John Fisher's "Joy" Premieres in NYC in February

Sean Mackey and Ben Rimalower, in association with Eva Price, are pleased to present the New York premiere of "JOY," a romantic comedy by John Fisher (Medea, the Musical), for 16 performances only this February at The Producers Club (358 West 44th Street). Directed by Ben Rimalower (Snoopy, The Musical starring Sutton Foster), "JOY" begins performances on Wednesday, February 2 and plays through Sunday, February 20, 2005.

Formerly titled 'The Joy of Gay Sex,' "JOY" is a satirical celebration of gay life and love in San Francisco in the early '90s. It is the story of Paul, an outspoken young writer, who finds that the joy of his first love affair is disrupted by his uncompromising opinions and passionate politics.

Presented as a memoir in flashback form, "JOY" pays homage to the films Annie Hall and Manhattan, where characters often address the audience, offer personal commentary and express their innermost passions through impromptu musical standards from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

The cast of "JOY" features Becca Ayers (Sarah, Plan and Tall) as Elsa, Ben Curtis (of "Dude, you're gettin' a Dell" fame) as Christian, Harris Doran (Actors' Fund Hair) as Paul, Gavin Esham (Naked Boys Singing) as Corey, Natalie Joy Johnson (Bare: a pop opera) as Kegan, Brian Patacca (The Donkey Show) as Matt/Adam, Christopher Sloan (Insomnia) as Gabriel and Sheridan Wright (The Producers) as Darryl. Gregory Marcel (Funeral Games) serves as the male swing.

Choreographed by James DeForte (The Women Upstairs) with musical direction by Jeff Caldwell (Snoopy, The Musical), "JOY" features set design by Wilson Chin (Say You Love Satan), costume design by David Kaley (Newsical) and lighting design by Ben Stanton (Light Raise the Roof).

"JOY" was originally presented at U.C. Berkeley in 1994, prior to a six-month commercial run in San Francisco. The San Francisco Examiner said "[The Joy of Gay Sex] is a quick- witted, lighthearted romp through two intertwined tales of love among the students. Boy meets boy (meets boy) and girl meets girl amid a hail of sharp one-liners about political and aesthetic correctness."

Tickets for "JOY" are $15 each and are now available through Theatermania.com at (212) 352-3101, or in-person at The Producers Club Box Office (358 West 44th Street) 30 minutes before curtain (cash only).

Beginning Wednesday, February 2, 2005, "JOY" plays Wednesday- Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. There is a special added Valentine's Day performance on Monday, February 14 at 7 p.m. For more information, please visit www.joytheplayonline.com.

BIOGRAPHIES

JOHN FISHER (Playwright) lives in San Francisco. His plays include Medea: The Musical, Combat!, Amnesia and Napoleon: The Camp-Drag-Disco-Musical Extrava-ganza. He is the recipient of the GLAAD Media Award, the BackstageWest Garland Award, the LA Weekly Award and the Bay Area Critics' Circle Award. His plays have been performed in New York, Seattle, Los Angeles and as the live theatre component of the annual HBO Comedy Arts Festival. This summer John's play Queer Theory was presented by the New York International Fringe Festival at the SoHo Playhouse.

Ben Rimalower (Director/Co-Producer) directed Snoopy!!! The Musical starring Sutton Foster at Symphony Space and produced and directed Kelsey Grammer, Mariska Hargitay, Laura Innes, Debi Mazar, Craig T. Nelson and Lorna Luft in the 2003 and 2004 SHINE Awards at Hollywood's House of Blues. He also recently directed the world premieres of Joe Brouillette's A Fairy's Tale and Mike Shapiro's The Alleged Adventures of Blenderman (Ten Minute Musicals Competition Finalist) and the New York premiere of Yuval Sharon's Infinity Breathes. Lately, Ben has been busy directing a series of readings of new plays he's developing including Stan Richardson's wHormone (with Judy Blazer, Omar Metwally and Anne O'Sullivan), Bill Zeffiro's The Road To Ruin (with Ann Morrison) and Michael Cooper & Hyeyoung Kim's Sunfish. In California, Ben has directed productions of Jeffrey, Cabaret, Death, Into The Woods, Chess, Ruthless!, Falsettos and Eleemosynary. Assistant Director credits include Lonny Price's productions of A Class Act (Manhattan Theatre Club, Broadway and Tokyo) and A Little Night Music starring Patti LuPone, George Hearn and Zoe Caldwell as well as the Emmy- winning Sweeney Todd. Ben studied Dramatic Art at U.C. Berkeley where he was the founding Artistic Director of BareStage (now celebrating its 10th anniversary.)