On Thursday at 8, indie folk rockers Goodbye Picasso, winners of the ANT FEST Audience Favorite voting, return for a performance of their amazing show The Book of Aylene. These guys bring it hard, but that doesn't mean we won't be dancing. Click here to read more and purchase tickets.
On Friday and Saturday at 8, Johnny Gallagher of Spring Awakening fame stops by to perform a completely unique solo set featuring his deep guitar-playing and singer-songwriter roots. Prepare yourself for a powerful, intimate performance you won't see anywhere else, and get your tickets (for Friday or Saturday, or both!) before it's too late!
Best yet, these shows are all $20 each! The drinks will still be cheap too. So what are you waiting for?
To tide you over, here's a little Goodbye Picasso (during their ANT FEST performance last November) on the left and Johnny Gallagher (at The Mercury Lounge last year, though we also enjoy this one with our buddy Joe Iconis) on the right. Play 'em together for even more Arsy fun!
That's right, mark January 22-25 as the days our theater goes on party shuffle for PLAYLIST, our first featured production of the year and the culminating show from the members of Play Group 2008.
It promises to be unlike anything you've seen (or heard) from us before. Each of the 14 Play Group writers created a short new play named after a song that they found particularly inspirational. The plays will be performed in sequence by an amazing group of actors (see below), with Lucas Papaelias's killer live band playing the actual songs in between! Picture your most amazing CD mix coming to life on stage and you'll start to get the idea.
Trusty old playlist.com also came through for us if you'd like to hear the songs that will be driving the show. Here's the list of writers next to their play/song of choice for you to browse while you have a listen:
1. Axel F by Liz Flahive
2. Looking for Astronauts by Steven Levenson
3. Sam Hall by Samuel Brett Williams
4. Where is My Mind? by Mat Smart
5. Simple Man by Sam Forman
6. Crank That by Bekah Brunstetter
7. Mother Nature's Son by Dylan Dawson
8. All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You
by Rachel Shukert
9. Song for Myla Goldberg by Carly Mensch
10. Downeaster Alexa by Barry Levey
11. No Children by Adam Szymkowicz
12. Steppin' Out by Evan Cabnet
13. Different Drum by Annie Baker
14. Still, Still, Still by Nick Jones
You may have noticed that "Still, Still, Still" isn't included in the widget above. I was crushed to find that playlist.com's Vienna Boys Choir archives are so lacking. Then I realized that the YouTube version is much, much better anyway.
The theater's already buzzing with this music, and we can't wait to cue it up in a couple of weeks. And it's $15 for the whole show! Can you even buy a decent, physical CD for that much anymore? Here are the dates and ticketing links you need to grab your seats where the music will be loudest:
After you've recovered from the sweet, sweet music of Playlist, we'll be back at it with three great shows to finish out the month. Click the titles for ticket info, and peek ahead to February here! The Jingle Jangle Sisters return to Ars Nova in the first Tragedy Tomorrow performance of 09, and solo performers Amber Martin and Amelia Zirin-Brown are sure to bowl us over once again with the combined force of their pop/spiritual aerobics. Jazzercise, people!
Showgasm is our new quarterly variety show of fresh comedy, music, and theater talent discovered by trusty Nova Scouts. Enjoy the oddities, cameos, and wild fun, then say you knew them when!
Jeffery Self: People I Slept With Who Never Called Me Back, the first of three shows in our new Residency Encores series, will be on the Ars Nova stage Jan 31 and Feb 7. Residency Encores provide Ars Nova artists an opportunity to further develop projects with artistic support and resources, hastening their eventual world domination before our audience's very eyes!
Jeffery debuted his ode to reticent hookups here in September (see video highlights below), and this time it's sure to be even more uproarious. Come see this prolific blogger/vlogger, not to mention budding television star, work his magic (and get his revenge) in the flesh!
We are thrilled to treat the world to its first ever SHOWGASM this Friday, Jan 30th at 8pm (click here for tix, only $10!). This new quarterly variety show will feature the most amazing discoveries in cutting-edge comedy, music and theater from tireless Nova Scouts scouring the city and the web.
Friday's premiere will be hosted by the versatile, inimitableBradford Scobie, with music by house band Thin Skin Jonny and directed by our 2009 resident director Kerry Whigham. Featured performers are:
Expect this and many more unavoidable oddities, unexpected cameos, and unimaginable good times this Friday, all for the price of a fancy drink! This party's sure to be worth your while.
So many Ars Nova artists are on the brink of world domination. They just need a little something extra to get there. Enter Residency Encores, a new series that offers artists a chance to return to Ars Nova to further develop projects with artistic support, all culminating in new shows hot off the presses! Performances from the first three of our Residency Encores are taking place over the next two weeks. Much more about each show below - come witness the rise to power!
