Shows for September 2007 | Ars Nova


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2	3	4	5	6	7	8 Semi Precious Weapons Imagine David Bowie escaping from a lunatic asylum and parachuting into the middle of an amped-up Led Zeppelin and you are just starting to get the picture of a live Semi Precious Weapons concert. In advance of their highly-anticipated album We Love You, which drops in October, the effervescent band returns to the Ars Nova stage to blow the roof off. PERFORMERS: Justin ‘Precious’ Tranter- Vocals Aaron Lee Tasjan- Guitar and Backing Vocals Cole Whittle- Bass - Bass Dan Crean- Drums OPENING ACT: Red Wanting Blue
9	10	11	12 NICK WILTY: INCIDENT PRONE NICK WILTY chronicles his true adventures and misadventures in the years B.C. (before comedy) in INCIDENT PRONE. The laidback raconteur recounts what led to the impressive tally of 38 jobs across 111 countries. From buying himself out of the British Army post-Faulklands War service to becoming a professional comedian, Nick promises an autobiographical romp of Paraguayan bandits, drink and rug related shenanigans and generally trying to nearly snuff it across 4 continents. Nick effortlessly mines laughs from jaw-dropping ‘it could only happen to me’ horror stories – he’s like the best bar mate you’ve never had. LATE NIGHT LIVE Ronnie Golden (of the UK band Ronnie and the Rex) hosts a rotating line up of comedians and special guests including headliners Stephen K. Amos, Hattie Hayridge and Nick Wilty. Get ready for late night laugh mania!	13 TITLE TATTLE Episode 1 IRMA BULLOCK If you’re a soap fan or you just like to laugh, TITTLE TATTLE is right up your alley! Nine performers play twenty different characters in these soap operas, written for the stage by celebrated British writer Lesley Clare O’Neill. Each twisted episode, a 50 minute chunk of cartoon-like comedy, is set in the North of England in 1959 - a time when communities meant something, everybody knew everybody and gossip was rife. Three new episodes over three nights! HATTIE HAYRIDGE HATTIE HAYRIDGE pays close attention to the woes of living in the 21st century by examining the differences between the town and the country, whether drive-through McDonald’s should be part of the practical driving test, and why they put a fish gene in tomatoes (“Does it need to breathe underwater?”). Hayridge will also reveal why, with the imminent threat of an avian flu pandemic, she has fearfully thrown away her rubber duck. LATE NIGHT LIVE Ronnie Golden (of the UK band Ronnie and the Rex) hosts a rotating line up of comedians and special guests including headliners Stephen K. Amos, Hattie Hayridge and Nick Wilty. Get ready for late night laugh mania!	14 TITLE TATTLE Episode 2 MUCKY MILDRED AND THE MISSING MONEY If you’re a soap fan or you just like to laugh, TITTLE TATTLE is right up your alley! Nine performers play twenty different characters in these soap operas, written for the stage by celebrated British writer Lesley Clare O’Neill. Each twisted episode, a 50 minute chunk of cartoon-like comedy, is set in the North of England in 1959 - a time when communities meant something, everybody knew everybody and gossip was rife. Three new episodes over three nights! STEPHEN K. AMOS: ALL OF ME Supremely warm and wickedly funny, Stephen K. Amos has an ability to charm onlookers right into the palm of his hand. As a black, gay, second-generation immigrant, Amos jokes about subjects close to his heart such as racism, sexuality, and religion. With turbulent personal history, Amos has many sacred cows to slaughter, but his fuel-injected comedic brain ensures that the show is both redemptive and achingly funny. LATE NIGHT LIVE Ronnie Golden (of the UK band Ronnie and the Rex) hosts a rotating line up of comedians and special guests including headliners Stephen K. Amos, Hattie Hayridge and Nick Wilty. Get ready for late night laugh mania!	15 TITLE TATTLE Episode 3 THE CRACKENHEDGE FLASHER If you’re a soap fan or you just like to laugh, TITTLE TATTLE is right up your alley! Nine performers play twenty different characters in these soap operas, written for the stage by celebrated British writer Lesley Clare O’Neill. Each twisted episode, a 50 minute chunk of cartoon-like comedy, is set in the North of England in 1959 - a time when communities meant something, everybody knew everybody and gossip was rife. Three new episodes over three nights! HATTIE HAYRIDGE HATTIE HAYRIDGE pays close attention to the woes of living in the 21st century by examining the differences between the town and the country, whether drive-through McDonald’s should be part of the practical driving test, and why they put a fish gene in tomatoes (“Does it need to breathe underwater?”). Hayridge will also reveal why, with the imminent threat of an avian flu pandemic, she has fearfully thrown away her rubber duck. LATE NIGHT LIVE Ronnie Golden (of the UK band Ronnie and the Rex) hosts a rotating line up of comedians and special guests including headliners Stephen K. Amos, Hattie Hayridge and Nick Wilty. Get ready for late night laugh mania!
