GROUPIES Premieres At NY Int'l Fringe Fest 8/14, 8/15, 8/19

GROUPIES by Sharon Lintz, a set of off-center reflections on celebrity obsession, premieres as part of the 13th annual New York International Fringe Festival - FringeNYC. Performances run from August 14th to 25, 2009 at The Studio @ Cherry Lane Theatre (Venue #15), 38 Commerce St. between Barrow & Bedford Streets on Fri August 14 8:45 pm, Sat August 15 1:45 pm, Wed August 19 7:00 pm, Sat August 22 8:00 pm, Mon August 24 6:15 pm and Tue August 25 3:15 pm. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at http://www.FringeNYC.org or by calling 1-866-468-7619. For more information on the show visit http://www.groupiestheplay.com.

It doesn't matter how old you are, what sex you are, what your sexual orientation is, what color you are: every one of us has been fascinated by celebrity.

GROUPIES starts with a pop concept-celebrity obsession-then goes deep, offering surprising trips into the minds, passions, and sexuality of four very different people. Celebrity is the key into each character's psyche: the perfect entry point to understand his or her humanity, desires, regrets,
loves, loneliness. And each character's story comes with a twist.

Why GROUPIES? Because we like our pop culture with depth. And we love New York City. The stories contained in this massive city never cease to amaze us. Even so, we admit to forgetting at times about the wealth of human experience out there. As denizens of New York-as humans anywhere-we so often get lost in our own lives, in the chaos of life, in the anonymity of trying to get by.

GROUPIES cracks that anonymity open for an hour, marrying sharply imagined characters with an overriding spirit of humanity, and surprise. The cast of GROUPIES is Jeff Berg, Tricia Beyer, Damion Lee and Ralph Pochoda.

Playwright Sharon Lintz teaches writing at Queensborough Community College and the after-school program, HEAF (Harlem Educational Activities Fund). She recently completed her MFA at the University of Florida. Prior to graduate school, she worked in various editorial capacities all around New York City, including several years as an editor in "adult" publishing and several years as a copywriter for Comedy Central. She chronicled her first porn publishing job in the comic book, Pornhounds #1 (pornhounds.net/samples.htm). Pornhounds #2 will be out early next year.

Director Jonathan Warman is conceiver of WHITE CITY, a new musical with music and lyrics by Pete Townsend of The Who currently in development, and proud member of Emerging Artists Theatre (eatheatre.org) and TOSOS II (tosos2.org). He is Artistic Director of NeoNeo Theatre Company. With Emerging Artists: STRUCK, BREAK, WEIMARHOLE, RECOIL, LUCKY DAY, ONE OF THE GREAT ONES. With TOSOS II: THE PHYSICS OF LOVE, KITCHENETTE (reading featuring Jackie Hoffman). With NeoNeo: ANDRU'S HEAD (co-directed with Mark Dendy, featuring Brooke Elliott, FringeNYC), AMERICAN FABULOUS (FringeNYC). Other New York: IN LOCO PARENTIS (Manhattan Theatre Source, upcoming), THE WOMEN OF THE MAHABHARATA (eyeBLINK), and THE JAMB (HOT! Festival @ Dixon Place, staged reading featuring Mike Albo). International: DREAMS REOCCURRING (Clubul CFR, Iasi, Romania and Nu Festival, Timisoara, Romania), BREAK (Dublin Gay Theatre Festival). Regional: HEADS (Omaha Magic Theatre), THE STRANGEST KIND OF ROMANCE (Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival, upcoming), GOOD GOD ENTERS FLOSSING (Universal Theatre, Provincetown), STRUCK/BREAK (New Orleans Fringe Festival). Notable assistant credits: THREE SISTERS (La MaMa ETC, dir. Richard Schechner), ROSENCRANTZ SI GUILDENSTERN SUNT MORTI (Teatru National Vasile Alecsandri, Iasi, Romania, dir. Ovidiu Lazar). He has also served as Literary Manager for Access Theater. For more info, see jonathanwarman.com.

Running time is 60 minutes. Trains: 1 to Christopher. Walk south on 7th Avenue South to Commerce Street, then west to the theatre.

 

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