Musical Mondays Theatre Lab Presents THE FARTISTE 4/14

Musical Mondays Theatre Lab to present a preview of the award winning musical THE FARTISTE, written by Michael Roberts and Charlie Schulman, directed by John Gould Rubin on Thursday, April 14th at 6:30 PM at the Jerry Orbach Theater in the Snapple Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street.

Tickets are $15.00. (Season Subscription of four shows is $40.) For reservations please call 212 989-6706 or email reservations@musicalmondays.org.

THE FARTISTE tells the story of Joseph Pujol who had an amazing and unique talent; he could take incredible amounts of air through his backside and expel it as odorless gas, producing a wide range of musical notes in the process. Naturally, he became a headliner at the world famous Moulin Rouge in the late 1890s and was a star for almost a decade. THE FARTISTE is the story of one man's desire to achieve success and make the most out of his talents

The New York Post called it "entertaining and strangely touching . . . the creators leaven the vulgarity with actual depth." The Village Voice said it was "powerfully built and played in all aspects . . . it's 90 minutes of cynical songs, bright staging, and resonant performances from characters who might easily have descended into cliché . . . Charlie Schulman and Michael Roberts's new musical is almost ready for prime time." Performing Arts Insider wrote that it was "a fanciful, full-blown comic musical with a Broadway cast . . . It's smart, funny, full of beautiful sexy chorus girls who can really sing and dance, and sparkly clever lyrics . . . Directed with great comic flair by John Gould Rubin, it is too entertaining not to have a long run at a New York theater."

THE FARTISTE won the award for "Best Musical" during the 2006 Fringe Festival.

The cast for the MMTL presentation includes Broadway and Off-Broadway veterans Rebecca Kupka, Herndon Lackey, Kevin Kraft, the comedian Steven Scott, Jessica Burrows, Charly Seamon, Rachel Kopf and Lexie Galante. The musical director/pianist for this preview is Mark Janas, who was the Musical Director for the MMTL presentation of War Brides in 2005. In 2002, Mark won the BackStage Bistro Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Direction, and currently hosts The Salon, a weekly open-mic cabaret show which won the 2010 MAC Award for Best Open Mic production.

Heading the creative team for THE FARTISTE is Michael Roberts (Music and Lyrics) and Charlie Schulman (Book). Michael is the author, composer and lyricist of the hit Off-Broadway comedy GOLF: The Musical. After its critically acclaimed 2003-2004 Off-Broadway run at the John Houseman Theater, productions followed in more than 20 states. International productions include Japan, Canada, Scotland, Finland and New Zealand. It has also enjoyed two Off-Broadway Revivals, most recently in winter 2010 at the Midtown Theater. Charlie is the recipient of the 2010 Walton Fellowship from The Arena Stage for his play The Great Man. This past fall his play Character Assassins received critical acclaim in its world premier at NJ Rep. Off-Broadway credits: Angel of Death, The Ground Zero Club and "The Birthday Present" (Outer Critics Circle Special Commendation.) His play The Kitchen was presented at the National Playwrights Conference at The Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Center was recently adapted into the Book for the new musical My American Family with music and lyrics by Michael Roberts (workshopped in Spring '09 at American University).

Directing THE FARTISTE is John Gould Rubin. Recent directing credits include: Hedda Gabler which he staged in a Town House for 25 people per performance, Little Doc at Rattlestick, The Importance of Being Earnest for Twin Tiers Theatre and In the Daylight at the McGinn Cazale; he was Co-Artistic and Executive Director of LAByrinth Theater Company for which he directed the premieres of Philip Roth in Khartoum and Penalties & Interest (both as part of Public/LAB at The Public Theater); Stopless; The Trail of Her Inner Thigh by Erin Cressida Wilson; John Patrick Shanley's A Winter Party (and co-created and directed:).

Under the guidance of Artistic Directors Bick Goss and Frank Evans, and new Board President Stephen Hanks, Musical Mondays Theatre Lab is celebrating its 11th anniversary presenting a first look at new musicals. Previous shows include Next to Normal under the title of Feeling Electric, as well as the incoming musicals Wanda's World. Previous seasons introduced Off-Broadway's See Rock City, Cupid and Psyche, Abie's Island Rose, regional productions of Calvin Berger as well as new work by Amanda Green, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx.

THE FARTISTE
written by Michael Roberts and Charlie Schulman, directed by John Gould Rubin
at Musical Mondays Theatre Lab
on Thursday, April 14th at 6:30 PM
The Jerry Orbach Theater in the Snapple Theater Center is located 210 West 50th Street.

Tickets are $15.00.
(Season Subscription of four shows is $40.)
For reservations please call 212 989-6706 or email reservations@musicalmondays.org.