Waterwell Presents 'The/King/Opretta' at Joe's Pub 4/7

Waterwell, the acclaimed anarchic New York theater troupe, presents its Third Annual Cabaret Benefit: a one-night-only performance of music from The/King/Operetta on Monday, April 7 at Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street).  This special performance of Waterwell's acclaimed musical event about one of America's most loved and misunderstood figures, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., will also include never-heard-songs from the musical.

This special performance of The/King/Operetta will feature Elisa Davis (Passing Strange) as Coretta Scott King, Alison Pill (Lieutenant of Inishmore, reasons to be pretty) as Joan Didion, Jay O. Sanders (Stuff Happens) as Lyndon B. Johnson, John Eric Parker (Rent) as Huey P. Newton, Taylor Mac (The Be(A)st of Taylor Mac) as J. Edgar Hoover, Sarah Saltzberg (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) as Toni Fortuna, and The Apple Sisters as the Hula Hana Girls, among others.  The/King/Operetta will also feature Waterwell ensemble members Rodney Gardiner, Arian Moayed, Hanna Cheek and Kevin Townley.

Waterwell's Third Annual Cabaret Benefit will be hosted by Hanna Cheek and Kevin Townley and will feature a tribute to Anne Mollegen Smith.  The evening will begin with an open bar, hors d'oeuvres and Popular Silent Auction at 8:00 p.m., with the Cabaret at 9:30 p.m., and post-performance party with the artists immediately following.

Created by Waterwell and directed by Tom Ridgely, The/King/Operetta premiered to critical praise last July as part of a musical summer at the Barrow Street Theatre. Originally, more than 30 pop, rock, folk and funk songs were written for the show.  But for the sake of a 9:30 p.m. performance time, some of them had to be cut.  On April 7 in an intimate cabaret setting, the complete score will be performed in its entirety.

Waterwell is a company of artists dedicated to the collaborative creation of new works for the theatre.  The company is equally dedicated to making those works as accessible as possible and offers free and subsidized tickets to all its performances.  Founded in 2002, Waterwell has produced eight original plays, two cabarets and a staged reading.  It has been nominated for three IT Awards, the Drama Desk and NY Magazine Culture Award.  Variety calls Waterwell "A top-notch ensemble"; the Associated Press hails the work as "Affecting and wholly original" and The New York Times calls the work "Brilliant and inspired; alive enough to surprise even the performers themselves."

The Cabaret Benefit will help underwrite Waterwell's upcoming Untitled #9, premiering in early 2009, and advance its mission of creating artistically and financially accessible new works for the theater.  For more information, visit www.waterwell.org.

           

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