After the success of last year’s “Sin Show” — the #1 top-selling show in the 2009 Capital Fringe Festival — SpeakeasyDC is back with another sure-fire hit. Come on down to this storytelling game show. Be part of contestants row and win prizes for guessing the correct ending in  Cliffhangers, choosing sides in Catapult, finding the lie in Cover Up and more. In signature SpeakeasyDC style, all stories are true, gripping, and hilarious. Hear stories about spelling bees, murder, family secrets, bad roommates, and stolen cats. John Kevin Boggs stars as our host, Rob Parker and B. Stanely (ED of DC Arts Center) will play the role of our  beloved. announcer, Todd Toddy. Directed by Amy Saidman (who directed such Fringe hits as “The Sin Show” and “Revenge of the Cat-Headed Baby”, and performed in “Chocolate Jesus”.  Showcase Showdown chosen as one of the Washington Post’s best picks of the Fringe Fest. Read review in Washington City Paper.

Only four shows:
Friday, July 9
Saturday, July 10
Thursday,  July 15
Friday, July 16

All shows start at 8pm, doors open at 7:30p at the US Navy Memorial – 701 Pennsylvania Ave. Next to Archives/Navy Memorial Green/Yellow line. Tickets go on sale on June 21. $15 at capfringe.org. Last year we sold out fast, so get your tickets early. More info at speakeasydc.org.

Click here for Social Media/Press Release with video, photos, and info

STARRING:

B. Stanley considers himself the man to fill the gap when necessary. He has been the director  of and acted with the experimental group, Theatre Du Jour since 1982. He directs the works of  several performance poets including Quique Aviles and Silvana Straw, acts in other’s performances when he can and is also currently the Director of the DC Arts Center in Adams Morgan.

Bomani Darel Armah is a poet, songwriter, producer, performer and educator. Born in Washington D.C. and raised in the metropolitan area, Bomani uses his life experiences, mixed with his musical and poetic skills, to paint lyrical pictures of life as he sees it and the future as he envisions it. He was an English major with a concentration in poetry at the University of Maryland College Park and as a self-taught musician and producer is quickly making a name for himself in the national music scene. As he so aptly puts it “I’m not a rapper, I’m a poet with a hip-hop style”.

Christylez Bacon (pronounced: chris-styles) is a GRAMMY Nominated Progressive Hip-Hop artist and multi-instrumentalist from Southeast, Washington, DC. As a performer, Christylez multi-tasks between various instruments such as the West African djembe drum, acoustic guitar, and the human beat-box (oral percussion), all while continuing the oral tradition of storytelling through his lyrics.

Regie Cabico won the Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam and is a 3-time National Poetry Slam Finalist. He has appeared on two seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and his work appears in over 30 anthologies. BUST magazine name him in the 100 Men We Love. The Kenyon Review most recently named Cabico the “Lady Gaga of poetry”.

After working collaboratively as a writer, teacher, & improviser, Stephanie Garibaldi’s thrilled to be back in the game, unleashing her cutthroat competitive spirit at last on unsuspecting DC opponents. Whatever you do, do NOT challenge her to ping-pong, sudoku, or Name That Tune–she will school you as only SpeakeasyDC’s Educational Director can.

Cindy Kane is a writer and aspiring housewife who blogs at Bad Mommy Moments. She once had big dreams of standing next to Bob Barker and reminding the audience to control the pet population. But thanks to a $1 bidder from New Jersey, she never made it past Contestants’ Row.

Mike Kane is a marginally successful television writer and failed blogger.  His favorite games include “Plnko,” “Switcheroo,” and “$uper $aver.”  His actual retail price: $3.15, and all of this can be yours if… the Price is Right.

Christopher Love used to feign illness in elementary school so that he could stay home to watch The Price is Right.  He now performs in front of a captive audience of elementary school students every day as their math teacher.  Within the last year, he has been on a date with a former contestant who later became legal counsel for TPIR.

