Ars Nova Sets 9th Annual ANT Fest Lineup, Kicking Off 6/6

Ars Nova, New York's incubator for boundary-pushing theater, is pleased to announce the line-up for its 9th Annual ANT Fest, which features new work from 42 trail-blazing artists over a four-week festival, June 6-30. This celebration of new, independent live entertainment is a prime destination for an eclectic mix of brand new shows from some of the most intrepid, adventurous artists in New York City.

This year, ANT Fest expands to include more intimate performances from ANT Fest Alumni in the ANT Fest Lounge, including Salty Brine, Catherine Brookman, Jo Lampert, and Hamm Samwich. Additionally, Aqua Regia, a Bar for One created and tended by Wil Petre, will be in residence in the ANT Fest Lounge for limited nights of the festival. Plus Ars Nova's ongoing variety-show-meets-party Showgasm hosted by "one of the ten best comedians of 2015" (Time Out New York), John Early, will get festified with two special late-night performances (June 15 & 22 at 9pm).

As part of ANT Fest, Ars Nova invites audiences to come early and stay late. Doors open 30 minutes before every show so audiences can visit Bars Nova, a bar that is fully stocked with some of the most affordable drinks in midtown, and some seriously tasty snacks including warm NYC pretzels. Post-show, the ANT Fest Lounge keeps the fun going in Ars Nova's sleek loft space, where audiences can kick back on the couch with ANT Fest artists, a cold beer from Brooklyn Brewery, and a hot slice of City Slice Pizza.

ANT Fest plays June 6-30, with performances Monday-Saturday at 7:00pm. A limited number of "early-bird" tickets are available for $10. Regular tickets are $15. Tickets purchased at the door are $20. Showgasm. - ANT Fest Edition takes place June 15 and June 22, at 9:00pm with Foreplay at 8:00pm. Tickets to Showgasm + Foreplay are $5, or you can purchase a $20 package that includes 2 drinks and a slice of City Slice Pizza with your Showgasm + Foreplay ticket.

Now in its ninth year, ANT Fest is Ars Nova's annual celebration of all new talent. Through its open submission process, ANT Fest offers a wide range of early career artists a point of entry onto the Ars Nova stage and into the greater New York City arts community. This year's call for submissions drew over 300 applicants.

Since its inception, ANT Fest has increasingly provided a crucial first step toward an extended artistic relationship with Ars Nova. Ars Nova's upcoming New York Premiere of Underground Railroad Game by Jennifer Kidwell and Scott Sheppard was discovered in ANT Fest 2014. Ars Nova's 2014 hit Charlatan, a world premiere written by Vinny DePonto and Josh Koenigsberg, and directed by Andrew Neisler, was developed after Vinny DePonto's ANT Fest 2012 show Mysterious Delights. Ars Nova's Fall 2013 world premiere production Eager to Lose, created by Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Wes Grantom, Portia Krieger and Tansy, first took the stage in ANT Fest 2011 before further development.

Monday, June 6 at 7pm

Justin Timberlake vs. Ryan Gosling
Lead Artists: Mitchel Civello & Anthony Natoli
Together, Mitchel and Anthony make meta-theatrical mayhem. A ripped-from-the-gossip-rags reimagining of a mouse-keteer-to-matinee-idol frenemy-ship

Tuesday, June 7 at 7pm

Blue Plate Special
Lead Artists: Cat Crowley & Nate Weida
Cat and Nate craft fantastically mashed up worlds for Nate's soulful, boisterous sound. An exuberantly queer '50s doo-wop musical featuring a gang of greaser butches and a drag diner waitress

Wednesday, June 8 at 7pm

Actors
Lead Artists: Lorelei Ramirez & Christi Chiello
Alt-comedy furies Lorelei and Christi draw from standup, improv and performance art for their savage takedowns. Two dedicated heroes share their talent at the most noble craft known to man: acting.

