'Eigth Midtown International Theatre Festival'
With over 40 plays in four separate venues in a 21-day period, the Eigth Midtown International Theatre Festival (MITF8) presents something for everybody's palate: from revivals to solo shows, to a look at the land of the undead, to a gay musical take on Oliver Twist. Other works include looks at immigration, security in America and the Columbine massacre.
Beginning on 16 Jul 2007 1and running through 5 Aug 2007, MITF8 will take place at the MainStage and Jewel Box spaces at the WorkShop Theater, the Where Eagles Dare Theatre and Stage Left Studio.
"It's always exciting when we prepare for the Festival," noted MITF executive producer John Chatterton. "We always have a wide-ranging and eclectic line-up to pick from. We naturally hope each of them will strike a chord with the audience, and each year more than a few do just that."
Inaugurated in 2000, the Midtown International Theatre Festival was created to offer an opportunity for productions and performances that might otherwise not be seen by as broad an audience as possible. Since its inception, the MITF has presented over 300 different works.
Following is a complete program schedule, arranged by theatre, of all productions performing in the Midtown International Theatre Festival
WorkShop Theater, MainStage Space
4th Floor
312 West 36th Street
(between 8th & 9th Avenues)
New York, NY 10018
| Bloody Lies (comedy/thriller): Can Ciem find true love with a beautiful vampire? Can he stop the evil count? Will Barney ever say anything besides "Barney?" Find out in Bloody Lies. It's Dracula meets Monty Python. | |||||||||||
| Written by: Greg Machlin Directed by: Samantha Shechtman Presented by: Purple Pillow Thief Productions Cast: Gabe Belyeu, Michael Buckley, Carrie Cimma, Thomas Lash, Brian Decaleue, Larry George, Kate Hamill and Marlene Morreis Length: 1hr 25mins
| |||||||||||
| Secrets Women Share (Drama): A series of intimate & unexpected encounters, depicting six situations in which women confront each other & themselves & celebrate the innate bond they share; their strength & their unique ability to be intimate. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Meri Wallace Directed by: Leah Bonvissuto Presented by: Dancing on the Moon Productions Cast: Anne Ackerman, Sabrina Bogen, Allison Colby, Maureen Griffin, Angus Hepburn, Annalisa Loeffler and Torey Marks & Erin Leigh Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| Take Me America (musical): About asylum in America. Follow nine refugees in their quest for asylum in the U.S. and the three INS agents who decide their fate. Do they stay or do they go? | ||||||||||
| Book and lyrics by: Bill Nabel Music by: Bob Christianson Directed by: Gregg Wiggans Choreographed by: Denny Paschall Produced by: Double Play Connections, LLC and Meredith Lucio Cast: Ana Andricain, Eric Chan, Michelle Liu Coughlin, Jan Leslie Harding, Mike Mitchell, Jr., Ellen Mittenthal, Natasha Tabandera and Ernest Williams Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| The Executioner (drama/comedy/gay): Barbara Ann and Cort Quactermain, orphaned by the Texas justice system, aim to kill the man who stuck the lethal needle in their mother's arm. The local sheriff must choose: her love, Barbara Ann, or her duty to stop the crime. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Jon Kern Directed by: Pedro Salazar Cast: Kelly Eubanks, Melinda Helfrich, Walker Lewis, Tania Molina, Scott Sweatt, Isaac Hirotsu Woofter, Sebastian Cruz, Ed Perez and Sam Sadigurski Length: 1hr 20mins
| ||||||||||
| Sons of Molly Maguire (Drama): In the coal mines of 1870s Pennsylvania, bosses discriminate against Irish immigrants. Jack Kilbride joins the Molly Maguires, a secret society that protests through terrorism. He finds, however, that the bosses own not only the mines but also the courts. | ||||||||||
