Photo Flash: WHEN LAST WE FLEW Plays The NY Int'l Fringe Fest

WHEN LAST WE FLEW begins its 2010 New York International Fringe Festival run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre August 19th, with performances thru August 29th. A funny and touching look at life in small town America, WHEN LAST WE FLEW stars Broadway's Karen Pittman (Passing Strange) and Allison Mackie (Cyrano opposite Frank Langella), Christopher Larkin, Rory Lipede, and Jon-Michael Reese, and has been developed at Lincoln Center, New York Theatre Workshop, and most recently the Sundance Theater Lab. The play is directed by Colette Robert (Work at Ars Nova, Released at The Culture Project) and produced by DRD Theatricals/Anthony Francavilla, Eric Louie, Carreon Productions, Bridge Club Productions, and Early Bird Theatricals.

Before we were human. We were birds. And. We. Were. Magnificent! Inspired by Tony Kushner's Angels in America, WHEN LAST WE FLEW is a moving and often humorous look at life in small town America from a contemporary teenage perspective. After stealing his local library's only (and unread) copy of Angels in America, misfit teenager Paul locks himself in the bathroom and begins reading the landmark play. He soon finds that his life and the lives of those around him in his small Kansas suburb are about to take flight, and over the course of a seemingly ordinary day, extraordinary things start to happen...

Joining Larkin, Lipede, Reese, Pittman and Mackie in the cast are Wade Allain-Marcus (Gossip Girl, Burn Notice, MTV's American Mall), and Tamela Aldridge. Playwright Rivers is no stranger to FringeNYC, his play And She Said, He Said, I Said Yes had a sold out run in last year's festival (and was also presented at Joe's Pub this past April), and his play Fell was at Fringe in 2008. His work has also been developed and produced at Atlantic Theater, Second Stage, Ars Nova, Dixon Place, 3LD, and The American Airlines Theater. The creative team for WHEN LAST WE FLEW also features Anika Chapin (casting) Anne Goelz (scenic design), KJ Hardy (lighting design), Julia Meinwald (sound design), Sven Nelson (prop design), and Jessica Pabst (costume design).

The production has also invited students and staff members from The HetRick Martin Institute to be special guests at the first performance today, August 19th. The HetRick Martin Institute creates a safe and supportive environment which lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth between ages 12 to 24 can reach their full potential.

WHEN LAST WE FLEW also partnered with an innovative new online fundraising venture called RocketHub, which allows audiences to not only have a say in what work gets produced, but also have a vested interest long before they walk into the theater. By using RocketHub the production is building a community of supporters to not only help present the upcoming FringeNYC production, but to join the production's journey after the festival. The entirety of the shows production budget was raised on RocketHub, and you can view the show's profile at http://rockethub.com/projects/129-when-last-we-flew-make-it-fly

WHEN LAST WE FLEW will run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street between Hudson and Bleecker), with performances on Thursday 8/19 at 4:45pm, Tuesday 8/24 at 2pm, Wednesday 8/25 at 8pm, Friday 8/27 at 9:45pm, and Sunday 8/29 at 2:30pm. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at www.FringeNYC.org or by phone at 866.468.7619. For more information please visit www.WhenLastWeFlew.com

Jon-Michael Reese

Rory Lipede and Allison Mackie