Town Square Productions, Inc. will present Bitches of the Kingdom! a new musical cabaret evening featuring the princesses from original storybooks kvetching about the exploitation they've suffered in today's animated films and theme parks. Bitches of the Kingdom! will play Don't Tell Mama (343 W. 46th Street) on Thursday evenings beginning tonight, June 14th and running through July 26th at 9:15pm. (There will be no performance on July 5th). Tickets are $15 cash only (with a TWO DRINK MINIMUM) and are available at: www.DontTellMama.com/reservations.php. Reservations are recommended.
Bitches of the Kingdom! is based on Dennis Giacino's new musical DISENCHANTED! which enjoyed sold out runs in Orlando, Sarasota, Syracuse, Rochester, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Winner of the Orlando International Fringe Festival's Producer's Award and the Patron's Pick, DISENCHANTED! continued to win audiences and collect seven additional 'Best Of' awards from the city's media outlets. DISENCHANTED! will play New York beginning mid-2013 off-Broadway.
In Bitches of the Kingdom!, Dennis Giacino takes the stage at the piano and shares his journey as 'princess whisperer' and the making of DISENCHANTED! Bitches of the Kingdom! includes songs featured in DISENCHANTED! and stars four bold women who give voice to the bitter princesses as they sing of their issues with today's pop culture. These are not your typical damsels in distress. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Belle, Mulan, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, and The One Who Kissed the Frog all come to life as they sing about the once-upon-a-time girls.
DISENCHANTED! (from which Bitches of the Kingdom! is based) was first heard at a Reading in New York in 2009, which led to a performance a year later as a part of the New Jersey Playwrights Contest Reading. In the spring of 2011, it started its sold out runs at the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, where it was extended, and won The 2011 Producers' Award. With the acclaim immediately reaching the internet, Giacino licensed the piece to other theaters in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida, all receiving the same accolades – sold out runs, extensions and standing ovations.
"Cabaret has always been a love of mine," said Bitches of the Kingdom! composer Dennis Giacino. "Before we bring DISENCHANTED! to a New York theater this fall, we want to give audiences a taste of the music from the show in this intimate, relaxed cabaret evening. We hope Bitches of the Kingdom! will excite audiences and interest them in the bigger story."
"Dennis and Fiely have created an amazingly entertaining, commercial and dead-on hysterical satire of pop culture," said Don Frantz, producer for Town Square Productions. "We are thrilled to bring it to New York."
Biographies:
DENNIS T. GIACINO (Book, Music, Lyrics) His works have played throughout the USA, Canada, Singapore, Prague, Sydney Australia, Montreal, Vancouver BC. He has garnered rave reviews & editor's picks in Time Out New York, Theatermania.com, Backstage, Washington Post, San Francisco Weekly, Chicago Sun-Times, Orlando Sentinel, Miami New Times, Seattle Post- Intelligencer, CBC Radio Canada, Prague Post - the list goes on. Giacino's musicals have received awards including: 'WINNER' - 2010 NJ Playwrights Contest; 'BEST OF FEST' & 'BEST MUSICAL' - San Francisco Fringe Festival, 'BEST NATIONAL SHOW' & 'PRODUCER'S AWARD - BEST SHOW' - Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival; 'BEST COMEDY' - Ottawa Fringe Theatre Festival, & many more.
FIELY A. MATIAS (Director) Matias hails from the Philippines via Los Angeles, has directed & performed world-wide with IMAGO Theatre Mask Ensemble & in numerous Giacino musicals internationally. Matias has directed & performed in over 20 International Fringe Theater Festivals. His awards include: 'Best Performer' (nominee) - Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival; 'Best Cabaret' - San Francisco Fringe Festival; and 'Best of Fest' as the Orlando, San Francisco, Saskatoon Fringe Theater festivals. Television & radio credits include: Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon, 'On Q! Live' - Los Angeles, The Barry Z Show - NYC, Fox News - Orlando, NPR. He originated the role of the Asp in the Broadway/Off Broadway-bound 'Annie II' / 'Annie Warbucks' at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
TOWN SQUARE PRODUCTIONS (Producer): a theatrical management and creative development company owned and operated by Don Frantz and Laurie Brown. For the past 10 years, TSP has produced & managed on Broadway (A Class Act, A Tale of Two Cities, Soul of Shaolin), Off-Broadway (Pirates, I Got Merman, Summer of '42, All Too Human, All For One Theater Festival for solo artists) , National Tours (Spirit – The Seventh Fire), Special Events (Grand Opening of Madame Tussaud's, Japan Day @ Central Park) , Internationally Award winning shows at Theme Parks (KaTonga at Busch Gardens Tampa, Shamu's Believe at all three SeaWorld parks) and throughout China (42nd Street, Shanghai World Expo, The Promise, The Golden Trees, and on faculty at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing). A three-time winner of the Guinness Record for the World's Largest Maze, Don Frantz created the outdoor, family game called the "Amazing Maize Maze®. . www.TownSquareProductions.com
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