Presented at The Frog & Peach Theatre Company This Spring

The Frog & Peach Theatre Company will stage a one-night-only benefit premiere of "College Fun" a startling new comedy by Ted Zurkowski. Directed by Lynnea Benson, the "College Fun" performance will take place on Friday, May 12 at 8 PM at the Marjorie S Deane Little Theatre. The cast includes popular performers from Frog & Peach's recent smash hit, AS YOU LIKE IT.

Join the charming but hapless Professor Jones (Ty-Quan Payne) in the slightly mad Office of Diversity & Inclusion at an elite university in Southern California. His Inquisitors include the seductive & deranged Dr. Ram (Alyssa Diamond), the flamboyantly vigilant Dr. Queeg (Jonathan Reed Wexler), and the widely feared Dr. Pane (Anuj Parikh). The Production Stage Manager is Erica Cafarelli.

The May 12th premiere performance will be followed by a Champagne Reception in the Y's Social Justice Room.

Tickets are $49.95, Two for $75. There is a limited set of tickets for academic students with ID at only $29.95.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.

The Marjorie S Deane Little Theatre is located at 10 W 64TH ST. Running time 50 minutes, no intermission. Masks are strongly suggested but not required.

Frog & Peach Theatre Company was founded by Actors Studio members Lynnea Benson & Ted Zurkowski with a mission to bring fun & exciting theatre to New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds. Known for its riveting Main Stage productions of Shakespeare, daring new works, star-studded gala readings, and critically acclaimed web series (over a million views for Tinkerbell Online), Frog and Peach is a truly unique arts organization.

Ted Zurkowski

(Playwright) is a composer, musician, & actor. He is the frontman for the rock band Honey West, which he formed with Ian McDonald (King Crimson, Foreigner). In addition to College Fun, he and Ms. Benson are developing his play Verbatim with Estelle Parsons & Austin Pendleton. He is currently in the recording studio working on his 20-song rock opera, "Unhappy Jack". He is a Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio. He has taught at Hunter College, NYU, and The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute

Jonathan Reed Wexler

(Queeg) is a native New Yorker. He played Jaques in Frog & Peach's As You Like It last fall. He studied The Method (with Ted) at The Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. Theater: The Braggart of Bourbon Street (NYCFringe), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Gorilla Rep), Playdate (Dixon Place), A Tale of Two Cities (Roxy Regional Theatre). Film: Last Supper, The Stand Up, Macbeth, Hamlet, Evil Weed. Television: The Mysteries of Laura, Rockaway. He is an actor at The Metropolitan Opera and is reprising his roles in Tosca, La Bohème, and Aida this spring. He will soon be appearing as Lord Hastings in a film adaptation of Richard III.

Anuj Parikh

(Dr. Pane) is an NYC stage actor: classical, contemporary, indoors, and outdoors. Anuj is also a nuclear astrophysicist. He has a Ph.D. in physics from Yale and was a professor in Barcelona and an expert on thermonuclear stellar explosions. He is particularly interested in developing theatre that explores the interface between physics and poetry. More at anujparikh.com!

Alyssa Diamond

(Dr. Ram) Frog & Peach credits include Celia in As You Like It, Viola in Twelfth Night, Witch 2 in Macbeth, Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing. Alyssa also appears in Verbatim, a new production in Frog & Peach Theatre's New Play series. Education from Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film School. Thank you to Frog and Peach and to everyone who made this wonderful experience.

Erica Cafarelli

(Production Stage Manager) is thrilled to be working again with Frog & Peach. She previously Assistant Stage Managed Frog & Peach's 2022 production of As You Like It. She is also an AEA actor, appearing recently in My Man the Wolf (Open Hydrant Theater Company) and Post-Scarcity Possibilities (New Perspectives Theatre Company).

Ty-Quan Steven Payne

is an Artist and Educator born and raised in Brownsville "never ran, never will" Brooklyn, New York. Throughout his 13-year theater career, Ty has been an asset both on and off the stage. In 2016 he started Love Payne Productions with a mission to produce high-quality transformative live theater that stimulates social and cultural consciousness. Using theater to entertain, enrich, inform, and empower our nation to be better humans. Ty-Quan enjoys creating and playing characters who tell stories around his greatest strengths which are his curiosity, his appreciation for beauty and excellence, and his humor. While also exposing the deep insecurities of human nature. He's produced Several Off-Broadway Productions including Coming Out of Harlem (2016) and The Only Coffee Shop in the City (2019) and short plays The Rat Sandwich and The Wedding both winning Best Short Plays of 2018 at Manhattan Repertory Theater. Most recently Ty has partnered with Mass Transit Street Theater as their Lead Producer and Director of his play Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect based on his interactions with school leadership and local police officers. His most recent work as an actor includes a Frog and Peach production of As you like it, a Royal Family production of his solo show Window Payne: A Love Letter to Myself directed by Christina Franklin. Other acting credits include Thoughts of a Colored Man by Keenan Scott ll and play readings for the American Playbook podcast.

Lynnea Benson

Co-founder & Artistic Director of Frog & Peach Theatre Co., Inc. Frog & Peach directing credits: Verbatim, (a chilling new comedy starring Estelle Parsons & Austin Pendleton), As You Like It, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Titus Andronicus (starring Greg Mullavey), et al. As Frog & Peach's Lead Teaching Artist, Ms Benson creates & implements Shakespeare & other arts curricula for grades K-12, adults, and for formerly homeless, vulnerable New Yorkers. Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio; Barnard College grad. Writer/director for the hit comedy web series Tinkerbell Online, and for Tinkerbell Theatre, a live family theatre program.

To post a comment, you must register and login.