| Written by: John Kearns Directed by: Candace O'Neil Cihocki Presented by: Boann Books and Media LLC Cast: Michael Basile, J. Dolan Byrnes, Dani Cervone, Mary Egan, Dain Geist, Susan McBrien, Emily Moment, Julia Morrissey, Brendan Ryan and Gary Troy Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| To The Contrary (drama): The story of Bernice "Bernie" Phillips, a savvy, successful New York City Photographer who, in a moment completely against character, falls in love with Michael, one of her most inexplicably attractive subjects. With him, and her best friend, the aging-and ageless-soap-opera star Lesslie at her side, Bernice explores the ins, outs, ups, and ultimate downs, of life, love, and sex. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Craig Jacobs Directed by: James Valletti Presented by: Jonathan Tessero Cast: Laura Jordan, Jim Weitzer, Diane J. Findlay, Todd Detwiler and James Mills Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| Stray Dog Hearts (black comedy/World Premiere): Brianna's pregnant, Brodsky's nostalgic, and Lila's a firecracker who's always "in her cups". When the three of them are confronted with an interloping well-dressed dwarf on the day that they are handed over to their new parent company, the hostile takeover is the least hostile thing that happens that day. | ||||||||||||||||
| Written by: Padraic O'Reilly Directed by: Jennifer Gelfer Produced by: Kimberly Bailey / Velocity Theatre Company Cast: Marc Santa Maria, Kimberly Bailey, Rainbow Dickerson, Mike DiGiacinto and Stephen Jutras Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||||||||
| Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (comedy): A novice reporter gets more than he bargained for when he interviews silver screen sex goddess Rita Marlowe. | ||||||||||
| Written by: George Axelrod Directed by: Holly-Anne Ruggiero Produced by: Wildcat Theatricals Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| The House of Blue Leaves (farce with music): A zookeeper/nightclub pianist struggles to improve his lot in life despite his hypochondriac wife, insistent mistress, homicidal son, absent best friend (he's famous too!) and a gaggle of nuns. The clock is ticking, their opportunities to be rich, famous, and successful - or at least geographically near to those enjoying such fortune are slowly expiring. | ||||||||||
| Written by: John Guare Directed by: ?? Produced by: Metzler Productions Length: 1hr 20mins
| ||||||||||
| Exhibit This! - The Museum Comedies (Comedy): The Metropolitan Museum of Art has come to life! What happens when paintings, sculpture, antiquities, drawing, and fertility gods, emerge from their molds, frames, and cases? Mix in artists, guards, critics, lovers, curators and one very special night, and you have "Exhibit This." | ||||||||||
| Written by: Luigi Jannuzzi Directed by: Elizabeth Rothan Produced by: The Metropolitan Theatre Company Cast: Bruce Barton, Emily Beatty, Dustin C. Burrell, Joseph Franchini, Billy Lane, Dawn E. McGee, Perryn Pomatto, Jasmin Singer, Peter Stoll and Charles F. Wagner IV Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| Patriot Acts (Comedy): A pair of short comedies that examine the civil liberties of Americans in the post-9/11 world of today. The first work is a series of vignettes that follow the zany adventures of two federal agents vigorously enforcing provisions of the Patriot Act. The second one-act looks at a pair of NYC roommates who become entangled in a farcical case of "identity fraud" that leads to an eventful undertaking of vaudevillian proportions." | ||||||||||
| Written by: Marshall Jones III Directed by: Rico Rosetti Produced by: Emerge Theater Company Cast: Julie Cotton, Deidre Da Silva, Nick Farco, Andrew Kaempfer, Asad Khan, Sarah Koestner, Stacie Lents, Paul O'Connor and Shanti Wesley Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| The Street (musical comedy): Stock shorts, long odds, undercover moles and a misanthropic metrosexual all collide on America's "Street of Dreams." It's a wild ride as we take on the big guns of Wall Street...only to run head-on into accounting improprieties and business shenanigans. | ||||||||||
