NCTC to Stage World Premiere of SALOME, DANCE FOR ME

Heads will roll this summer when New Conservatory Theatre Center proudly presents the world premiere of Salome, Dance for Me, a savagely beautiful new glam rock re-imagining of the infamous Biblical tale, starring San Francisco's most erotically-charged and campily hilarious rock chanteuse, trixxie carr. The breathtaking vocals and outrageous ingenuity that has made carr a local rock sensation and award-winning faux queen find a theatrical story as epic as her uproarious onstage antics in this commission by NCTC, developed in a year-long residency as part of its Emerging Artist Program. The brutal power of ancient myth collides with twenty-first century decadence in this exhilarating multidisciplinary new musical play based on Oscar Wilde's most controversial work and Richard Strauss' searing landmark opera. Salome, Dance for Me features an all-original score penned by carr herself, with celebrated emerging classical conductor Robert Mollicone, and is directed by carr's frequent collaborator, NCTC Artistic Associate Ben Randle.

Salome, Dance for Me runs August 5 - 29, 2015. Opening Night is Saturday, August 8, 2015 at 8pm. Tickets are $20-25 and available at nctcsf.org or by calling (415) 861-8972.

trixxie carr has dazzled, shocked and seduced audiences locally and internationally, across the spectrum of performance: theatre, live music and nightlife. She shined in Taylor Mac's The Lily's Revenge at Magic Theatre, in a role created by Mac specially for her and in which she performed her "impressive" (SF Chronicle) original compositions. Her original musical written with collaborator Ben Randle, Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dionysus: A Greek Comedy Rock Epic premiered to critical acclaim at Mama Calizo's Voice Factory in 2009 and returned for a Sold Out run at CounterPULSE in 2012. She has also created original, highly theatrical live music works for numerous international arts and music festivals, including the Countdown Celebration for SF MoMA and the AND Festival in Manchester, UK for the Cultural Olympiad, in which she performed with RuPaul's Drag Race Star Honey Mahagony. As an actress, she starred last year in a workshop of a new theatrical rock opera written by Jane Wiedlin of The Go Go's. She was also an acclaimed Hedwig in Boxcar Theatre's long-running Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and was featured in Mica Sigourney's Masterwork! and Work MORE! at CounterPULSE.

carr recently completed two hugely successful cabarets at San Francisco's new cabaret nightclub space, Oasis: Maneater, a tribute to Hall & Oats, and Maniac, a tribute to the movie Flashdance. She has performed with a wide variety of music acts from Spencer Day to The Jazz Mafia, at such venues as the de Young Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, The Castro Theatre, The Victoria Theatre, Supperclub, Café du Nord, Folsom Street Fair, and Treasure Island, to name a few. For five years, she was the co-lead singer for the original mash-up Smash-Up Derby, a house band at nightclub DNA Lounge, and with which she toured to acclaim throughout the U.S. and to Bejing, China. Her first original album, A Souvenir for the Existentialists, is available on iTunes.

carr has conquered the San Francisco drag nightlife scene with her explosively-entertaining drag performances as one of the first faux queens of San Francisco, a city that has since revolutionized drag. In 2013, she won the title of Miss Tiara Sensation at The de Young Museum, crowned by the weekly popular art drag show Some Thing. She performed at Heklina's hugely famous drag show, Trannyshack at The Stud and DNA Lounge, and has continued on in its new iteration as Mother, at Oasis. Her memorable drag performances have played The Warfield (as an opening act for Faith No More), The Regency, Castro Street Fair, San Jose Pride, Folsom Street Fair, San Francisco Gift Center, and Pink Saturday in the Castro.

Co-composer Robert Mollicone is a pianist and conductor on the San Francisco Opera music staff, where he is a recent graduate of the Adler Fellowship, and has served as coach, prompter, or assistant conductor for The Flying Dutchman, The Magic Flute, Moby-Dick, The Secret Garden, Barber of Seville for Families and The Tales of Hoffman; he is also a frequent guest at such companies as Seattle Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Utah Opera, The Dallas Opera, and Opera San Jose. A passion for new works has led Mr. Mollicone to work recently on SFO's 25th anniversary production of Nixon in China, premiere productions of Moby-Dick and Dolores Claiborne, as well as Love/Hate and The Secret Garden with San Francisco Opera Center. He will also serve as coach for the premiere of Jake Heggie's Great Scott at The Dallas Opera. He is a graduate of San Francisco Opera's Adler Fellowship, and also served as a Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist at Washington National Opera. He holds a Masters of Music from Boston University, where he studied with Shiela Kibbe.

Director Ben Randle is NCTC's first Artistic Associate and has directed several acclaimed productions for the Company. He has directed world premieres of Into the Clear Blue Sky by JC Lee (BATCC Nomination, Best Director, Scenic Design); The Fisherman's Wife by Steve Yockey for Impact Theatre; Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dionysus: A Greek Comedy Rock Epic (co-written with trixxie carr) at CounterPULSE; and Evan Johnson's celebrated solo play Pansy, which played a return engagement at NCTC, following its sold-out premiere run. West Coast Premieres include The Submission and Don't Ask at NCTC, where he also directed Shakespeare's R&J, Doubt (BATCC Nomination, Best Director), Treefall, and Baptized to the Bone. Other credits include Chalk Boy by Joshua Conkel, for Impact Theatre; Sweeney Todd for Ray of Light Theatre, (BATCC nomination, Best Director), and Hank Williams: Lost Highway at Douglas Morrison Theatre. Randle has also worked at California Shakespeare Theater, Aurora Theatre, West Edge Opera, Brava!, and Thrillpeddlers. He has a B.A. in Theatre from San Francisco State University and was a member of Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab 2010.

Award-winning choreographer and drag artist Monique Jenkinson serves as Dance Dramaturg for the production.

The creative team of Salome, Dance For Me includes scenic design by Maya Linke, lighting & projection design by NCTC Resident Designer Christian Mejia, costume design by Miriam Lewis, music production by Greg Robles.

The development of Salome, Dance For Me was supported in part by the San Francisco Arts Commission.

NCTC's Emerging Artist Program is supported in part by Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and individual donors.

Previous NCTC Emerging Artist Program alums include Evan Johnson, and the premiere of his original solo play, Pansy, which played a successful return engagement in 2014, following its 2013 premiere; actor and drag cabaret sensation J. Conrad Frank, who developed his first full-length cabaret show as Katya Smirnoff-Skyy; director Ben Randle, who directed several acclaimed productions for NCTC's mainstage season and is now NCTC's Artistic Associate; playwright and actor Michael Phillis, who wrote and developed two solo shows, D*Face and Dolls; and jazz singer Amanda King who developed her first full-length cabaret show.

New Conservatory Theatre Center is San Francisco's premier LGBTQIA and allied performing arts institution and progressive arts education conservatory since 1981. NCTC is renowned for its diverse range of innovative, high quality productions, touring productions and shows for young audiences; its foundational anti-bullying work with youth and educators through YouthAware; and its commitment to nurturing emerging artists and playwrights to expand the canon of queer and allied dramatic work.

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