Rock Operetta LOVE IS LIKE MUD Premieres at FringeNYC Tonight

Love is Like Mud will have its World Premiere at The New York International Fringe Festival in August. The rock operetta is written by Ben Folstein who also serves as the director and band leader. Brooklyn based band Level II will provide the music. The production is being produced by Level II Theatre.

Love is Like Mud has been in the works for nearly 10 years. In 2006 the band Level II was formed when Ben Folstein arrived in New York. What started out as a bar band quickly became an outlet for Folstein's original music which would later turn into the basis for the musical. In 2008, Love is Like Mud was produced at the Sidewalk Cafe as a small puppet show.

Over the next few years, the show went through various iterations, casts, and concepts. The musical was presented at the Tank (45th Street Theater), and then took a step back and was presented as a reading at the West End Lounge. The latest and most ambitious iteration will be presented at The New York International Fringe Festival, with a cast of real actors (as opposed to puppets) and a dynamic projection design by Alex Koch.

Sex, humor, and a hefty dose of rock 'n roll are the ingredients of this visually dynamic operetta. Brooklyn band Level II serves up a feast of songs chronicling the romantic misadventures of two lonely kids in the big city.

The cast features Amanda Lee (Bush Wars/Rattlestick Theatre), Jay Leibowitz (Very Very Rock Show/54 Below), Elise Reynard (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf/WaterTower Theatre), and Gavin Rohrer (Let My People Come/Underground Theatre).

The band Level II features guitar and songwriter Ben Folstein, Julian Rowe on drums, Peter Van Leeuwen on bass, and Jerry Weimer on sax.

The creative team includes projection design by Alex Koch, set and costume design by Rebecca Holmes, and lighting design by Alex Berch.

More info is available at www.loveislikemud.com and www.fringenyc.org.

Ben Folstein (Writer/Director) was born in Baltimore, Maryland and is a musician, producer, actor, and carpenter living and working in New York City. After making many films throughout his youth, he attended film school at Santa Fe University. In 2001, he moved to San Francisco, California where he made 80 short films, while studying and working with filmmaker Craig Baldwin. Upon moving to New York City in 2006, Ben turned his focus towards music and performance, playing with his band, Level II. It was at this time, he began develop his first musical, Love is like Mud. Since then, he has written two other musicals, and produced a serial science fiction radio drama entitled Neon Sun. His jazz band, The Cabinetmakers, plays every Friday night at Piano's on the Lower East Side.

For more about the show, follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/loveislikemud and Twitter: @loveislikemud.

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