| Libretto, book and lyrcs by: Ronnie Cohen Directed and Choreographed by: Heidi Lauren Duke Produced by: Michael Roderick Cast: Leslie Anne Friedman, Fiona Choi, Anthony Aloise, Theresa Rose, Ryan Hillard, Jonathan Whitton, Jen Percival, Nicole Dalto and Joshua Walter Length: 2hrs
| ||||||||||
| Twist (musical/gay): A pop-rock musica. Twist weaves Victorian erotica, dark comedy and gender-bending into Dickens's famous tale as it re-imagines Oliver as an attractive young man, still searching for love, but driven by physical desire. Whether submitting to punishment at the Workhouse, or succumbing to the charms of a flirtatious Artful Dodger, Twist is always begging for more." | ||||||||||
| Libretto & lyrics by: Gila Sand Music by: Paul Leschen Directe by: Gila Sand Cast: Reymundo Santiago, Garrit Guadan, Ryan Mercy, Hannah Fairchild, Jake Lemmenes, Amanda Sasser, Martin Gould Cummings, Jason Griffith and Lee Cavellier Length: 1hr 45mins
| ||||||||||
WorkShop Theater, Jewel Box Space
4th Floor
312 West 36th Street
(between 8th & 9th Avenues)
New York, NY 10018
| Duplex (suspense thriller): Two strangers, working in real estate, witness a murder in an empty rental. Hastily, they decide to steal the diamonds that were the motive for the killing, but deception and past transgressions could bring their plan crashing down around them. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Scott Brooks Directed by: Sam Viverito Presented by: Badlands Theatre Company Cast: Jen Scott Mobley, Michael Ferrell, Diana De La Cruz, Benim Foster, John Di Benedetto and Andrew Stewart Jones Length: 1hr 25mins
| ||||||||||
| The Shadow-Pier (drama/film noir): In 1952, Ferry tenBroek's film noir "The Shadow-Pier" is seized by the FBI. In 1992, a mysterious caller offers him the movie for $1 million. In the film, Johnny attempts to free his bride, Corinne, from a powerful gangster. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Jonathan Wallace Directed by: James Edward Duff Presented by: Howling Moon Cab Company Cast: ared Morgenstern, Paul Pryce, Peter Reznikoff and Gayle Robbins Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| I'm In Love With Your Wife (comedy): When Gary's friend Paul confesses to an affair with Gary's wife, and Paul's wife confides in Gary her own dirty secrets, Gary must face his demons in this story of sexually obsessed New Yorkers. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Alex Goldberg Directed by: Tom Wojtunik Presented by: Changuitos Productions Cast: Ron Palillo, Shane Jacobsen, Katie Kreisler, Ron Palillo, Ean Sheehy, Marion Wood and Monica Yudovich Length: 1hr 25mins
| ||||||||||
| Outroverted (comedy/monologues): A show for the chronically unaccepted, Outroverted shows "reality" through the colorful eyes of those who are different; frustrated gamer geeks, fat lunatic wenches, struggling black actors, closeted virgins, and socially stifled women. Five shows. Five voices. Countless moments of awkwardness. | ||||||||||
| Presented: I Ate What? Theatre Company Cast: Simona Berman, Brian Bielawski, Craig Durante, Richie McCall and Susan Rankus Length: 2hrs
| ||||||||||
| Love and Israel (monologues/comedy/drama): Explores the human side of Israel through the eyes of different Jewish writers who have a deep and complex relationship with the place. | ||||||||||
| Script Compiled and edited by: Sissy Block & Ilana Lipski monologues written by: various authors Directed by: Ilana Lipski Produced by: Sissy Block and Ilana Lipski Cast: Sissy Block, Nathan Brisby, Iuliana Gedo, Jordana Oberman, Mindy Raf and Avi Reinharz Length: 1hr 15mins
| ||||||||||
| Storia (solo show): Charts five generations in a journey of hope, loss, love and trial through immigration and assimilation. | |||||||
| Written by: Troy Diana Directed by: Jennifer Ortega Presented by: The Monarch Theater Cast: Troy Diana Length: 1hr 15mins
| |||||||
