FringeNYC Feels Good

By 
Stephen
 W 
Baldwin,
 playwright
 “My
 Name
 is
 Ruth”


Heat 
making
 you 
drag? 

Fret 
not
 theatergoer.

  Help
 is 
on
 the 
way!
 
A
 quirky 
half‐pint
 heroine
 is
 dowsing 
the 
city
 with 
a
 big, cool 
bucket 
of 
happy
 over
 at
 the 
Connelly
 Theater 
on
 East
 4th
 Street.


 She’s 
bold,
 she’s 
adorable, 
and
 she’s
 the 
essence
 of 
FringeNYC.  

Meet
 “My 
Name 
is
 Ruth.”


It’s
 1950’s
 Minnesota,
 don’tcha 
know?  

A
 young 
widow 
moves
 to
 the 
big 
city
 and
 lands
 a
 job 
at
 a
 department
 store.

  But
 can
 a 
bashful 
businessman
 save 
both 
her
 home
 and 
her 
heart?  


Gosh-o‐willickers,
 we 
hope 
so!


Isn’t 
fringe 
great?

  Where
 else 
can
 you
 see
 a 
modern
 romantic‐comedy
 based 
on 
the
 Biblical
 story
 of 
Ruth?  

Or 
what 
about 
a
 show
 with 
two 
boxing 
dancers?

 Or
 a
 singing
 Dracula? 
(the 
last
 two 
are
 at
 the
 Connelly 
as 
well,
 by 
the 
way)
 
A
 cool
 breath
 of
 fresh
 arts 
blows 
through
 each 
August
 and
 relieves 
the 
city 
of
 the
 summer
 doldrums.

  It’s
 a
 chance
 for 
every 
off beat 
playwright,
 cabaret
 act,
 and
 dancing 
duo 
to 
think
 WAY 
outside
 the 
box
 and 
be
 heard.


With
 us,
 we
 like 
to 
tell 
people 
we’re 
a
 theater
 company 
that 
won’t
 depress 
you.

  This
 adaptation,
 its
 adorable 
leading
 lady,
 and 
content
—
they 
are
 completely
 sentimental
 and 
heart‐warming.  

Sincere 
to 
its
 fullest.

 
We 
think
 you 
just
 don’t
get 
to
 see
 that
 very
 often
—
sincerity
 seems
 to
 live 
on 
the
 outskirts 
of 
theatre 
these 
days, 
on 
the
 fringe
 of
 society, 
if
 you
 will.  
But
 right 
now,
 that’s
 where
 I 
want 
to 
be.  

It 
feels 
good 
to 
cool 
off 
every 
once
 in
 a
 while
 with
 the 
rest
 of
 the
 optimistic
 avant‐garde.


Feeling
 good
 never
 felt
 so 
edgy!




“My
 Name 
is 
Ruth” 
is
 produced
 by
 34west
 Theater 
and
 plays 
at 
the
 Connelly
 Aug
15-25.

  Dates 
and
 details 
are 
available 
at
 www.34west.org/ruth­nyc­fringe.


Strange Love's Journey Across the Galaxy

By Jorge J. Rodríguez
Producer, The Contasia Players

On the planet Contasia, the evil worm Dr. Roswald Tuscanunin has kidnapped the alien princess
Splontusia to use her as a test subject for his diabolical “mean” serum. As she plots her revenge,
a strange love begins to brew in the beakers of Dr. T's mad science laboratory! But before they
can slither off into the sunset, their love is challenged by past romances that come back to haunt
them...

Strange Love in Outer Space is a new sci-fi musical traumedy by 12-year-old playwright Janyia
Antrum. Currently a seventh-grader at New Haven’s Wexler-Grant Community School, Janyia
wrote the first part of Strange Love during the 2009 Dwight/Edgewood Project (D/EP), an after-
school playwriting program at Yale Repertory Theatre/Yale School of Drama that’s modeled
after the 52nd Street Project. She created the characters and crafted the world of the play over the
D/EP camping retreat. In just two days, she had imagined a whole new universe! When she got
home, she realized that her story wasn’t over yet and that same night, she wrote a sequel. A few
months later, Yale Cabaret commissioned her to write part three, and the trilogy premiered as
part of the their 42nd season, playing to sold-out audiences.

