New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," closes its 22nd season now through June 22, 2013, with the regional premiere of one of the most outrageous shows the company has ever produced. With book and lyrics by Spencer Green and Gary Stockdale, and music by Stockdale, BUKOWSICAL is a wacky, high-energy - and gleefully adult - musical comedy, an ironic and insightful 21st-century reboot of the classic American musical comedy, exploring the intersection between sex, drugs, booze, and art, all through the life story of the great American novelist and poet Charles Bukowski. BroadwayWorld has new shots of the cast in action below!
The New Line cast includes Zachary Allen Farmer as Bukowski, with an ensemble of New Line All-Stars, Ryan Foizey, Joel Hackbarth, Nicholas Kelly, Kimi Short, Christopher Strawhun, Marcy Wiegert, and Chrissy Young. Farmer has appeared with New Line as Barry in the American regional premiere of High Fidelity, as Sheriff Merle Karnopp in the world premiere of Love Kills, as Dr. Prospero in Return to the Forbidden Planet, as Charles Guiteau in Assassins, as Proteus in Two Gentlemen of Verona, and in several other shows as well, including this season's Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and Next to Normal.
BUKOWSICAL will be directed by Scott Miller, with music direction by Justin Smolik, choreography by Robin Michelle Berger, scenic design by Scott L. Schoonover, costume design by Amy Kelly, and lighting design by Kenneth Zinkl.
Bukowski was known for the vulgarity of his language and the adult content of his work. So BUKOWSICAL tells Bukowski's life story on his terms, the way he'd write a musical, if the inclination had ever struck him, using the all-American conventions of old-school musical comedy ironically, to explore his dark, damaged, decadent life. Along the way, the show also takes a look at how the experiences of an artist's life affect his art, and how that art becomes universal through its truth-telling.
The musical started life as a 50-minute one-act in Los Angeles, was revised and expanded, and then went on to the New York Fringe Festival, where it won the award for Outstanding Musical.
BUKOWSICAL runs now through June 22, 2013, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, at 8:00 p.m., at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend. May 30 is a preview. Tickets are on sale now through the Fox Theatre Box Office, or by calling 314-534-1111. This show contains adult content and adult language.
For more information about the show, visit http://www.newlinetheatre.com/bukowsicalpage.html.
Photo Credit: Jill Ritter Lindberg
The full cast singing the title song of New Line Theatre's "Bukowsical"
Chrissy Young as an abusive teacher and Zachary Allen Farmer as a young Charles Bukowski, singing "Art is Pain"
Zachary Allen Farmer as Charles Bukowski, and the cast singing "Art is Pain"
Nicholas Kelly, Christopher Strawhun, Marcy Wiegert, Joel Hackbarth (as Bukowski's sadistic father), Zachary Allen Farmer (as Charles Bukowski), Kimi Short, and Ryan Foizey, singing "Art is Pain"
Zachary Allen Farmer as Charles Bukowski, with Marcy Wiegert as Sweet Lady Booze, singing "Take Me"
Nicholas Kelly as William Faulkner, Joel Hackbarth as Tennessee Williams, Christopher Strawhun as William S. Burroughs, and Chrissy Young as Sylvia Plath, singing "Get Down, Get Dark, Get Dirty"
Kimi Short as One True Love and Zachary Allen Farmer as Charles Bukowski (with Joel Hackbarth behind the bar), singing the drunken "Chaser of My Heart"
Kimi Short as One True Love and Zachary Allen Farmer as Charles Bukowski, singing the drunken "Chaser of My Heart"
Nicholas Kelly, Marcy Wiegert, Christopher Strawhun, Chrissy Young, Kimi Short Joel Hackbarth, and Ryan Foizey as Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, singing "Slippery Slope"
Kimi Short as One True Love, Zachary Allen Farmer as Charles Bukowski, Chrissy Young as Frances, and Marcy Wiegert as Bukowski's first publisher, singing "Love is a Dog from Hell" (with Joel Hackbarth in back as the narrator)
Kimi Short as One True Love, Zachary Allen Farmer as Charles Bukowski, Chrissy Young as Frances, and Marcy Wiegert as Bukowski's first publisher, singing "Love is a Dog from Hell" (with Joel Hackbarth in back as the narrator)
Joel Hackbarth (in back) as the narrator, Kimi Short as One True Love, Zachary Allen Farmer as Charles Bukowski, Chrissy Young as Frances, and Marcy Wiegert as Bukowski's first publisher, singing "Love is a Dog from Hell"
Nicholas Kelly, Ryan Foizey, and Joel Hackbarth as three hipsters
Nicholas Kelly as French film director Barbet Schroeder, singing, "Through a Glass, Barfly"
Nicholas Kelly as French film director Barbet Schroeder, Christopher Strawhun as Sean Penn, and Ryan Foizey as Mickey Rourke, singing, "Through a Glass, Barfly"
Kimi Short as One True Love, singing "Remember Me"
Zachary Allen Farmer (center) as Charles Bukowski, surrounded by the cast singing "12 Steps of Love"
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