The Midtown International Theatre Festival Announces Lineup for 15th Anniversary Season

Year 2014 marks Year 15 for the MITF and John Chatterton is celebrating in a big way. Prolific producer John Chatterton has been a fixture of the Manhattan theatre scene for two decades. For much of that time, his brainchild, The Midtown International Theatre Festival, has been celebrating the diversity of theatre becoming a leader in presenting powerful works from around the world - and one of the best reasons to come to New York in the summer. The once bachelor MITF now has a full family of arts programs: The Short Play Lab, which will be part of this year's festivities; Cabaret MITF - featuring Broadway and cabaret performers - also be part of this summer's festivities; and the Commercial Division spotlighting works whose production values and subject matter are the stuff for Off- [and on] Broadway; and, of course, the founding Midtown International Theatre Festival. The Midwinter Madness Short Play Festival and the MITF Children's Theatre Festival shared in the fun earlier this year.

Visit www.midtownFestival.org to learn more and about the festival and this year's productions.

THE 2014 ROSTER:

Spanning four weeks and three theatres, MITF's myriad of masterworks include musicals, comedies, dramas, one-person shows, performance art, and more.

OPENING JULY 14:

BIELZY & GOTTFRIED

Producers-The Great Bear Folk Theatre & J. Omar Hansen/ Writer & Director-J. Omar Hansen

What if God and the Devil wrote a musical?

CONVERSATIONS WITH MY MOLESTER

Producer & Writer-Michael Mack/ Director-Daniel Gidron

Michael came to pray ... and became prey. Maybe God has forgiven his abuser, but should he?

LONG DIVISION

Producer & Director-Marc Eardley/ Writer-James Presson

The Equation: Post-Coital Strategizing + Pill Popping + Backroom Dealing = A Contemporary Spin on KING LEAR

ME AND CAESAR LEE

Producer/Book/Music/Lyrics-Pat Holley/ Director-Jonathan Warman

In 1985, can a 43-year-old recording star and a teen band's 22-year-old manager hit the right chord?

TIDE BEYOND THE RIFT

Producer-Mixing It Up Productions LLC & Fred Rohan-Vargas/ Writer-Fred Rohan-Vargas/ Director-Jose A. Esquea

A lonely man impersonates a woman's father lost to her during the Cuban Revolution ...

Will this strange reunion create a happy ending?

OPENING JULY 15:

COVER

Producer-Jim Kierstead/ Writer-Bill McMahon/ Director-Paul Michael (The Network)

Even the most carefully planned lives go off track. Just ask Peter and David...or their wives.

FARM HALL

Producer-Break A Leg Prods/ Writer-David Cassidy/ Director-Gerald vanHeerden

August 1945, German nuclear scientists are held captive in an English country manor, FARM HALL, as atomic bombs are on their way to Japan. BASED ON A TRUE STORY

EDDIE & THE PALACEADES

Producer-Roy O'Neil; Book & Lyrics-Roy O'Neil/ Music-Stephen Feigenbaum; Director: Jamibeth Margolis

You're only young once...but the music lasts forever

OPENING JULY 16:

THE BAUER SISTERS

Producer & Writer-John Dirrigl/ Director-Troy Diana

A gathering of girlfriends from the old country reveals dark secrets better left dead.

EDDIE

Producer & Director-Brian Catton/ Writer-Matthew Ethan Davis

In a tough inner-city school, hard-of-hearing Eddie must keep silent about his attraction to the local bully ... and visa versa.

NEW DAWN

Producer & Writer-Aaron Michael Krueger/ Director-Lexie Fennell Frare

Football Captain Joey Johnson has a secret in this coming of age musical about coming out.

THE WHOLE DAMN THING

Producer-Brandon Smithey/ Writer-Jessica Penzias

One instant wrecked Courtney's family. Is Mac the escape she's been looking for?

OPENING JULY 17:

DEMERARA GOLD

Produced, Written & Performed By Ingrid Griffith/ Director-Margit Edwards

A girl from Guyana taps into her wild spirit to break away and reunite with her parents in America, only to find her battle has just begun. (WARNING: This play contains SEXUAL SITUATIONS).

FRAME 313

Producer-Ensemble Atria/ Writer-Bill Zeffiro/ Director-Peter Napolitano

Mark's obsession with the Kennedy conspiracy might assassinate his own future.

