2005 SpotlightOn Halloween Festival

The 2005 SpotlightOn Halloween Festival features an eclectic mix of productions, including:

Somebody Else’s Life by Jerry Rabushka / Directed by Greg Hunsaker- Ragged Blade Productions – $15
You down with the blond, big boy? Sometimes it’s all about the hair. The blond head on the grocery bagger. The black ‘stache on the cowboy. Sometimes it’s enough to make you wish you could be someone else. Or at least, have somebody else’s life. On one side is Chuck – the cowboy who’s most likely never ridden a horse, but drat if he doesn’t have the duds! On the other side, young Ryan bags groceries and pines for the love of his life – a new feeling at 16. In the middle? Politics and religion! What happens marriage loses its sanctity? Can a gay couple and a straight couple live next door to each other if there isn’t enough sanctity to go around? Hilarious, yet chilling, full of surprises, and with as much fun as can be had with a pump organ, we invite you to spend a few moments living Somebody Else’s Life.
Saturday 10/8 – 6pm
Sunday 10/9 – 2pm
Monday 10/10 – 8:30pm

Knife Assassin by Alan Kanevsky – Directed by Mike Strozier and Scott R. Weigand – La Muse – $15
The knife assassin defines what it is like to live with a purpose and a mission in the 21st century, an era racked with political uncertainly. Venale, Inc. Acting Troupe
Saturday 10/8 – 3:30pm
Wednesday 10/12 – 6pm
Thursday 10/13 – 8pm

Unlikely Conversations (Helga Schmidt’s Pussy by Edward Crosby Wells; Sisters of Little Mercy by Edward Crosby Wells; Fairy Tales Can Come True by Richard Lay; Sitting Across from God by David Occhino) Directed by Steven Thornburg and Frank Calo – $15
Helga Smichdt’s Pussy – what happens when an uptown cat meets a downtown one? Sisters of Little Mercy – Three nuns paying penance in a cabin in Little Mercy, Colorado might be “sitting” on a fortune! Fairy Tales Can Come True – 2 Men get their dream of a theater, or is it nightmare? Sitting Across from God – What would you say to God if you had the chance?
Wednesday 10/12 – 8p
Thursday 10/13 – 6pm
Sunday 10/23 – 2pm
Note: For the Sunday 10/23 performance, only Helga Schmidt and Sisters of Little Mercy are being performed. Reception/party after this special encore performance.

Booooo! Threeee! By The Mistake – Directed by Ken Scudder – $15
Critically-acclaimed sketch comedy troupe returns to Spotlight-On with their third collection of original sketches about all things that celebrate All Hallow’s Eve. What happens when Jesus freaks bother Dracula at home? Or when a would-be chainsaw massacre goes awry because the chainsaw runs out of juice? Not to mention what would happen if Edgar Allen Poe sang the blues? Longtime troupe members Ken Scudder, Jay Colligan, Carrie Janell, Sarah Engelke and Andrew Martin await you hungrily for this latest feast of spookily hilarious music and sketch comedy.
Saturday 10/8 – 8:30p
Tuesday 10/11 – 6p
Friday 10/14 – 8:30p
Sunday 10/16 – 2pm

Babies with Rabies by Jonathan Calindas – Cuchipinoy Productions – $12
What happens when an Off Off Broadway company decides to put on a play about asylum inmates putting on a play about a land plagued with rabid zombie babies? Pure pandemonium! “Utter chaos!” – Jonathan’s Agent. “It’s like ‘Noises Off’ on crack!” – Some theatre critic. Join Cuchipinoy Productions for a staged reading that leave you running for the hills!
Tuesday 10/11 – 7:30pm (staged reading and reception)

The Mysteries of the Castle of the Monk of Falconara a gothic comedy by James Armstrong/ Dir. Ken Kaisser – $15
On the eve of All Hallow’s, 1793, three authors of Gothic fiction come to the Castle of Falconara in response to a mysterious letter. As their host has warned them, each has a dark secret capable of destroying everything. Their secrets, however, are not what they think, and the writers end up battling the personal nightmares that haunt their fiction.
Friday 10/14 – 7pm
Saturday 10/15 – 5:30p
Wednesday 10/19 – 6pm

Alice On The Edge by Andrew Rothkin – White Rabbit Theatre – $12
How does a porcupine dance? What does a penis and a writing desk have in common? Why marry someone you have never loved? Make the discoveries — through “Alice on the Edge,” Andrew Rothkin’s surreal, spiritual journey that explodes from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass…and a potpourri of pop culture madness. Don’t miss out on the journey of a lifetime!
Saturday 10/15 – 7:30pm Staged reading and reception (shots included!)