Sheldon Scott broke down walls when he became one of “Barker’s Beauties”!   At 5′10, 165lbs, he became one of the first “full-size” daytime TV game show models!  After unsavory pictures of Scott turned up on the internet, he was forced into retirement and moved to Washington DC where he started a PAC for retired Daytime TV and Hand & Foot models!  He is currently general manager of one of DC’s best restaurants — Marvin Bistro & Bar.  Featured artist on CapFringe site.

Full time dreamer. Part time superhero. Pro-Mohawk. Jessica Solomon is reclaiming the power of the Booty one performance at a time with The Saartjie Project crew (Google them!). She’s super excited and nostalgic about “The Price is Right” because it was the only TV show she watched with her Granny…until they discovered Jerry Springer. Featured artist on the CapFringe site.

Stories about Men, Masculinity, and Fatherhood

Friday, June 18, 2010 at The Atlas Performing Arts Center at 1333 H St. NE, Washington, DC 20002. Doors open at 7:30p, show starts at 8:00p. General seating.

H Street has lots of cool places to eat and hang out. Find out more about how to get there and where to go before and after the show. Parking can be challenging, so you may want to consider the shuttle from Chinatown or Union Station (or a cab).  Email info@speakeasydc.org if you have any questions or visit www.speakeasydc.org.

THE CAST (members of our advanced Story Performance Workshop)

Geraldine Buckley is a speaker, writer and award winning performance poet who took part in this year’s SpeakeasyDC production for The Big Read.  She particularly loves telling stories and gathered much new material while working – until January this year – as Chaplain at the Maryland Correctional Training Center, Maryland’s largest men’s prison.

David Hallisey spent over 20 years in the navy where he learned the importance of a good sea story. He is most proud of being the father of two terrific boys, Marcus and Daniel, which makes him MaD Dad.

Julie Hantman appeared in last year’s Fringe Festival ensemble production “Not Your Granny’s Revolution” and she is a veteran of the SpeakeasyDC stage. By day she works to improve the nation’s preparedness for public health threats.

Sofia Javed spends her days policing the use of commas, dashes and meaningless adverbs in government documents. She believes active voice, short sentences and proper subject-verb agreement can change the world. Sofia is a grammar nerd in at least four languages.

Kriya Kaping is the Creative Director for the Modeling and Simulation Information Analysis Center (MSIAC),  and an Editor for the M&S Journal. She comes from a long line of storytellers, with the family motto of “if it doesn’t kill you, it makes for a great story!”

Lynda Laughlin’s main quality is that she is a sociologist and enjoys counting people. She prefers cats over dogs and stoves over microwaves.

Laurie Frederik Meer is an anthropologist and professor at the University of Maryland. She has a three month old baby named Fénix Kurush and is coming to terms with domestic chaos and a new definition of “normal.” In her spare time she competes in Ballroom Dancing.

Anne Thomas A recovering lawyer probing her creativity now.  Fundamentally, Anne likes to play which is why she has been studying Improv and Storytelling the last few years.

Friday, May 21, 2010 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm at the Library of Congress, James Madison Bldg. Sixth Floor. Dining Room A. 101 Independence Ave.  Free

SpeakeasyDC is excited to partner with the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection of the Library of Congress to perform a new show for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. Hear true, personal stories about growing up Asian in America touching on subjects like fulling your parents’ idea of the “American Dream”, fitting in, and stepping out.

Regie Cabico won the Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam and is a 3 Time National Poetry Slam Finalist. He has appeared on two seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and his work appears in over 30 anthologies. BUST magazine named him in the 100 MEN WE LOVE . The Kenyon Review most recently named Cabico the Lady Gaga of Poetry. He is the artistic director of Sol & Soul, an arts and activist organization. He also runs SULU DC, a monthly Asian American performance showcase.

Mimi Khúc is a second-generation Vietnamese American, and a PhD student in Asian American culture and religion, becoming the wrong kind of doctor – and studying why so many of her cousins are becoming the right kind.

