John Fleck Returns to NYC with MAD WOMEN At La MaMa, Previews 12/2

La MaMa in Association with The Katselas Theatre Company presents the New York Premiere of MAD WOMEN, conceived, written and performed by John Fleck. Directed by Ric Montejano, the production premiered to critical acclaim in June at The Skylight Theater in Los Angeles. Previews begin December 2 at La MaMa as part of its 50th Anniversary Season. Opening is slated for December 4.

Using his trademark raw, electric performance style, John Fleck takes us on a hair-raising roller coaster ride with a pair of MAD WOMEN: Judy Garland and Josephine Fleck. Buckle up and hold on tight as they twist, wind and sing their way through the cultural mindset of the late 1960's. In this psychological burlesque, Fleck juxtaposes Judy Garland's drug addled performance at the Coconut Grove in 1967 alongside spectral video images of his mother's descent into Alzheimers. Fleck holds up a contorting circus mirror to our own lives, loves and dreams reflecting the will to survive in a mad, mad male dominated world.

John Fleck's work first received national attention in 1990 when, along with three other envelope-pushing performance artists, he unwittingly became part of the "NEA 4" and spearheaded a campaign against artistic repression that lasted 8 years and lead all the way to the Supreme Court. Fleck has won 3 LA Critics Circle Awards, 8 DramaLogue, 6 LA Weekly and 2 Back Stage West awards, all for outstanding performance. His past body of solo work includes: Johnny's Got a Gun, Nothin' Beats Pussy, Mud in your Eye, Dirt, me, A Snowball's Chance in Hell, Blessed are all the Little Fishes, PsychoOpera and I Got the He-be-she-be's. His work has appeared at countless venues including the ICA (London), ICA (Boston) Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh), The Public Theater & Joe's Pub (NYC), The Guggenheim Museum, PS 122, The Getty Museum, Cal Plaza, MOCA (LA). As an actor, he has also appeared in PEACE (Getty Villa w/ Culture Clash), Tobacco Road (La Jolla Playhouse) A Perfect Wedding (Kirk Douglas Theater, LA), Applause (Reprise, UCLA), Noises Off (Cape Playhouse), On the Jump (South Coast Rep), She Stoops to Comedy, Small Craft Warnings, Cringe, & The Berlin Circle (Evidence Room/LA), The Mystery of Irma Vep (Tiffany Theater/LA), Tony Kushner's The Illusion (LATC) and The Granny (The Old Globe, San Diego). His TV/Film credits include Weeds, Chuck, The Closer, Nip Tuck, Carnivale. Falling Down, Waterworld, Seinfeld, and all four Star Trek spin-off series: Enterprise, Voyager, Deep Space 9 and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

MAD WOMEN runs December 2 - 11, Fridays & Saturdays at 10pm, Sundays at 5:30pm. La MaMa E.T.C is located at 74A East Fourth Street (between 2nd Avenue & Bowery -- accessible from the F train at 2nd Ave). Tickets are $18, $13 for students & seniors, available at 212-475-7710 or www.lamama.org.

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