| Papa's Will (drama): Through his fractured adolescence and early manhood, Will McCarthy discovers and accepts the inevitability of his family's fate. Papa Gene, his grandfather, provides him unique life lessons, a few handy cliches and a smidgen of hope to get through the rough patches. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Rob Egginton Directed by: Rob Egginton Presented by: Panicked Productions Cast: Marshall Sharer, Sam Antar, Brett Friedmann, Stu Richel and Kat Lower Length: 1hr 10mins
| ||||||||||
| Stuck (drama): The story of 2 young women from rural America, looking for a way out. The girls seek to improve their circumstances, but only move closer to destroying themselves due to their inability to see their way out. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Jessica Goldberg Presented by: Amy Lerner/Hana Mori Taylor Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| The Last One Left (comedy/drama): Danny returns home from fighting a senseless war against killer robots with a war buddy in tow, only to encounter unimagined battles in his family's living room. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Jason Pizzarello Directed by: Dev Bondarin Produced by: Geek Ink Cast: Phil Bartolf, Marco Formosa, Deborah Johnstone, Maria McConville, John Stillwaggon and Emily Zempel Length: 1hr 20mins
| ||||||||||
| A Line in the Sand (solo show/drama): Columbine. 20 Apr 1999. 15 dead. 23 wounded. The worst school shooting in U.S. history until 16 Apr 2007. 8 years and more than 40 school shootings later, we still have a lot to learn. Based on interviews with survivors, Adina Taubman's solo show searches for answers. | |||||||
| Written by: Adina Taubman Directed by: Padraic Lillis Produced by: Gemini Productions Cast: Adina Taubman Length: 1hr 15mins
| |||||||
| As Long a Time as a Long Time is in Long Time Land (drama): Two men are trapped in a single cell. One believes that amnesia will set him free as the other goes to the depths of pain to remember everything beyond the locked door. Which man holds the key to their freedom? | ||||||||||
| Written by: Todd Pate Directed by: Barbara Suter Produce by: Broken Blade Theatre Company Cast: Christopher Hurt and Michael Rushton Length: 1hr
| ||||||||||
| Five By Three (drama): Learn how to breakup with a friend, move without packing, bite your friend's face and hide from zombies in these five short plays by three women | ||||||||||
| Written by: Nicole Greevy, Uma Incrocci and Erica Jensen Directed by: Nicole Greevy & Erica Jensen Presented by: Numerical Productions Cast: Mike Caban, William Franke, Deborah Green, Nicole Greevy, Armistead Johnson, Sarah Malkin, Kirk McGee, Christian Pedersen, Ninon Rogers, Alison Saltz, Andi Teran, Dan Truman and Melanie Wehrmacher Length: 1hr 15mins
| ||||||||||
| Webeime (drama): On Death Row, one man searches his soul for inner peace before his execution while his subconscious ruminates on how he arrived at this place in time. | |||||||||||
| Written by: Layon Gray Directed by: Layon Gray Produced by: The Black Gents Of Hollywood Cast: Lamman Rucker, Jay Jones, Eddie Lewis, Justin Biko, Layon Gray, Jason McGhee, Thom Scott and Donn Swaby Length: 1hr 30mins
| |||||||||||
| The Speed Queen (drama): Marjorie Standiford is on Death Row in Oklahoma. Now she is answering questions posed to her by American's most popular horror novelist about the wild life of sex, drugs, and crime that has led to what may be her imminent execution. | |||||||
| Written by: Based on the novel by O'Nan, adapted by Anne Stockton Directed by: Austin Pendleton Cast: Anne Stockton Length: 1hr 15mins
| |||||||
Where Eagles Dare Theatre
Ground Floor
347 West 36th Street
(between 8th & 9th Avenues)
New York, NY 10018
| Addicted to Christmas (black comedy): They celebrate Christmas monthly, weekly, sometimes daily. They avenge Santa Claus bashings. They stage vigilante attacks in the name of Currier & Ives. Their time zone is out of sync with the outside world. While resorting to green spray paint to freshen their wilted tree, their Yule Log video is proselytizing like a burning bush. It talks back, and isn't happy. | |||||||
| Written by: David Patrick Stearns Directed by: Sheri Johnson Produced by: Greg Miller Length: 1hr 30mins
| |||||||
