Paul Alexander's New Musical TRINKETS to Open at Gene Frankel Theater

Trinkets, an original musical set in New York's historic meatpacking district will premiere at the Gene Frankel Theater for a limited run in August. Created & directed by Paul E Alexander, this new show follows the story of a group of drag and transsexual prostitutes who interact with patrons of an underground Meatpacking district nightclub. Mother, an influential 90's performance-oriented nightclub which was located on East 14th Street is the inspiration for the club. As the characters encounter the obvious struggle of life on the street, they discover that by working together they are strongest as a family.

A preview will be staged on August 3rd with regular performances on Aug 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 16 at 8PM & Aug 5, & 12 at 2PM. Gene Frankel Theater is located at 24 Bond Street, New York. Tickets are $30 at Brownpapertickets. 212 777-1767.

The story follows a veteran prostitute who takes Strawberry, a new 'ingenue' under her wing to show her the ropes. When the police drive through, the potential of arrest causes the girls to split up and two of them take shelter in the nightclub where Strawberry meets and falls in love with a rich internationally known artist, but his friend tries to break them up unsuccessfully. Meanwhile, the street veteran is dealing with a tragedy that Trinket, the owner of the club helps her get through in a true Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney put on a show scenario. Alexander uses old Hollywood plot devices married to the real life despair of the old meatpacking district to tell a New York story that's unlikely to happen in today's gentrified city.

With 19 original songs, Alexander weaves these encounters into a raw and uplifting story that will be performed by some of New York's legendary and rising drag and trans performers. In addition to Alexander, music composers are Laurent Caillat, Eli Escobar, Rami Ramirez, Samuri-NYC (Kevin Aviance, & Uri Dalal). Choreography by Antyon LeMonte. Mr. Alexander directs.

Paul E Alexander was born in Jamaica and moved to the Bronx at 7 years old. He graduated from the High School of Art & Design and Parson's School of Design. He worked as a luxury window designer for Bergdorf-Goodman, Hermes, Henri Bendel, Fendi and Patricia Field for 10 years. Paul was heavily involved in the Jackie 60 club phenomenon. It was during this time, he met partners Nashom & JoJo Americo. The three would form the pop group The Ones. They found quick success particularly with their hit song, FLAWLESS which later became a top 10 pop hit. The song was then covered by George Michael. Although no longer touring, The Ones continue to have dedicated fan base who follow the band at NYC special events. Paul has performed on the downtown theater circuit and is actively involved in the Howl Festival. Paul is now working on theater projects and is proud to be presenting Trinkets at the Gene Frankel Theater.

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TRINKETS

Created & Directed by Paul E Alexander

CAST

Honey Davenport, Mercedes Torres, Jay Knowles, Antyon LeMonte, Kita Updike, Kevin Aviance, Michael Joseph Robinson, Jasmine D. Ellis, Isabel Lodge, Burgundy Williams, Celso Satori, Vincent Miller, Tyler Waage & Gail Thacker.

CREW

Lyrics by Paul E Alexander

Musical composers: Laurent Caillat, Eli Escobar, Rami Ramirez, Kevin Aviance, Uri Dalal

Choreography by Antyon LeMonte

Set Design- Kevin Hertzog

Lighting Design-Lucky

Stage Manager- Thomas Gordon

Asst Stage Manager- Kyiana S Williams

Gail Thacker (Producer), Artistic Director since 2005. Her work has been supportive of the artistic community in lower Manhattan. She has worked with artists such as Stephen Tashjian (Tabboo), Ethan Shoshan, Chi Chi Valenti and downtown artists who focus on keeping a sense of underground art and performance alive.

Gene Frankel's tutelage touched countless actors, and led many of them to success. His classrooms had produced a wealth of talent, whose influence is seen in all aspects of theatre, film, and television. Walter Matthau, Anne Bancroft, and Raul Julia are a few of the many successes who have been taught or directed by Frankel. Frankel's 1961 production of Jean Genet's "The Blacks" at once launched the careers of James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Louis Gossett, Jr., Maya Angelou, and Roscoe Lee Browne. Praised by critics and audiences alike, it is regarded as one of the most important productions in recent U.S. theatre history--a seminal production in African-American theatre. The GFT mission is to nurture living playwrights and artists expressing contemporary identity and are focused on reviving NoHo as a cauldron of LGBTQI art and ideas by producing new works.

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