Thursday, June 9 at 7pm

Hottentotted
Lead Artists: Charly Evon Simpson & Colette Robert
Intrepid playwright Charly joins forces with Colette to leave the well-made play in the dust. After centuries of speculation, the storied Hottentot Venus finally speaks out and is met with a chorus of contemporary voices on how far we have left to go.

Jo Lampert in the Lounge
Lead Artist: Jo Lampert
The cabaret debut of extraterrestrial musical talent Jo Lampert.

Aqua Regia
Lead Artist: Wil Petre
A Bar for One created and tended by Wil Petre, in residence in the ANT Fest Lounge for limited nights of the festival.

Friday, June 10 at 7pm

Houseworld Presents: The Sensitive Ear
Lead Artists: Andrew Hoepfner
Downtown Renaissance musician Andrew's shows become the unexpected meeting place between the performance and music worlds. An eclectic compilation concert of the immersive theater hit Houseworld's musical guests.

Saturday, June 11 at 7pm

Lover I'll Bring You Back to Life
Lead Artists: Whitney White
Composer/performer Whitney creates striking original theatrical mash-ups. A rock ritual of life after love- and love in the after-life.

Monday, June 13 at 7pm

Ambition: the female American serial killer musical
Lead Artist: Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
Kaela creates topical, wild historical fantasias. A jazz-inflected exploration of the true stories of three of American history's forgotten killer women

Tuesday, June 14 at 7pm

POWER COUPLE
Lead Artists: Sarah Blush & Rachel Christiansen
Sarah and Rachel create formally inventive devised theater. A biographical mash-up play charting the ambitious (and intersecting?) arcs of Alice B. Toklas and Quentin Tarantino.

Wednesday, June 15 at 7pm

Going Down Mount Moriah
Lead Artist: Emily Bate
Emily is a Philly-based musician infamous for cross-genre freakery and fat harmonies. A freaky feminist choral piece that we promise (probably) won't bite.

Wednesday, June 15 at 9pm

SHOWGASM. ANT FEST EDITION
Everyone's favorite variety-show-meets-party gets festified with your host: John Early, and your House DJ: Hamm Samwich.

Thursday, June 16 at 7pm

Boy Gets Violent
Lead Artist: Dylan Frederick
Dylan makes hazy theatrical dreamscapes flush with teenage adrenaline.
An adolescent fantasia on the 90s, coming out and gay Beanie Babies

Aqua Regia
Lead Artist: Wil Petre
A Bar for One created and tended by Wil Petre, in residence in the ANT Fest Lounge for limited nights of the festival.

HAMMVERSATIONS
Lead Artist: Hamm Samwich
Showgasm icon and iconoclast Hamm Samwich records her unfiltered podcast in front of a live audience with a special guest, in the ANT Fest Lounge.

Friday, June 17 at 7pm

The Mary Jo Camel Show: Vitals
Lead Artists: Mary Jo Cameltoe, Liz Magee & Kristin Lewis
Mary Jo, Liz and Kristin invite their weirdo friends from all corners of the sketch, stand-up and drag worlds to celebrate their shared pop obsessions. A lovingly anarchic downtown send up of a fictional hit medical drama reunion.

Aqua Regia
Lead Artist: Wil Petre
A Bar for One created and tended by Wil Petre, in residence in the ANT Fest Lounge for limited nights of the festival.

Saturday, June 18 at 7pm

Lulu is Hungry
Lead Artists: Claire Kiechel, Philip Gates & Avi Amon
The collaborative trifecta of Claire, Philip and Avi come together to create dynamic hybrid theatrical events. Go down the rabbit hole with this neo-cabaret cage match between the infamous Lulu and the author who created her.

Monday, June 20 at 7pm

Telegraph Bois
Lead Artists: Gabe Gordon, Lily Haje, Emmie Finckel
The trio of Gabe, Lily and Emmie take collective creative play seriously. A Victorian sex scandal explodes into a time-hopping queering of the epistolary drama.