Comedian Vijai Nathan, a native of Maryland, has been making people laugh both nationally and internationally. She’s made the top ten lists of Back Stage Magazine and NBC’s Stand-Up for Diversity, and is honored to be part of the Smithsonian Freer Gallery events. She hosts a monthly comedy/storytelling/music series called “Fan-Freaking-Tastic”  at Chief Ike’s Mambo Room in Adams Morgan.  Look for her in this year’s Capital Fringe Festival performing a new solo show Give them Vagina: Tips from Mom, Dad & COSMO. Contact: vijai_comedy@ yahoo.com

Thursday, April 29, 2010 at Busboys & Poets (5th and K Sts. NW) at 7:00 pm. FREE!

For the fourth year in a row, SpeakeasyDC will be part of DC’s Big Read. The Big Read is designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. Each year, a new book is chosen. This year’s book, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines (1993), poses one of the most universal questions literature can ask: Knowing we’re going to die, how should we live? It’s the story of an uneducated young black man named Jefferson, accused of the murder of a white storekeeper, and Grant Wiggins, a college-educated native son of Louisiana, who teaches at a plantation school. In a little more than 250 pages, these two men named for presidents discover a friendship that transforms at least two lives. Hear true, contemporary stories that highlight the themes and subjects in the book.  Stories will be followed by a short Q&A with the storytellers.

FEATURING

Harold Wilson

After 16 years and a total of three death sentences, DNA evidence let to the aquittal of Harold Wilson in 2005. He was the nation’s 122nd person to be freed from death row. Thanks to Witness to Innocence for putting us in touch with Harold Wilson. Witness to Innocence is the nation’s only organization composed of, by and for exonerated death row survivors and their loved ones.  These individuals are actively engaged in the struggle to end the death penalty, challenging the American public to grapple with the problem of a fatally flawed criminal justice system that sends innocent people to death row. Find out more at www.witnesstoinnocence.org.

Geraldine Buckley

Geraldine is an award-winning performance poet. She is an ordained minister and has an MA in communications form Regent University. She live in Frederick, MD and will share a story about creativity workshops she conducted in the largest men’s prison in Maryland.

Ruby DeLillye

Ruby, mother of four children went from state prisoner to state employee. Ruby spent four years in a Virginia prison. She now works as a supervisor at Morgan State University in Maryland. Ruby had a profound experience in prison centered around 12 chocolate chip cookies. This experience changed her life for good!

The Big Read, is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. The Big

Read – D.C. is presented by the Humanities Council of Washington, DC and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and DC Public Libraries.

Woohoo! We’re going national. The folks from First Person Arts invited us up to…ummm… kick their asses!… in our first story slam competition on April 17, 2010. See details below and come up to cheer us on and party with the team!   Our illustrious, sure to dazzle team – Stephanie Garibaldi (aka Granny G) , Twain Dooley (aka Doo-licious T)  Meredith Maslich (aka Word Mistress), and Christoper Love (aka The Disciplinarian) .

Second Annual First Person Inter-City StorySlam: Philly vs. Washington D.C.

It’s not your mama’s StorySlam when the City of Brotherly Love goes
head-to-head against the Beltway at the 2nd annual Inter-City StorySlam!
Join master storytellers from Philadelphia’s First Person Arts as they
compete against the talented tale spinners from Speakeasy DC. They’ll be
crafting five-minute true stories on the theme “All About My Mother.” Last
year’s Slam against Chicago played to a packed house and it’s time for
round two!

Saturday, April 17th at 5pm.
Central Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine Street,
Philadelphia, PA
FREE

First Person Arts is a Philadelphia-based non-profit specializing in
memoir and documentary art. They host twice monthly StorySlams featuring
stories from real life based upon a theme.

FRIDAY, FEB 26, 2010 @ 9:30pm

SATURDAY, FEB 27, 2010 @ 7:30pm

@ THE ATLAS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
1333 H Street, NE. Tickets are $18.50 (w/$1.50 in online processing fees, total is $20)
You can also buy a festival pass which reduces cost-per-show

Meet the cast of “Wetbacks, Aliens, & Towelheads: Stories from the First Generation from SpeakeasyDC on Vimeo.

Five artists tell true stories about being children of immigrant parents or immigrants themselves. In true SpeakeasyDC style, the stories are expertly crafted and combine humor, honesty, and insight to create an unforgettable night of riveting entertainment.