Requiem for Adrian Bayle by Drew David Sotomayer/ Directed by Jonathan Tessero – $15
Requiem for Adrian Bayle tells the story of three friends who collaborate professionally (two composers and a singer) involved in a doomed love triangle. The story is told through the finished and unfinished songs of Adrian Bayle, Christian Hurley, and Anna Mathers. Their collective body of work as compiled by Drew David Sotomayor (who contributed new material as well) is the source material for this song-cycle in memoriam of Adrian Bayle, one of the greatest composers never known.
Wednesday 10/19 – 8pm – Musical Staged Reading and reception

The Cobra Lady Strikes by Todd Michaels – Dir. Neal Sims – Grayce Productions – $15
The Cobra Lady Strikes is a spoof of 1940’s movie serials. The diabolical Cobra Lady has secured the plans for a weapon of destructive power called The Dynamic Vibrator. With the aid of a mad scientist, she hopes to build the device to fullfill her dream of world conquest. Can a wisecracking girl newspaper reporter and a Broadway musical theater leading man stop the Cobra Lady in time? To Be Continued…
Monday 10/17 5:30p
Tuesday 10/18 8p
Friday 10/21 – 6pm
Monday 10/24 – 5:30pm
Tuesday 10/25 – 8p
Wednesday 10/26 – 5pm
Saturday 10/29 – 2pm

Avalon by Glory Simms Bowen – FHB Productions – $12
A retelling of the King Arthur story from the perspective of the women behind the throne. Journey with us to the mystical land of England in time full of romance, quests, sorceresses and magic.
Monday 10/17 – 7:30pm – reception after staged reading

Vintage Halloween -Stories and Songs by Grant Barrett and Eugene Nicks – / Directed by Charles Catanese – $15
Grant Barrett brings his spooky one-man show to fun-filled life in his retellings of E.A. Poe’s, The Raven, Grimm Brothers’, The Old Witch, 12 vintage Halloween songs from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, including, Ragtime Goblin Man and, Hell-bound Train and an obscure radio play by Friedrich Durrenmatt entitled, Evening Hour in Late Autumn, with a special guest appearance by Eugene Nicks. Everyone who attends will receive a Free Treat Bag full of goodies and a Free Halloween CD filled with the show’s songs. Don’t forget the Halloween Horror Trivia Contest so, if you please, put on your witch’s hat and join in the fun!
Thursday 10/20 – 8:30p
Saturday 10/29 – 11:30am
Sunday 10/30 – 2:30p

Apathy – the Gen X Musical in CONCERT – by Mickey Zetts Directed by Paula D’alessandris- $15
New York City – Mickey Zetts’ entertaining and provocative musical APATHY first premiered in 1995 at the Florida Playwright’s Theatre in Hollywood, Florida and was the longest running production in the history of that theatre. Just this past July, a revival of the show played to sold out houses during the 6th Annual Midtown International Theatre Festival here in NYC. Now the production has proudly joined the Spotlight On Halloween Festival at the Monster for a very special CONCERT presentation featuring members of both the original 1995 and the 2005 revival casts. It’s the “HAIR” of the 90’s that bit you. F*CK RENT!
Friday 10/21 – 4pm
Saturday 10/22 – 2:30p
Thursday 10/27 – 8p
Tuesday 11/1 – 5:30p

Stage Kiss – by Mike Koleman/ dir. Leecia Manning – $15
Bobby, a comedian, falls hard for Natalie, an actress. But feeling as though she gives more of herself to her work than to him, the envious Bobby attempts to write his own play in which he hopes she will co-star with him. But when he catches her “rehearsing” a stage kiss for one of her other plays with her dashing co-star, he blows up and leaves her. Felling heart broken and jilted, he decides to put the play up without her and comedy, as they say, ensues…
Monday 10/24 – 7:30- – reception after staged reading

Evening of One Acts – Shake Your Do Do Crack by Marjorie Edwards, RN/ Director Karen Wilson-Mack, RN; Mystic TV by Mary Beth Shannahan/ Directed by Geeta Citygirl; Broadway Baby by Carol Hollenbeck – $15
Paradise is not lost. Find it on Mystic TV…where wisdom, understanding, knowledge and fear of the Lord are. Tune into God. Tune into you. Carla Carmalot and Doug Forthright host a T.V. show designed to foster religious acceptance and awareness. Their guests are more about ego and agenda than religion. Tolerance is a big word in a small world, or a small word in a big world. Broadway Baby by Carol Hollenbeck Everybody has a dream and a young girl comes to new york city from a small town to search for her dream to work in the theatre. The surprise comes into focus when we discover what her real dream is. Shake Your Do Do Crack is one witch’s struggle to break away from an eternal life cult in exchange for the mortal life of love, marriage and family. Will a festive night reveal her truth?
Tuesday 10/25 – 6pm
Wednesday 11/2 – 8p
Thursday 11/3 – 6pm

