Zipper Factory Announces Fall Lineup to Feature Kohler, Morath, Snow and More

New York's Zipper Tavern presents a fall lineup of featuring music, parody, spoken word, cabaret, including performances by Lauren Cregor, Vermillion Lies, Brother Joscephus, Brad & Lori, Kathy Morath & Christopher Stephens, Kim Schultz, Karen Kohler, Ryan Bogner, Randall Shreve, The Goddess Perlman, The World Famous Bob and more.

LAUREN CREGOR
Thursday, October 16 at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets: $15.00
With "a big, expressive voice," "wordplay reminiscent of Elvis Costello and Cole Porter" (Anatomically Correct Music) and a style that's been compared to everyone from Carole King to Stevie Wonder, singer/pianist Lauren Cregor and her 5-piece band of musicians "will keep your spirits up and your bodies moving long after the music stops" (Insight). As composer for the acclaimed theatre ensemble Waterwell, Cregor's music has been hailed as "brilliant" by The New York Times (The Persians . . .). Also a composer for dance and films, her musical versatility keeps listeners on their toes, as her lyrics "manage to say everything you wish you could" (A. Hamilton-Lowe, WFUV Radio).
http://www.laurencregor.com/
 
VERMILLION LIES
Presented by Daniel Nardicio
Thursday, October 16 at 10:00 p.m.
Tickets: $20
From Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada to Moscow, Russia and Braga, Portugal Vermillion Lies has charmed audiences the world over with their unique brand of beauty, silliness, and creativity.  With songs ranging from lyrical folk ballads to raucous circus marches, the Vermillion sisters have earned a reputation for an amazing live performance which enchants audiences of all ages and has everyone clapping, singing, dancing, and playing along.  Real Life sisters, Zoe and Kim Boekbinder "Vermillion," have spent their lives honing their craft at clown boot camp and the local dump, where they found their favorite instruments like toy piano, accordion, typewriter and BBQ grill.
The live show involves the sisters pulling their odd instruments out of a large trunk onstage before each song, prompting the audience to ask, "What's in the box?," which incidentally is the name of their brand new album. Vermillion Lies is based in Oakland, CA, tours in a bio-diesel van, and uses recycled packaging printed with vegetable ink.
http://www.vermillionlies.com/home.html
 
BROTHER JOSCEPHUS AND THE LOVE REVIVAL REVOLUTION ORCHESTRA
Friday, October 17, 2008 @ 8:00 p.m.
Tickets: $20
Brother
Brother Joscephus and the Love Revival Revolution Orchestra are an 11-piece ensemble offering up a feel-good mix of New Orleans, Gospel and Soul with generous helpings of R&B and Rootsy Rock.  Straight outta' the swamp and taking New York by storm, Brother Joscephus guarantees a most righteous good time.
www.myspace.com/brotherjoscephus

WAKE UP AMERICA! WITH BRAD & LORI
Brad (Bradford Scobie) and Lori (Laura Sweeney)
Bring Sunshine To The Zipper
Friday, October 17, 2008 at 10:00 p.m.
Tickets:  $15
"Wake Up America! with Brad & Lori," America's favorite dysfunctional talk show, comes to you live at The Zipper.  "Wake Up America! with Brad & Lori" is hosted by Brad (Bradford Scobie) and Lori (Laura Sweeney).  This tasteless morning-show parody features unrelenting chit-chat, bottom-of-the-barrel celebrity guests and all the fresh brewed coffee you can stomach.
Perched on stools and white-knuckling coffee mugs, Brad & Lori boast Sam Champion-sized smiles and sunny dispositions only Mike & Juliet could envy.  This maniacally WASPy duo kick off the evening with an uplifting "Good Morning!" and launch into cheerful chit-chat about everything from celebrity gossip to the hottest fashions to the latest diet fads to their own fascinating personal lives as F-list celebrities.  But we, the studio audience, soon see that Lori is unstable and chronically inappropriate while Brad, with a grit-toothed smile, continually struggles to keep things light and clean.  But when they break for commercial, look out!  Near-violent, gutter-mouthed infighting erupts as Brad's and Lori's disturbing inner-selves boil to the surface.  Brad is a cruel, superficial, gay-Republican closet-case.  Lori is an ex-meth-head soccer-mom with a drinking problem and a taste for prescription drugs.  And they absolutely can not stand each other.  But, return from commercial, and they snap back into smiles, winks and snarky asides.
Brad & Lori will welcome special guests:  Blood-Thirsty Celebrity Legal Analyst, Georgina Peach, (Stephan Vara of The Plush Life), Celebrity-Hating Hollywood Gossip Reporter, Templeton Starrr (Scobie) and aging, washed-up 90's boy band, Boy Town!