The Contasia Players, a group of students and graduates from Yale School of Drama, are now
proud to present the New York City premiere of Strange Love in Outer Space at FringeNYC!

If you enjoy zany musicals, sci-fi epics or romantic comedies (or all!), join us at The Cherry Pit
for a performance of Strange Love (Venue #14, 155 Bank Street). Five performances only—
8/14 at 2:15pm, 8/17 at 10:30pm, 8/19 at 8pm, 8/21 at 5:30pm, and 8/23 at 4pm. For more
information and tickets, visit: www.StrangeLoveinOuterSpace.com

3boys: Dogs Take a Bite Out of the Fringe

The Fringe Festival is touching down on 4th Street this August.  We at FAB thought it'd be cool to get some of the shows talking about what they're doing.  They'll be posting guest blogs right here on the FAB Feed throughout the Fringe Festival!  Check it out and be sure to get your Fringe Tickets Fast!

-Laurel

By Katie Chambers, Producer of 3boys

Ever wonder if your dog feels degraded by the name “Fifi”?  Do you think he really likes wearing that pink poofy sweater to the park every day?  These are the kinds of questions that ran through playwright Becca Schlossberg’s head as she stared at her dog and wondered whether, in reality, he was less of a family member and more of a slave.  Take those philosophical musings, add a dash of social commentary and a whole lot of darkness and you have 3boys­, the riveting and blackly humorous drama premiering at FringeNYC on August 13.

In 3boys, two older dogs teach a young pup the ropes of the human world and how they must obey the whacky rules set by man in order to survive.  Sure, it’s a play about talking dogs, but it’s no Saturday morning cartoon.  The dogs’ relationships with one another crumble under the weight of the limitations humans have set upon them—society literally beats their natural animal desires right out of them, forcing them into an image of domesticated “perfection.”  Sound familiar?  3boys is a modern Aesop’s fable about masculininty and gay rights, and how a society’s ideals of right and wrong can often do more harm than good.

3boys is created, produced, designed, and performed by a group of Drew University alums who are dedicated to telling stories that matter and who are taking New York by storm.  It’s not just a bunch of 20-somethings dressing as puppies—they hired a fight choreographer who wrestled an attack dog for research.  They mean business.

If you like your theatre short, dark, weird, violent, profane, and meaningful, come downtown to the 4^th Street Theatre between August 13^th and 28^th to play with the 3boys—we’ll try not to bite.   Dates and tickets are at www.3boysNYC.com.

Best Vintage Street Festival!

Fourth Arts Block (FAB) just wanted to spread the word and the love about the Hester Street Market!

Time Out, rightfully so, has given the Hester Street Market a large print spread stating that the
Hester Street Market has been voted as the best vintage market in NYC!!! Check out the full article here.

The Hester Street Market is filled with all kinds of unique and fashionable treasures and FAB is excited to be tabling there this Saturday (07/17/10) from 11am to 2pm. At our table we will be distributing information about local art programs, FAB Passes and selling tickets to shows happening this weekend to the best theater in the East Village. Like tickets to FAB's innovative theater group NY Neo-Futurists show Too Much light Makes the Baby Go Blind.

The Hester Street Market is the perfect summer stop this weekend. If you are looking for some shade come to Hester Street. It is the shady (as in staying out of the sun!) place to be! The market is teeming with friendly vendors who are selling a wide variety of goods from: bikes/bike repairs, raw and organic food, unique and intense ice cream, natural body lotions and oils (they smell spectacular), stuffed animals, vintage clothing, tables of jewelry and much, much more!

For the small size of the space given to the market it is crammed with a large amount of exciting things, making this your one-stop-shopping experience for the weekend!

And if that is not enough there is usually a DJ playing music as well and a ping-pong table with a nearby misting tent! So come eat, drink, shop, cool off, play ping-pong and shake your groove thing in the Hester Street Market this weekend! One stop for cool excitement!

