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July 11 - 27
The Sixth Annual Fresh Fruit Festival will be held at the following venues:
The Kaufman Theater in The Algonquin Theater, 123 E. 24th St. (btwn. Park Ave. South & Lexington Ave.)
Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Center.
Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street (below Astor Pl.)
Leslie-Lohman Gallery, 26 Wooster Street (btwn. Grand & Canal Sts.)
CLICK LINKS BELOW FOR A PRINTABLE FULL SCHEDULE
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A Complete Listing of All Festival Events 2008
To Purchase Show Tickets (excluding special events), please visit our direct Theatermania link.
Last updated 6/27/08
SPECIAL EVENTS:
Celebrate Pride on the East Side -- Fresh Fruit Festival's
TEA DANCE ON THE RIVER
SORRY, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED
CAVALCADE OF FRUITS
Performances by past and present fresh fruit performers.
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Tokyo Penguin
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Kelli Dunham
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A wild array of past, present and future Fresh Fruit performers. Get a taste of Fresh Fruit magic, poetry, music, drama and comedy. Get a taste of these sweet summer fruits. Featuring: comedian Kelli Dunham, jazz performer Nhojj, Rome Neal, and scenes from Chip Deffaa’s musical comedy Theater Boy, LindaAnn Loschiavo’s Courting Mae West and so much more(Grand Street Entrance).
Friday, July 11th at 7:30 pm
BARNES & NOBLE - Lincoln Center
Lincoln Triangle, 1972 Broadway (northeast corner of Broadway & 66th Street)
FREE to the public
FRESH FRUIT Open Mic
sponsored by Nuyorican Café & hosted by Clover Honey & Raven Hall
Come all ye queer, gay, lesbian, questioning, transgender, bisexual and gay friendly performers. Let us get to know you and become a part of the Fresh Fruit Festival: two weeks celebrating the LGBT community’s cultural contributions. Welcome all the up-and-coming poets, playwrights, spoken work artists, comedians, musicians, singers, puppeteers, baton twirlers . . . You will have from 7:00-9:30 pm to thrill us. Sign up at the door in first come, first served order (3-5 minute pieces only). Past Open Mic performers have gone on to success at the festival and beyond. Sign up by July 10th at artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com or come to the door 15 minutes before the show to get a slot.
Saturday, July 12th at 7:00 pm
Nuyorican Poets Café, 236 East 3rd Street
$5 at the Door
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
A NIGHT TO CELEBRATE: A Tribute to Our LGBT Jazz Musicians Works of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Jazz Greats
producer: Rome Neal
Once again, the fabulous Rome Neal rounds up some of the best jazz performers to pay tribute to the LGBT greats of the jazz world. Sometimes haunted, sometimes closeted, sometimes freely out, these LGBT geniuses told us stories with the notes they hit and brought musical wonder to the world. Rome Neal is the artistic director theater director of the Nuyorican Café. This year will include emerging jazz artists and some surprises. The evening includes pianist Jacqueline Jonée, vocalists Nhojj, Chaney Sims, Donald Smith and the best of the jazz scene.
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Rome Neal
Host
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Jacqueline Jonée
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Nhojj
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Chaney Sims
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Donald Smith
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GO HERE NOW FOR ALL THE DETAILS OF THIS EXTRAORDINARY EVENT!
Sunday, July 13th at 7:00 pm
Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, 425 LaFayette Street (near Astor Place)
$25 General Admission, $65 VIP Seating, $20 Seniors and Students
For tickets call 212-967-7555
VIP RECEPTION
$65 per person or $250 per table of 4
reservations for reception click here
DRAG SHOW VIDEO VÉRITÉ
producer & directed by Joe E. Jeffreys
edited by Seth S. Hauer
Drag Show Video Vérité gathers and screens rare film and video that documents the faces and places of New York City’s vibrant drag scene. This year’s edition offers more colorful and never before publicly screened footage from the 1950s to the present and offers a who’s who of NYC’s male and female impersonators. Performers from back in the day to yesterday and tomorrow are featured in a barrage of clips. From Jewel Box Revue performer Dorian and Warhol Superstars Holly Woodlawn and Jackie Curtis to Flawless Sabrina, Rollerena, Lady Bunny, Murray Hill, La John Joseph, Justin Bond, Jesse Volt, Joan Jett Blakk, Glenda Orgasm, Agnes de Garron, Clover Honey, Buster Hymen, Jayne County, Lypsinka, Glenn Marla, Linda Simpson, Flotilla de Barge, Sister Tui, Tabboo!, Sweetie, Sherry Vine, and Rose Wood (plus many more), Drag Show Video Vérité serves up a long list of marquee drag names. Of special note in this year’s screening is a rare 1965 8mm film by Avery Willard documenting the 82 Club’s Adrian performing his scandalous Salome dance and Taylor Mac’s new music video “If You See Something Say Something.” Drag historian Joe E. Jeffreys serves as the documentary’s producer and director and again teams with independent filmmaker Seth S. Hauer as editor. Time Out says: “Brings back those halcyon, hairsprayed days and nights” --Lawrence Ferber, June 2007.
