Inverse Theater Company will present The Banger’s Flopera – A Musical Perversion at The Village Theatre, 158 Bleecker at Thompson and will begin Sunday, August 14th. This will be Inverse’s much-awaited return to fringeNYC after its 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. With The Banger’s Flopera, Inverse continues its legacy of creating top-notch musical production teams, having worked with Urinetown’s Mark Hollman for On the Origin of Darwin, Avenue Q’s Robert Lopez for The American Revolution, and the late Jessica Grace Wing for Lost.
The Banger’s Flopera is an update (or “perversion”) of the infamous Beggar’s Opera (the 18th 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.
Composer John Gideon has worked as a musician in over 30 musicals including national Broadway tours, as well as performing at such venues as Joe’s Pub, The Knitting Factory, and The Bitter End. The director of The Banger’s Flopera – A Musical Perversion is Ben Yalom, who is the Artistic Director of foolsFURY, an ensemble based experimental theater company in San Francisco. He recently directed Naomi Newman’s one-woman show Fall Down Get Up for A Traveling Jewish Theater and a New York tour and has worked and trained with Anne Bogart and SITI Company.
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, Frank Corsaro, Stuart Sherman, Natsu Nakajima, Sin Cha Hong, 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, Sarah Engelke, John McConnel, Lydia Burns and Josh Hartung.
The Banger’s Flopera – A Musical Perversion will begin performances on Sunday, August 14th and the schedule will be as follows:
Sunday, August 14th @ 3:45PM Friday, August 26th @ 9:45PM
Thursday, August 18th @ 2:00PM Saturday, August 27th @ 11:00PM
Sunday, August 21st @ 2:15PM
Tickets will be $15 and can be purchased by calling (212) 279-4488 or visit www.fringenyc.org. Photos will be available for download at www.brettsinger.com/clients/bangers.html. To learn more about the company, visit www.oldsite.inversetheater.org.