New Theater Company Crash of Rhinos to Host CRASH! Sketch Comedy Revue, 5/18

The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, the only accredited acting school in the Greater Washington Area, announced today that Crash of Rhinos, a new theater company in the process of being born, will hold a sketch comedy revue called the "Crash!" in the Conservatory's black-box theater on Saturday, May 18, at 8 pm. Tickets are $10. Proceeds from the performance will go towards funding the incorporation of the new company as an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

The comedy "Crash!" was written by Crash members Mario Baldessari, Matt Bassett, Michael Harris and Jim Helein, all of whom are local playwrights or actors. The show will include comedy sketches from the hit comedy revues "Sacred Cows" (by Helein & Baldessari), "Fear Itself" and "The Rule of Three" (by Baldessari); "Rated R for Romance" (by Harris); as well as sketches developed specifically for the event. Performing in the sketches will be Baldessari, Joshua Dick, Harris, Lily Kerrigan, Hope Lambert and Doug Wilder. Vaughn Irving appears as the evening's musical guest, singing four original songs - including an excerpt from his upcoming Capital Fringe Festival show, "Disco Jesus and the Apostles of Funk."

Tickets for the show are $10 each. Tickets can be reserved in advance by sending an email to bossrhino@crashofrhinos.org and providing the patron's name and number of tickets desired. Patrons then pay cash at the door the night of the show (no checks or credit cards). Reserved tickets will be held until 15 minutes before show time - at which point they will be released to walk-in customers. All seating is general admission. Come early for the best seats. Doors open at 7 pm and refreshments will be available.

If all goes as planned, Crash of Rhinos will become the new theater company in residence at the Conservatory this coming January - following in the footsteps of such previous in-residence companies as Rorschach Theater and Charter Theater. Crash of Rhinos intends to produce short films as well as new plays, and will be entering area film competitions throughout the summer. Its working slogan is "New Plays. New Films. And Some Old-Fashioned Fun." Of the new company's birth pangs, Baldessari said, "Real rhinos take around 16 months to be born. This rhino will take just about long - owing more to our financial limitations than Nature."

More information on the show is available here: www.theconservatory.org/now-playing.html and www.facebook.com/crashofrhinosproductions. The Conservatory is located in the heart of Georgetown, at 1556 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Detailed directions here: www.theconservatory.org/directions.html.

As an accredited actor-training academy, the Conservatory operates under the oversight of the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, and the US Department of Education; and its students are eligible to receive federal student loans and grants. The Conservatory's two-year, intensive, actor-training program - which is firmly rooted in the teachings of Michael Chekhov, Michel Saint-Denis and Constantin Stanislavsky - provides students with 1,800 hours of instruction, practice and rehearsal in 16 months. The Conservatory's faculty consists of actors, directors and playwrights who are actively employed in the DC-area theater and film community. The Conservatory has been training people for careers in acting since 1975.