FOOLERIE Begins Tonight at NYMF

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) in association with The Foolish Company presents Foolerie a Shakespearean Musical Comedy with book, music, and lyrics by Santino DeAngelo.

Tralen Doler directs a cast of nine, including Geoff Belliston, Ryan Breslin* (Bway: Newsies, Book of Mormon), Diego Diaz, Ian Fairlee*, Ian Knauer* (Bway: Mamma Mia!, By Jeeves, State Fair), Patrick Massey, Olivia Polci, Chandler Reeves, and Patrick Richwood (Film: "Pretty Woman," "Armageddon," "Runaway Bride").

Foolerie is being staged at PTC Performance Space, 555 West 42nd Street (bet. 10th & 11th Avenues) in NYC for five performances from tonight, July 22 through Monday, July 27, 2015.

The course of true art never did run smooth. Come be an invited guest of the Great Earl in this exclusive chance to meet Clowne, the most infamous jester of the age, and his traveling troop of fools as they employ madcap madness and musical comedy in their desire to divert you! Wits will be battled, entendres will be doubled, and art itself shall be put on trial in this wacky powerhouse of cross-dressing, mistaken identity, true love, and pure, unadulterated, foolerie. A comedic send-up of Shakespearean proportions, Foolerie is your chance to be foolish or be fooled! Limited on-stage seating available.

Foolerie is an Official Selection of the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival Next Link Project and is presented by The New York Musical Theatre Festival and The Foolish Company, LLC. Director: Tralen Doler; Musical Director: Benet Braun; Orchestrator: Joshua Zecher-Ross; Lighting Design: Matthew J. Fick; Costume Design: Whitney Locher; Scenic Design: Jen Price Fick; Props Design: Mitch Dean; Sound Design: Kevin Feustel; General Manager: Corey Gosselin, Corey Chichizola & Sammy Lopez | Your Theatrics, Inc.; Stage Manager: Kelly Ruth Cole; Assistant Stage Manager: Nicole Richards; Casting Director: Michael Cassara, C.S.A.; Dramaturg: Neal J. Freeman; Publicist: Paul Siebold/Off Off PR.

Foolerie plays for five performances on the following schedule: Tonight, July 22 at 8:00 pm; Friday, July 24 at 5:00 pm; Saturday, July 25 at 9:00 pm; Sunday, July 26 at 12:00 pm; Monday, July 27 at 4:00 pm.

Tickets are $27.50 and can be purchased online at nymf.org or by calling 212-352-3101. For more information, visit nymf.org.

The runtime for Foolerie is one hour and 45-minutes, plus one 15-minute intermission.

Santino DeAngelo (Book, Music & Lyrics) is a New York based writer, composer, and director of musical theater, experimental theater, orchestra, ballet and film. His music for theater is frequently performed domestically and internationally, most recently in a Binghamton University / Universidad Catolica touring production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in Santiago, Chile. Santino began his professional career writing music for the Golf Channel/PGA Tour when he was 16 and has gone on to work with many organizations and chamber soloists across the country, including world-renown conductor & pianist John Covelli, New Musicals Inc in Los Angeles, Starstruck Performing Arts in Florida, and Walt Disney Imagineering. Santino is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the Rod Serling Award for Best Screenwriting, NMI's 2014 New Voices Project, the Harpur Fellows Award, the United Cultural Fund, and the Classical Club Project Grant. Santino is one of the youngest competitors in the 2015 New York Musical Theater Festival and is currently pursuing his MFA in Playwriting at Columbia University in New York. More information at www.santinodeangelo.com.

Tralen Doler (Director) is directing his first NYMF show. Previous directing/choreography credits include: A Christmas Carol (National Tour starring Barry Williams and Jackee Harry), The Producers (Northeast Regional Tour), La Cage aux Folles (Zoni Award for Best Direction and Choreography), Crazy for You, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Chicago, 42nd Street, Oklahoma!, HAIR!, Showboat, Dames at Sea, and Singin' in the Rain to name a few. Television credits include: A Century of Broadway (PBS Special starring Frederica von Stade). A dedicated supporter of the LGBT community, Tralen served as the Producer for A Night of a Thousand Genders benefiting the Gender and Family Project and featuring Cynthia Nixon and Olympia Dukakis and choreographed benefits for Broadway Cares and the New Jersey AIDS Alliance featuring Lea Michele and Ashley Brown.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival nurtures the creation, production, and public presentation of stylistically, thematically, and culturally diverse new musicals to ensure the future vitality of musical theatre.

Now in its twelfth year, the Festival is the premier musical theatre event in the world. The preeminent site for launching new musicals and discovering new talent, the Festival provides an affordable platform for artists to mount professional productions that reach their peers, industry leaders, and musical theatre fans. More than 90 Festival shows have gone on to productions on and Off-Broadway, in regional theaters in all 50 states, and in more than 20 countries worldwide. Festival alumni have received a wide array of awards including the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. In 2013, NYMF received a special Drama Desk Award in recognition of its work "creating and nurturing new musical theatre, ensuring the future of this essential art form."

NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2015 is sponsored by Fuzzrocket, PRG, TheaterMania, Clear Channel Spectacolor, and The Village Voice, and is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

The NYMF PASS is a great way to experience The New York Musical Theatre Festival. With a NYMF PASS, you can get into the theater before individual ticket holders. Passes also offer the exclusive ability to book tickets before they go on sale to the public. NYMF Passholder ticket booking begins June 1. Individual tickets go on sale June 15.

The 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival will take place July 7-27. For more information, visit: www.nymf.org.

*Appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.