It’s the ultimate New York City drag show on video.
A short trailer for Drag Show Video Vérité is posted on YouTube and may be found at the following link or searching Drag Show Video Verite on the site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69jWvI4kuZ4
This edition of Drag Show Video Verite premiered at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Bruno Walter Auditorium, June 19, 2008.
Monday, July 14th at 8:00 pm
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center, 208 W. 13th Street
$10 General Admission.
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
STRIKE A POSE! : GENDER 2008
sponsored by Leslie/Lohman Gallery and Cross-Dressers of America
curator: Clover Honey
This remarkable group show features images that celebrate the diversity of Gender Expression. Represented will be models who identify as Gender Queer, Transgender, Drag Queens, Drag Kings, Transsexuals, Faeries, Gender Variant, Cross-Dressers, and those who express Gender in non-traditional ways. With artists: Acid Betty, Alina Oswald, Daniel Malisky, Dick Mitchell, Evan Schwartz, Fernando Espinosa, Jed Ryan, Keith Bemerick, Dr. Joe Jeffreys, Lois Lazarus, Luc Georges, Pamela Camhi, Peter Lau, Sabrina Scott, Wilson Models, Zen Brown.
Leslie/Lohman Gallery, 26 Wooster (Btwn. Grand and Canal)
Gallery Opening July 16, 7:00 pm
Exhibition from Wednesday, July 16 - Wednesday, July 23
Tuesday - Saturday Noon-6pm
FREE to the public
Leslie/Lohman is a public non-profit foundation established to provide an outlet for LGBT art work. The Foundation's Leslie/Lohman Gallery mounts exhibitions of work in all media with an emphasis on subject matter that speaks directly to LGBT sensibilities, including, erotic, political, romantic, and social imagery.
STONEWALL STORIES and PANEL DISCUSSION
Experience this shorter version of Carol Polcovar’s award winning docudrama based on interviews with eyewitnesses to the Stonewall Rebellion, an event that forever changed the lives and politics of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Americans. Hear about the history that brought a crowd of unorganized, unrelated New Yorkers to stand up and say “No more!” to oppression. A question and answer period will follow with playwrights Doric Wilson, Carol Polcovar and moderated by Dr. Rona L. Holub.
Friday, July 18th at 7:30 pm
BARNES & NOBLE - Lincoln Center
Lincoln Triangle, 1972 Broadway (northeast corner of Broadway & 66th Street)
FREE to the public
GENDER AND ART CIRCA 1950 – 1960
While our concepts of gender are now being challenged and have, in fact, changed over the last forty years, gender was once very clearly defined. In a time when gender was only beginning to be examined and articles with titles like “Girl Scientists Are Not At All Mannish” appeared regularly in women’s magazines, Lois Lazarus began her journey to be an artist. Of course, art, too, was genderized. Lois painted exactly like herself, which translated to one art critic as, ‘painting like a man’. Today her paintings have hung in the El Paso Museum, the Dallas Museum, the DE Young Museum, the Los Angeles Museum and the Brooklyn Museum among others. Her work is also part of Fresh Fruit’s Gallery Show: Strike a Pose!: Gender 2008. Lois will be talking about her life as a “woman” artist and her fight against gender definition. Lois looks at gender from an independent 20th Century woman’s lens. Lois talks about her life and work with Fresh Fruit Artistic Director Carol Polcovar and Gallery Guests.
Tuesday, July 22nd at 7:00 pm
Leslie/Lohman Gallery, 26 Wooster (Btwn. Grand and Canal)
FREE to the Public
SHOW LISTINGS:
ARE WOMEN HUMAN?
by Nanna Mwaluko
directed by Jose Zayas
This is the second Fresh Fruit Festival appearance for brilliant Tanzanian playwright Nanna Mwaluko. Here the playwright enters the world of an African-American girl who has come to believe she is the wrong gender. With that understanding her whole world shifts. What if you clearly experienced a truth that was simply not acceptable? Could you be courageous enough to trust your deepest beliefs in the face of intolerance? Award winning playwright Nanna Mwaluko brings us into the inner world of a young woman in turmoil and mirrors the universal struggle for acceptance and love.
