THE FLYING LATKE Returns to The Flea, Now thru 12/16

The Flea Theater presents THE FLYING LATKE by Caldecott-Medal winner Arthur Yorinks, a heart-warming tale of Chanukah celebrations, holiday dysfunction and the miracle of a certain soaring potato pancake. Directed by Flea Resident Director Ben Kamine, this limited engagement runs Saturday & Sunday mornings only, today, December 1 through 16 at The Flea.

Adapted by Yorinks from his classic children's book, THE FLYING LATKE tells the story of young Danny Silverstein and his "meshuggeh" family as they celebrate the first night of Chanukah. Their holiday food fight sends a latke sailing out the window and over the city, causing a UFO frenzy that traps the Silversteins in their home with their extended family visiting and nothing but latkes to eat.

"It's my favorite Chanukah story," says Kamine. "We have all had this experience of family togetherness at holiday gatherings; those are my aunts and uncles up there on stage."

Following last year's successful sold-out run, The Flea is bringing back the world premiere of the stage version of this book. Performers include Yoni Ben-Yehuda, Lydian Blossom, Tom Carman, Jimmy Dailey, Katherine Folk-Sullivan, Jessica Frey, Grant Harrison, Adam Lebowitz-Lockard, Rachel Lin, Evan Maltby, Tedra Millan, Ivano Pulito, Elly Smokler, all members of The Bats, The Flea's resident company of actors. With scenic design by James McSweeney, costume design by Ashley Farra, lighting design by Jonathan Cottle, sound design by Jeremy Bloom and stage management by Kel Haney.

Arthur Yorinks has written and directed for opera, theater, dance, film, and radio and is the author of over thirty acclaimed and award-winning books, including the Caldecott Medal-winner, Hey, Al. In his four decades of working in the performing arts, Mr. Yorinks has written and directed numerous plays including So, Sue Me, which premiered at The Kennedy Center and It's Alive, which premiered at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in New York. Mr. Yorinks was Philip Glass's librettist for the operas The Juniper Tree and The Fall of the House of Usher, both of which have been performed all over the world. Mr. Yorinks, in addition to originating A New Theater of Sound in collaboration with The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, consults for New York Public Radio and runs the company he founded, The Yorinks Theater Group. Mr. Yorinks's latest project is the dramatic series American Song, which is being developed and presented at The Flea Theater.

Benjamin H. Kamine is a Resident Director at The Flea Theater. He recently directed the world premiere of Thomas Bradshaw's Job at The Flea. Other fun directing credits include Wars and Whores by Jeffrey Barg and Sarah Ollove (Philly Fringe) and Medea's Got Some Issues by Emilio Williams (Theater Row). He is the Resident Director at the Jewish Plays Project and is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. He also works throughout New York as a sound, lighting, and projection designer, and is a Guest Artist at the Lab School for Collaborative Studies. Previous directing credits for The Flea: The Flying Latke by Arthur Yorinks (2011); Kathleen Supove and the Electric Sheep; Job by Thomas Bradshaw; The Honest Whore, Act 4. Me, My Girl, and My Grandpa Shmulee by Dan McCabe (#serials@theflea)

The Flea Resident Directors at the Flea are a group of emerging artists who develop new work and mount productions with The Bats. Past productions from Flea Resident Directors include Luis Enrique Gutiérrez Ortiz Monasterio's I Hate F_cking Mexicans, Thomas Bradshaw's JOB, Nick Jones' The Wundelsteipen and other difficult roles for young people, Ed Himes' The Electric Lighthouse, and #serials@theflea, The Flea's hit late-night episodic play competition.

The Bats are the resident Acting Company members of The Flea Theater. Each year over a thousand actors audition for a place in this unique company. The Bats perform in extended runs of challenging classic and new plays. The Bats have recently appeared in World Premieres by A.R. Gurney, Will Eno, Adam Rapp, Beau Willimon, Mac Wellman, Elizabeth Swados, Thomas Bradshaw, Itamar Moses, Sheila Callaghan, Julian Sheppard, Ken Urban, Tommy Smith, Jonathan Reynolds, Trista Baldwin, Laurel Haines, Qui Nguyen and Sean Graney.

The Flea Theater, under Artistic Director Jim Simpson and Producing Director Carol Ostrow, is one of New York's leading off-off-Broadway companies. Winner of a Special Drama Desk Award for outstanding achievement, Obie Awards and an Otto for political theater, The Flea has presented over 100 plays and numerous dance and live music performances since its inception in 1996. Past productions include the premieres of Anne Nelson's The Guys, seven plays by A.R. Gurney (O Jerusalem, Screenplay, Mrs. Farnsworth, Post Mortem, A Light Lunch, Office Hours and Heresy), Cellophane and Two September by Mac Wellman, Ashley Montana Goes Ashore... and The Oldsmobiles by Roger Rosenblatt; JABU and Kaspar Hauser by Elizabeth Swados; Return of the Chocolate Smeared Woman by Karen Finley, Bingo with the Indians by Adam Rapp, Oh, The Humanity and other exclamations by Will Eno, Dawn and Job by Thomas Bradshaw, Love/Stories (or But You Will Get Used to it) Itamar Moses, The Great Recession, Girls in Trouble by Jonathan Reynolds, Parents' Evening by Bathsheba Doran, Looking at Christmas by Steven Banks, the Drama Desk nominated She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen, the Drama Desk nominated These Seven Sicknesses by Sean Graney and I Hate f-ing Mexicans by Luis Enrique Gutiérrez Ortiz Monasterio.

THE FLYING LATKE runs today, December 1, 2, 8, 9, 15 & 16th at 11am. Check www.theflea.org for the full performance schedule. The Flea is located at 41 White Street between Church and Broadway, three blocks south of Canal, close to the A/C/E, N/R/Q, 6, J/M/Z and 1 subway lines. Tickets are $15 ($12 for groups of 10 or more) and can be purchased online at www.theflea.org or by calling 212-352-3101.

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