BRANDED CONTENT WILL SET YOU FREE To End Run After Casting Shake-Up

Branded Content Will Set You Free will hold its final New York City performance on August 29, 2018, sources confirmed. The powerhouse sketch show, which takes place in a dystopian future where all content is branded, began its run at the UCB Theatre in Hell's Kitchen in February 2018 and quickly became one the fledgling location's hallmark attractions; however, the production ruffled some feathers when it announced that BCWSYF mainstay Gianmarco Soresi would be replaced by Alexis Pereira, an E-Learning Supervising Technician at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, following the former's departure to Less Than 50%, currently running at 59E59.

BCWSYF creator-writer-producer Alex Estrada denied that the shuttering was motivated by Pereira's erratic behavior at rehearsal or his performance at the August 2, 2018 show, which critics described as "unorthodox." "I have worked with Alexis for many years and knew what I was getting into," Estrada said from the veranda of his Bay Ridge estate. "That said, I'm sure he'll pull things together by curtain call on the 29th." When asked if UCBT brass pulled Branded Content in retaliation for his brutal but ultimately unsuccessful insurgency campaign for Artistic Director this past summer, Estrada declined comment.

Still, Branded Content's August 29 staging won't be its last: the show is confirmed for a performance in Los Angeles on October 9, 2018 at the UCB Theater in Sunset, where it will be paired with The Scumbags of '77, written by Estrada and UCB notable John Sartori. Tickets for the final New York performance of Branded Content Will Set You Free can be purchased here.

Branded Content Will Set You Free is directed by Ellenna Chmielewski (Liminal Salon), and features Joanna Hausmann, Alexis Pereira, Lindsay-Elizabeth Hand, Brittany McDonald, Audrey Stanfield, Max Brand, and John Sartori.