The Kaufman Theater at the Algonquin Theater Company, 123 E 24th Street (btwn Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue)
Wednesday, July 23, 9pm / Thursday, July 24, 6pm / Friday, July 25, 9pm / Saturday, July 26, 1pm
$18 General Admission
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
Group Rates Are Available for theater parties @ artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com
BED AND BREAKFAST
by Sam Sommer
A gay comedy served alfresco as six very different gay men and a straight but questioning woman come together at a small B&B in an up-scale beach community, each searching for something quite different. As vacationing strangers brush up against each other, a few relaxing days in the sun become something a lot more complicated and engaging.
The Kaufman Theater at the Algonquin Theater Company, 123 E 24th Street (btwn Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue)
Tuesday, July 15, 9pm / Wednesday, July 16, 6pm / Thursday, July 17, 9pm / Friday, July 18, 6pm
$18 General Admission
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
Group Rates Are Available for theater parties @ artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com
BULLY PROOF VEST: Evolution of the Bitch
written and performed by Veronica Harper
Everybody has been bullied at some point in her/his life, and the more different you seem, the more likely you will be bullied. The common wisdom is that enduring bullying makes us stronger. But at what cost? Is it possible to be too strong? What is the price we pay for being different? For being hurt? For getting mad? In this funny, angry, poignant memoir, Veronica Harper takes us to the deepest places of our rage and pain.
The Kaufman Theater at the Algonquin Theater Company, 123 E 24th Street (btwn Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue)
Saturday, July 26, 8pm / Sunday, July 27, 1pm
$20 General Admission
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
Group Rates Are Available for theater parties @ artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com
COURTING MAE WEST: Sex, Censorship and Secrets
written by LindaAnn Loschiavo
directed by Louis Lopardi
Courting Mae West is based on true events happened in New York City 1926-1932, when, according to playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo, “Verdi worthy-villains” rose up against the tough talking, liberal minded actress/playwright Mae West. Fighting for the freedom to talk about sex in the Prohibition Era, Mae West faces off with her critics.
The Kaufman Theater at the Algonquin Theater Company, 123 E 24th Street (btwn Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue)
Saturday, July 19, 7pm / Sunday, July 20, 7pm / Monday, July 21, 6pm / Tuesday, July 22, 9pm / Tuesday, July 23, 6pm
$18 General Admission
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
Group Rates Are Available for theater parties @ artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com
DYLAN WANTS TO DANCE: A Children’s Play About Freedom
taken from a story by Carol Polcovar and developed in collaboration with director/choreographer Juliana Lira
The award winning choreographer and Assistant Director of State Fair and Abby’s Song has worked together with Fresh Fruit Artistic Director and playwright Carol Polcovar to create Fresh Fruit’s first event for children. When Grandma takes Dylan and his sister to the ballet, Dylan falls in love with dance and soon finds out about the gender lines that confine little boys. His desire to dance is checkmated by what boys and girls are expected to do. How will Dylan resolve his dilemma? -- a dilemma that confronts every child at some point in his/her development. Filled with beautiful dance and music this is a must see for children 6-10 and their caregivers too!
The Kaufman Theater at the Algonquin Theater Company, 123 E 24th Street (btwn Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue)
Saturday, July 26 at 11am
$15 General Admission
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
Group Rates Are Available for theater parties @ artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com
EVERY SOUL HAS A SONG: A choreo-poem with song, dance and drama
by J. Fitzgerald
directed by Mia Anderson
J. Fitzgerald honors the universality of the human will to survive and even to thrive under most extreme conditions. Fitzgerald, an award-winning journalist, found himself among the homeless when his life became his drug addiction. Yet, having fallen so far, Fitzgerald did not lose his humanity; instead, he found his song. His choreo–poem is a celebration of the tenacity and beauty of the human soul. From slavery to the Holocaust, to the more familiar daily tragedies of poverty and homelessness, the playwright uses poetic verses from many sources, Negro spirituals, gospel, rock and folksongs to create an epic choreo -poem.
The Kaufman Theater at the Algonquin Theater Company, 123 E 24th Street (btwn Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue)
Saturday, July 19, 1pm & Sunday, July 20, 5pm
$18 General Admission
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
Group Rates Are Available for theater parties @ artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com
FINDING WAYS TO PROVE YOU’RE NOT AN AL-QAEDA TERRORIST WHEN YOU’RE BROWN (And Other Stories Of The Gindian)
written and performed by Snehal Desai
When his conventional Indian parents try to arrange a marriage for him, Akash, a gay Indian, hits the road to self-discovery that takes him from his home, rural Nebraska, to the throbbing clubs of London, to the rooftops of India and a kite festival unlike anything you could ever have imagined. Along the way meet his wily grandmother, the butch lesbians of Mumbai and learn a lot about cultures, identity and living that we are. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this one-man show tells a universal tale of identity, self-understanding and worrying about what your mother will say.
