SLAP&TICKLE Immersive Theatrical Experience is Coming to The Eagle NYC This Spring

Boundless Theater's New York premiere of Slap&Tickle, a thought-provoking, comedic, and sensual play written by David James Parr (Eleanor Rigby Is Waiting, Stranger Interludes) will be presented as an immersive theatrical experience at The Eagle NYC (554 West 28th Street), New York's premier gay bar, over four consecutive Thursdays this Spring: May 11, 18, 25, and June 1, all at 7:30pm. 


$5 from every ticket sale will be donated to GMHC, the world's first HIV and AIDS service organization whose mission is to fight to end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected.

General Admission tickets, starting at $30,
VIP tickets - Show + After Show Exclusive Reception on May 11th & June 1st $50
are now available and can be purchased here:
https://boundless-theater.ticketleap.com/slaptickle---immersive-experience/

Directed by Adam Odsess-Rubin (Founding Artistic Director, National Queer Theater), Slap&Tickle is a refreshing, witty, and surprising exploration of LGBTQIA+ gender-inclusive sexuality, told through a spectrum of intersecting characters in the shadowy setting of a fictional NYC bathhouse - The Sanctuary.

The provocative stories shared range from first kisses to last loves; from public parks to on-line romances; from sleeping bag seductions to bathroom assaults. Insightfully candid and darkly funny, this innovative play examines how politics, drugs, HIV and social media dramatically changed the landscape for a generation of LGBTQIA+ people in America, spotlighting our universal desire to connect with one another through the empowering act of storytelling.

The cast of Slap&Tickle will feature Lara Americo, Juan Danner, Robert Driemeyer, Abdu Garmazi, James A. Pierce III, Chetan Rao, and Matthew James Tyler.

The complete creative team David James Parr (Playwright), Adam Odsess-Rubin (Director), Tommaso Cartia (Producer; Marketing & Communication Strategist), Mark Marques (Executive Producer).

"This production will be an innovative and site-specific experience-think The Boys in the Band meets Sleep No More-celebrating the power of storytelling while hopefully bridging the gaps between several generations of LGBTQIA+ people," said playwright David James Parr. "How ideal to have this immersive premiere of Slap&Tickle at the iconic and historic landmark The Eagle club!"

A Way to Give Back to the LGBTQIA+ Community: 

"In tandem with the show, Boundless Theater is simultaneously launching the social media campaigns #SlapNoMore and #UseYourHeadBeforeHeadingOut," said artistic director and producer of Boundless Theater Tommaso Cartia. "Given the timely themes of this play, we hope to give voice to our community and contribute to ending acts of violence and hate crimes against queer people as well as inspiring our younger generation to have fun responsibly."

In addition to donating $5 from every ticket sale to GMHC, on May 11th Boundless Theater will be honored to host Krishna Stone (Community Relations Director, GMHC), on stage after the show and at the exclusive VIP reception to talk about the organization's goals and mission.

Exclusive VIP Reception on May 11th and Wrap-Up Party on June 1st:
The reception will also feature a talkback with the playwright and the director, as well as special guest stars: Pooya Mohseni, Iranian American actress, writer, filmmaker, and Transgender activist, and a script consultant on Slap&Tickle; and award-winning Fine Art photographer and LGBTQIA+ activist Steven Menendez, creator of the Slap&Tickle portraits. Tommaso Cartia, the founder and artistic director of Boundless Theater, will also be presenting the company's upcoming artistic program and the launch of Boundless Theater's non-profit 'A Stage Without Borders'.

A special wrap-up party will then be held on closing night, June 1st, the first day of NYC Pride.

Additional support for the production is provided by aussieBum and ONE Condoms.

Slap&Tickle made its World Premiere in 2010 at The Provincetown Theater, and has subsequently been produced all across North America. Scenes from Slap & Tickle were presented as part of Pride Plays 2020, which was co-produced by Doug Nevin, Michael Urie, and Nick Mayo.