DAY DREAMING: CHANNELING Doris Day
With Kathy Morath & Christopher Stephens
Music Direction: Christopher Stephens
Based on an idea by Dennis Bailey
Monday, October 13 at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets: $20
Daydreaming, a new musical, chronicles the soul-searching of a successful businesswoman at the crossroads of a particularly quirky midlife crisis.  Much to her chagrin and consternation, she finds she has to channel Doris Day to get through the day.  A rollicking musical journey through a roadmap of songs made popular by Doris Day results in the quest not only for closure and clarity, but for personal identity as well.

THE F-TRIP
A Solo Show
Written and performed by Kim Schultz
Directed by Jay Aubrey
Tuesdays, October 7, 14 & 28
All shows @ 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: $20
What do you choose to believe?  Unbelievably autobiographical, The F-Trip sets off on three life-changing journeys proving what liars, inquisitive children and big, holy rocks can show us. "Dynamic!  The F Trip takes us on quite a journey . . . At times moving, often funny, and always engaging. "- nytheatre.com (Fred Backus; 7/25/08)
http://www.kimschultz.net/theftrip.html

LITTLE DEATH
Songs of Coming and Going
Conceived by and starring Nightlife, MAC and Bistro Award-winner Karen Kohler
Directed by John-Richard Thompson 
"Sex" - Wednesday, October 8 & 22
"Death" - Wednesday, October 15 & 29
All shows @ 8:00 p.m.
Tickets: $25 and $40
In this new musical performance the cabaret iconoclast Karen Kohler blurs the line between sex and death in two companion shows that alternate on four consecutive Wednesdays. Sex plays October 8 and 22, while Death bows on October 15 and 29.  Backed by a five-piece ensemble, Kohler crossbreeds a decadent range of theatrical and musical styles, everything from jazz, Delta blues, classical, rock-folk and cabaret.  She takes us in and out of pain and pleasure, obsession and foreplay, creation and destruction.  Using the words and music of composers as varied as Purcell, Tom Waits, Schubert, Cole Porter, Astor Piazzola, Jacques Brel and Leonard Cohen, Little Death shows us how sex and death are distinct, the same and totally inevitable.
http://www.karenkohler.com/index.html

HEY, YOU KNOW WHAT MOVIE WOULD MAKE A GOOD MUSICAL?
Monday, October 13 @ 10:00 p.m.
Tickets: $20
Telling your own story in the theater is near impossible these days when every new Broadway musical is based on a Blockbuster film.  So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Satirizing Broadway's current movie obsession, three up and coming writer/performers present a show that features three of your favorite movies and turns them into musicals. Featuring original music plus a few surprise guests. Written and performed by Ryan Bogner, Mishaela Faucher and Jason Michael Snow from a concept by Ryan Bogner.

RANDALL SHREVE
Tuesday, October 14 @ 9:30 p.m.
Tickets: $15
Randall Shreve came out of nowhere; it would seem, with The Cure For Yesterday, his solo debut. For everyone that didn't know Randall as drummer for 3-time Dove Award nominated Rock band, GS Megaphone, such a powerful debut from an indie artist came as quite a shock.  Before 2006, Randall had produced and/or played drums on over 50 recordings, toured extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, and Canada with several Grammy award winning bands, and even found time to make an appearance in a film starring Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. But it wasn't till May of 2006 that Randall released The Cure For Yesterday and let the world know who he really is. Now, two years later, he has done it again and prepares to release the highly anticipated follow-up, The Entertainer, which is similar to his debut in that it is a concept record with an interwoven story throughout the songs.  However, it can be heard so clearly that Randall has confronted and embraced his darker, eclectic side, while still keeping the perfect blend of his gentle "crooner" qualities in tact. The Entertainer is set for release on October 14th, 2008. http://www.randallshreve.com/

NICE JEWISH GIRLS GONE . . . HYSTERICAL
Presented by The Hysterical Festival
Saturday, October 18 at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets: $15 in advance / $20 at the door
Hailed as "very funny . . .  good kosher fun!" by The New York Post, Nice Jewish Girls mixes comedy, music, spoken-word and burlesque and, as always, features those gals who learned to smoke at Hebrew School, got drunk at their Bat-Mitzvahs and would rather have more schtuppa than the chupah.  With Michelle Collins, Rachel Feinstein and Rena Zager and hosted by comedian and chanteuse The Goddess Perlman.
http://www.thehystericalfestival.com/

FUNNY BONES BURLESQUE
Presented by The Hysterical Festival
Saturday, October 18 at 10:00 p.m.
Tickets: $15 in advance / $20 at the door
The funniest burlesque show you'll see, starring Clams Casino, Fem Appeal, Jo Boobs, Pookie Patootie and hosted by The World Famous *BOB*.
http://www.thehystericalfestival.com/index.html

 
For more information, visit: http://www.thezipperfactory

Photo of Karen Kohler courtesy The Zipper Factory