Ars Nova Announces Lineup for Ant Fest 2010

Ars Nova has announced the 30 pieces that will be presented as part of ANT Fest 2010, to run October 19 – November 20. The month-long event is devised to give emerging artists from a variety of disciplines a point of entry into the New York arts community.

This year’s Ant Fest will begin with the comedy/music piece Bandter: The Show, created and performed by Jon Friedman, Jon Murray & Andy Stuckey. Other offerings during the first week of the event will Andrew R. Butler’s futuristic solo musical Rags Parkland (October 21), directed by Jordan Fein; and Maddy Mann’s Bible Storyz – with a Z! (October 23), created & performed by Ryan Migge, with Andrew Hansen & Brandon Michael Arrington and directed by Suzanne Agins.

During the second week of Ant Fest, Ethan McSweeny will direct Clifton Duncan’s biographical solo showThe uniVERSE Project (October 26). Other offerings will include an evening of new musical theater, antTunes (October 25); Amy Albert’s portrait of a fading cabaret floozy, Delilah Dix: Showin’ My Business (October 27), directed by Peter Michael Marino; an evening of improv, and Sarah Burgess’ portrait of bombing, FAIL: Failures (October 30), directed by Andy Donald.

Jonathan Caren’s Friends in Transient Places, a look at airplane travel directed by Kerry Whigham will open the third week of the Festival on November 1. The week’s programming will also include musical performances by Grace McLean (November 3), and Sharon Kenny (November 4), as well as well as rock’n’roll ventriloquist Carla Rhodes (November 6). Also on the schedule will be Tanya O’Debra and Andrew Mauriello’s Radio Star (November 5), a detective radio spoof, directed by Peter James Cook.

The fourth week of Ant Fest will begin with Laura Jacqmin’s I Am Frightened of My Body (November 8), directed by Laura Savia. The week will also include a performance from Jen Kwok, She Wants to Sing (November 9), directed by Juliet Jeske; Tim Duncheon’s sci-fi I’m From Outer Space (November 11), directed by Ashley Rodbro; and David Hanbury and Michael Goldfried’s Mrs. Smith Presents… (November 13), a satiric look at fundraisers.

A double bill of solo pieces by Michael Burbach and Kristine Haruna Lee will start of the last week of the festival. The week’s offerings will also feature a look at what happens when three troubled teens create a new musical, Cold Turkey (November 16), and the gay fantasia Love in the Time of Channukah (November 17) by Joshua Elias Harmon, directed by Mia Rovegno. The festival will conclude with Dylan Dawson’s Cinemediocracy, in which a former Kim’s Video employee gathers with friends to create an unforgettable night with a truly forgettable film.