Ars Nova Hosts OVER/UNDER UNPLUGGED, Three Free Concerts

Ars Nova, "one of the most adventurous Off-Broadway companies" (New York Times), under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director Jason Eagan and Managing Director Renee Blinkwolt, will host Over/Under Unplugged, a free concert series following select Friday evening performances of Andrew R. Butler's Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of The Future. Concerts will feature performers from The Future and special guests performing unplugged and up close. They'll #playforchange with any donations dropped in their bucket going to select charities including the National Network of Abortion Funds, The Trevor Project, and The National Eating Disorders Association.

Following the performance on October 19, Andrew R. Butler & Friends featuring Butler, Mike Brun, Tony Jarvis, and Debbie Christine Tjong with proceeds benefiting National Network of Abortion Funds.

October 26 featuresRick Burkhardt & Members of the Campfire Requiem Band including Burkhardt, Dennis Kozee, Elias Spector-Zabusky and Brad Wilson with donations benefiting The Trevor Project.

And on November 2, Stacey Sargeant will perform a concert version of her one-woman-hip-hop-musical, Buh Wha' Trouble Is Dis? (or The Exhumation of MC Spice), with proceeds going towards The National Eating Disorders Association.

Over/Under Unplugged performances will take place on October 19, 26 and November 2 at 9:45pm following performances of Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of The Future at Ars Nova at 54th Street, 511 West 54th Street in Manhattan. Concerts are free and reservations at arsnovanyc.com are encouraged

Rick Burkhardt (Rick; accordion) is an Obie-award-winning composer, performer, playwright and director whose original music, theater and text pieces have been performed in over 40 U.S. cities, as well as in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia and Taiwan. As songwriter/accordionist, he has shared stages with artists such as Pete Seeger, the Indigo Girls, Utah Phillips, Holly Near and Peter Yarrow, and his original songs have aired nationally on NPR's Morning Edition and Pacifica's Democracy Now.

Andrew R. Butler (Book, Music, Lyrics & Performer) is a composer, writer, and performer based in Brooklyn, NY and hailing from the Florida Panhandle. He received the 2018 Jonathan Larson Grant for emerging musical theater writers with his frequent collaborator, playwright Andrew Farmer. They began writing together through Ars Nova's Uncharted music/theater writers' group. Their musicals include: Finn the Fearless, developed at Ars Nova, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Theatre Aspen, The Polyphone Festival at University of the Arts, and upcoming at The American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern; BLESSING a new musical, commissioned by Playwrights Horizons Downtown and developed at Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Yale Institute for Music Theatre and JDT Lab at Guild Hall; a musical adaptation of Kate DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, commissioned by TheaterWorksUSA; and the episodic musical travelogue American Cryptids, developed in The Civilians' R&D Group. Andrew's other work includes music/lyrics for Anna Kerrigan's The Dixon Family Album (Williamstown Theater Festival Sagal Fellowship), co-music/lyrics for Jaclyn Backhaus' Folk Wandering (Pipeline Theatre Co., Ars Nova's ANT Fest), musical-sketch comedy group Political Subversities (Joe's Pub, Ars Nova) and co-founder/performer in experimental theater company harunalee (Ars Nova's Makers Lab, The Public Theater's Under The Radar Festival, Bushwick Starr). Recent performance credits include The Skin Of Our Teeth (TFANA); FUTURITY (Ars Nova/Soho Rep); Memory Retrograde (harunalee); Andrew holds a BFA in Drama from NYU's Experimental Theater Wing. andrewrbutler.com.

Stacey Sargeant (Beaux Weathers) can currently be seen in Netflix's Come Sunday. Credits include: Wild Goose Dreams (Public Theater Studio), Homos, Or Everyone in America (Labyrinth), Two Gentlemen of Verona and the all-female The Taming of the Shrew (Delacorte Theatre), Eclipsed (Public Theater, Curran, Yale Rep, McCarter Theatre (workshop)),Our Lady of Kibeho and Big Love (Signature Theatre), Legally Blonde (1st Nat'l Tour); Film: Top Five, Obvious Child; TV: Elementary, The Blacklist, Gossip Girl, Glee, Law & Order: SVU. staceysargeant.com.

Ars Nova exists to discover, develop and launch singular theater, music and comedy artists in the early stages of their professional careers. Their dynamic slate of programs supports outside-the-box thinking and encourages innovative, genre-bending work. Dubbed by The New York Times as a "fertile incubator of offbeat theater," Ars Nova blurs genres and subverts the status quo. With their feverish bounty of programming, Ars Nova is a stomping ground and launching pad for visionary, adventurous artists of all stripes. By providing a protective environment where risk-taking and collaboration are paramount, Ars Nova gives voice to a new generation of diverse artists and audiences, pushing the boundaries of live entertainment by nurturing creative ideas into smart, surprising new work.

Ars Nova has been honored with an OBIE Award and a Special Citation from the New York Drama Critics' Circle for sustained quality and commitment to the development and production of new work. Notable past productions include: the extended, sold-outThe Lucky Ones, created by The Bengsons and Sarah Gancher, directed by Anne Kauffman; "Outstanding Musical" Lortel Award-winner KPOP, created by Jason Kim, Max Vernon, Helen Park and Woodshed Collective, directed by Teddy Bergman; "Best New American Theatre Work" OBIE Award-winner and The New York Times' "Best of 2016" Underground Railroad Game by Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R. Sheppard with Lightning Rod Special, directed by Taibi Magar (now on international tour); "Outstanding Musical" Lortel Award-winner FUTURITY, by César Alvarez with The Lisps, directed by Sarah Benson; The New York Times' and New York Post's "Best of 2015," Small Mouth Sounds by Bess Wohl, directed by Rachel Chavkin; Time Out New York's "Best of 2014," JACUZZI by The Debate Society, directed by Oliver Butler; the Tony Award-winning smash-hit Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy, directed by Rachel Chavkin; Jollyship the Whiz-Bang by Nick Jones and Raja Azar, directed by Sam Gold; the world premiere of the 2009 season's most-produced play boom by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, directed by Alex Timbers; the show that put Bridget Everett on the map, At Least It's Pink by Everett, Michael Patrick King, and Kenny Mellman, directed by King; and Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail's first New York production, Freestyle Love Supreme by Anthony Veneziale and Miranda, directed by Thomas Kail.

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