A PATCH OF BLUR Plays Howl Help Festival at Abrons Arts Center, Now thru 10/21

The Howl Help Festival presents A PATCH OF BLUR, An Un-authorized, Satirical Jukebox Musical, Fractured & Directed by Kevin Malony, tonight, October 18 – 21, 2012 at Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street @ Pitt LES NYC.

The TWEED Fractured Classicks Series starts the 2012 season with a hilarious satire based on the iconic Academy Award nominated 1965 movie, A Patch of Blue. The original film, a treatise on racism and the notion that "love is blind," starred Sidney Poitier and Shelly Winters. Set against the background of a growing civil rights movement, it tells the story of a beautiful, white, blind teenage girl, the daughter of a white-trash prostitute, uneducated and innocent, who falls in love with a (unbeknownst to her) black man. Mayhem ensues! Cue Music.

The TWEED version will be a jukebox musical incorporating songs of many different styles and eras, and a cast of raucous comic performers guaranteed to shed new light on this heart rending, magnificent old story. The Cast –all singers!- features several TWEED veterans, including downtown drag legend Sweetie, Bree Benton, most known for her alter ego, Poor Baby Bree the depression era vagabond minstrel, the goddess of the demi-monde the incomparable Brenda Bergman, David Ilku (Duelling Bankheads, Unitard), returning favorite Rosa Curry, and newcomer to TWEED, the singer and actor, Basil Rodericks.

Director Kevin Malony has gathered together a first rate team of designers and musicians who have taken over The Underground Theater at The Abrons Arts Center for week of unrivaled comedic, musical madness.

Thanks to a generous grant from The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman Foundation, the entire proceeds of the box office will go the The HOWL Help Fund, an affiliate of The Actors Fund.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
Thursday October 18th, 8pm
Friday October 19th, 9:30pm
Saturday October 20th, 7pm and 10pm
Sunday October 21st, 5pm and 7pm

FOR TICKETS AND INFORMATION:
Online: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/917963
Phone sales: 212-352-3101

Starring: Sweetie, Bree Benton, David Ilku, Basil Rodericks, Brenda Bergman and Rosa Curry

Video by Ina Archer
Costumes by Ramona Ponce
Set & Lighting by Mark T Simpson
Photography by Aaron Cobbett
Graphics by Douglas Riccardi
Music Consultation by Grady Hendrix
Stage Management by Elspeth Walker
Musical Direction and Piano Accompaniment by Chris Dieman

BIOGRAPHIES:

The TWEED Fractured Classicks Series. A Fractured Classick is a live performance, sometimes a staged reading, often a full production, satirical in nature, of a well known or iconic American play or movie. The purpose of The Series is not merely to poke fun – though fun is poked – but to illuminate the brilliance of the original work. One moment you may be laughing at the camp aspect (in its' purest form), and the next, transfixed by the raw, emotional power of the source material. The aim of The Series is to pay irreverent, yet sincere, homage to great works of the stage and screen. From The Miracle Worker to The Women, from Interiors to A Raisin In The Sun, The Series has presented over 30 plays and screenplays, ranging from celebrity studded one-night-stands in large halls, to longer runs in tiny downtown venues. 2012 marks the 15th anniversary of The TWEED Fractured Classicks Series.

TWEED TheaterWorks was founded by Kevin Malony in 1983 and has grown from late night shows in East Village dives to full-scale productions at premier Manhattan venues. For two decades TWEED has produced innovative and unusual live theatrical work, including performance art, plays, musicals, dancetheater and category-defying extravaganzas. The TWEED New Works Festival (1985-1995) presented the early work of many of today's recognized theater artists, including Bill Russell, Lisa Kron, (Lypsinka) Epperson and John Kelly. Other on-going endeavors include The TWEED Music Series and The TWEED Fractured Classicks Series, a popular cult phenomenon that presents staged readings of classic American plays and films employing unique casting choices.

