Ars Nova Unveils November & December Events Including Isaac Oliver's LONELY CHRISTMAS, SHOWGASM & More

Ars Nova has revealed additional programming to close out 2023. These events continue Ars Nova's season-long expansion of premiere, genre-defying work in its original home at 511 W 54th Street and on its digital platform, Ars Nova Supra, underlining the organization's commitment to supporting groundbreaking new work from New York City's newest talent. Tickets are currently on sale at www.arsnovanyc.com.

SHOWGASM., Ars Nova's untamed recurring variety-show-meets party, is back on November 30 with host Joel Perez (Broadway's Fun Home). SHOWGASM. will feature a variety of performances, ranging from comedy to drag and everything in between, by Broken Box Mime Theater, Kiki Ball-Change, Dave Mizzoni and Z Infante. The following month, artists from CAMP, Ars Nova's comedy residency, take over SHOWGASM. on December 14 with hosts Mahayla Laurence and Matt Gehring. The night introduces audiences to each of the comedy creators in CAMP who will be returning with their own full-length shows in June 2024. Artists include Sarah Adelman, Kurt Cruz, Lida Darmian, Emily Dayton Evans, Marina Gasparyan, Maarit Hara, Anne-Marie Pietersma, and SMJ.

On December 1, Stephen Brower and Zachary Prince present Palatable Gay Robot, a new show fresh from Edinburgh Fringe starring Broadway star and internet sensation Brower that comedically explores the pejorative portrayal of gay men in show business. This piece is curated by Ars Nova Vision Resident Chris Murphy.

 

Oratorio for Living Things alum and The Mollyhouse composer Divya Maus emerges from behind the writers desk on December 5 in a new concert ALONE: Divya Maus Reluctantly Performs Her Own Songs.

Michelle J. Rodriguez, another Vision Resident at Ars Nova, curates an evening of live music by folk singer, composer-improviser and musicologist Miriam Elhajli on December 6. This special concert celebrates the release of their new album, Speak The Unspoken.

 

Ars Nova's beloved holiday tradition, Isaac Oliver's Lonely Christmas, returns on December 11 & 12 for two very special benefit performances to lift spirits and support Ars Nova. Tickets to this benefit performance are on-sale now with VIP and premium ticket packages available for $75 and $125. A select number of $25 rush tickets available.

On December 15, writer and Ars Nova Play Group resident Lyndsay Bourne is bringing the teenage dream - and nightmare - to the stage in I Was Unbecoming Then. With music by Sam Kaseta and under the direction of KATIE BROOK, this performance features an all-star ensemble of Ars Nova fan favorites, including Alaina Ferris, Keyana Hemphill, Haruna Lee, Erin Markey, Grace McLean, Suzannah Perkins, Jessie Shelton, Maya Sharpe, Kristen Sieh, Julia Sirna-Frest, Nedra Marie Taylor, and Shannon Tyo.

All tickets for regular performances are Name Your Price, starting at $5, with all proceeds going directly to the artists. These shows will also be available to stream live and on demand on Supra, Ars Nova's streaming platform, for $15 a month. Tickets are general admission and currently on sale at www.arsnovanyc.com.

All performances begin at 7:30pm with doors open at 6:30pm. Ticket buyers have access to the happiest happy hour from 6:30pm to 7:30pm with food and beverage combo specials and the cheapest drinks around! All shows take place at Ars Nova, located at 511 West 54th Street in Manhattan, and stream live and on-demand on Ars Nova Supra.

 

Please visit www.arsnovanyc.com for more information.

Event Details

 

November 30 at 7:30pm (doors open at 6:30pm)

SHOWGASM.

Hosted by Joel Perez

SHOWGASM.. is Ars Nova's untamed recurring variety-show-meets party, serving up comedy to burlesque and everything (and anything) in between. Hosted by writer, Fun Home star, Ars Nova fan favorite, and CAMP alum Joel Perez, you can expect to meet the who's-who of the weird and wonderful. Featuring Broken Box Mime Theater, Kiki Ball-Change, Dave Mizzoni, Z Infante & more!

 

December 1 at 7:30pm (doors open at 6:30pm)

Palatable Gay Robot
Stephen Brower & Zachary Prince

Curated by Ars Nova Vision Resident Chris Murphy

Gay but not too gay, Billie is the perfect performer. As he navigates his sentience amidst growing pressure from the Moderator to remain palatable, Billie code switches through song, dance, and storytelling to land in a place of true humanity. Equal parts playful and thought-provoking, Palatable Gay Robot is a bold new piece fresh from Edinburgh Fringe starring Broadway star and internet sensation Stephen Brower that comedically explores the pejorative portrayal of gay men in show business.

 

December 5 at 7:30pm (doors open at 6:30pm)

ALONE: Divya Maus Reluctantly Performs Her Own Songs
Divya Maus, Ryan Amador & Daniel Weidlein
For one night only, Divya Maus (The Mollyhouse, Elijah, Oratorio for Living Things) emerges from behind the desk to perform her own music as it was never intended. Flanked by collaborators Daniel Weidlein and Ryan Amador, both survivors of her bullying in the writer's room, ALONE is a concert celebrating the architecture of a song, delving into the beautiful complexity of music's composition, creation, and impact.

