FFF And MITF Collaborate For Midtown Int'l Fruit Festival

The Midtown International Theatre Festival announces that the Fresh Fruit Festival (FFF) will collaborate with the Midtown International Theater Festival (MITF) to curate the LGBT segment of MITF in July, 2009. The Fresh Fruit Festival will continue to present its multidiscipline festival of LGBT arts &culture in July.

The FFF in association with the MITF will select at least eight works for the LGBT division. These plays will be presented at the Theatre Building, 312 W. 36th Street, NYC. The MITF's 2009 season runs from July 13 - August 2, 2009. The FFF will run from July 13 - 26 in various venues, presenting jazz at Joe's Pub, comedy, variety, visual arts and literature as well as a two week play festival.

"We've long admired Carol Polcovar and the Fresh Fruit Festival for pioneering the premier LGBT theatre festival in New York. Including them in the Midtown International Theatre Festival is a way to make the most of our respective skill sets and networks. This is a case where the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts," said John Chatterton, executive producer of the MITF.

"The Fresh Fruit Festival is excited to be a part of the MITF; the work selected will have a longer run and it will give LGBT theater artists an opportunity to reach a wider audience," said Carol Polcovar, artistic director of the Fresh Fruit Festival. "In these times of economic crisis, giving theater artists the widest range of exposure grows difficult and the challenges for small not-for-profit organizations such as Fresh Fruit are great. John Chatterton has opened the door to the best in emerging theater artists for ten years. We are thrilled to be part of exploring new ways of collaboration."

Mr. Chatterton created the MITF in 2000, a Midtown alternative to other theatre festivals, as a way to present the finest off-off Broadway talent in convenience, comfort, and safety. Last year, the Festival added two 99-seat theatres and inaugurated the Commercial Division for upwardly mobile shows with commercial ambitions. All theatres are located near the MITF offices at 347 W. 36th Street (home of Mr. Chatterton's Where Eagles Dare rehearsal studios and theatre).

The MITF accepts submissions in all genres - any sort of stage play, musical or otherwise, new or classic, mainstream or specifically focused on an ethnic or cultural niche. To be eligible, each show must have a producer and production team attached to the project. The MITF's artistic emphasis is on the script itself and therefore the Festival requests minimal production values. For further information or an application, visit www.midtownfestival.org.

The Fresh Fruit Festival is an inclusive, multidiscipline International Festival of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Cultural & Arts Festival held now in its seventh year. Fresh Fruit Festival, under the direction of artistic director Carol Polcovar, celebrates the LGBT's community's continuing and diverse contributions to American and world culture. Fresh Fruit's mission is to share the LGBT community's unique perspective, creativity and diversity and to build links between the LGBT, local, national and international artistic communities as well as to the general public. For more information, visit www.freshfruitfestival.com.

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