The Cast:

Sweetie Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote "To watch SWEETIE is to enter a Twilight Zone where the natural laws of physics and biology seem to have melted and mutated. Amazing!". SWEETIE is the full tilt, larger than life, bold, beautiful, plus sized bundle of dynamite created by actor Daniel T. Booth. Celebrated twice as New York City's Drag Entertainer of the year, SWEETIE has been seen on Project Runway, Oprah, Off Broadway, several Downtown theatres, in major film releases and is the subject of the documentary film Charmed Life. SWEETIE's "take no prisoners" stage persona is only magnified by her ability to tickle your funny bone then tug on our heart strings. She is the best of Bette, a dollop of Dolly, a little Lampanelli and a whole lot of talent percolating under a skyscraper wig and false lashes.

Bree Benton often performs as "Poor Baby Bree," a ragamuffin who sings vaudeville-era songs incorporated into either a one-person musical or a vaudeville act. She won Time Out's annual cabaret award and has performed at BAM, Symphony Space, Irish Arts Center, Lehman College, various downtown venues, and on WNYC's "Soundcheck." She appeared in TWEED's production Pic-Up at Abrons Arts Center.

Basil Rodericks: Company member of the American Globe; Ghost (Hamlet), Don Pedro(Much Ado), Lord Capulet (Romeo & Juliet). Others; Ed (Torch Song Trilogy) opposite Daniel Booth (AKA Sweetie), A.D. Nixon (Martin, Negro Ensemble), Sr. Hubert (Nunsense Amen!),Best Actor in Series at the West Village Musical Theater Festival (Green Pig, Angry Birds).

Brenda Bergman continues to thwart every attempt at self actualization. By cultivating an elaborate means of obfuscation she has enabled herself to nip her creative goals in the bud. Thankfully she has a group of freaks (TWEED) who allow her to occasionally play with them.

David Ilku has worked with New York Theater Workshop, Manhattan Class Company, Drama Dept., Here, TWEED TheaterWorks, PS 122 and LaMaMa to name a few. Films include Fair Game, Life in Flight, Full Grown Men, which he also co-produced, Risk, Blue Steel, Godass, Ghostlight, and Liquid Sky. He also co-wrote and performed with Jennifer Tilly in the short film, Salvation with David LaChapelle. TV credits include Spin City, The Cosby Show, Comedy Central's Premium Blend and Late Night with Conan O'brian. David is one half of the comedy duo The Duelling Bankheads and one third of the comedy troupe Unitard. He was an Island Records recording artist, and lead singer in the band World at a Glance. Soon to be released films: In Our Nature, Love Hunter and See You Next Tuesday.

Rosa Curry it thrilled to be performing in her third TWEED production! She has performed in such Broadway shows as CHICAGO, THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, STEEL PIER and JELLY'S LAST JAM with the late great Gregory Hines. Other theatre credits include AT LEAST IT'S PINK (written and directed by Michael Patrick King of Sex and the City), HARLEM SONG (Apollo Theatre), CROWNS, BUBBLIN BROWN SUGAR and THE STRANGER (the new Bruce Hornsby musical) and performances with THE Negro Ensemble Company. Television/Film includes, AS THE WORLD TURNS and SHOCK ACT (winner at the Tribeca Film Festival). Ms. Curry has also had the honor of singing at the White House.

DESIGNERS AND STAFF:

Elspeth Walker last worked with Kevin Malony as stage manager for Tom Judson's CANNED HAM at Dixon Place. She currently works at Dixon Place and recently attained her Master's degree from The Gallatin School at NYU in Solo Performance and Queer Theory.