 

December 6 at 7:30pm (doors open at 6:30pm)

Speak the Unspoken
Miriam Elhajli
Curated by Ars Nova Vision Resident Michelle J. Rodriguez
Folk singer, composer-improviser and musicologist Miriam Elhajli makes their Ars Nova debut in this album release concert performance. Speak The Unspoken is an album about women, using music to expand on stories women have shared in passing and across generations. Over an hour-long setlist, Elhajli reaches backwards to explore their feminine lineage and forwards to imagine the new world(s) women will come to inherit.

 

December 11 & 12 at 7:30pm (doors open at 6:30pm)

Isaac Oliver's Lonely Christmas

Isaac Oliver, Jason Eagan & Jack Serio

Ars Nova's beloved holiday tradition returns this December! Everyone's favorite yuletide gay Isaac Oliver brings his holly-jolly-melancholy show back to the stage for two very special benefit performances, co-directed by Jason Eagan and Jack Serio, to lift spirits and support Ars Nova.

December 14 at 7:30pm (doors open at 6:30pm)

SHOWGASM. CAMP Edition

Hosted by Matt Gehring & Mahayla Laurence

The artists from Ars Nova's comedy residency take over our untamed monthly variety show-meets-party. Mahayla Laurence and Matt Gehring host this special SHOWGASM. introducing us to each of the comedy creators in CAMP who will be returning with their own full-length shows in June 2024. Participants include Sarah Adelman, Kurt Cruz, Lida Darmian, Emily Dayton Evans, Marina Gasparyan, Maarit Hara, Anne-Marie Pietersma, and SMJ.

December 15 at 7:30pm (doors open at 6:30pm)

I Was Unbecoming Then
Lyndsey Bourne, KATIE BROOK & Sam Kaseta
Writer and Ars Nova Play Group resident Lyndsay Bourne is bringing the teenage dream - and nightmare - to the stage in I Was Unbecoming Then. This concert piece, with music by Sam Kaseta and under the direction of KATIE BROOK, follows twelve teenage choir girls (6 sopranos, 6 altos) as they navigate the everyday minefield of girlhood. I Was Unbecoming Then features an all-star ensemble of Ars Nova fan favorites, including Alaina Ferris, Keyana Hemphill, Haruna Lee, Erin Markey, Grace McLean, Suzannah Perkins, Jessie Shelton, Maya Sharpe, Kristen Sieh, Julia Sirna-Frest, Nedra Marie Taylor, and Shannon Tyo.
 

About the artists
 

Joel Perez is an award-winning writer and actor living in NYC. He wrote and stars in Beautiful, FL which premiers on Disney+ in 2023. He wrote and performed his solo musical comedy show Playing With Myself at Joe's Pub and Ars Nova. Other writing includes Stir, a play commission from The Old Globe Theater which was developed at The Huntington Theatre and received an Elliot Norton Award for Best New Script and the musical Lost City Radio (NYSAF, Berkeley Rep Ground Floor, and Rhinebeck Writers Retreat). He is a 2021 Warner Bros. Discovery 150 Artist Grant recipient for his original comedy pilot You're Tired, You're Poor. He is the winner of the 2021 Voces Latinx National Playwriting Competition for his play From the Fountain. He is a 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Playwriting from NYFA. His acting work includes Fun Home (Broadway), Kiss My Aztec! (Hartford Stage), As You Like It (The Public Theater), and Sweet Charity (New Group; Lortel Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical). Film work includes tick, tick… Boom! (Netflix). TV work includes Jesus Christ Superstar Live! (NBC), Person of Interest (CBS) and Odd Mom Out (Bravo). He performed with the UCB Maude sketch team Peach. Follow him at @misterjoelperez and visit www.misterjoelperez.com.

 

Stephen Brower is a multi-disciplinary artist based in NYC. He made his Broadway debut in the musical Anastasia, and most recently appeared in the Broadway-bound revival of The Who's Tommy in Chicago. As a comedian, Stephen has headlined shows at StandUp NY, Broadway Comedy Club, Club Cumming, and more. Online, he's an avid content creator with a combined following of 350K. Stephen is a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, and strives to create work that speaks to the queer experience.

Zachary Prince is a NYC-based actor and director with a gluten intolerance and a gardening kink. He was last seen as “Josh” in the Broadway-bound A Transparent Musical (based on the Amazon series) at Center Theatre Group in LA. Zach attributes his keen eye for storytelling to his many years on and off-Broadway as a standby for much more famous people. When Zach isn't acting or directing, you can find him feverishly inhaling journalism, shopping for plants he can't afford, or taking pictures of the two goldendoodles he shares with his partner, Brandon Uranowitz.

 

Divya Maus is an award-winning musician whose work spans the worlds of musical theater, pop, and choral music. Her work as a composer includes the musical The Mollyhouse (book & lyrics by Richard Hanson), the choral suites Rain Cycle and Ascent, film musical Elijah, and the dance fantasia The Shadow. In addition to opening for The Beach Boys in 2014, Divya has backed up artists including Rozzi Crane and Scott Hoying, and was an original cast member of Heather Christian's Oratorio for Living Things off-Broadway.

