Joey Merlo's MIDNIGHT COLESLAW'S TALES FROM BEYOND THE CLOSET!!! to be Presented at The Tank

In a co-production with The Tank, Midnight Coleslaw's Tales from Beyond The Closet!!!, a campy and terrifying evening of one-acts by Joey Merlo, is set to run May 31 - June 23, 2024, at The Tank (312 West 36th St). Directed by Nick Browne, Midnight Coleslaw will open on Sunday, June 2. Tickets are now on sale.

Join drag-vamp, Midnight Coleslaw (and her talking-skull-sidekick, Boner) as she hosts a campy and titillating evening of queer horror-comedy. Audiences will marvel at a chair made out of skin that turns into a humanoid third-wheel in a couple's relationship, a father back from the dead to make sure his little (unbeknownst to him lesbian) girl is thriving, and an aging queen's party of disappearing guests. Exit the closet and enter the theater—if you dare!!!

OUT100's 2019 Showgirl of the Year Charlene Incarnate stars as Midnight Coleslaw with an eclectic cast that includes Priscilla Flores, Curtis Gillen (co-composer for Water for Elephants), Amando Houser (Snatch Adams), Obie-winner Jan Leslie Harding, Edgar Oliver (New York Trilogy), Rebecca Robertson (Sleep No More), and John William Watkins. Academy Award-nominee Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) will take over for Gillen from June 20-23. 

“Camp is part of my identity as a queer person,” says playwright Joey Merlo, best known for On Set with Theda Bara, a “haunting and refreshingly funny fever dream” (Vulture) which starred David Greenspan. “To me, camp is a kind of secret language that we as queer folks have. Horror keeps me present. It gives me the chance to experience my body in a heightened and excited state. My work explores the cracks between the boundaries of what's ‘real' and what isn't—by fusing the two, I attempt to locate my own existence within the realm of the fantastic. I hope audiences will walk away feeling refreshed and exhilarated after having been taken on a bizarre, funny, and scary journey through three unique stories, while also having been entertained by the musical drag and comedy numbers in between each one-act.”

The creative team for Midnight Coleslaw's Tales from Beyond The Closet!!! includes Joyce Lai (scenic design), Brittani Beresford (costume design), Matt Deinhart (lighting design), Caroline Eng (sound design), Euxuan Ong (projection design), Michela Micalizio (puppet design), George Strus (line producer), and Monica Athenas (production stage manager).

Sixteen performances of Midnight Coleslaw's Tales from Beyond The Closet!!! will take place May 31 – June 23, 2024 at The Tank, located at 312 West 36th Street in Manhattan, New York. Critics are welcome as of Friday, May 31, for a press opening on Sunday, June 2. The running time is 85 minutes with no intermission.The performance schedule is Thursdays–Sundays at 7pm with the following exceptions: June 10 at 7pm, June 7 and 21 at 10:30pm, and June 9, 16, and 22 at 3pm.

General admission tickets are $50 with Donor tickets at $75. A limited number of “Under 40” tickets are available at $25 for every performance to audience members aged 40 and under (ID required). All tickets can be purchased at www.thetanknyc.org.

About the Artists

Joey Merlo

is currently the artist-in-residence at the prestigious William Steeple Davis House in Orient, NY. He is a theater maker and educator who has worked all over the world including Greece, Peru and Ghana, where, in collaboration with Ghanian activists and students, he filmed a documentary on the illegality of homosexuality called Voices. “Merlo is one of the most exciting and original voices writing for the New York stage at the moment.” (Zachary Stewart, Chief Critic - Theatermania). They are a New York Foundation for The Arts Playwriting Fellow and a former artist-in-residence at Abingdon Theater Company. Recent projects include: The “Brilliant/Highbrow” (New York Magazine) Off-Broadway engagement of On Set with Theda Bara starring David Greenspan and directed by Jack Serio at The Brick in a Transport Group/Lucille Lortel Theatre co-production. Joey has been awarded grants from The Puffin Foundation, NYSCA and The Merchant/Ivory Foundation. They hold a BFA from NYU, Tisch's Experimental Theater Wing and an MFA from Brooklyn College. www.joeymerlo.com

Nick Browne

is a freelance director, producer, and educator based out of New York City. Previous credits include the New York Premiere of Jordan Tanahill's Is My Microphone On? (The Center at West Park), Max Keane's Keynote at Necro-con (The Brick), Carol Mazhuvancheril's Song of Joy (2023 Core Production, The Tank), Simon Stephens' Punk Rock (Chinatown Soup), Ike Holter's HIT THE WALL (National Historic Landmark; The Stonewall Inn), Chair by Joey Merlo (The 2022 Weasel Festival, The Tank), Platforms (LAByrinth Theater Co. Barn Series), HIT THE WALL (NYU, A Streak of Violet). They have directed internationally, and studied with NYTW, La MaMa Umbria, LAByrinth Theater Company, and The Siti Company. MFA, Brooklyn College. www.nickjbrowne.com

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