| I Am Not a Chimpanzee (horror): While Sam, a former attorney, sits under the table of his crumbling Park Avenue kitchen in urban leisure wear doing drugs, his wife Margaret volunteers at a sanctuary for abused chimpanzees at the Bronx Zoo, where she performs increasingly amorous experiments. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Michael Stockman Directed by: Douglas S. Hall Cast: Betty McKinley, Mort Milder and Nedra McClyde Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| Four Unfold: a story with song (comedy/drama): An unconventional play with song about four city friends facing together breakthroughs to freedom and the fragile understanding of life. | ||||||||||
| Presented by: Kate Lemos Length: 2hrs
| ||||||||||
| Nosferatu: The Morning of My Death (drama/horror): Tells a macabre and timely tale of destruction from within as an insidious spirit of evil infects an entire city with madness turning respected citizens into monsters and the beloved into the terrible. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Stanton Wood Directed by: Edward Elefterion Presented by: Rabbit Hole Ensemble Cast: Danny Ashkenasi, Matt W. Cody, Paul Daily, Emily Hartford, Jenna Kalinowski and David Miclei Length: 1hr 15mins
| ||||||||||
| All The King's Women (comedy): Tells a macabre and timely tale of destruction from within as an insidious spirit of evil infects an entire city with madness turning respected citizens into monsters and the beloved into the terrible.Some enthralled, Some appalled, All obsessed! The life of Elvis Presley told through the eyes of 17 women. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Luigi Jannuzzi Directed by: Branan Whitehead Produced by: The Metropolitan Theatre Company Cast: Alisha Campbell, Rebecca Bateman, Craig Clary, Salome' M. Krell and Jessica Asch Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| Out Of The Flames (horror): He came to find peace with the world, but out of the flames this world brought out the worst in him." Its' a tragedy, its a comedy, its the Devil. | ||||||||||
| Presented by: Opening Night Entertainment Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| The Cholmondeley Chronicles (horror): When a mysterious letter arrives one day, it opens a Pandora's Box, propelling the world's two biggest losers on a journey of self discovery they won't soon forget. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Michael Rudez Directed by: Michael Roderick Produced by: Small Pond Entertainment and Prophecy Productions Cast: Kenn Mann, Michael Mraz, Daphnie Yang, Elizabeth Owens and Howard Davidson Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| The Broken Jump (comedy/drama/play with music): A small-time vaudeville comic at the end of a broken jump is forced to decide whether it's better to dream a dream he's always had or to live one he never knew existed. | ||||||||||
| Written by: King Talent Directed by: J.B. Lawrence Produced by: Baby Hippopotamus Productions Cast: King Talent, Melissa Jo Talent, Matt "Mo" Talent, Tony King, Jack Boice, Dan Hernandez, Greg Homison and Caitlin Mehner Length: 1hr 45mins
| ||||||||||
| The Hand and The Hen (comedy/drama): The Hand: a calm and retired man suffered a strange and bizarre mutilation of his right hand when he sticks it out of the window to find out if it is raining. The Hen: The story of a calm and talkative intellectual man whose wife is violated both mentally and physically by the neighbor. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Fernando Josseau Translated by: Adolfo Perez Alvarez and Oscar A. Mendoza Directed by: Oscar A. Mendoza Produced by: Woken'Glacier Theater Company Cast: Paul Daily, Jeffery Steven Allen and Coco Silvera Length: 1hr 15mins
| ||||||||||
| The Conjugality Test (comedy/drama): David is a progressive Manhattanite with an impressive job, a successful wife, and a bright teenage daughter. Who is this young attractive woman who woos him? What lurks under the niceties of a contemporary urban family? | ||||||||||
