HELD: A MUSICAL FANTASY Sets Venue at FringeNYC

The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) a production of The Present Company presents HELD: A Musical Fantasy, a poignant story of childhood friends growing apart in a world where reality is fluid and time can stand still, with book and lyrics by Kelly Maxwell and music by Meghan Rose. S.C Lucier directs a cast of three, including Katie Bakalars, Alex Van Handel, and Hannah Ripp-Dieter. Accompanied by a three-piece acoustic ensemble with piano, cello and upright bass, HELD is being staged at Venue #5: drom, 85 Avenue A (at 6th Street) in NYC for five performances from August 16-25, 2016.

Three childhood friends, one with extraordinary powers, find themselves trapped in a place where time seems to stand still and the only way out is unthinkable. Traveling on a twisted timeline, HELD follows the three as they struggle to grow within the bonds of lifelong friendship and discover what really holds them together. A piano, a cello, and an upright bass accompany the cast through a poetic script and a romantic score. The piece has two strong female characters and is directed by two women as well, so the show is expected to be a refreshing step forward for anyone who calls themselves a feminist.

From Composer Meghan Rose: "Our culture still doesn't tell enough stories about strong women and HELD is a story about strong women and how we allow for evolution (or don't) in our intimate relationships. Sometimes in order to process difficult emotion, we need a story and music that mirrors how we feel. Anyone who has had an intimate friendship 'break up', an unrequited love, or an inability to handle their own emotions can relate to the characters in HELD, and the music helps them express their deepest desires and fears."

A cast recording of the original Madison production is available to listen to for free at on the website www.heldmusical.com. A professional recording produced with the Fringe cast will be released in late August.

Composer/Music Director Meghan Rose is on the piano. Bass: Jake Ripp-Dieter, Cello: Kristina Kruta; ACR: Meghan Rose. Lighting Designer: Duane Pagano; Choreographer: Suzzanne Ponomarenko; Public Relations: Paul Siebold/Off Off PR.

HELD plays for five performances on the following schedule: Tuesday August 16 @ 9pm; Friday August 19 @ 5:45pm; Sunday August 21 @ 3pm; Monday August 22 @ 5pm; and Thursday August 25 @ 7:15pm

Tickets are $18 and can be purchased online at Fringenyc.org or by calling 212-352-3101. For more information, visit Fringenyc.org.

The runtime for HELD is eighty minutes with no intermission.

S.C. Lucier (director) is an SDC director and artist in NYC, and a member of the SCDF Observership Class of emerging directors 2015-2016. "Luci" has most recently directed the premiere of Skip to My Lou at Theatre for the New City and was Associate Director of Kerrigan-Lowdermilk's new immersive musical, The Bad Years, which will be returning later this year. Shehas toured with the Martha Graham Dance Company, production managed BC Beat, designed at The Joyce Theater and Lincoln Center's Clark Studio Theater, created an experimental Beckett piece at The Brick Theater, and directed Hip to Hip Theater's outdoor Shakespeare series [Queens]. Luci graduated magna cum laude from Marymount Manhattan College's Theater Directing program where she received the department's Gold Key of Excellence for her work in innovative storytelling techniques.

Kelly Maxwell (book & lyrics) is a performer first and foremost. As an actor and singer, Kelly has been involved in the Madison, Wisconsin theater scene since 2006. Working at The Bartell Theatre and Broom Street Theater in several locally-written original productions, she was inspired by the possibility and the process of bringing original work to life. In 2012, she began to participate in "Are We Delicious?," an ensemble of Madison performers who conceive, write, rehearse and premiere an original one-hour show in a single week. Created by Tony Trout it has been a heralded presence in the Madison theater scene. Since its inception, more than 100 five-minute scripts have been written, rehearsed, and performed by Madison artists! Kelly wrote nine of those scripts, including one musical with Meghan Rose. Originally called "I Have To," that musical was the inspiration for their current work, Held: A Musical Fantasy.

Meghan Rose (music) recently moved to New York City this year from Madison, Wisconsin, where she is an award-winning songwriter, music director, and performer. She was classically trained in piano since the age of four, and 'did well, but not well enough' in competitions, which led away from a classical music career and toward music directing for theater, writing her own material and becoming addicted to being in bands. Held is her third full length musical. Self-taught in guitar and bass, she hopped from band to band and genre to genre until starting americana outfit Little Red Wolf with Emily Mills, Kelly Maxwell, and Laura Detert, winning 2009's Best New Local Band in the Isthmus Annual Manual. The group has released two albums, "If Only We Were Just Like We Are" (2010), and "Junk Sparrow" (2015), the latter Meg produced. In 2012 Meg performed as Courtney Love in The Heroins, a Hole tribute band, which has enjoyed continued popularity in Madison, and makes sure Meg bleaches her hair multiple times a year. With guitarist Jake Ripp-Dieter, she joined rock group I Saw the Creature, becoming a finalist in Madison's 2014 BandSwap competition. They won an album production package, so their EP "You Are Singer" was born, again produced by Meg. The song "Tear It Down" has been remixed by DJ Pain1 and "You Told Me" won the 2015 MAMA for Blues Song of the Year. Meg helped to create Damsel Trash, a feminist queercore punk/thrash duo with Little Red Wolf drummer Emily Mills offering witty stage banter, offensive lyrics, ridiculous outfits, and gifts of sugary snacks for the audience. Meg produced Damsel Trash's debut album and magnum opus "Soup For Sluts" in 2014, which received a Madison Area Music Award (MAMA) for Best Punk/Hard Rock Album. In 2014 she performed as Janis Joplin in another Halloween tribute band, The Bobby McGees. Meg was able to sink an entire bottle of Southern Comfort during the show, and still remain upright. Fans have told her that she is like Janis Joplin with better technique, and Courtney Love if she could actually play guitar. Meg humbly said 'I'll take it' both times and continues to respect the hell out of both idols. Through her tribute acts and stage performances, she became known in Madison for her voice. She won the MAMA for Vocalist of the Year in 2015 and 2016, her band Meghan Rose & The Bones won Alternative Performer of the Year 2016, and their album "In Your Bones" won Rock Album of the Year 2016. Meg has also won awards for music direction for Xanadu (2014) and Bare: A Pop Opera (2015) at the Bartell Theatre in Madison. For more about Meghan, click here.

For more on Kelly and Meghan's collaboration, click here.

Meet the Cast

Hannah Ripp-Dieter (Korin) is a Madison, Wisconsin based actor and holds her degree in acting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Recent credits include The Rocky Horror Show (OUT!cast Theatre); Pride & Prejudice, The Game of Love and Chance, and Travesties (American Players Theatre, u/s); Spring Awakening (UW-Madison Undergraduate Theatre Association); and Housebound (self-written/produced). Favorite past roles include anything she has ever played that was originally intended for a man.

Alex Van Handel (Bardo) - The Rocky Horror Show (Rocky Horror) at Mercury Players Theatre, The Light in the Piazza (Giuseppe Naccarelli) at Four Seasons Theatre, A Year with Frog and Toad (Frog) and Into the Woods (Cinderella's Prince/Wolf) at Crane River Theatre. He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point.

Katie Bakalars (Mera) also hails from the land of cheese and has been living in New York the last five years. A graduate of Viterbo University's Music Theatre program, Katie has toured nationally with The Springer Opera House of Georgia and has performed in NYC at the Metropolitan Room, The Triad and The Duplex.

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