Mark T Simpson. Broadway: Associate Designer, The Color Purple, Good Vibrations, Dracula, Sinatra, The Look of Love, The Full Monty; Off Broadway Designer: Lypsinka, As I Lay Lip-synching, Son of Dracula, Lypsinka, The Boxed Set, Human Resources, The Valley of Iao; Regionally, The Studio Theater, Washington DC, Zach Theater, Austin, Tiffany, LA, Alcazar, San Francisco; Dance: J.M. Rubudal, Trish Dougherty. Catterson Croll, Gabriel Masson, Wil Swanson, Tap Fusion, Paz Tanjuaquio, among others.

Ina Diane Archer is a film/video artist and an advocate for their preservation, born in Paris France. Consequently, she is devoted to "Total Filmmaker" Jerry Lewis. She loves genre movies and Vitaphone shorts. Ina blogs about the "interconnectedness of all things (media)" and a bit about horror at the following site: continuumfilmblog@typepad.com

Chris Dieman Chris Dieman is a performer and musician who works in theatre/film in New York and regionally. Recent credits: The Cherry Orchard and The Landing (Vineyard Theatre). Upcoming: The Prince of Denmark at Guild Hall. Chris also accompanies at NYU and throughout the city.

Ramona Ponce Ramona Ponce started at the Ridiculous Theatrical Company and now has long-standing relationships with theater companies all around town. Besides costume and bridal design, she does specialty needlework for fashion designers and assembles sewn elements for fine art projects, visual display and photography. She is Costume Designer In Residence at LPAC. www.ramonaponce.com

Kevin Malony is a director and producer whose work has been seen internationally for the past 20 years. In New York he has produced or been produced at Lincoln Center's Serious Fun Festival, Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, The Town Hall , and on and off Broadway. The Zipper Theater, The John Houseman Theater, La Mama, HERE, Dixon Place, The Joyce Theatre P.S. 122, and others. . He is the founder and artistic director of TWEED TheaterWorks, a non-profit producing organization that has been a forerunner in the downtown New York arts community for twenty years. For ten years –from 1986 -1996, he produced The TWEED New Works Festival, which presented the early work of many of today's renowned theater artists. He has worked with an array of avant garde artists, and has on-going relationships with many well known performers – and not so well known – performers. He produced John (Lypsinka) Epperson's first theatrical engagement The Many Moods of Lypsinka in 1987, and since that time has directed full productions and personal appearances with Lypsinka around the world. He produced the critically acclaimed Lypsinka! The Boxed Set (Helen Hayes Award 2002). He was the original producer of Bill Russell's Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens which ran on London's West End and presented the first incarnation of John Kelly's OBIE award winning Pass The Blutwurst Bitte. He co-directed Mark Dendy's Dream Analysis at Dance Theater Workshop and directed Paved Paradise Redux, John Kelly's homage to Joni Mitchell, at The Abrons Arts Center, and on tour. Other directing/writing credits include: Brenda Bergman in Endangered Species, celebrity psychic Dr. Julia Wonder in Make My Dreams Your Reality, drag chanteuse Varla Jean Merman's The Christmas Concert at Weill Recital Hall, Jackie Hoffman's Kosher Khristmas Parts 1 & 2, and the critically acclaimed satire The Mailman Always Comes Twice by Stephen Pell. He is currently working with Tom Judson (AKA Gus Maddox), Joseph Keckler, Julie Halston and Peter Wing-Healey on new projects. In 1996 he initiated THE TWEED FRACTURED CLASSICKS SERIES which presents fully staged readings of classic plays and movies featuring, unique casting choices.

The Howl Emergency Life Project (HELP) was created to provide emergency financial assistance and social service support to artists who have participated in the annual Howl Festival or who make their careers in New York City's East Village and Lower East Side arts community and whose work challenges the traditional boundaries of dance, theatre, music, multimedia and the spoken word. Services include counseling and referrals for personal, family or work-related problems. Linkage to community resources for such needs as medical care, legal services, public benefits or elder care is provided. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics and include: finding affordable housing, financial education as well as health insurance options. Financial assistance is available for rent, utilities, mental health and medical care as well as other basic living expenses. Grants are approved on a case-by-case basis based on need.

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