 

Miriam Elhajli is a folk singer, composer-improviser, and musicologist whose work is influenced by their Venezuelan and Moroccan heritage. Elhajli lives in Brooklyn and works as a public school teacher, cleaner, and researcher at the Association For Cultural Equity run by Anna Lomax. A part of both the vibrant avant-garde and folkloric communities of Brooklyn, she has collaborated with musicians such as Jen Shyu, The Cradle, Mali Obomsawin, Zoh Amba and Jason Lindner. Elhajli released their third LP "Live At Noguchi" on Numina Records this year, a label they founded to aid in the documentation of traditional women's music in the Maghreb and beyond. Numina is set to release Elhajli's fourth LP as well as Moroccan chaabi ensemble, Bnat El Houariyat's record next year.

 

Isaac Oliver is an award-winning playwright, author, and performer. His debut collection of essays, Intimacy Idiot, was named one of NPR's Best Books of 2015, and has been released in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and audiobook. He is an artist in residence at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, where he performs evenings of sit-down comedy. Additionally, he's written for The New York Times, Out Magazine, W Magazine, Time Out New York, “High Maintenance” (Writers Guild Award nominee for Best Episodic Comedy Script), “GLOW,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and the upcoming “Étoile.”

 

Mahayla Laurence is a multi-disciplinary artist engaging in work that creates space for conversations around mental and spiritual health, joy, humor, stewardship, and community. They also facilitate the Engaging Artists Fellowship at More Art in addition to being in a fellowship themselves with the New Victory LabWorks program. Mahayla is a certified breathwork practitioner and herbalism apprentice at the Sacred Vibes Apothecary. www.mahaylalaurence.com.

Matt Gehring is a performer, writer and director of comedy. He's been on Amazon, Netflix, Comedy Central and has spent years on the UCB stage. Check out the Broadway-Meets-Sketch show, SHIZ he created with Shaina Taub. Matt is currently getting his MFA in theater directing at Brooklyn College.

 

Lyndsey Bourne is a Canadian playwright, teacher and doula. Her plays have been developed with La Mama, New Georges, Rattlestick, The Hearth, Ojai Playwrights Conference, New York Stage and Film, Ars Nova, Manhattan Theater Club and The Public. They are a member of the New Georges Jam, a 2022 New Georges Audrey Resident, A 2022 Writer in Residence at The Ojai Playwrights Conference, a member of the Obie award winning writers group EST/Youngblood, and a member of Ars Nova's Play Group. Lyndsey teaches Writing and Devising for Performance at Playwrights Horizons Theater School (NYU). She is also a beekeeper at her community garden in Flatbush, Brooklyn. BFA NYU, MFA Brooklyn College (with Mac Wellman and Erin Courtney).

 

About Ars Nova
 

Ars Nova exists to discover, develop, and launch singular theater, music and comedy artists in the early stages of their professional careers. Our dynamic slate of programs supports outside-the-box thinking and encourages innovative, genre-bending new work. Dubbed by The New York Times as a “fertile incubator of offbeat theater,” Ars Nova blurs genres and subverts the status quo. With our feverish bounty of programming – which spans from one-night performances to developmental programs like Play Group, Makers Lab, Vision Residency and CAMP to world premiere productions – Ars Nova is a stomping ground and launching pad for visionary, adventurous artists of all stripes. By providing a protective environment where risk-taking and collaboration are paramount, Ars Nova amplifies the voices of a new generation of diverse artists and audiences, pushing the boundaries of live entertainment by nurturing creative ideas into smart, surprising new work.

 

Ars Nova has been honored with an Obie Award and a Special Citation from the New York Drama Critics' Circle for sustained quality and commitment to the development and production of new work. Notable past productions include: three-time Lortel Award-winner Oratorio for Living Things by Heather Christian, directed by Lee Sunday Evans; “Outstanding Musical” Lortel Award-winner and The New York Times' “Best of 2018,” Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future, created by Andrew R. Butler, directed by Jordan Fein; The Lucky Ones, created by The Bengsons and Sarah Gancher, directed by Anne Kauffman; “Outstanding Musical” Lortel Award-winner KPOP, created by Jason Kim, Max Vernon, Helen Park, and Woodshed Collective, directed by Teddy Bergman; “Best New American Theatre Work,” Obie Award-winner and “one of the best new plays in the last 25 years” (The New York Times), Underground Railroad Game by Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R. Sheppard, directed by Taibi Magar ; The New York Times' and New York Post's “Best of 2015,” Small Mouth Sounds by Bess Wohl, directed by Rachel Chavkin; the Tony Award-winning smash-hit Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy, directed by Rachel Chavkin; the world premiere of the 2009 season's most-produced play boom by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, directed by Alex Timbers; the show that put Bridget Everett on the map, At Least It's Pink by Everett, Michael Patrick King, and Kenny Mellman, directed by King; and Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail's first New York production, Freestyle Love Supreme by Anthony Veneziale and Miranda, directed by Thomas Kail (Broadway 2019).

 

Please visit arsnovanyc.com to learn more.