For more information, please visit: Boundless Theater Linktree


BIOGRAPHIES


David James Parr

(Playwright). David's play Eleanor Rigby Is Waiting was made into an independent film which premiered at the 2019 Manhattan Film Festival, winning Best Dramatic Independent Feature. His plays Slap&Tickle, Pluto Is Listening, and Albee Damned have been produced all across the U.S. including Chicago, Dallas, New York, Provincetown and St. Petersburg. His script Mimi at the 44th Parallel was a Top 10 Finalist at the 2019 Austin Film Festival. Recent productions include Eleanor Rigby Is Waiting produced as an immersive experience by Boundless Theater in 2022 & Stranger Interludes, produced by Boundless Theater, currently in pre-production, directed by Amanda Bearse and starring Two Times Tony Award Nominee Alison Fraser.


ADAM ODSESS-RUBIN (Director) (He/Him) is the Founding Artistic Director of National Queer Theater (NQT) and Co-Founder of the acclaimed Criminal Queerness Festival, showcasing censored and criminalized LGBTQ+ artists from around the world. He directs community-based theater programs such as Write it Out! for playwrights living with HIV, New Visions Fellowship for Black trans artists, DREAMing Out Loud for LGBTQ undocumented youth, and Youth Write Now for young queer playwrights. Since 2021, he has been a founding Teaching Artist for Rainbow Connection, an intergenerational theater program for queer teens and elders in Fire Island. In 2023, he launched Staging Pride: Queer Youth Theater, a free afterschool theater program for marginalized LGBTQ+ youth in New York City at The Center. At National Queer Theater, Odsess-Rubin has presented work with Carnegie Hall, The Eagle NYC, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York Theatre Workshop, NYC Pride, MCC Theater, and The Lark. Through NQT, he has raised over $250,000 for queer and trans artists since 2018, and has received praise for his work in The Advocate, The New York Times, American Theater Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, and Time Out New York. Odsess-Rubin is a Teaching Artist and former Education Associate at New York Theatre Workshop, and served as the first Education and Community Programs Fellow at American Conservatory Theatre. Odsess-Rubin has published work in Howlround and The Teaching Artist Journal on queer theater education, and is a 2020 Mayor's Grant for Cultural Impact awardee. BA: UC Santa Cruz MA: New York University.

LARA AMERICO

(Shira) (she/they) is a performer and filmmaker whose focus is on the experiences of BIPOC and gender diverse communities. She is currently the host of "TransContinental" a travel document on Queerty.

JUAN DANNER

(Mel) is honored to be joining Boundless Theatre Company for this immersive production of Slap&Tickle! He feels privileged to be able to tell these stories. Juan was most recently seen in Sunday In The Park With George (Soldier/Alex) with CCAE Theatricals in Escondido, CA, and the gay porn love story Shooting Star (Butch O'Neal/Martin Lords) one of Time Out New York's Top 5 immersive shows this past season. He was also in TheaterWorks USA's New York tour of El Otro Oz! (The Iron Chef), in Cumberland Theatre's production of Company (Robert), as well as in Millbrook Playhouse's production of Rent (Benny). Juan has also joined the National Queer Theatre for their Kinky Pint-Sized Plays! (Arturo in Just Ask), and Live & In Color for their concert readings of With Bells On! and Within Elsewhere. He's a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where he studied at the New Studio on Broadway and The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Juan is a screenwriter and co-founder of the production company FilmStage where his short film Surviving Myself is currently in pre-production.

Robert Driemeyer

(Billy) is the content creator of the growing YouTube channel Broadway Barfly where he explores cocktails and pairs them with conversations about Broadway musicals. As an actor he appeared in David Parr's Slap&Tickle in New York and Provincetown. He has appeared in over 20 musicals. Some favorite roles include Albin in La Cage Aux Folles and Bert Berry in 42nd Street. As a stand-up comic, Robert has appeared at nearly every comedy club in New York City. He was featured on the "Laughing Liberally" lineup, was a regular on the popular, long-running, variety show The Poole Party at Don't Tell Mama, and was a member of Gotham City Improv's main performing company. As a producer, he was an Associate Producer of the 2010 Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of La Cage Aux Folles. Off Broadway he was a lead producer of the critically acclaimed revival of Tennessee Williams' The Two-Charcter Play starring Amanda Plummer and Brad Dourif, and Party Face starring Hayley Mills, directed by Amanda Bearse. He was also a co-producer of Shear Madness and Forbidden Broadway.

