Fresco Productions & The University of Miami Department of Theatre Arts
Present
All Tickets: $18, available at www.ticketcentral.com or call 212-279-4200.
The Penguin Tango is inspired by actual events at the Bremerhaven, Brooklyn, and Central Park Zoos. This “ripped from the headlines” comedy about gay penguins, explores, stretches, and pokes fun at customary definitions of sexuality and gender. In the world of the play - the world of the Humboldt penguin - there is no social norm for sexuality or gender. Homosexual couples and heterosexual couples exist equally. It is only when human zookeepers try to impose their traditional definitions of love, gender and mating that the penguins become confused and conflicted and comic chaos ensues.
The Penguin Tango company features guest
artists, University of Miami students, alumni, and faculty. Guest artist Steve Hayes is this year’s
winner of the FringeNYC Outstanding Acting award. He is also the recipient of the Backstage
Bistro Award for Comedy and a three-time winner and nine-time nominee of the
Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) Award for Outstanding
comedian. He is best known for his role in the movie TRICK. “Hayes’ rubber face alone could put the fey
back in Feydeau.” -- Backstage. Guest artist, Heath Kelts has performed
internationally at the Fifth Avenue Latin American Theatre Festival,
Off-Broadway with En Garde Arts, in television with Cartoon Network and in
regional theatres across the country. Guest artist John Bixler played Elliot/Odysseus in the 2004
New York International Fringe Festival production of Odysseus Died from AIDS, receiving an award for best ensemble, and
works regularly in regional theaters including the Caldwell Theatre, Actors
Playhouse, and New Theatre.
University of Miami Alumni are Anna Becker, Andrea Pettigrove, Eli Sands, and
Christian Mansfield. Current students are Brendan Maroney and Christopher
Teustch.
Set
and Costume designer Michiko Kitayama is an Assistant Professor at the University
of Miami. She has worked from coast to
coast and internationally as a designer.
Her work was featured in the Prague International Design Quadrennial.
Playwright Stephen Svoboda teaches
playwriting at the University of Miami and directs his world premiere. Stephen
Svoboda, the Artistic Director of Fresco Productions, is the recipient of the
Scott McPherson Award for Excellence in Playwriting. His work, including Reconstructing Mama and Odysseus
Died From AIDS, has been published and performed internationally.
The Penguin Tango follows in the footsteps of the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival Best Ensemble winner Odysseus Died from AIDS by Stephen Svoboda, which was subsequently published in Plays and Playwrights 2005. For more information about The Penguin Tango visit www.frescotheater.com.