Marilyn Sokol & Ultra Violet to be Part of Benefit 7/25

Watch out, folks.  From the outer reaches of the galaxy come two supernovas hurtling toward the Grand Theatre of the Producers Club on July 25th to receive their Honorary Golden Pineapples!  NY Artists Unlimited has corralled stage-film-TV actress Marilyn Sokol and Factory veteran Ultra Violet for this year's Fairies & Phantasies Benefit as part of the Bad Musicals Festival '08.  The Carmen Miranda Closing Benefit on August 10 promises more stars, but we're not telling yet!            

A familiar face on television and in films, Marilyn Sokol is perhaps best known for her work on the stage.  Sokol has appeared in many Broadway productions including "The Great God Brown," "Don Juan," and "Conversations with My Father."  Off-Broadway credits include "The Beggar's Opera" and "Merry Wives of Windsor."  She has been described by The New York Times as "an entertainer with a deep streak of old vaudevillian merriment."   An actress of tremendous range, Sokol has been honored with Emmy, Bistro, Obie Awards… and even a Razzie, which is much in keeping with the spirit of the International Cringe:  the company 's umbrella for their Bad Plays, Bad Musicals, and soon to come Bad Films Festivals.          

Ultra Violet appeared in Andy Warhol's The Life of Juanita Castro (1965) and I, a Man (1967) before her cameo inclusions in other now-cult films.  Her best-selling 1988 autobiography Famous for Fifteen Minutes:  My Years with Andy Warhol detailed her rise in celebrity.  A visual artist with political and spiritual overtones, Ultra Violet's mixed-media works have been displayed worldwide.  She opened an art studio in Nice in 1990, creating a movement called "L'Ultratique," and published two manifestos in the early 1990's.  Her work was included in the Audart exhibition that commemorated the tenth anniversary of Warhol's death.  A bi-continental resident, Ultra Violet currently divides her time between her studio in Nice and her penthouse apartment in Manhattan.

The Fairies & Phantasies Benefit ($25 additional to attend benefit; $20 if you come in costume) will be after the show on July 25.  Benefit attendees are encouraged to come in costume as a zany version of their favorite children's character, and to bring a toy/book to donate to needy children.  There will be costume prizes and raffles.  Co-chairing this event are playwright Jean Hart and Kimberly Kopera, assistant to artistic director Melba LaRose.  In keeping with the bad children's theatre theme that night, there will be lunchbox specials:  finger sandwiches (including P&J!), cupcakes, cake, cookies, penny candy, punch, and more.

 On August 10, the Carmen Miranda Closing Benefit brings presentation of the Fruit Cup Awards:  Golden Pineapple, Silver Tomato, and Bronze Banana (by audience vote).  New this year will be the Jack Lemons for best bad actor & actress.  Costumes are encouraged and there will be prizes.  Come dressed as your favorite fruit!  There will be a special award for the Best Carmen.  $25 per person ($20 if you come in costume) benefits the company's work with under-served children & families, seniors & elderly.  There will be entertainment, food, booze, and lots of fruit!

The Bad Musicals are back -- and with great devilish glee!  Just kidding, they're not bad -- they're really GOOD plays that are delightfully naughty -- politically incorrect, political satire, explicit, bad language/ puns, or utterly zany -- and don't we all need that in these times?  The Bad Musicals Festival, in its third year, is "movin' on up" to the Grand Theatre at the Producers Club in the Times Square/theatre district, July 21-August 10.  Mon.-Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2, musicals are huddled under a theme umbrella for one all-inclusive price per evening/matinee.

IS THAT A GUN IN YOUR POCKET? (7/21, 7/26, 7/31, 8/5) featuring:  Charlie Chang and the Mysterious Salami, book & lyrics by Anne Berlin, music by Andy Cohen, directed by Tony Spinosa, and Henry & Hyde, book by James M. Eisenman & Thomas Adams, lyrics by James M. Eisenman, music by Thomas Adams, directed by Maryna Harrison.

FOREIGN & FAMILIAR BODIES (7/22, 7/27, 8/1, 8/6) featuring:  Falling in Love Again by J. Boyer, directed by Anita Brown, Too Much Love, lyrics by Douglas M. Parker, music by Denver Casado, directed by Tom Amici, and OBGYNia, a Sci-Fi Musical Romp!, book & lyrics by Justine Lambert & Kenneth Nowell, music by Kenneth Nowell, directed by Tom Amici.

POLITICS & POOPSY (7/23, 7/28, 8/2, 8/7) featuring:  The Virgin Dictator:  A Love Story Starring Kim Jong Il by Itai Grunfeld, directed by Brady Amoon, and Daffodils in Deutschland by Dray Rigg, directed by Kenny Wade Marshall.

CRIMINALLY INSANE PUPPETS (7/24, 7/29, 8/3, 8/8) featuring:  Pinokenstein, music & lyrics by Mark LaPierre, libretto/puppets/puppeteering by Chris McLaughlin, directed by Diane Englert, and The Dependents, book by Bebe McGarry, lyrics by Debra M. Gussin, and music by Michael Paul Girard, directed by Sara B. Ware.

IT AIN'T KANSAS ANYMORE! (7/25, 7/30, 8/4, 8/9) featuring:  Stranded!, book & lyrics by Raymond Bokhour, music by Ilann Maazel, directed by Leslie C. Nemet, Grimm Late Night, book & lyrics by Mark LaPierre, music by Jodi Eichelberger, directed by Nikki Rothenberg, and The Great Plastic Surgeon of Oz by Zurbon Gish, directed by Robyne Parrish.

For descriptions of each play:  www.NYartists.org.

Tickets $25 at door; $20 advance sale (deadline July 1); $15 students with ID.  Reservations are strongly recommended.  Online tix available at www.Theatermania.com or by calling 212-242-6036 (reservations by check/m.o.).  Grand Theatre at the Producers Club, 358 W. 44 St., betw. Eighth/Ninth Aves., July 21-August 10.  The show runs a max of 2 hours, including a short intermission.

Entertaining between short plays and some intermissions will be Bronze Fondue, the bad house band of wacky NYU professors; Jessica Delfino, who plays and sings naughty original songs, and Zero Boy, a wildly brilliant sound effects comedian.  This festival is supported by grants from the Dramatists Guild Fund and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.  Proceeds go to support our dedicated mission of taking professional theatre to under-served audiences throughout NYC and the Northeast.