JULIA & BUDDY

Producer-Mergatroyd Prods/ Writer & Director-Nancy McLernan

Sparks fly between a neurotic philosopher and a dysfunctional maintenance man - what could possibly go right?

THIS WILL ALL BE YOURS

Producer/Director-Ludovica Villar-Hauser/ Writer-Laura Pedersen

Planting for the future doesn't come easy to some members of this farm family.

OPENING JULY 18:

CHAMPAGNE LADY

Producer & Writer-Rick Burd/ Director-Jane Stroll

North Dakota.1965. The Strauss family. A trailer. Thanksgiving. ... be there.

COMFORT

Written and directed by Jung Han Kim

A filmmaker's latest work deals with sex slaves in World War II ... including one that haunts his dreams.

PISTRIX

Producer-Phillip Rudy/ Director-Michael Alvarez

Confined to an aquatic prison housed in the belly of a whale, Ilario, a derelict toy-maker, relives the memories of the family he lost in the disaster and town that rejected him.

OPENING JULY 19:

DEJA WHO?

Written by Ed Eriksson/Director-Peter Coriaty

Dueling soulmates... times four!

DIARY OF A MILF

Producer, Writer & Starring-Meshelle "The Indie-Mom of Comedy"/ Director-Rain Pryor

It takes a fearless woman to be a MILF!

FORTUNE

Producer-Aqueduct Productions/ Writer-George Cameron Grant/ Director-Joy Kelly

Freedom has a new name: The true story of Rose Fortune

HOMAGE TO HENRY: A stage adaptation of John Berryman's literary masterpiece

Producer & Director-Jim Vrabel/ Writer-John Berryman & Jim Vrabel

Henry struggles to find the meaning of life and art while navigating through wine, women, fame, and faculty meetings.

GLAM NIGHT

Producer-Bluestone/ Writer-Chip Wheat

It started in a Tiki Bar ... spandex and glitter... it ends in the weight room ... spandex and sweat.

OPENING JULY 21:

WOODSTOCK '99

Producer- Joshua Young/ Writer-Joshua Young/ Director-Alex Gerdts and Joshua Young

Twitter becomes the stage for Shelly's painful past.

OPENING JULY 23:

THE GEEZER GAME

Producer-Debbie Lannen & Herb McCollom, Jr./ Writer-Herb McCollom, Jr./ Director-Debbie Lannen

Doc and the Over-the-Hill Gang meet the Youth of America at the Fifty Year Line.

OPENING JULY 25:

STORYVILLE BLUES

Producer-Yellow Dream Productions & Cassandra Powell/ Writer & Director-Cassandra Powell

In a brothel in New Orleans at the dawn of the Jazz age, Storyville Blues explores the plight of the African American woman.

OPENING JULY 26:

CLAN MACBETH

Producer-Associazione Culturale Teatro delle Ombre/ Writer-Shakespeare/ Director-Daniele Scattina

Lust, Death, Greed, Hell, Redemption ... all members of CLAN MACBETH

(WARNING: This play contains SEXUAL SITUATIONS).

OPENING JULY 28:

LOTTIE AND LEO

Producer-MFB West 23 Productions/ Writer & Director-Michael F Bruck

Love is the Music of Memories

OPENING AUGUST 1:

WARP SPEED: A SCI-FI MUSICAL!

Producer-Benjamin Simpson/ Book/Music/Lyrics-Clara Hoch & Eva Thorpe/ Director-Christopher Noffke

Set your phasers to hilarious and join the crew of the Intersellar to boldly sing where no spaceman has sung before!

... and the MITF SHORT SUBJECTS:

Chenel Star! - My Journey at the Strip Club: A stripper tells her journey working at a strip club.

Controlling Interest: Business executive goes to a dominatrix who answers to a darker authority.

Eurydice Descending: Wendy & Bill spent six weeks at home together but never ran into each other once.

Himmelreich: During WWII, a war hero and future movie star encounters a Nazi inspiration.

Sole Mates: A zany shoe storeowner will go to any measure to find his true sole mate.

The Darkroom: Sparked by the discovery of a box of WWII photos, Ben & Harold develop new lives.

The Swans: Tchaikovsky meets sultry divas downtown in New York City.

Other Short Subjects include:

Countdown

Sleep Well

The Honey Fitz

Zeno's Paradox

To post a comment, you must register and login.