Tuesday, June 21 at 7pm

*Waveheart*: Songs and Poems
Lead Artist: Jordan Martin
Songwriter and artist Jordan creates genre-pushing theatrical worlds and sounds. A sun-kissed art-rock song cycle pulsing with the rhythm of tap dancing and the flush of a high school crush

Wednesday, June 22 at 7pm

POWER GAY
Lead Artists: Chris Tyler & Joe Castle Baker
Queer enfant terribles Joe and Chris wield their laser comic insight to surreally hilarious effect. A savage avant-satire of sexy, rich, white gay men putting everything on the line at a fierce fundraiser for at-risk gay animals.

Wednesday, June 22 at 9pm

SHOWGASM. ANT FEST EDITION
Everyone's favorite variety-show-meets-party gets festified with your host: John Early, and your House DJ: Hamm Samwich.

Thursday, June 23 at 7pm

Kings and Queens of Love
Lead Artist: Emily Oliveira
Emily transforms "low" source material, like call-in radio and reality TV, into lowbrow-brilliant spectacles. A psychedelic multimedia meditation on the nuptials and funeral of Diana, the people's princess

Friday, June 24 at 7pm

Awful Event!
Lead Artists: Dustin Wills, Kate Tarker, Daniel Schlosberg & Chris Bannow
The quartet of Kate, Dan, Dustin and Chris combine the traditions of the American music hall, variety shows, and clowning into burst-at-the-seams spectacles. A physiological musical variety show starring John Wilkes Booth and Mary Todd Lincoln's internal organs in the very moment of a notorious assassination.

Catherine Brookman in the Lounge
Lead Artist: Catherine Brookman
Downtown siren (and composer), Catherine Brookman shares choral arrangements of her otherworldly tunes.

Aqua Regia
Lead Artist: Wil Petre
A Bar for One created and tended by Wil Petre, in residence in the ANT Fest Lounge for limited nights of the festival.

Saturday, June 25 at 7pm

THE WATERMAN: A FORGOTTEN CASCADIAN MYTH
Lead Artists: Kyle Acheson & Sam De Roest
Kyle and Sam spin irreverent, lyrical folk yarns. A darkly comic eco-myth propelled by a kickass seafaring band.

Aqua Regia
Lead Artist: Wil Petre
A Bar for One created and tended by Wil Petre, in residence in the ANT Fest Lounge for limited nights of the festival.

Monday, June 27 at 7pm

Poshlost Saudades! (PS!)
Lead Artist: Adam R. Burnett
Adam creates sprawling, surreal theatrical universes. An absurdist Altman-esque mash up of family tragicomedies with singing, dancing, and a cake that may not make it out unscathed...

Living Record Collection Cabaret
Lead Artist: Salty Brine
The indelible Salty Brine pays tribute to an iconic album with one of his signature cabaret-theater mashups, in the ANT Fest Lounge.

Aqua Regia
Lead Artist: Wil Petre
A Bar for One created and tended by Wil Petre, in residence in the ANT Fest Lounge for limited nights of the festival.

Tuesday, June 28 at 7pm

Kid Prince and Pablo
Lead Artist: Brian Quijada
Brian is a dynamic spoken word/hip hop artist exploding out of the solo world. A have-and-have-nots tale of swapped identities is given a dexterous hip-hop remix.

Wednesday, June 29 at 7pm

Abbot Adam: Evensong
Lead Artists: No Face Performance Group
No Face Performance Group is a shape-shifting Philly-based devised duo. An anarchic concert play that finds two young nuns paying raucous tribute to their recently deceased Mother Superior.

Thursday, June 30 at 7pm

In The Time Traveler's Attic
Lead Artists: Chamber Band
Taking inspiration from role-playing games and speculative worlds, Chamber Band pumps out lush, propulsive indie-nerd-rock. Burrow with them into the whirling and rueful science fiction realm of H.G. Wells and the Time Traveler that got away...

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