| Written by: Michael Lazan Directed by: David Gautschy Cast: Jim Shankman, Shaun Bennet Wilson, Jackie Sydney, Warren Katz and Amanda Sayle Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
Stage Left Studio
Suite 5-A
348 West 37th Street
(between 9th & 10th Avenues)
New York, NY
| Cat-her-in-e (solo show/comedy): About one girl's conflicted relationship with her brilliantly imaginative but troubled older cousin. | ||||||||||
| Written by: Amy Staats Directed by: Jorelle Aronovitch Cast: Amy Staats Length: 1hr
| ||||||||||
| Transit (solo show): From an epiphany on Charles Street in Boston to the Howard Johnson Hotel on Houston Street - via Appalachia and Kansas City - follow the adventures of the white girl in her search for God! | ||||||||||
| Written by: Mary Jane Wells Directed by: Ben Sander Cast: Mary Jane Wells Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||||||||
| Fix-It (solo show, comedy): Can a childhood of self-help therapy prepare Megan Griswold for her husband�s devastating secret? Chronicles an unusual rite of passage, her husband�s shocking arrest and how she stretches the limits of optimism and therapy in her attempts to �fix it.� | ||||||||||
| Written by: Megan Griswold Directed by: Leah Davidson and Pam DeVore Cast: Megan Griswold Length: 1hr 20mins
| ||||||||||
| The Purpose of Matter In The Universe (solo show/multi-media/comedy/drama): Auto-biographical tale of a man at a crossroads in life suffering an emotional breakdown while driving from California to Florida. | |||||||
| Written by: Joe Hutcheson Directed by: DB Levin Cast: Joe Hutcheson Length: 1hr 15mins
| |||||||
The Festival will also present seven staged readings
All preformed at: WorkShop Theater, MainStage Space
4th Floor
312 West 36th Street
(between 8th & 9th Avenues)
New York, NY 10018
Admission is Free
| Moishe and Mohammad (drama) Moishe is an Israeli Jew, Mohammed a Palestinian Arab. In a free-wheeling, no-holds-barred discussion, sparks fly as both men hurl charges and countercharges at each other, each blaming the other side for causing the Arab-Israeli conflict. | ||||
| Written by: Phillip W. Weiss Directed by: Phillip W. Weiss Produced by: Phillip W. Weiss Cast: Bruce Zayde and Phillip W. Weiss Length: 75 - 90mins
| ||||
| He Is (inspirational/comedy/drama) An inspirational adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz." We have all heard the story... but not quite like this! | ||||
| Written by: Dana F. Joseph Directed by: Curtis Von Cast: Jamye Jackson, Elizabeth Earnest, Curtis Von, Derrick Nash, Tiffany Joseph, Jasmine Parker, Phillip Brent Sr., Tanisha Harris-Martin, Michelle Thomas, Breigh Jiles and Danielle Rivers Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||
| Love On Ice (musical) What would you do to live with the one you love--FOREVER? | ||||
| Libretto and lyrics by: Bill Nagel Music by: Kevin Conners Directed by: Peter Flynn Length: 2hr 15mins
| ||||
| Zuly in the Last Place on Earth (musical) They are all here because they have nowhere else to go, and the one dog strong enough to save this war-torn junkyard... just wants to sing. | ||||
| Libretto and lyrics by: Anthea Fane Music by: John Chin and Christina Kulick Directed by: Mercedes Murphy Length: 1hr 15mins
| ||||
| La Tosca! (melodramatic comedy) A new comic re-telling of the sordid story of lust, lies and love in 1800�s Rome. | ||||
| Written by: Hector Lugo Directed by: Hector Lugo Produced by: Hector Lugo & LGBT Theatre Cast: Hector Lugo, J. Dolan Byrnes, Joey Dudding, George Hahn and Tony Yazbeck Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||
| Those Whistling Lads: The Poems and Short Stories of Dorothy Parker (comedy/drama) Let Dorothy Parker, the Algonquin Round Table's wittiest writer, along with six lovely young men and women, show you how -- and how not -- to handle them!. | ||||
| Written and adapted by: Maureen Van Trease Produced by: TimeSpace Theatre Company Cast: Maureen Van Trease, Jessica Grove, JT Arbogast, Michelle Enfield, Eric Starker, Emily Hagburg and Christian Roulleau Length: 1hr 30mins
| ||||
Originally published on