United Solo Festival Features One-Man Shows

United Solo is the world's largest solo theatre festival. . Highly experienced performers and untried new talents perform solo shows in many categories (e.g. storytelling, improv, stand-up, magic, puppetry, dance, multimedia, drama: tragedy or comedy).

When: October 11-November 18, 2012
Where: Theater Row - 42nd Street, New York City
Website: www.unitedsolo.org

__,_._,___

New York Clown Theatre Festival at the Brick

 Starting with a celebration parade and ending with a funeral procession, the NY Clown Theatre Festival features more than two dozen theatrical clown performances, a clown silent film night and clown cabaret performances, plus free talks on clowning's influence on society and mainstream show business.

If you aren't familiar with classical clowning (think Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Marcel Marceau), or if it's something you thought you left behind after a brief semester in college, this is a great way to appreciate the pure art form of classical clowning, and see it with a few twists. See one performance or buy a 5-pack.

When: September 7-30, 2012
Where: Brick Theater, 579 Metropolitan Ave Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Website: http://bricktheater.com/

DreamUp Theater Festival

Theater for the New City will present a lineup of wide-ranging and original theatrical visions embracing drama, poetry, music, and dance in the summer of 2012 from performing artists representing theater and performance companies in their theater complex in downtown New York.

The Dream Up Festival is dedicated to new works from both performance groups and individuals. Plays, dance theater, solo works and interdisciplinary material are included.  Theater for the New City prides itself on keeping ticket prices low - $12-15 each, which is a real bargain in NYC, where ticket prices routinely start at $50 for Off-Broadway shows.

When: August 19 - September 9, 2012
Where: Theater for New City, 155 First Avenue(between 9th and 10th Streets).
Website: http://www.dreamupfestival.org/

Improv and Other Amazing Feats

The Improv crowd is a pretty wacky, hard-working while hard-partying crowd, as FestBuzz found out earlier this year in an introductory intensive. But this weekend the gloves REALLY come off as the Upright Citizens Brigade Del Close Memorial Improv Marathon goes off at 6 different venues in Chelsea and the East Village.

You can literally see improv all night. The larger venues - SVA theaters and FIT Haft auditorium, play host to long-running favorites as well as teams of alums who have gone on to fame and fortune on TV. A weekend pass is only $30. Un-freaking-believable. I miss these guys so much... can't wait to go back.

When: June 29-July 1, 2012
Where: Venues throughout Manhattan
Website: http://www.delclosemarathon.com/dcm14/schedule

Westchester Square Arts Festival (Bronx)

This three-day arts festival will feature the work of musicians, theatre companies and visual artists from the Bronx, all around NYC and beyond.

 With local bands & delicious local eats, this festival is a celebration of the Westchester Square community, the Bronx and the arts.

Buy tickets or come to the free outdoor arts festival on Saturday. Tickets to some performances at Foster Hall are free but require reservations.

When: May 18-20, 2012
Where: St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 2500 Westchester Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461
Website:   http://westchestersquareartsfestival.org/

__,_._,___

River to River Spreads Through Downtown Manhattan Again

Kicking off Sunday is the 10th annual River to River. Stretching out over a month and hitting venues all over lower Manhattan, this year's festival is pared down from last year but features a maddening breadth of acts, with a little theater, dance, an open artists weekend, and more thrown in.

When: June 19-July 16, 2011
Where: All Over Downtown Manhattan
Website: http://www.rivertorivernyc.com

Queens Art Express

Queens' multi-neighborhood art expo returns for another year. Use the interactive map to highlight venues in specific neighborhoods, then visit galleries, municipal beautification projects, museums and theaters.

When: June 16-21, 2011
Where: 7 neighborhoods throughout Queens
Website: http://www.queensartexpress.com

SketchFest NYC 2011! June 8th-11th

SketchFest NYC will run from June 8 – 11, 2011 at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.  Troupes come from around the country and range from well-known acts to little-known gems. Be prepared to laugh.

