PIGEONS, KNISHES and ROCKETTES Comes To FringeNYC This August Thru 8/24

There's nothing like New York City during the holiday season...especially when it's 90 degrees outside!

PIGEONS, KNISHES and ROCKETTES, the new play by Diana Rissetto, will make its world premiere at the NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL, under the direction of Ilana Becker

PIGEONS, KNISHES and ROCKETTES stars Julia Arazi*, CARL HOWELL, KRISTIN MURI and Matthew Waterson*.

A heartwarming, New York love story, PIGEONS, KNISHES, AND ROCKETTES tells the story of Eve Natale (ARAZI) an insecure, goofy, yet well-meaning actress, who instantly falls for Peter Martinelli (HOWELL), an up-and-coming jazz singer, after hearing him sing Christmas songs (even though he doesn't like Christmas at all!). Journeying alongside her two quirky best friends, Georgia (MURI) a leggy, (and extraordinarily cynical) Rockette, and Cherokee (WATERSON), their clueless, model-handsome sidekick, Eve's very unique Christmas tale promises to be a zany holiday romance for all ages.

PIGEONS, KNISHES and ROCKETTES will play at THE CHERRY PIT THEATER (155 Bank Street). Tickets are $15 and are currently on sale through www.FRINGENYC.org.

SCHEDULE
Saturday, August 14th at 8:00
Monday, August 16th at 9:45 PM
Wednesday, August 18th at 3:45 PM
Friday, August 20th at 2:00 PM
Tuesday, August 24th at 4:30 PM

BIOS:

Diana Rissetto (Playwright) Productions include Frankly Yours (The Producers' Club), Bookstories (Hyperion Theatre Group and Ten Grand Productions), Margot Frank: The Diary of the Other Young Girl (co-bookwriter and lyricist, winner of the New Jersey Playwrights' Competition.) PIGEONS, KNISHES and ROCKETTES marks her full-length NYC debut. She has been working as a publicist for Jeffrey Richards, Tony-award winning producer, since 2007. Graduate of Monmouth University. www.dianagolightly.blogspot.com

Ilana Becker (Director) Previous direction includes Young Playwrights Festival at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Samuel French OOB Festival, Daniel Maté's The Longing and the Short of It (Disney/ASCAP Workshop), Becca Hackett & Katherine Randle's Series 6.2: Paint on Canvas (FringeNYC ‘09), Jekyll & Hyde in Concert to benefit the NY Society of Ethical Culture, Samurai Sword... with Crosstown Playwrights, Erik ChristIan Hanson'sSweetheart, Rumana Habib's YAABA and several staged readings, workshops and cabarets. Ilana has served as assistant director to Terry Kinney (reasons to be pretty, Broadway & MCC), Jonathan Silverstein (I Never Sang for My Father, Keen Company), Randy White and Nick Corley. Dramaturgical work includes Tribute to Anne Jackson and Eli Wallach (Symphony Space, Nick Corley, dir.), "Character Studies" (PBS), 45 Blows(Prospect Theater Dark Nights; Donald Butchko, dir.), and The Cradle Will Rock (Emerson Stage). www.ilanabecker.com

Julia Arazi (Eve) New York credits include Three Sisters (OVNV, directed by Eve Best), Therapy Rocks!, Orestes 2.0 and Mosheh, a VideOpera (both hERE ARTS). Favorite regionals and tours include HAIR, Dames at Sea, Big River and If You Give a Pig a Pancake. Julia is a graduate of Tufts University and has trained at Manhattan School of Music and the National Theater Institute.

CARL HOWELL (Peter) Theatre credits include Off-Broadway: Twelfth Night (The Pearl). Regional: Twelfth Night, Cymbeline, A Midsummer Night's Dream (all with Hudson Valley Shakespeare). With Shelby Company: Say Say Oh Playmate (performer & director - New Orleans Fringe), New Beulah (Planet Connections Festivity, Outstanding Ensemble), We Men of Science (The Network), Uncle Shelby's Traveling Treasure Trunk (director - Minneapolis Fringe). Old Vic New Voices member. B.F.A. NYU. Thank you to two parents, one sister, three grandmoms, one manager, and Bruce Springsteen.

KRISTIN MURI (Georgia) is just a small town girl from Altoona, making big town moves in The Big Apple. Attending Point Park University and then The School for Film & Television, Kristin hit the ground running soon after graduating, landing roles on "All My Children" as Nurse Kris, "Six Degrees," "As the World Turns" and as a crazy intern on a "Monster Hunter" spot for FUSE-TV. She has recently been cast as the femme fatale in the feature ...and in the Flesh. Kristin is thrilled to be making her New York City stage debut in Pigeons, Knishes & Rockettes and wishes to thank everyone who has supported her on this adventure, especially her parents. She is represented by About Artists and The Gasser Group for personal management

Matthew Waterson (Cherokee) Theater: So Help Me God! (Mint Theater), The Importance of Being Earnest (Portland Center Stage), Grasmere (59E59, Edinburgh Festival), Our God's Brother, Ross (Storm Theater NY), R+J, Twelfth Night, Gentleman Dancing Master, Second Maidens Tragedy (LAMDA). Readings for: Young Playwrights Inc, Old Vic New Voices. TV: "My Wife and Kids", "Benson". BA Tufts. Theater conservatory LAMDA. Raised in the US and UK with one parent of each persuasion and one passport of each color, he spends the 4th of July in a fit of confusion and self-loathing.

*Appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association (AEA)