SummerStage Presents New Hip Hop Musical KING KONG Tonight

Tonight, August 5, 2013, SummerStage will present "King Kong" - A New Full-Length Play by Alfred Preisser & Randy Weiner and directed By Alfred Preisser as part of the "This is Hip Hop" series at SummerStage presented by AT&T. FREE SHOW at Central Park, Manhattan. Recommended Arrival Time: 7:00pm. Showtime: 8:00 PM - 9:30PM. **Note: This production contains strong language**.

Acclaimed impresario of non-traditional theater Randy Weiner and director Alfred Preisser team up for a Hip-Hop themed theater remake of the classic story, King Kong, a totally original music/dance/comedy spectacle that radically subverts everything you thought you knew about one of the most famous love stories of all time. Set in the "Bronx is Burning" era of the late 1970s, SummerStage's King Kong celebrates the nascent forms of Hip-Hop music and graffiti art that grew out of the economically stressed South Bronx and went on to become one of the defining, most powerful and profitable artistic movements in the world. The Gold brothers, the owners of a failing R&B label (Gold Records) are in search of a musical savior. Having heard of a mystic place, a lost world cut off from the rest of civilization by the East River to the south and the Cross Bronx Expressway to the north and enshrouded in the fog of a thousand apartment building fires set by absentee landlords, the legendary South Bronx of 1978 is also the home of the most talented artist alive. Kong is an M.C. and natural genius of rhyme and rhythm whose awesome powers transcend artificial categories and defy the crass and hackneyed formulas of the commercial music industry. In hot pursuit of Kong, the Gold brothers hire a beautiful secretary, Faye Wellington, and go off to capture this force of nature in order to profit from Kong's gifts and share his music with a world desperately in need of inspiration. They load up the Gold family Volvo and journey to deepest, darkest South Bronx to capture Kong and bring him to civilization.

SummerStage Theatre, in collaboration with Preisser and Weiner, have created a fun, outrageous, and thoroughly entertaining work that will be not only be a unique and exciting experience but also a twisted and insightful treatment of the racial stereotypes inherent in the "King Kong" story.

Randy Weiner, called "a mad genius of New York nightlife," by The Wall Street Journal, is a leading impresario of non-traditional theater in New York and around the world. With partners Simon Hammerstein and Richard Kimmel, Weiner created and continues to manage the successful variety theater-nightclub, The Box, with current locations in NYC and London. Along with Hammerstein, Weiner has created a new brand of theater-nightclubs, The Act, currently in Las Vegas and Dubai. Additionally, with partners Jonathan Hochwald and Arthur Karpati, Weiner is producer of the immersive theater experience, Sleep No More, currently running in New York. Past works with Alfred Preisser includeArchbishop Supreme and Caligula Maximus.

Alfred Preisser is an award winning director, writer and producer of theatre with over 40 professional credits in NYC, regionally and Europe. Highlights include The Classical Theatre of Harlem (Founding Artistic Director, 1999-2009) and his work leading The Harlem School of the Arts Theatre. Upcoming in 2013/14: Street Scene (producer), world premiere of Diablo Love with SummerStage, House of Lear w/ Andre DeShields and the first major revival ofThe Connection with the world famous Living Theatre.

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Website: http://www.cityparksfoundation.org/summerstage/

Twitter: @SummerStage #SummerStage13 #ThisIsHipHop

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City Parks Foundation (CPF) is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer park programs throughout the five boroughs of New York City. We work in over 750 parks citywide, presenting a broad range of free arts, sports, and education programs, and empowering citizens to support their parks on a local level. Our programs and community building initiatives reach more than 600,000 people each year, contributing to the revitalization of neighborhoods throughout New York City.

SummerStage reminds our patrons that in the interest of public safety the following items cannot be brought into the Central Park venue: glass bottles, cans, coolers, folding chairs, bicycles, rollerblades, skateboards, beach umbrellas, video cameras, tape recorders, professional camera gear or pets. All bags are subject to search. Bringing alcoholic beverages into any NYC park is forbidden and the distribution or sale of unauthorized promotional materials is not allowed. Beer and wine are on sale at the Central Park venue for on­site consumption only.

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