Unrelenting Monkey Productions Presents OUR COUNTRY 10/11-13

Unrelenting Monkey Productions proudly presents "Our Country," a gay country western musical, as a special event of the 2010 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Music and Lyrics by Tony Asaro, book by Dan Collins, directed by Diana Basmajian. "Our Country" will have three performances: Monday, October 11 at 8 PM, Tuesday, October 12 at 8 PM, Wednesday, October 13 at 8 PM at the Hudson Guild Theatre, located at 441 W. 26th Street. Tickets are $20 and are available by calling OvationTix, 866-811-4111, or at www.nymf.org.

This Just In: "King of Country" Tommy Dautry arrested for lewd conduct in a public restroom! Outed, humiliated and abandoned by fans, country music sensation Tommy Dautry has gone from darling to derelict overnight. But now, in a one-night-only engagement (in the back room of a leather bar), Tommy is back and ready to prove that gay or straight, left or right...it's Our Country too!

Justin Utley (pictured) stars in Tony Asaro and Dan Collins' Our Country, a gay country western musical. Directed by Diana Basmajian. Part of the 2010 New York Musical Theatre Festival, October 11-13, 2010 at the Hudson Guild Theatre. Photo by Cleo Lacey.

This story of a country musical sensation's rise to stardom and fall from grace is performed as a live concert, intertwined with flashbacks. Tommy leads his audience down the humorous, and sometimes painful, path that took him from "king" to "queen" of country. Asaro and Collin's Our Country premiered as a workshop in June of 2009 through the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, where it won four Planet Connections awards, including Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical, and Outstanding Book, Music & Lyrics of a Musical. It was recently published in the "2010: Plays and Playwrights" anthology of new plays by NYTE Small Press.

Our Country cast include pop singer Justin Utley as "Tommy Dautry" (originated the role of Tommy and recently released his solo albums "Runaway" on Kolob Records and "Stand for Something," the much-anticipated single wrote to inspire LGBT equal rights); and Jeremy Pasha as "Duane" et al (National Tours: Theatreworks' Seussical, and Jesus Christ Superstar, as well as shows at Joe's Pub, Naked Angels, and Syracuse Stage). A live onstage band, led by Musical Director Eric Day (also on bass) completes the cast: Joel Waggoner on Fiddle, Matt Hinkley on Guitar, Arvi Sreenivasan on Drums.

Diana Basmajian directs the production. Most recently, she directed the NYC premiere of Charles L. Mee's Limonade Tous les Jours with Austin Pendleton, directed/developed cabarets and concerts for A Little Night Music's Aaron Lazar and Hunter Ryan Herdlika, Finian's Rainbow's Kate Baldwin (all at Feinstein's Loews Regency), Lea Salonga (at the Carlyle), and will be working with As the World Turn's Eileen Fulton this December.

Our Country Composer and Lyricist Tony Asaro was the recipient of the 2008 Anna Sosenko Assist Trust Award for songwriting. Other musicals include Such Beautiful Things, (Jeff Parola, composer), which received its world premiere with NYC's Choral Chameleon in April 2010, Women of Colors (collaboration with Vadim Feitchner, Will Aronson, and Ryan Scott Oliver, among others), and Broken (with Kevin Cummines).

Justin Utley (pictured) stars in Tony Asaro and Dan Collins' Our Country, a gay country western musical. Directed by Diana Basmajian. Part of the 2010 New York Musical Theatre Festival, October 11-13, 2010 at the Hudson Guild Theatre. Photo by Cleo Lacey.

Dan Collins (Book) wrote book and lyrics for: WOOD (NYMF starring Tony Award © Winner Cady Huffman, S.C.A.N., New York Theatre Barn); OUR LADY OF THE VIADUCT and TIME TO KILL (both for The York Theatre Company's 4@15 Series); and SOUTHERN COMFORT (adapted from the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winning documentary of the same name) all with composer Julianne Wick Davis.

Debra Stunich is Production Stage Manager. More information on Our Country and its creative team can be found at www.ourcountrytoo.com

 

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