Sold-Out Downtown Musical 'The Material World' Returns for One Night Only at Joe's Pub 10/25

Sarah Stiles ("Into The Woods") and Jed Resnick ("Avenue Q") join acclaimed performance artist Erin Markey, cabaret sensation Molly Pope and Tony-nominated Yiddish theater legend Eleanor Reissa in a concert reading of downtown playwright Dan Fishback's new musical, "The Material World," directed by Stephen Brackett ("Buyer & Cellar").

Set in a boarding house in 1921, "The Material World" features an anachronistic cast of neurotic Jews, all trying to save the planet. Gittel Fenster (Stiles), a 12-year-old radical socialist, studies Marxism to prepare for global anti-capitalist revolt, while gay nerd Ian Fleishman tests the revolutionary power of Facebook, and the Queen of Pop herself, Madonna (Markey) meditates on secret Kabbalistic codes to fix a broken universe. The characters grapple with their lofty ambitions and their capacity for failure, to an eclectic score of bouncy electro dance pop, ramshackle twee-folk and classic Tin Pan Alley.

The second installment of "The Ian Fleishman Trilogy," and a sequel to Fishback's erotic Chanukah comedy "You Will Experience Silence," "The Material World" was the surprise hit of the 2012 HOT Festival at Dixon Place, extending its sold-out, critically acclaimed run three times.