Celebrate FringeNYC's 15th Anniversary with a benefit performance of "Dog Sees God"
August 11 at The Laurie Beechman Theatre
Buy tickets HERE.
The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC), the largest multi-arts festival in North America, will celebrate its 15th anniversary in August. Since the opening of the very first Festival in August of 1997, FringeNYC has never thrown a benefit. That is about to change as the Alumni Association of the New York International Festival presents THE FringeBENEFITS SERIES.
THE FringeBENEFITS SERIES offers a taste of 15 of the most beloved shows from the past 15 years of FringeNYC. Every Thursday for 15 weeks The Laurie Beechman Theatre will present a different performance, concert, or reading of a different work from one of the Festivals. Casting and guest hosts for the series will be announced on a show-by-show basis.
Upcoming performances are as follows:
August 11: Dog Sees God (2004). A group of friends eerily reminiscent of the Peanuts gang discovers the difficulty of finally growing up in this jet black comedy by Bert V. Royal (writer of the hit film Easy A). Staged reading. $30. 7pm. Click HERE for tickets.
FringeNYC is a production of The Present Company, under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Elena K. Holy. In 1997, New York City became the seventh US city to host a fringe festival, joining Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Houston, Orlando and San Francisco. In its first 14 years FringeNYC has presented over 2400 performing groups from around the world. The festival has been the launching pad for numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway transfers, long-running downtown hits, and regional theater productions. With attendance topping 75,000 people, FringeNYC is New York City’s fifth largest cultural event (just behind New York International Auto Show, Tribeca Film Festival, New York City Marathon, and New York Comic Con). The 2011 Festival runs August 12 - 28, offering programming by 200 of the world's best emerging theatre troupes and dance companies in 20 venues in Lower Manhattan. For more information visit www.FringeNYC.org.
THE FringeBENEFITS SERIES runs Thursdays May 5 - August 11. Show times vary. The Laurie Beechman Theater is located inside West Bank Cafe at 407 West 42nd Street -- at Ninth Avenue, accessible from the A,C,E,N,R,V,F,1,2,3 trains at 42nd Street). Tickets are $30 - $20, plus a $15 food/drink minimum. To purchase tickets call 212-352-3101 or visit www.SpinCycleNYC.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Past FringeBENEFITS performances include:
May 5: Urinetown (1999). In a world where citizens must use public amenities regulated by a malevolent corporation, one man plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom. Featuring music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann, book and lyrics by Greg Kotis. A concert featuring songs from Urinetown and their new musical Yeast Nation. $30. 7pm.
May 12: The Fartiste (2006). Composer/lyricist Michael Roberts and librettist Charlie Schulman have created a musical about Joseph Pujol (1857-1945), a popular music hall performer who played tunes by passing gas. Concert staging. $20. 9:30pm.
May 19: Cats Talk Back (2003). Playwright Bess Wohl asks: What if five former cast members of Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash-hit Cats dared to tell all about the making of this Broadway legend? Full performance. $25. 9:30pm
May 26: Williamsburg: The Musical (2007) Life is so ironic when a neurotic hipster princess falls for a curious Hasidic Jew in this pop/rock parody of the "coolest neighborhood in America". Music by Kurt Gellersted & Brooke Fox, lyrics by Brooke Fox, and book by Will Brumley. Additional Material by Nicola Barber. Concert staging. $20. 7pm.
June 2: South Pathetic (2010). Jim David (Comedy Central Presents) paints a hysterical portrait of North Carolina's worst community theatre production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Full performance. $20. 7:30pm.
June 9: The Boys Upstairs (2009). Playwright Jason Mitchell takes you into the fabulous living room of city boys who handle their relationships, careers, and all New York has to offer with style, scandal & specialty cocktails! Staged reading. $20. 7pm. One lucky ticket buyer will win a pair of comp tickets for the Off-Broadway run of Silence! The Musical. Click HERE for tickets.
June 16: Veritas (2010). Stan Richardson dramatizes the true story of a group of young gay men at Harvard in 1920 whose promising futures fell prey to Harvard's homophobic "Secret Court." Staged reading. $20. 7pm. One lucky ticket buyer will win a pair of comp tickets for the Off-Broadway run of Silence! The Musical. Click HERE for tickets.
June 23: MoM - A Rock Concert (2009). In Richard Caliban's musical, five suburban moms form a band just for laughs and inadvertently become a phenomenon. Concert staging. $20. 7pm. Click HERE for tickets.
June 30: The Lightning Field (2005). In David Ozanich's searing drama, Sam and his younger boyfriend, Andy, travel from from New York along with their divorced parents to see sculptor Walter De Maria's famous art installation in the New Mexico desert. www.lightningfieldtheplay.com. Staged reading $20. 9pm. Click HERE for tickets.
July 7: I Was Tom Cruise (2006). In Alexander Poe's satiric drama, a young couple's world is turned upside down when they're befriended by Tom Cruise, who presents them with a Faustian bargain. Staged reading. $20. 7:30pm. Click HERE for tickets.
July 14: Armless (2004). Kyle Jarrow's dark comedy tells the story of an insurance executive who wants to have his arms cut off. Staged reading. $20. 7:30pm.Click HERE for tickets.
July 28: Bridezilla Strikes Back (2005). Cynthia Silver details her alternately funny and tragic tale of "starring" on the first season of the hit reality TV show "Bridezillas". Full performance. $20. 7:30pm. Click HERE for tickets.
###