DOG SEES GOD, URINETOWN, et al. Set for Encores at Fringe

FringeNYC will celebrate its 15th Anniversary with 15 hit shows over 15 weeks from May 5 - August 11 at The Laurie Beechman Theatre.

The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC), the largest multi-arts festival in North America, will celebrate its 15th anniversary in August. Since the opening of the very first Festival in August of 1997, FringeNYC has never thrown a benefit. That is about to change as the Alumni Association of the New York International Festival presents THE FringeBENEFITS SERIES.

Beginning May 5, THE FringeBENEFITS SERIES will offer a taste of 15 of the most beloved shows from the past 15 years of FringeNYC. Every Thursday for 15 weeks The Laurie Beechman Theatre will present a different performance, concert, or reading of a different work from one of the Festivals. Casting and guest hosts for the series will be announced on a show-by-show basis. The lineup (which may be subject to change) is as follows:

May 5: Urinetown (1999). In a world where citizens must use public amenities regulated by a malevolent corporation, one man plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom. Featuring music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann, book and lyrics by Greg Kotis. A concert featuring songs from Urinetown and their new musical Yeast Nation. $30. 7pm. .

May 12: The Fartiste (2006). Composer/lyricist Michael Roberts and librettist Charlie Schulman have created a musical about Joseph Pujol (1857-1945), a popular music hall performer who played tunes by passing gas. Concert staging. $20. 9:30pm.

May 19: Cats Talk Back (2003). Playwright Bess Wohl asks: What if five former cast members of Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash-hit Cats dared to tell all about the making of this Broadway legend? Full performance. $25. 9:30pm

May 26: Williamsburg: The Musical (2007) this hilarious pop/rock parody of Brooklyn's over-hyped hipster 'hood features music by Kurt Gellersted & Brooke Fox, lyrics by Brooke Fox, and book by Will Brumley. Concert staging. $20. 7pm.

June 2: South Pathetic (2010). Jim David paints a hysterical portrait of North Carolina's worst community theatre production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Full performance. $20. 7:30pm.

June 9: The Boys Upstairs (2009). Playwright Jason Mitchell takes you into the living room of gay city boys who handle their relationships with style, scandal & specialty cocktails! Staged reading. $20. 7pm.

June 16: Veritas (2010). Stan Richardson dramatizes the true story of a group of young gay men at Harvard in 1920 whose promising futures fell prey to Harvard's homophobic "Secret Court." Staged reading. $20. 7pm.

June 23: MoM - A Rock Concert (2009). In Richard Caliban's musical, five suburban moms form a band just for laughs and inadvertently become a phenomenon. Concert staging. $20. 7pm.

June 30: The Lightning Field (2005). In David Ozanich's searing drama, Sam and his younger boyfriend, Andy, travel from from New York along with their divorced parents to see sculptor Walter De Maria's famous art installation in the New Mexico desert. www.lightningfieldtheplay.com. Staged reading $20. 9pm.

July 7: I Was Tom Cruise (2006). In Alexander Poe's satiric drama, a young couple's world is turned upside down when they're befriended by Tom Cruise, who presents them with a Faustian bargain. Staged reading. $20. 7:30pm.

July 14: Armless (2004). Kyle Jarrow's dark comedy tells the story of an insurance executive who wants to have his arms cut off. Staged reading. $20. 7:30pm.

July 21: The Complete Lost Works Of Samuel Beckett As Found In An Envelope (partially burned) In A Dustbin In Paris Labeled "Never to be performed. Never. Ever. EVER! Or I'll Sue! I'LL SUE FROM THE GRAVE!" (2006). The title says it all in this comedy by Greg Allen, Danny Thompson and Ben Schneider. Full performance $20. 7:30pm.

July 28: Bridezilla Strikes Back (2005). Cynthia Silver details her alternately funny and tragic tale of "starring" on the first season of the hit reality TV show "Bridezillas". Full performance. $20. 7:30pm.

August 4: The Event (2009). Matt Oberg (Comedy Central's Ugly Americans, Onion SportsDome) delivers FringeNYC co-founder John Clancy's comic, probing look at what it means to be an actor. Full performance. $20. 7:30pm.

August 11: Dog Sees God (2004). A group of friends eerily reminiscent of the Peanuts gang discovers the difficulty of finally growing up in this jet black comedy by Bert Royal (author of the hit film Easy A). Staged reading. $30. 7pm.

For more information and to order tickets, click here. 

 

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