A 'CONFESSIONAL' OF A RECOVERING CATHOLIC: THE MUSICAL Comes to New York City Fringe Festival

Julie McNamara's solo show, A "Confessional" of A Recovering Catholic: The Musical will be presented as part of the 2026 New York City Fringe Festival with FRIGID New York at UNDER St. Marks (94 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009). 

Performances are on Wed April 1 at 8:10pm, Sat April 4 at 5:20pm, Sat April 11 at 7pm & Sat April 18 at 7pm. The performance will run approximately 50 minutes, with no intermission.

Having been raised Catholic, I have been in "recovery" for a LONG TIME: all those prayers you didn't actually understand, those many times in that scary confessional, and the constant guilt! I better still be apologizing! (Fear not- I am!) How does a good Catholic girl navigate sex, abortion, career, eating disorders, or... actually talking about feelings? Complete with music-only Mass-appropriate hymns, of course, with NONE of the lyrics changed at all- this show will really get you questioning what's in those Hail Marys... A Confessional of a Recovering Catholic: The Musical first premiered in March 2023 at the People's Improv Theater in NYC, and has since performed in various NYC venues including Magnet Theater, Caveat, and UCB. It also had multiple sold-out shows during its 2025 Edinburgh Fringe run.

Biographies

Julie McNamara (Writer/Performer) is an actor, singer, and comedian based in NYC. She has performed with countless regional theaters and NYC venues. She is a house sketch team member at Magnet Theater, and has performed with BoogieManja Sketch Collective, San Francisco Sketchfest, Toronto Sketchfest, Laugh Index Theatre, and of course indie improv shows in every basement in Manhattan. Favorite acting roles include: Amy in Company, Madge in The Game's Afoot, Alora in Walking Across Egypt, Melanie in Grumpy Old Men, and Fairy Godmother in Shrek:The Musical. However, no achievement will ever compare to the videos of her wearing random wigs filmed in her parents' basement during the pandemic. Follow @juliemcnamaraartist on Instagram and @juliemcnamara on YouTube. 

Katherine Coleman (Director) is a comedy writer, performer, and director who met Tina Fey on the train once! She studied sketch comedy at UCB, and now she writes and directs sketches and shows online and around the city. In addition to spending two years directing the house sketch team at The Laugh Index Theater, she has performed with the Boogiemanja Sketch Collective (Wilburn, Howdy Neighbor), Fat Funny Friends, and various programming at The PIT. She co-created the sketch comedy web series, The Writers Room, which has won several awards at festivals around the country. She is passionate about the revival of the network sitcom, sketch comedy in landscape format, and of course, Taylor Swift. Before being born in Alabama in 1991, she believes she spent a past life onboard the Titanic, but we're getting off topic.

Matthew Tiemstra (Co-Producer) is a playwright and producer who is lucky enough to be married to Julie! He has written hundreds of acclaimed audio dramas and podcasts for companies like Spotify and Ballen Studios. Meanwhile, his producing credits are his first play The Clockwork Boy (Thespis Theatre Festival), and A Confessional of a Recovering Catholic's 2025 Edinburgh Fringe run! This time he's not dressed up as a priest to hand out fliers, but he's ready to don the vestments at a moment's notice to support his incredibly talented wife.

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