THE EMPEROR'S NEW CODPIECE Plays Laurie Beechman Theater 6/10-7/15

Drag Star Puts the "Fairy" in Fairytale Stage Adaptation THE EMPEROR'S NEW CODPIECE June 10 - July 15 at The Laurie Beechman Theater

One of the world's most famous fairy tales takes a sexy and campy gay twist in THE EMPEROR'S NEW CODPIECE, the latest offering by drag-queen playwright Linda Simpson. This new comedy based, of course, on The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen runs June 10 - at The
Laurie Beechman Theater. It is directed by Tim Cusack (Theatre Askew).

Set during Medieval times, THE EMPEROR'S NEW CODPIECE cheerfully shuns historical accuracy as the curtain rises on the Castle Club, top "night spot for fops" in all the land. For years, drag shows have been the main attraction, but in a cost-cutting move, the owner decrees that the queens are to be replaced by the club's go-go dancers. The only queenly performer to survive the cut is the club's regal hostess Melinda who's out to sabotage the go-go dancers by convincing them to
wear crotch-hugging codpieces made out of an invisible fabric that she swears only fools cannot see. Once the dancers appear on stage they'll be fired for being nude and the club will have no choice but to bring back the queens!

The production stars Linda Simpson, Buenaventura Rodriguez, Nicholas Gorham, Patrick Johnson, and Michelle Ojeda with set by Steven Hammel and costumes by Becky Hubbert.

Since beginning her drag career at The Pyramid nightclub circa 1990, renaissance gal LINDA SIMPSON has worked extensively as a nightlife promoter and hostess, an actress, television personality and journalist, including founding and editing the influential gay zine My Comrade. Her previous plays include The Tranny Chase and The Final Episode (both produced at P.S. 122) and The Bad Hostess (at La MaMa Theatre). She currently makes her living as a game-show hostess, with action-packed Bingo games twice a week-Mondays at Bowery Poetry Club (co-hosted by Murray Hill) and Saturdays at Le Poisson Rouge. The New York Times calls Linda "A worldly wit... A kind of mother superior of the New York drag scene." Paper Magazine heralds her as "The thinking woman's drag queen."

TIM CUSACK is the artistic director of Theatre Askew. For Askew he has directed or co-directed shows including I, Claudius; Cornbury: The Queen's Governor (with David Greenspan and Everett Quinton); HOME/Away; and Bianca Leigh's solo show A Night at the Tombs. Other productions include Hairspray (also choreography) for Lehman College and "The Bed" in the OBIE-winning West Village Fragments for Peculiar Works Project. An associated performer with Ernesto Pujol & UteHaus, he recently completed a group residency at The Marina Abramovic Studio for Performance Art, and danced for Arthur Aviles Typical Theater at El Museo del Barrio. He is a Next magazine "Future Legend" and a 2007 NYTheatre.com Person of the Year.

THE EMPEROR'S NEW CODPIECE runs June 10 - July 15, Fridays at 10:00pm. The Laurie Beechman Theater is located inside West Bank Cafe at 407 West 42nd Street (at Ninth Avenue, accessible from the A,C,E,N,R,V,F,1,2,3 trains at 42nd Street). Tickets are $18 plus a $15 food/drink minimum. To purchase tickets, call 212-352-3101 or visit www.SpinCycleNYC.com. A full bar and waiter service is available throughout the performance.

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