When: June 8-11, 2011

Where: 145 W. 30th Street, 4th Floor | New York City, NY 10001
Website: http://newyork.ucbtheatre.com/schedule/

Happening Now: NYC Fringe Festival

Every year the Fringe Festival packs in hundreds of performances all over the city. Try finding the most cutting edge shows without it. Envelope-pushing commentary, media and artistry is on display in what has grown to an all encompassing festival of the far edge of theater. Come, see something you think you might like, support theater at its tenderest of grassroots, and experience something you might never ever see on Broadway.

Can't even afford the $15 advance tickets for this year's Fringe?  Hey, we've all been there, but you can still get a taste of what you're missing. FringeTeasers, part of the FringeAlFresco portion of the program, will run 7AM-1PM on August 21. Head to the Fringe NYC Stage at Spring and Lafayette. Also, if you just want to bask in the ecstatic ambiance created by the power of sheer creativity, You can check out Fringe Cafe, located at 1 East 8th Street, for advance tickets and maybe a refreshment or two.

Parents, FringeNYC isn't just for adults. Be sure to check out the FringeJR schedule for age-appropriate programming!


When: August 13-29, 2010
Where: 20 Venues throughout the City
Website: http://www.fringenyc.org

Buy Tickets Now: Midtown International Theater Festival

July is coming up. Thinking air conditioning might be nice, but can't find anything worth watching at the movies?  Check out the schedule for the Midtown International Theater Festival, now in its 10th year, starting July 12 and running through August 10, at venues throughout Midtown Manhattan.

Want to take a budding Cate Blanchett? Be sure to use the site's guide to determine if the play you're thinking of is age appropriate.As you might imagine, the plays performed at the festival have limited capacity, so don't wait, make your reservations now by heading to the festival's web site:  http://www.midtownfestival.org/.

River to River

This weekend kicked off the annual River to River Festival - one of the more comprehensive arts festivals meant to get you out and checking out downtown Manhattan. 

Known mostly for its musical presentations, River to River (or R2R) sanctions arts performances ranging from theater to dance to spoken word, as well as other miscellaneous activities. August 21-22, for instance, has an automotive theme: a classic Volkswagen show paired with a day to have your car seats checked out by a certified technician.

R2R is so big it actually includes other festivals such as the J&R MusicFest and the 29th Annual Downtown Dance Festival. There's bound to be something for everyone. Head over to the website and print out the program, then start marking it up.

When: June 20-August 31
Where: Outdoor venues around Lower Manhattan
Website: http://www.rivertorivernyc.com

Queens Puts Its Best Foot Forward June 10-13

Do you ever see signs for an event on the subway and think "Hmm, I wonder what the big deal is on that?" and then walk away?  I had to check out the Queens Art Express website and I have to say that this might get me back to Queens.

QAX - as they call it - is a multi-neighborhood effort to showcase the best of Queens. Ok all you Brooklynites, stop ragging on Queens. It's actually pretty cool. And here they are going to prove it. 

The 6 spotlighted neighborhoods are (of course) ranged out along the 7 line: Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Corona, and Flushing. Each neighborhood has a calendar of various events and sites to visit. Naturally, you can expect Corona and Long Island City to dominate the art scene, but literature, poetry, design, theater and food all have a place in this festival.

Check out http://queensartexpress.com for a breakdown of events by date and/or by neighborhood (their website does one of the best jobs of this that I have found - good job guys! )

Where: Throughout Queens along the 7 line

When: June 10-13

Tickets: sometimes required

Lower East Side Festival of the Arts

All manner of performing and visual artists will contribute to the 15th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts. Starting with a slate of performances at Theater for the New City (on First Ave between East 9th and East 10th Streets). Then on Saturday, the performances continue inside and outside along East 10th Street at the outdoor street festival. Sunday concludes the festival with yes - more performances at Theater for the New City.

Amazingly, there is no admission charge to any of the performances here, which range from comedy to drama to dance and music, poetry readings, and also youth performances of many varieties.

Schedule of events: http://www.theaterforthenewcity.net/les.htm