Liars & Believers to Bring ICARUS to NYMF 2013, 7/23-28

Greek mythology meets burlesque, puppetry and a modern Americana score in ICARUS, the latest original theatrical presentation from acclaimed Boston-based ensemble Liars & Believers. Creators of last year's gritty NYMF hit Le Cabaret Grimm, Liars & Believers will present ICARUS as part of the 2013 New York Musical Theatre Festival.

ICARUS follows a peculiar Depression-era sideshow traveling through the American heartland praying on the misfortunes and ills of others. Amidst a ravaged economy, chronic unemployment and a world of dreams deferred, the people of ICARUS - glorious, grotesque freaks, strangers and oddities - struggle to survive in an eat-or-be-eaten society. ICARUS features an acoustic guitar/fiddle/accordion score in the vein of the current roots revival popularized by artists like Mumford & Sons, Of Monsters and Men and The Lumineers.

ICARUS is created and directed by Jason Slavick (Le Cabaret Grimm, Song of Songs). Music and lyrics are by Nathan Leigh(Song of Songs). Puppetry design and direction is by Faye Dupras (Bird's Eye View). Scenic and lighting design is by Aaron Sherkow (Le Cabaret Grimm). Costume design is by Kendra Bell (Song of Songs, Cosi Fan Tutte).

The cast of ICARUS will feature Austin Auh (Le Cabaret Grimm, Song of Songs), Veronica Barron (Vinegar Tom, UnAccountable Fog), Lauren Eicher (Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream), Jonathan Horvath (The 39 Steps, The House of Mirth) and Aimee Rose Ranger (Winning Higgins's Love, Gender Dazed and Confused).

Boston Survival Guide calls Liars & Believers "the region's most experimental and visionary artists." Liars & Believers is a non-profit theatre company that creates original live performances that seek to move minds and challenge the boundaries of theater. The company focuses on expanding the audience for live performance in Boston, exploring great local talent of all kinds, and enriching the Boston community.

ICARUS will be performed at The Studio Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center located at 480 W. 42nd Street. The Pershing Square Signature Center is the official hub of The New York Musical Theatre Festival.

The performance schedule for ICARUS is as follows: Tuesday, July 23 at 8:30pm; Wednesday, July 24 at 1:30pm; Friday, July 26 at 9:30pm; Saturday, July 27 at 1:30pm; Sunday, July 28 at 1:30pm; and Sunday, July 28 at 5:30pm.

Tickets are available by visiting www.NYMF.org. For more information visit www.LiarsAndBelievers.com.

Jason Slavick (Director) is a director, writer and educator. He co-wrote and directed Song of Songs: a Love Romp and wrote and directed Le Cabaret Grimm -- a punk cabaret fairy tale {sans fairies}, which premiered at the LAB. Jason wrote and directedHeaven & Hell - The Fantastical Temptation of the 7 Deadly Sins, a new musical adapted from the album by Joe Jackson that was presented at The Boston Conservatory in 2007. As a former company member of Boston Theatre Works, Jason directedOthello (Elliot Norton Award nominated for Best Production and Best Actor), The Tempest, Antony & Cleopatra and Macbeth. He helped develop and directed Emily Mann's critically acclaimed Meshugah, Olga Humphrey's Veronika Vavoom Volcanologist, and his own play J: A One-Act Improvised Tragi-Comedy. He also directed numerous developmental workshops and readings including The Tattooed Girl by Joyce Carol Oates, Paranoia by Olga Humphrey and others. Jason also directed Professional Skepticism at The Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre. Jason received his BA with honors in Philosophy from Trinity College in Hartford, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and won the George E. Nichols III First Prize in Theater Arts the Blanchard W. Means First Prize in Philosophy. He studied at the Eugene O'Neill National Theatre Institute and at the Warsaw Theatre Academy in Warsaw, Poland.

Nathan Leigh (Music and Lyrics) has released 8 full-length albums both as a solo artist and with the bands Super Mirage and A Thousand Ships. As a composer for theatre, he has written scores for Berkshire Theatre Festival, American Repertory Theatre, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Speakeasy Stage, The Debate Society, WHAT, PS 122, Mother Faker Productions (at New World Stages) and many more. His sound design and score for Stoneham Theatre's Strangers on A Train was the 2009 IRNE Best Sound Design. In 2008, he and frequent collaborator Kyle Jarrow were awarded the Boris Segal Fellowship at Williamstown Theatre Festival to develop their musical Big Money with director Shira Milikowsky. Their second piece The Consequences has received workshops at WTF, WHAT, and New York Theatre Workshop.

Faye Dupras (Puppetry Design and Direction) has worked as a director, puppeteer and educator throughout Eastern Canada and the USA. As an image based theater artist she is dedicated to creating visually and thematically rich, cross-disciplinary new works. She is the artistic director of Foreign Landscapes Productions, under which she produced the award-winning play Bird's Eye View and co-produced By the Willow (UNIMA-USA Citation of Excellence 2005). Star Sisters, Faye's most recent co-production, was created with the permission of, and in collaboration with, Canadian oral tradition storyteller Louise Profeit LeBlanc. As a collaborator Faye has worked with many exciting artist including Clea Minaker on the Feist Tour projection work (2007) and Beauty First (2010.) She has worked with Jumblies Theatre in various capacities including directing Tea and Bridges(2006) and the World Stage production of Bridge of One Hair (2007). Faye has had the honor of working with Hua Hua Chang, performing in her internationally touring production of Butterfly Dreams (2002-06). She has also worked with Underground Railway Theatre on several projects including Galileo (2009), Abiyoyo (2012), and Tokoloshe (2013). Faye holds an MFA in "Puppetry Arts" from the University of Connecticut and a BFA in "Theater and Development" from Concordia University in Montreal Canada.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) exists to revitalize musical theatre culture by discovering and promoting new musical theatre artists, producers and projects; nurturing a vibrant and innovative artistic community; and connecting one of America's greatest art forms with a diverse, contemporary audience.

Now in its tenth year, the Festival provides an affordable platform for artists to mount professional productions that reach their peers, industry leaders, and musical theater fans. Hailed as the "Sundance of Musical Theatre," the Festival is the largest musical theatre event in America and the preeminent site for launching new musicals and discovering new talent.

NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2013 is presented in association with Dunkin' Donuts, BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group, and TheaterMania.com, and is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. Major supporters include The ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The BWF Foundation, Con Edison, The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jamie Mayer Phinney, The New Musical Development Foundation, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Theater League.

NYMF Memberships, which combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages and perks like early seating, and tickets to individual events, are currently available for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or www.nymf.org.

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