Midtown International Theatre Festival Features SURVIVNG LOVE, 7/20-24

Daniel Wolfsbauer Productions and The Open Acting Academy Hamburg-Wien are pleased to announce the US premiere of SURVIVING LOVE, written by Robert Chionis and directed by Stephan Perdekamp. In association with the Midtown International Theatre Festival, SURVIVING LOVE performs on: Wednesday, July 20 at 8:30 PM, Saturday, July 23 at 5:00 PM and Sunday, July 24 at 12:00 PM. Performances are at Main Stage Theatre (312 W. 36th Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues. Via subway take the A, C, E, 2, 3 to 34th Street-Penn Station; and the B, D, F, M, N, Q, R to 34th Street-Herald Square.). The regular ticket price is $18 ($15 for students and seniors). For tickets, call Ovation Tix on 866-811-4111 or visit www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/834985. For more information, visit SURVIVING LOVE on Facebook at www.facebook.com/survivinglovenyc.

Featuring songs by William Bolcom, John Bucchino, William Finn, Ricky Ian Gordon, Adam Guettel, Brian Lasser and Charles Strouse, SURVIVING LOVE is the story of an isolated gay youth who escapes from Nowhere, USA to New York City and finds love during the onset of the AIDS epidemic.

This compelling and uplifting coming-of-age story set during the biggest health crisis of the 20th Century weaves storytelling with poignant songs from some of the top theater and cabaret lyricists and composers. Premiering during 30th Anniversary of the discovery of this disease that ravaged New York City makes SURVIVING LOVE an important part of the cultural conversation.

Playwright/performer Robert Chionis, who lived in several major US cities during the height of the epidemic, describes SURVIVING LOVE as "my AIDS quilt for several of my friends."

SURVIVING LOVE marks the US premiere of Daniel Wolfsbauer Productions, based in Austria, and The Open Acting Academy Hamburg-Wien, based in Germany. SURVIVING LOVE made its World Premiere at the Rampenlicht Theater and subsequently transferred to the BlackBox Theater, both in Vienna.

The cast features Robert Chionis and Timothy Long.

Robert Chionis (playwright/performer) is an American ex-pat living in Vienna. He has performed in operas, operettas, musicals and concerts in Europe and the US in venues such as Houston Grand Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, Theater an der Wien, the Vienna Musikverein and the Konzerthaus Vienna. His shows include "At Shadow's Edge" and "The Road to Fame", performed in Vienna's Akzent Theater.

Timothy Long (performer/pianist), a native Oklahoman, enjoys a flourishing career as conductor and pianist throughout the US and abroad. He has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Kennedy Center, Weill Recital Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kyoto International Music Festival, and the Castell de Sant Marçal in Barcelona, Spain.

Stephan Perdekamp (director) born in Schwenningen, Germany, made his stage directorial debut in Munich at 23, directed his first film at 26 and directed his first opera at 28. Since 1991 he has been developing his method of acting, the P.E.M. Method, and he is a co-founder of the Open Acting Academy Hamburg-Vienna, which is dedicated to the instruction of the method he evolved. In addition, he has written over 35 plays so far.

The Midtown International Theatre Festival's 2011 Season runs from July 11 - 31 at the June Havoc Theatre, 312 W. 36th Street, 1st floor; the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, 312 W. 36th Street, 1st floor; the Main Stage Theater, 312 W. 36th Street, 4th floor; and the Jewel Box Theater, 312 W. 36th Street, 4th floor. Tickets are $18-15 and are available at www.midtownfestival.org or by phone at 866-811-4111.

The Midtown International Theatre Festival, now in its twelfth year, celebrates the diversity of theatre. The MITF welcomes theatrical storytelling across a broad spectrum of genres, forms, identities, cultures, and appetites. The MITF seeks to nurture these new ideas, perspectives, and stories on its stages, with an eye set on guiding these productions toward future success and longevity. The festival, traditionally held in summer, represents a fantastic, often paradoxical, adventurous and intriguing cross-section of the forefront of the Theatre World. The MITF proudly hosts production companies from across the country and around the globe, uniting talent in one of the biggest theatre capitals in the world.

John Chatterton created the MITF in 2000, a Midtown alternative to other theatre festivals, as a way to present the finest off-off Broadway talent in convenience, comfort, and safety. In 2008, the Festival added two 99-seat theatres and inaugurated the Commercial Division for upwardly mobile shows with commercial ambitions.

For more information, visit www.midtownfestival.org.

 

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