ABDU GARMAZI

(Sam) Is thrilled to join Boundless Theater's cast of Slap&Tickle. Past Theater credits include National Queer Theater's Criminal Queerness Festival (Lincoln Center), Borders (York Theater), By Association (MPAACT theater), Animals Out of Paper (Theater Wit), and The Realm (Other Theater Company). Film/TV: "FBI Most Wanted" (CBS/Paramount+), Let Liv (Tribeca Film Fest), What Went Wrong.

James A. Pierce III

(Frank). An AUDELCO Award Winner, Broadway Veteran, Jerome Robbins Scholar, Ailey/Fordham BFA alum, Producer, Teaching Artist, Advocate, Activist, and Volunteer, James A. Pierce III has maintained a diverse career spanning almost 3 decades. A Classically Trained Singer/Dancer since the age of 11, Pierce performed and toured with the Philadelphia Boys Choir and Opera North. At 12 years old, Pierce made their NYC stage debut at Carnegie Hall. At 17, Jimmy modeled for Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Armani Exchange, and Vans Sneakers. They've danced with some of the most prestigious companies: Martha Graham Dance Company, BalletMet Columbus, Ballet Hispanico, Ailey 2, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and Philadanco's 2nd company(D/2). They've guested with Pilobolus, Adams Company Dance, Buglisi Dance Theatre, Von Ussar Danceworks, Opus Dance, and Dance Theatre of Lynchburg, to name several. Jimmy's played the Kennedy Center 4 times! Outside of their 9 years on Broadway they've acted in plays/musicals/readings/virtual's with La Mama Experimental Theatre Center, 24 Hour Plays: Viral monologues, Manhattan Repertory Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, MCC Theater, Chain Theatre, Dixon Place, Arts on Site, National Queer Theater, Random Access Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, and the Santa Fe Opera. You can watch them on the newly released Lifetime Movie Murder at Blackthorne Manor.

CHETAN RAO

(Josh) is a NYC based performer and Drag Artist. He has taken his Bollywood drag act all over the US to cities such as LA, New Orleans, Chicago, and Atlanta. And last summer He went international and performed in Mykonos. Chetan is a proud graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Chetan is so excited to be back in NYC performing live theatre again!!

MATTHEW James Tyler

(Ray). Previous roles include Sidney in Deathtrap (Millbrook Playhouse); Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); and Sherlock Holmes in Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (The Theater Barn). He is excited to be working for his first time with Boundless Theater Company. Love and thanks to Jeremy (and Bella and Buster).

ABOUT BOUNDLESS THEATER

Boundless Boundless Theater (A Stage Without Borders), is an inclusive, theatrical installation series presenting curated, boutique shows from unique talents in unconventional spaces. An original concept created and produced by entrepreneur, artistic director and producer Tommaso Cartia & award-winning playwright David James Parr. Our mission is to return the spotlight to the underground scene of the performing arts and to invite audiences to go back to the magical rituality of theater that can profoundly transform consciences. We are attuned to the fabric of the times in which we are living; that's why we want Boundless Theater to be a borderless stage, welcoming talents of any race, nationality, gender identity, or age. The project has received the attention of prominent press outlets like Theater Mania, Playbill, and BroadwayWorld, as well as key figures in the community of performing arts who are endorsing our mission. Names like 2 time Tony Award Nominee Alison Fraser; Grammy Award Winner & Tony Award nominee Jenn Colella; Actress & Director Amanda Bearse ("Married with Children"; Billy Eichner's Bros); and Producer & Transgender Activist Pooya Mohseni (English.)

Recent productions include Stranger Interludes by David James Parr, directed by Amanda Bearse and featuring Alison Fraser, and Broadway Barfly nightclub act by actor, comedian and content creator Robert Driemeyer.

ABOUT GMHC

GMHC (founded in 1982 as Gay Men's Health Crisis) is the world's first HIV and AIDS service organization. Our mission is to fight to end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected. They serve New Yorkers living with and affected by HIV and AIDS with comprehensive, client-centered, psychosocial programs that address the structural drivers of the HIV and AIDS epidemic including HIV/STI testing; referrals for PrEP and PEP; meals and nutrition; housing; legal and immigration support; workforce development; benefits advocacy; and mental health and substance use treatment. GMHC also advocates for stronger public policies at the local, state, and federal levels. For more information, visit www.gmhc.org

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