Neal Medlyn and Ulrika Andersson to Present MADE IN HEAVEN at The Chocolate Factory Theater

The Chocolate Factory Theater will continue its Spring 2026 season with the premiere of MADE IN HEAVEN, a one-night-only performance by Neal Medlyn in collaboration with Ulrika Andersson. The event will take place March 25, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. at The New Chocolate Factory Theater, 38-33 24th Street in Long Island City.

MADE IN HEAVEN is a new performance and visual art work featuring live music, dance, painting and video. The piece draws inspiration from the personal and artistic collaboration between Jeff Koons and Cicciolina, whose 1989 project of the same name generated significant controversy. Medlyn and Andersson revisit that history through their own artistic lenses, exploring themes of sex, artistic risk and creative failure.

Medlyn’s practice, which has spanned New York’s bars, nightclubs and performance venues since the early 2000s, intersects here with Andersson’s work as a painter. The performance places Medlyn’s early, highly sexualized stage works in dialogue with Andersson’s contemporary visual art practice, examining overlaps between performance, visual art, the service industry and sex work.

In Medlyn’s words: “I've seen far too many bad art shows and bad performances ‘about’ sex and so we are trying to make a show that's like sex, the often sudden, sometimes subtle shifts from the outer to the inner world. What we see, how we touch, what is a good time, what is beyond what we can imagine, what is awkward, what reminds you of the edge of your body and what takes away all words, what makes you laugh, what can flatten you.”

Medlyn previously appeared at The Chocolate Factory Theater with Miracle in 2016 and Brave New Girl in 2010.

About the Artists

Neal Medlyn is a performance artist whose work bridges theater, performance art, comedy, faith and popular music. His work has been presented at venues including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New Museum, BAM, The Kitchen and Joe’s Pub, as well as internationally. His recent projects have explored figures such as Elvis Presley, Nirvana and The Cure.

Ulrika Andersson is a New York-born visual artist who received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts, a postgraduate diploma from Chelsea College of Art in London and an MFA from Rutgers University, where she also teaches.