16 STEPHEN K. AMOS: ALL OF ME Supremely warm and wickedly funny, Stephen K. Amos has an ability to charm onlookers right into the palm of his hand. As a black, gay, second-generation immigrant, Amos jokes about subjects close to his heart such as racism, sexuality, and religion. With turbulent personal history, Amos has many sacred cows to slaughter, but his fuel-injected comedic brain ensures that the show is both redemptive and achingly funny.	17	18	19 MIKE DAISEY: TONGUES WILL WAG Master monologuist Mike Daisey, called “one of the finest solo performers of his generation” by the New York Times, returns to Ars Nova for one night only with his latest monologue, TONGUES WILL WAG, a heartbreaking and hilarious story about the eternal love affair between Man and Dog.	20 Movie Geek MOVIE GEEK, a hilarious multimedia satire, follows the epic rise and fall of “Geek,” a passionate movie-lover who would grow up to become the world’s biggest movie nerd and most powerful Hollywood mogul. With all new onstage spoofs of classic movies and on-screen interviews from movie-star friends including Kathleen Turner, Henry Winkler, Lea DeLaria and even Bill Cosby, MOVIE GEEK combines Citizen Kane with a Ken Burns-style documentary and ends up with an award-winning play destined to attract both film and theater lovers alike. Written by Dylan Dawson, directed by Andy Donald, and co-conceived by Dylan Dawson and Andy Donald. THURSDAYS AT TEN brings the raw underbelly of New York’s alternative music and comedy scene to the Ars Nova stage. Each week Ars Nova encourages creative risk-taking by showcasing an innovative artist or group. THURSDAYS AT TEN has gained an incredible reputation for consistently turning out a high level of new talent. This reputation garnered Ars Nova a two-year television development deal with NBC/Universal. The deal has already started to pay off for CREATION NATION which is developing a pilot for Bravo. Ars Nova was also named New York’s Top Comedy Venue by TimeOut Magazine in 2006.	21	22 WITHOUT SKIN OR HAIR: The music of Nick Jones and Benjamin Ickies Nick Jones (ringleader of the pirate puppet rock opera consortium, Jollyship the Whiz-Bang) and Benjamin Ickies (frontman of the 18-piece rock band, Ambitious Orchestra), join forces and combine bands to present new arrangements of their individual work as well as songs from their musical, Little Building. Presented as part of The New York Musical Theatre Festival.
23 Chopsticks Larry: A Tribute Enthusiastic fans Eli Bolin & Sam Forman perform a series of outrageously funny songs by their favorite cult musical theatre composer, “Chopsticks” Larry Mendelbaum (aka Bolin & Forman). Some Mendelbaum classics on this program include: “Blinded By Love” (From Mendelbaum’s 1971 musical Gay Oedipus) “Midnight Train To Moscow” (From the infamous R&B Chekhov adaptation, Tree Sistaz!) and “Naked Brunch” (the title song from what critics have called “the most criminally offensive show of all time”). Presented as part of the New York Musical Theater Festival.	24 ICONIS AND MADDOCK VARIETY HOUR Songwriters Joe Iconis (2007 Kleban Award winner) and Robert Maddock invite you to come and take a gander at the gooses they’ve been cooking at THE ICONIS AND MADDOCK VARIETY HOUR. A spasmodic concert full of your favorite tunes, featuring special celebrity guests, animal acts, ghosts, confetti (definitely), bubbles (probably), full frontal nudity (not really) and an offensive amount of twinkling Christmas Lights. Directed by John Simpkins. Formerly titled: HEARKEN TO A PIE HOLE: Tantrams and Tales by Joe Iconis and Robert Maddock	25	26	27	28 MEL & EL: THIS SHOW RHYMES! If Bette Midler, Carol Burnett and Roz Russell all got drunk and did it—Mel & El would be the result. With memorable songs like “Nice Jewish Boys” and “Fagnet,” MEL & EL: THIS SHOW RHYMES has been described as a musical “Kathy & Mo” meets “Sex & the City.” Created and performed by funny femmes Melanie Adelman and Ellie Dvorkin, with music by Patrick Spencer Bodd, Evan Toth, Kimberly Stern, Noah Diamond and Amanda Sisk. Presented as part of the New York Musical Theater Festival.	29 Clear Blue Tuesday Director Elizabeth Lucas (NYMF: The View From Here, Captain Gravy’s Wavy Navy, The Last Starfigher) presents an evening of songs from the rock movie musical Clear Blue Tuesday, featuring the film’s extraordinary cast of actor-singer-songwriters. Weaving together the stories of eleven New Yorkers whose lives change course after 9/11, Clear Blue Tuesday explores how we examine our lives against the backdrop of catastrophic world events. Presented as part of the New York Musical Theater Festival.
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