If you stop by, come visit me at the FAB table where I will be eating a delicious Mexican ice-pop from La NewYorkina.

Hope to see you there,
Matt Elliott

The Influencial Neo-Futurists

Playwright Adam Szymkowicz interviews Neo-futurist Kevin R. Free and Kevin gives us some insight into the workings of the Neo-Futurists and how it has helped to set him on his present path.

"Q: You worked with the New York Neo-Futurists. Tell me more about them?

A: I am still an ensemble member of the New York Neo-Futurists, FYI. I am taking a break for a while, but I could go back in 2011.

Everything I know about myself as a writer, I learned first as a Neo. We don’t play characters and we don’t ever pretend onstage. Because we acknowledge the audience as part of the show, the show is visceral and immediate and dangerous, when we get it right. The show to which I am referring is, of course, Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind (30 Plays in 60 Minutes). We write and perform all the plays and most of them are under 2 minutes. The plays are so in the moment that many people mistake the show as improv (but it aint). Anyway, I discovered when I started writing as a Neo-Futurist, I discovered that I had a lot to say – about myself – but I never really wanted to say it. A Raisin in the Salad: Black Plays For White People is actually an expanded, extrapolated piece that started as a series of plays in Too Much Light…"

Read the full interview here.

Thanks Kevin or “Kay-yuh-vee-yin” (as us southerns pronounce it like Kevin kindly tells us in his interview)! This is a fantastic reminder of the impact and innovative work that the neo-futurists are having on many actors'/playwrights' lives. Helping the world of theater to become a foundation for artistic self discovery. A step in the direction of a shift in theater!

The Neo-Futurists are one of the members of Fourth Arts Block and we are proud of their ability to foster such creative and unique voices. Thanks for all you do Neos! You sure know how to bring out the best!

Come be see other Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind with the Neo-Futurists by stopping by the East village this weekend and every weekend.

Thanks for keeping it fresh on a hot summer day!

~Matt Eliott

BTGay At Gent's Night Out After-Party

After a day of fantastic shopping with Pride Goes East's Gentleman's Night Out store stop by Dixon Place to see the BTGay band perform this Thursday, June 24th from 9pm-11pm. See this youtube clip of the band's previous performance.

Read this statement from the band about the performance and performers not to miss this Thursday, June 24th from 9pm-11pm.

The BTK Band got its real start at The Stonewall Inn. I'd done a drag show as an experiment in character development and met the owner. We bonded over our Philadelphia sports tattoos and when the time came for the band to play, he gave us a spot. It was a lucky break for me, as I look like a post-menopausal Russian bride in a dress. Management gave us free reign, as long as their bar sales went up. That was no problem. Our shows at The Stonewall gave us the freedom to try new things, to implement different kinds of songs, to invite storytellers onstage and create a new type of music: improvised storytelling rock and roll. We slowly built an audience, many of whom had never had the occasion to go to The Stonewall. They all came back for more. It didn't hurt that there were lesbian jello wrestling matches downstairs. When our first June show came around, we wanted to do something different. We became The BTGay Band. We brought our best gay friends to tell their stories of Pride onstage with us. It just felt right. Our rhythm guitarist, Ian Dunn, whom we call The Tennessee Senator, drafted a BTGay Marriage Bill and passed it, effectively legalizing gay marriage (non-legally binding outside of the show). We married two gentlemen in a ceremony during our song "So Says The Lord." In that song, volunteers pick random bible verses and we explain them. Two verses were chosen, both happened to be about love and tolerance. The air in the room lifted. People were all together. The music was loud. The love was flowing. It was beautiful. We are proud to have the friends that we do. We are proud to provide an environment of chaos and acceptance. Come as you are to The BTK Band show. When we are BTGay, you better come fierce.

The King of the Lower East Side

Check out FAB's homepage to see the video of the route that the King of the Lower East Side took to win Pride Goes East's Scavenger Hunt. Check out David B.'s (the King) blog on the event and his youtube videos with Tamara Greenfield, Executive Director of Fourth Arts Block, and his winning statements as King of Lower East Side. Great job David and we are honored to have you as out King!