Contact:
Catie Monck
(212) 695-7400
catie@oandmco.com
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“ W
A L M A R T O P I A “
THE MUSICAL!
TO HAVE NEW YORK PREMIERE
AS PART OF N.Y. INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL
PLAYS HENRY STREET HARRY DU JUR PLAYHOUSE
AUGUST 16-22, 2006
DIRECT FROM MADISON , WI
!
New York , NY -- Walmartopia The
Musical! – direct from Madison , Wisconsin – will have
its New York premiere as part of the 2006 New York International
Fringe Festival. The irreverent new musical send-up of big business
and eternal smiley faces is written by Catherine Capellaro (libretto
and direction) and Andrew Rohn (music and lyrics). Walmartopia opens
August 16, 2006 (and continues through August 22) at the Henry
Street Harry DuJur Playhouse ( 466 Grand Street ), in NYC’s
lower east side.
With a cast of 17 and a 5-member band, Walmartopia tells
the hilarious and timely tale of Vicki Latrell, a single mom who
speaks out against her company’s working conditions and finds
herself jettisoned to 2036, into a future where Wal-Mart dominates
the entire world. Yes, the musical features the singing head
of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
Walmartopia The
Musical! premiered in Madison in a sold-out record-breaking run
in 2005 (and an encore engagement earlier this year). Since then,
the show has become something of a legend in the Badger State . The
Wisconsin State Journal raved, “Campy, caustic and comically
irresistible;” while Madison Magazine dubbed Rohn
and Capellaro “a hip Rodgers and Hammerstein.”
Madison ’s Mayor Dave Cieslewicz
even declared “Walmartopia Days” with an official proclamation.
And in Wisconsin ’s finest progressive tradition, Walmartopia is
becoming a lightning rod for its prescient message (Wal-Mart
has faced increasing scrutiny in the past years for its stingy
health insurance plan and treatment of its workers and producers
abroad. The company also faces the largest sex-discrimination suit
in history – 1.6 million women).
In an ironic twist, the real folks
at Wal-Mart hired a New York firm to create a musical for their
shareholders meeting in Bentonville , Arkansas in June. This bears
an uncanny resemblance to Walmartopia,
which features its heroine being drafted into Wal-Mart-sponsored
musicals in the present and 30 years from now. As a response to
Wal-Mart’s musical, the playwrights of Walmartopia have
updated the show with a new number, “A Woman’s Place
is at Wal-Mart”. This means that Walmartopia could
be the first musical in history to respond to a musical responding
to a musical.
Catherine Capellaro and Andrew Rohn
have performed and written musicals for more than 10 years in Madison
, and created the cult hit, Temp Slave. They met under
the tutelage of the late iconoclastic theater director, Joel Gersmann
of Broom Street Theater, for which Rohn wrote the music for The
Grant (1992) and My Fair Arab (1993) and where Capellaro
performed. The couple has produced eight short musicals, some of
which were combined to create Attack of the Mini-Musicals (2002).
Rohn is a composer of pop and jazz and is a pianist and drummer.
He has performed with a Javanese Gamelan, and played Kora with
a Ghanian group, among other adventures. Capellaro performs with
the dance band VO5 (trumpet and vocals), and has worked as a journalist
for the Progressive Media Project. She is currently managing
editor of Rethinking Schools. Their seven-year-old twin
boys will accompany the troupe on the tour.
The Walmartopians en route to New York
(in a big bus) count among their day j0bs: physician, magazine
editor, database manager, water chemist, typesetter, social worker,
drug and alcohol counselor and massage therapist, among other vocations.
Walmartopia will
play the following performance schedule at the Henry
Street Harry Du Jour Playhouse:
August 16 from
9pm – 11pm
August 17 from 4pm – 6pm
August 18 from 7pm – 9pm
August 20 from 12:45pm – 2:45pm
August 22 from 9:30pm – 11:30pm
The theatre is located at 466 Grand
Street ( Cross Street : Pitt).
Via Subway take the F Train to Delancey or the J, M or G train to Essex .
You can also take the 14A bus.
The New York International Fringe Festival
(FringeNYC) is the largest multi-arts festival in North America
, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing
for 16 days in more than 20 venues - that's a total of more than
1300 performances! FringeNYC generates an atmosphere of extreme
excitement, and the energy is contagious! Tickets for FringeNYC
shows are $15 general admission. They will go on sale July 30,
2006 and are available at www.fringenyc.org.
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