Prince Trevor Amongst The Elephants by Duncan Pflaster – Cross Eyed Bear Productions – $12
When good King Kartoffelpuffen gives up his kingdom to his oldest son Tater and marries off his other children for peace (and for political gain), Prince Trevor, his youngest son, trades places with his manservant Grumbelino in order to escape his fate and find his true love, Toby the stable boy. Meanwhile, will Princess Lana find love with King Soignée of the Blind Sybarites, or will she continue pining for Geoffrey, her lost love? Will Grumbelino make friends with his new wife Queen Bluebella of Chryselephantinople and her harem of eunuchs, or will he foolishly poke his nose into the Forbidden Ballroom? Can anyone keep King Tater from starting a new war and destroying all their Kingdoms? Are the rumored Elephants of Style more than just a fable? Find out in Prince Trevor Amongst the Elephants!
Wednesday 10/26 – 7:30p – reception after staged reading

La Contessa’s Halloween Variety Show by Hector Lugo – The Gay and Lesbian Acting Company – $20
Join La Contessa as she celebrates one of her favorite holidays! She will have an array of “odd” guests and entertainers of dubious talent! Don’t Miss the Puerto Rican Dame Edna! La Contessa “the Puerto Rican Dame Edna,” (who is also known as Hector Lugo) returns in her wickedly funny variety show. The Puerto Rican Diva grabs the spotlight and is joined by an array of special guest in what has become a must see Halloween tradition. Not to be missed!
Friday 10/28 – 8p

The Sisterhood by Constance Clark – Dir. Daniel Haben Clark – Loop Ltd. -$15
Before ‘Desperate Housewives’ there was ‘THE SISTERHOOD’! Constance Clark has reworked her award winning one act show into a full length work that draws upon her experience with some of the frustrated and thoroughly bitchy women she met in while out in Hollywood. Upon its original presentation it won a Christina Crawford (yes, the Christina Crawford of ‘Mommy Dearest’ fame) award for female playwrights. Come join these women poolside fow a wild ride as they bitch, gossip and dish each other and Hollywood in general.
Thursday 10/20 – 6pm
Friday 10/21 – 8pm
Saturday 10/22 – 12p
Sunday 10/23 – 2p
Wednesday 11/2 – 5:30p

Dressing Up is Hard to Do – By Robert Vest – $15
Join Robert Vest, Spotlight On Theatre’s Favorite Male Singer Award Winner of 2005, in his NYC Cabaret debut: Dressing Up Is Hard To Do, a comical and heartfelt look into the childhood experiences of dressing up in costume, finding love, loosing love, finding life and holding on without a mask! Singing songs from Musical Theatre and Film this dynamic tenor and comic is sure to speak to your heart!
Tuesday 10/18 – 5:30p
Saturday 10/22 – 7:30p

Timeless by John Luke – Musical Director Jerry Scott $18

“John Luke’s voice delighted us with … Soft sweet tones like candy for the ears and soul” – City Lights 1994. Timeless is a celebration of the best of the forties – the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and more. John teams up with that master of the Great American Songbook Jerry Scott whom TalkinBroadway.com has called “The dean of New York City piano bar entertainers.” For years you could hear John Luke at New York’s elegant Firebird Café on Restaurant Row. Now celebrate with him the songs you love at the New York City landmark “Monkey Bar” on East 54th Street and Park Avenue on Saturday nights at 11:30 p.m. “John Luke … American popular standards with lilt and panache.” – Our Town 2000.
Saturday 10/22 – 5p

Theatre of the Dead – Five-One Acts Inspired by Death – Directed by Justin Ambrosino – $15
Includes: 1) Sitting Across from God – Part 1 by David Occhino – A prisoner, who is waiting to be executed, is visited by God. The prisoner begs God to let him live a bit more; 2) The Birth and Death of an Artist at the End of the World by Justin Ambrosino – A man who is an artist is also just a man. What if the artist and the man split, because the artist wanted to die, leaving the man to live a normal life like everyone else?; 3) Death is Final by Justin Ambrosino – A doctor and a mortician debate the doctor’s estranged relationship with his mother, coming from two different points of views on death and old age; 4) Together for All Eternity by Georgette Moger – Set during the 1950s, a woman is bored with her life and her husband. As her husband devotes himself to her for all eternity with a present, a coffin that they can share buried together spooning forever, she makes a fatal decision; 5) Sitting Across from God – Part 2 by David Occhino – A woman, who is mourning her Uncle’s passing due to cancer, is visited by God. She begs to have one more chance to talk to her loved one who passed away.
Tuesday 11/1 – 8p