The Kaufman Theater at the Algonquin Theater Company, 123 E 24th Street (btwn Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue)
Saturday, July 26, 6pm / Sunday, July 27, 3pm
$20 General Admission
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
Group Rates Are Available for theater parties @ artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com
IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING
written and performed by Bill Bowers
directed by Martha Banta
If you hate mimes, just wait until you hear what mime Bill Bowers has to say about them, especially his fellow students trained by Marcel Marceau! This mime talks and has plenty to say- all of it entertaining. Bill Bowers, best known for his role as Zazu in The Lion King on Broadway, takes on topics from the being Gay to the AIDS crisis to the compulsion to pantomime. We travel from the quiet of Montana to the world of mime in a breathtaking analysis of silence and sound.
The Kaufman Theater at the Algonquin Theater Company, 123 E 24th Street (btwn Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue)
Saturday, July 26, 10pm / Sunday, July 27, 6pm
$20 General Admission
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
Group Rates Are Available for theater parties @ artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com
SELECTION FROM MONTREAL’S HARVEST FESTIVAL- FRESH FRUIT ARTIST’S EXCHANGE
LADY IN WAITING
written and performed by Charles Hayter
directed by Mat Howard
Direct from Toronto, Canada:a gender-bending semi-autobiographical solo show about a doctor-cum-drag queen struggling to keep his lives in order. Described by critics as "a bubbly cocktail of wit and sass with a little medical ethics thrown in," Lady in Waiting resonates with anyone who has tried to live a compartmentalized life and found his/her worlds colliding. Funny, poignant and idiosyncratic, don't keep this 'Lady' waiting! Lady in Waiting is the official selection of Village Scene Production's Harvest Montreal LGBT Int'l. Theatre Festival and is directed by award winning Australian director, Mat Howard.
(Lady In Waiting is ‘the official HARVEST (Montreal Int’l. LGBT Theatre Festival) selection for the FFF this season’ LIW play at Theatre Ste-Catherine in our 2nd season September 2005).
The Kaufman Theater at the Algonquin Theater Company, 123 E 24th Street (btwn Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue)
Saturday, July 19, 9pm / Sunday, July 20, 10pm
$20 General Admission
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
Group Rates Are Available for theater parties @ artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com
MARY CHRISTMAS
by Kevin Podgorski
When formerly fabulous Drag Queen, Sherry Ontop is killed in a horrible car accident, her twin sister, Gina, thinks there’s more to the story than she’s been told. Gina believes Sherry’s best friend Mary Christmas holds the keys to this mystery. When Gina moves to New York to find out, Mary and Gina spend a night together where in the course of a night drinks are drunk, lies are told, secrets revealed and the mystery of Sherry’s death unravels. Touching, tragic, painful and often funny, the playwright cuts through the make-up and glitter to offer us real people living complicated lives.
The Kaufman Theater at the Algonquin Theater Company, 123 E 24th Street (btwn Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue)
Saturday, July 19, 3pm / Sunday, July 20, 7pm / Monday, July 21, 9pm / Tuesday, July 22, 6 pm
$18 General Admission
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
Group Rates Are Available for theater parties @ artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com
SAPPHIRE’S KISS
by Maggie Zarillo-Gouldin
directed by Ronnie Prism
In Sapphire’s Kiss we enter the world of social work, poverty and mental illness to explore the unlikely attraction between two very different women. Playwright, Maggie Zarillo-Gouldin examines bisexuality, sexual attraction, class and race in this story of desire and conflict.
The Kaufman Theater at the Algonquin Theater Company, 123 E 24th Street (btwn Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue)
Wednesday, July 23, 6pm / Thursday, July 24, 9pm / Friday, July 25, 6pm / Saturday, July 26, 3pm
$18 General Admission
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
Group Rates Are Available for theater parties @ artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com
THEATER BOYS
book and lyric by Chip Deffaa
ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award-winning author Chip Deffaa has the written book, music, and lyrics for this musical comedy. Fresh off the bus, young Kip finds himself auditioning for what he's told will be the ultimate gay Off-Off-Broadway musical. The director wants all auditioning actors to bare their souls—and a bit more—before he can decide who is worthy of his production. As they share their tales of first loves, and first sexual experiences, some genuine connections begin to form. Theater Boys offers high-spirited comedy, half-dozen cute guys, a bit of skin, and even some romance. Mr. Deffaa’s most recent play, "George M. Cohan tonight!" has been performed everywhere from the Irish Repertory Theater, Off-Broadway in New York, to the Art Hall, Seoul, Korea.
The Kaufman Theater at the Algonquin Theater Company, 123 E 24th Street (btwn Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue)
Tuesday, July 15, 6 pm / Wednesday, July 16, 9 pm / Thursday, July 17, 6 pm / Friday, July 18, 9 pm
$18 General Admission
For tickets call Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com
Group Rates Are Available for theater parties @ artisticdirector@freshfruitfestival.com
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