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PRESS CONTACT: Brett Singer (212) 307-7181

Inverse Theater Company

Presents

The Banger’s Flopera – A Musical Perversion

Book and Lyrics by Kirk Wood Bromley

Music by John Gideon

Directed by Ben Yalom

Performances Begin Tuesday, September 13^th

At The Barrow Group Arts Center, 312 W. 36th St., 3rd Floor

Inverse Theater Company will present The Banger’s Flopera – A Musical Perversion at The Barrow Group Arts Center, 312 West 36^th Street, 3^rd Floor and will begin Tuesday, September 13^th. Inverse’s show, Lost – The Musical (“The Best Musical in the Fringe” - Time Out NY) was the only production to win Excellence in Music and Lyrics at the Fringe Awards. This is the third festival that Banger’s has played, having previous had engagements at the Moral Values Festival (at The Brick) and at FringeNYC.

The Banger’s Flopera is an update (or “perversion”) of the infamous Beggar’s Opera (the 18^th century play which is also the source for Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera). Where the original featured a cast of beggars, hookers and crooks, this new version features “gangstaz, pornstaz, and popstaz,” depicting the many ways in which our captivatingly corrupt culture idolizes and gives political influence to its own destructive elements. With a 16 song score, in styles ranging from rock and rap to torch songs and psychedelic power ballads, Banger’s offers a full rock musical experience along with a quintessentially mind-spinning Bromley script deeply steeped in “sex, thugs, and rock-n-roll.” True to its source in its ghetto and sleaze themes, it stars the infamous Mac the Knife, who in this version is morphed into a professional pornographer and consummate New York Gangsta, as he cheats, robs and murders his way to the electric chair, only to be pardoned last minute by a criminal-friendly President. Critics enthusiastically responded to The Banger’s Flopera when it made its debut this summer as part of the New York Fringe Festival. Sean Michael O’Donnell of offoffonline wrote, “Brilliant” and went on to claim it’s, “not to be missed.” Martin Denton of nytheatre.com said, “There’s greatness in this piece.”

Kirk Wood Bromley is a NYC-based playwright, actor, theater writer, musician and Artistic Director of Inverse Theater Company. His plays have been produced in New York, Los Angeles, London, San Francisco, Cleveland and various college campuses around the country. Inverse Theater, the company he founded, won Best Downtown Theater in the New York Press in 2001. Bromley was the recipient of the 2001 Berrilla Kerr Foundation Playwrights Award and his plays won two Fringe Awards – Excellence in Playwrighting (The American Revolution, 2002) and Excellence in Music and Lyrics (Lost, 2003).

Composer John Gideon has worked as a musician in over 30 musicals including national Broadway tours. The director is Ben Yalom, who is the Artistic Director of foolsFURY, an ensemble based experimental theater company in San Francisco.

Set designer Jane Stein has worked on many Broadway shows including Lenny, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin, Chicago, The Magic Show, Equus, and Bette Midler’s Clams on the Half Shell Review. Costume designer Karen Flood did the original costumes for Urinetown. And lighting designer Jeff Nash has worked with artists as diverse and renowned as Ellen Stewart, John Vaccaro, Robert Wilson, and Gian Carlo Menotti.

The cast of The Banger’s Flopera – A Musical Perversion includes Joe Pindelski, April Vidal*, Anni Bruno, Dan Renkin*, Dalane Mason, Brian Kelly, Catherine McNelis*, Kelly Spitko, Randall Middleton, Chris McCutchen*, Timothy McCown Reynolds, Bob Laine, Hank Wagner*, Saaarah@gmail.com, John McConnel, Lydia Burns* and Josh Hartung. * These actors appear courtesy of the Actors Equity Association.

The Banger’s Flopera – A Musical Perversion will begin performances on Tuesday, September 13^th and the schedule will be as follows:

Tuesday, September 13^th @ 8:00PM Sunday, September 18^th @ 8:00PM

Friday, September 16^th @ 9:00PM Tuesday, September 20^th @ 9:00PM

Saturday, September 17th @ 4:00PM Sunday, September 25^th @ 1:00PM

Dedicated to discovering new work and new artists, *The New York Musical Theatre Festival* celebrates the diversity, creativity, and future of musical theatre. NYMF is a flagship program of the National Music Theater Network, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, and is America’s largest annual musical theatre event. NYMF is produced in association with Virgin Megastores and proudly supported by AM-New York, Village Voice, WB11, Dodger Stages, Receptasign, King Displays, Rosco, Scharff Weissberg, TheaterMania.com, BroadwayWorld.com and Manhattan Living. For more information, visit *www.nymf.org.

Tickets will be $15 and can be purchased by calling Theatermania at (212) 352-3101 or by visiting www.theatermania.com. Photos will be available for download at www.brettsinger.com/clients/bangers.html. To learn more about the company, visit www.inversetheater.org.

The Banger’s Flopera – A Musical Perversion

Books & Lyrics by Kirk Wood Bromley, Music by John Gideon, Directed by Ben Yalom

At The Barrow Group Arts Center, 312 W. 36^th St., 3^rd Floor

SCHEDULE: Tuesday, September 13^th @ 8:00PM; Friday, September 16^th @ 9:00PM; Saturday, September 17^th @ 4:00PM;
Sunday, September 18^th @ 8:00PM; Tuesday, September 20^th @ 9:00PM and Sunday, September 25^th @ 1:00PM

TICKETS: $15.00; Call (212) 352-3101 or by visiting www.theatermania.com

311 West 43^rd Street Suite #1107 phone: (212) 307-7181

New York, NY 10036 Fax: (212) 307-7178