LYPSINKA! THE BOXED SET Adds Two Performances, 12/21 & 28; Trilogy Enters Final Weeks

There are only two weeks left for LYPSINKA! THE TRILOGY, the glamorous triple dose of the legendary Lypsinka, John Epperson's iconic creation, which is currently being doled out Off-Broadway at the ravishing jewel-box Connelly Theater, located at 220 East 4th Street in Manhattan's way-too-swept-up East Village. Celebrating the staggering three-decade reign of the 'Goddess of Showbiz', three different shows -- revivals of the acclaimed LYPSINKA! THE BOXED SET and THE PASSION OF THE CRAWFORD, as well as the New York premiere of JOHN EPPERSON: SHOW TRASH -- have been running in rotating repertory during this strictly-limited 8-week engagement (November 5th, 2014 - January 3rd, 2015).

Two added performances of LYPSINKA! THE BOXED SET have just been added to the schedule: Sunday, December 21 at 7 PM and Sunday, December 28 at 3 PM. Tickets begin at $45, and are now available online at www.Lyp3.com, www.lypsinka.com, or by calling 866-811-4111.

LYPSINKA! THE TRILOGY is presented by TWEED TheaterWorks, Kevin Malony, Artistic Director, in association with Gerald Herman and Joseph A. Berger. Chris Dieman is the co-producer. LYPSINKA! THE TRILOGY has set design by Jim Boutin, costumes by Bryant Hoven, lighting design by Mark Simpson, sound design by Matt Berman and video by Grady Hendrix. Garrett Kerr is the Production Stage Manager.

LYPSINKA! THE BOXED SET

Soundtrack created by John Epperson / Engineered by Alex Noyes

Directed by Kevin Malony

Not seen in New York since 2001, this full-length 'traditional Lypsinka' concert show is the award-winning revue of Lyp's greatest bits that has toured the world, flabbergasting audiences from Los Angeles to Glasgow to Sydney. Using a soundtrack created from films, musicals, and concert recordings, the supreme archivist of irony showcases the modern woman's challenge of being over-blessed with femininity and celebrity.

THE PASSION OF THE CRAWFORD

Soundtrack created by John Epperson / Engineered by Alex Noyes

Directed by Kevin Malony

Currently featuring Steve Cuiffo as "the Interviewer"

The Lyp's tour de force embodiment of towering screen queen Joan Crawford - featuring a re-enactment of Crawford's onstage interview from 1973 - is a fantasia of fame and insecurity, grandness and identity. Last presented in New York in 2005, this tribute to Hollywood and ego crisis has since been mounted from San Francisco to Sarasota.

JOHN EPPERSON: SHOW TRASH

A New York Premiere

Written by John Epperson / with additional parody lyrics by Barry Kleinbort and Tom Orr

Directed by Barry Kleinbort

An autobiographical multi-media pastiche, starring Epperson - unmasked and in street clothes - tinkling the ivories and spinning yarns of Mississippi, Manhattan, and Hollywood. Now making its New York City theatrical premiere, the anecdotal SHOW TRASH reveals the man behind the madness.

LYPSINKA! THE TRILOGY began performances on Wednesday, November 5th and opened on Thursday, November 13, 2014. Performances continue through Saturday, January 3rd, 2015.

Tickets for LYPSINKA! THE TRILOGY are now on sale. Regular priced tickets (General Admission) are: $45 (one show); $80 (two shows); $105 (three shows). Premium tickets (reserved seating, plus beverage) are: $60 (one show); $100 (two shows); $125 (three shows). Tickets are available online at www.Lyp3.com, www.lypsinka.com, or by calling 866-811-4111.

BIOGRAPHIES:

JOHN EPPERSON was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, a long way from the exciting worlds in which LYPSINKA travels: movies (Witch Hunt with Dennis Hopper, Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, Wigstock: The Movie, Angels In America, Kinsey, Another Gay Movie, Another Gay Sequel); television (HBO specials Sandra After Dark with Sandra Bernhard, and Dragtime; George Michael's video Too Funky, PBS's The United States Of Poetry and special features on the Mommie Dearest and Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? DVDs); fashion (appearing in the Paris, Tokyo and Los Angeles shows of haute couture designer Thierry Mugler, modeling for Valentino, Pauline Trigere, Barneys New York, and launching lines of cosmetics for Prescriptives, MAC, and Isabella Rossellini); advertisements (The Gap, LA Eyeworks, Naya Spring Water, Ilford Film); theater, including I Could Go On Lip-Synching!, The Fabulous Lypsinka Show, Lypsinka! Now It Can Be Lip-Synched, Lypsinka! A Day In The Life (New York Theater Workshop, two Drama Desk nominations, including Most Unique Theatrical Experience; revived in 1993 Off Broadway at The Cherry Lane Theatre), Lypsinka! As I Lay Lip-Synching, Lypsinka Must Be Destroyed!, Lypsinka IS Harriet Craig!, Lypsinka! The Boxed Set (2001 Drama Desk nomination, Washington, D.C. Helen Hayes Award win for Outstanding Non-Resident Production / Outstanding Lead Actor nomination, wins for Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Award, Best Sound Design and L.A. Weekly Theatre Award for Best Solo Performance); and special events (such as Doin' What Comes Natur'lly, on Broadway with Bette Midler, Elaine Stritch and Patti LuPone, and London's Meltdown Festival curated by Morrissey). Formerly a rehearsal pianist at American Ballet Theatre, Mr. Epperson's theatrical career was launched in the mid-1980s when he wrote the book, lyrics and music of Ballet of the Dolls and Dial "M" For Model at La Mama ETC. The year 1999 brought Epperson's dramatic stage debut in Messages for Gary at The New York Fringe Festival. In 2004 Mr. Epperson appeared Off Broadway in The Roaring Girle with The Foundry Theatre. The same year he was the subject of a stage festival at DC's Studio Theatre, which included his autobiographical piece John Epperson: Show Trash, As I Lay Lip-Synching, and his play, My Deah: Medea for Dummies, the Medea tale set in The New South. Also in 2004 Epperson played The Stepmother in the New York City Opera production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella at Lincoln Center's New York State Theater. The play My Deah opened in an Obie Award-winning production Off-Broadway in October 2006 and is now published and licensed by Samuel French. His acclaimed Off-Broadway show The Passion of the Crawford, a fantasia on the personality of Joan Crawford, toured to California, Florida and Washington, D.C. Lypsinka launched the 2007 Spring collection of MAC Cosmetics centered around the Barbie doll. Epperson's version of James Kirkwood's infamous play Legends! was produced at Studio Theatre in DC, Summer 2010. In 2011 Lypsinka performed in a Fifth Avenue window of Bergdorf Goodman as a launch for Fall Fashion Week. Epperson and Lypsinka are the subjects of an Emmy-winning television documentary for PBS. He provided the preface for the Rizzoli photo book Persona, and is the author of a new screenplay Happy Everything. Mr. Epperson has also written for The Guardian (U.K.), The New York Times, The Washington Post and Interview and The Daily Beast.

Kevin Malony (Director, The Boxed Set, The Passion of the Crawford) has worked as a producer and director for over thirty years. His work has been seen at venues like Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, La Mama, HERE, Abrons Arts Center and Town Hall. As Artistic Director of TWEED TheaterWorks, Malony has produced and presented the work of artists like John Kelly, Antony Hegarty, Mark Dendy and Bill Russell. Through the TWEED Fractured Classicks Series, Malony has directed Isabella Rossellini, Lily Tomlin, Joan Rivers, Charles Busch, Wallace Shawn, and Carole Shelley, amongst many others.

Barry Kleinbort (Director, John Epperson: Show Trash) has earned the prestigious Edward Kleban Foundation Award for Lyric Writing, two Gilman-Gonzalez Musical Theatre Awards, and ten Manhattan Association of Cabarets awards for his directorial and songwriting efforts. He wrote the book and lyrics for the musical Was, co-wrote with David Levy Perfect Harmony, and wrote music and lyrics for Metropolita(i)n. His newest musical, 13 Things About Ed Carpolotti, had a successful off-Broadway run at 59E59 theaters. He has directed and/or written material for Petula Clark, Marvin Hamlisch, Regis Philbin, Penny Fuller, Kaye Ballard, Tony Roberts, Heather McRae, and many others.

For more information, visit www.Lyp3.com, www.lypsinka.com, www.tweedtheater.org/lypsinkatrilogy, or follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/lypsinka and Instagram & Twitter: @lypsinka.

Photo Credit: Peter Palladino

To post a comment, you must register and login.