MilkMilkLemonade Comes To Boston June 30-July 9

Heart & Dagger Productions furthers and challenges audiences with MilkMilkLemonade by Joshua Conkel. The production runs June 30st -July 9th at the Factory Theatre, 791 Tremont Street, Boston, MA, 02118.

Emory is an effeminate 11-year-old boy who lives on a farm with his chain smoking Nanna and his only friend, a depressed chicken about to be processed. Nanna wishes Emory would get his head out of the clouds, stop choreographing ribbon stick dance numbers, and be more like Elliot, the boy down the road with a penchant for burning things. But Emory and Elliot have a relationship -- just not one Nanna would expect or approve of. With absurd, poignant dialog and brutal characterizations.

MilkMilkLemonade is a bitterly funny exploration of gender, sexuality, life, death, and the human body. The show has been hailed by various critics all over the country and is quite topical in nature due to the current rash of suicides amongst teenager in the LGBTQ community. MilkMilkLemonade also was voted Best Off Off Broadway Show of 2009!

Mr. Conkel is unafraid to let it all hang out (literally) and there is no better company in Boston to bring this brilliant piece of theatre to the entire community than Heart & Dagger Productions.

Leading the cast as the 11 year old Emory is Boston's very own Bad Boy of Theatre, Joey C. Pelletier (Blowing Whistles, Zeitgeist Stage Company). Mr. Pelletier has been a staple of the Boston theatre scene and, having performed with 11:11 Theatre, Alarm Clock Theatre, Holland Productions, Tinderbox Stage, Boston Actors Theater and imaginary beasts.

Alongside Mr. Pelletier are four of Boston's most fearless actors. Melanie Garber (Bear Patrol, Vaquero Playground) gender-bends herself to embody the role of the bully, Elliot, while Erin Rae Zalaski (Into the Fens, Heart & Dagger Productions) transforms herself into Linda, a big 'ol chicken searching to be the next great comedienne.

As well as choreographer for the show, the versatile Elise Weiner Wulff (Where Moments Hung Before, Boston Actors Theater) brings a variety of characters to life onstage under one moniker, the Lady in the Leotard. Ms. Wulff will serve as Narrator, a parasitic twin, a venomous spider, to name a few.

Rounding out the five person ensemble is Mikey DiLoreto (Music From a Sparkling Planet, Happy Medium Theatre) as the brittle and cruel Nanna. Mr. DiLoreto also gender bends himself to embody the cancer-ridden, bigoted grandmother of Joey C. Pelletier's Emory.

MilkMilkLemonade will be directed by Barbara DiGirolamo (Director of He Hates My Guts...Not, Winner of Company One's Fringe Wars). Ms. DiGirolamo will be assisted by the apt stage management. Elizabeth Battey (Interview, Heart & Dagger Productions).

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:
Joshua Conkel is a playwright, director, and occasional performer. He is the current Artistic Director of The Management, a theater company in downtown New York, and a member of Youngblood, EST's collective of playwrights under thirty.
Mr. Conkel's work has been seen in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Baton Rouge. His plays include The Chalk Boy, MilkMilkLemonade, and I Wanna Destroy You as well as countless short plays, of which Mr. Conkel is an enthusiastic and prolific writer.

He lives in Brooklyn with his partner and a cat named Gus. B.F.A., Cornish College of the Arts.

HEART & DAGGER PRODUCTIONS:

Crashing the PARTY with Abstract, Dance THEATER

Heart & Dagger Productions creates Abstract Theatre. We transform the stage into a fiery dance fantasy. We use words unnaturally and stylized. We appreciate gender-bending, animals, fairies, and monsters. We look forward to collaboration in the Arts and to work with our fellow Fringe theatres to inspire and create growth in Boston.

Our fledgling company has already been met with critical acclaim for our avant-garde representation of Jean Claude Van Itallie's Interview. The aforementioned production was hailed as "the very richness of the Boston theatre scene" by Christopher Smith of Boston Theater Review, and "compelling" and "vividly effective" by Norm Gross of PMP Network.

Established in 2010 by Joey C. Pelletier, Chrissy F.G. Manca, and Erin Rae Zalaski, Heart & Dagger Productions will conclude its inaugural season, Of Wanting and Waiting, in July. Our second season will be announced this spring.

FACT SHEET

WHAT:
MilkMilkLemonade
by Joshua Conkel
Director: Barbara DiGirolamo
Assistant Director: Mikey DiLoreto
Production Stage Manager: Elizabeth Battey
Choreography: Elise Weiner Wulff
Set Designer: Mac Young
Costume Designer: Joey C. Pelletier
Light Design: Michael Underhill
Graphic Design: Dustin Kight
Props Mistress: Erin Rae Zalaski

CAST:
Emory: Joey C. Pelletier
Lady in the Leotard: Elise Weiner Wulff
Elliot: Melanie Garber
Linda: Erin Rae Zalaski
Nanna: Mikey DiLoreto

WHEN:
Th. June 30 (8 p.m.)
Fri. July 1 (8 p.m.)
Sat. July 2 (4 p.m.)
Sat. July 2 (8 p.m.)
Th. July 7 (8 p.m.)
Fri. July 8 (8 p.m.)
Sat. July 9 (4 p.m.)
Sat. July 9 (8 p.m.)
TICKET INFORMATION:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/176963

Adults-$15

MEDIA NOTE: The cast, crew, and production team of MilkMilkLemonade by Joshua Conkel will be available for interviews and media inquiries.

 

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