It was a blast to have Chad Schiro's musical odyssey in ANT Fest 2008, and we can't wait for his high-diving, hard dancing, funky, freaky, yellow-tranny-hooker return (along with amazing performers Francesca Harper and Katrina Yaukey and director Damon Arrington). If His Yellowness isn't enticing enough, you also have Rodney T. Moose up there to look forward to (unmissable moose mating dance at 3:40)! Buy tickets here!
Jeffery debuted his ode to reticent hookups here in September (video highlights above), and this time it's sure to be even more uproarious. He might even be tan! Come see this prolific blogger/vlogger, not to mention budding television star take the podium, list of the guilty in hand, and take no prisoners! Buy tickets here!
There are three ways to spend the worst holiday of the year:
Do something memorable and insanely expensive with someone special.
Do something memorably depressing at home, alone.
Sprint to the Nova and let the duo in that video up there take care of everything. Ahem.
Make a note in your heart of hearts - TastiSkank is returning to Ars Nova to wish you a Happy F***ing Valentine's Day like only they can. Armed with horrendous breakup tales, scandalous songs, and some free drinks to unload, they'll have their sights set on one thing and one thing only - becoming your Valentine, whether you like it or not (we think you'll probably like it).
If that somehow doesn't convince you, what about adding some food to the fantasy? We've partnered with our good friends at Il Melograno down the street to offer the TastiSpread with TastiSkank Valentine's Day Special -- just book your dinner reservation (we hear Alberto has an amazing menu in store), bring along your OvationTix receipt, and flash it that night to get a free dessert per ticket!
In short, come indulge with us. Buy your tickets here, contact Il Melograno here!
Three amazing Residency Encores performances this week? Only the beginning. Here's the other fabulous mischief we've been making over the past few days:
Tony Carnevale unleashed his geektastic songs (see him during ANT FEST below) in a great Uncharted series performance, even finding time to tweak us for calling him geektastic. We blushed, but we'll still share the video of his takedown with you soon. Who would've thought the charmer in this Apiary interview could be so brutal?!
Carolyn Castiglia stayed alive and brought it hard as the one and only Miss CKC in her Tragedy Tomorrow series performance Brown Ambition.
It's no secret that Obama loves his Lincoln. Or that cheap space suits are amazing.
So there's no reason you should miss MoMS, aka Miracles of Modern Science, aka the possible reincarnation of a Civil War string band imagining the music of the far-distant 1980s (as their website states).
Upright bass, mandolin, violin, cello, and drums may sound like a classical ensemble, but it becomes orchestral, transcendental space pop in the world of MoMS. Their debut EP (available for free download here) has been widelypraised, and their frenetic live performance in Halloween-costume space suits ups the ante even further. Behold this performance of "MR2" in NYC a year ago:
They're bringing all this and so much more to our stage tomorrow, February 10th at 8pm, as part of our Uncharted music series. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased right here -- rumor has it that homemade cake and other interstellar specialties will on hand for all. Come treat your Tuesday to an unforgettable trip. It's what Lincoln would do!
Sorry, wind and cold -- Two Girls for Five Bucks and the Ten Dollar Heartbreakers will thaw even the likes of Old Man Winter! Sketch comedy dynamos Cathleen Carr and Daiva Deupree are unleashing spring's first sizzle from March 11-28, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8pm. Come soak it in! Click here for tickets.
Along with director Andy Donald and the heartbreaking band (Vinny Commisso, Justin Levine and Matt Stoulil), writer/performers Carr and Deupree will present their most ambitious show yet -- the culmination of a development process that began in our comedy series Tragedy Tomorrow.
Babies will be made, virginity will be lost, wine will be drunk, exes will be stalked, and shame will be forgotten (not necessarily in that order) as Carr and Deupree's unique breed of honesty and anti-chick-flick charm lay bare the absurdities of modern life. Expect hilarious sketches, outlandish characters, video interludes, and an expansive comedy performance with an unforgettably exhibitionist edge.
Check out these photos by Dick Mitchell for a small taste of what's in store:
Ars Nova tweeted, "BLOODSONG OF LOVE: The Rock 'N' Roll Spaghetti Western is revealed next Mon! Become a Super Nova for exclusive presale http://bit.ly/cSirV"
Ars Nova tweeted, "Our favorite tweet of the day. RT @GregJarema: Dear Plague that hath Stricken the Seussical Cast, Leave us alone!!! Love, Greg"
Ars Nova tweeted, "The Ars Nova bar now accepts credit cards, thanks to @JasonEagan's old iPhone and @Square! Boozing has never been easier."
Ars Nova tweeted, "Ars Nova is the latest member to the @Square tribe! We'll be accepting credit cards at the bar and beyond on @JasonEagan's old iPhone!"
Ars Nova tweeted, "@ashleyrodbro Really. Snowballs. It's going to be AWESOME."
