Futuristic Rock Musical BARCODE Begins Today at FringeNYC

This summer's New York International Fringe Festival will host the new futuristic rock musical BARCODE which features book, music, and lyrics by Debbie Andrews and Mike Blaxill of the New York indie quartet Gladshot, and Hair co-author James Rado as creative consultant. Joe Barros (director of the 2011 FringeNYC hit The Legend of Julie Taymor) directs and choreographs.

BARCODE tells the story of a dystopian future where one corporation, Earth Corp, dominates society. Wielding control over the populous by imprinting barcodes on the wrists of every citizen, Earth Corp monitors all activity and privacy is virtually extinct. A star-crossed romance develops between Dorna, a member of the resistance, and Nest, the son of an Earth Corp News Anchor. Together, the young couple may just spark a revolution.

The cast features Wes Haskell as Nest, Mairys Joaquin as Dorna, Brian Bateson, Lynda DeFuria, Matthew Bryan Feld, Gerrianne Genga, Dana Gitlin, Lisa Lowell (Bruce Springsteen's "Seeger Sessions"), Simon Pearl (Les Miserables), Greg Roderick (South Pacific), Adam Shapiro, Kyle Szen, Jeff Tuohy, Luis Villabon (Peter Pan), Ellen Weiss and Raena White (Sistas).

The show recently received a workshop at the Bowery Electric (the Huffington Post called it "a new, rag tag, upstart rock n' roll musical that would be truly terrifying if it wasn't so much fun"). The FringeNYC production will mark BARCODE's world premiere staging. The production will play today at 2pm; 8/11, 7pm; 8/12, 9:30pm; 8/13, 9:30pm; and 8/14, 2pm in the festival at La Mama E.T.C.'s Ellen Stewart Theatre.

Known for their dynamic live shows, Gladshot has shared the stage with Ok Go, The Antlers, and Free Energy, and their music has been featured on TNT, Oxygen, CW, and ABC television. Their latest CD "Burn Up and Shine" was produced by John Agnello (Cyndi Lauper). For more information, visit www.BarcodeRockMusical.com and www.FringeNYC.org.