ABOUT THE STORIES AND STORYTELLERS:

Poet Regie Cabico tells the story of trying to fulfill the American Dream for his Filipino mother in “My H’Oprah”; TV News Reporter Delia Perry tells her story about negotiating the New and Old World rules of her Cape Verdean parents in “Tough Love”; activist Claire Nelson tells her story about changing her plans to become Jamaica’s first female prime minister in “Counting Myself American”‘; video artist and graphic designer Ayo Okunseinde tells his story about being a Nigerian transplant trying to be cool in suburban New Jersey high school in “International Day”; and comedian and solo performer, Vijai Nathan tells her story of trying to balance life as an Indian girl in Potomac, MD in “Beware”.

Presented as part of INTERSECTIONS: A New America Arts Festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, Feb 19 – Mar 7, 2010. Three weekends of multidisciplinary arts that celebrate differences and discover commonalities among artists and audiences of diverse races,  ages and cultures. Major support provided by the FIRE Fund of The Community Foundation of the National Capital Region, designed to promote interracial understanding and collaboration. Visit the Intersections blog.

CLICK HERE SOCIAL MEDIA PRESS RELEASE (includes photos, video, links)

FRIDAY, FEB 26, 2010 @ 9:30pm

SATURDAY, FEB 27, 2010 @ 7:30pm

@ THE ATLAS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
1333 H Street, NE. Tickets are $18.50 (w/$1.50 in online processing fees, total is $20)
You can also buy a festival pass which reduces cost-per-show

Meet the cast of “Wetbacks, Aliens, & Towelheads: Stories from the First Generation from SpeakeasyDC on Vimeo.

Five artists tell true stories about being children of immigrant parents or immigrants themselves. In true SpeakeasyDC style, the stories are expertly crafted and combine humor, honesty, and insight to create an unforgettable night of riveting entertainment.

ABOUT THE STORIES AND STORYTELLERS:

Poet Regie Cabico tells the story of trying to fulfill the American Dream for his Filipino mother in “My H’Oprah”; TV News Reporter Delia Perry tells her story about negotiating the New and Old World rules of her Cape Verdean parents in “Tough Love”; activist Claire Nelson tells her story about changing her plans to become Jamaica’s first female prime minister in “Counting Myself American”‘; video artist and graphic designer Ayo Okunseinde tells his story about being a Nigerian transplant trying to be cool in suburban New Jersey high school in “International Day”; and comedian and solo performer, Vijai Nathan tells her story of trying to balance life as an Indian girl in Potomac, MD in “Beware”.

Presented as part of INTERSECTIONS: A New America Arts Festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, Feb 19 – Mar 7, 2010. Three weekends of multidisciplinary arts that celebrate differences and discover commonalities among artists and audiences of diverse races,  ages and cultures. Major support provided by the FIRE Fund of The Community Foundation of the National Capital Region, designed to promote interracial understanding and collaboration. Visit the Intersections blog.

CLICK HERE SOCIAL MEDIA PRESS RELEASE (includes photos, video, links)

Pre-Sales are sold-out, but you can still get standing-room tickets at the door for $10 starting at 6pm.

Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 7pm @ Chief Ike’s
1725 Columbia Road, NW, Washington, DC 20009, $18

Couples, singles, stalkers, dreamers, internet porn surfers, and celibates all welcome for a night of true tales about love, sex, romance, and relationships.

This year’s Suckers (L to R front: Nevin Martell, Molly Kelly; back: Twain Dooley, Allison Kirsch, Dustin Fisher, Brad Winter, Ayanna Dookie, and Derek Hills. Not pictured Jennifer Luu and director Stephanie Garibaldi).

Pre-Sales are sold-out, but you can still get standing-room tickets at the door for $10 starting at 7pm.

Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 8pm @ Chief Ike’s
1725 Columbia Road, NW, Washington, DC 20009, $18

Couples, singles, stalkers, dreamers, internet porn surfers, and celibates all welcome for a night of true tales about love, sex, romance, and relationships.

One more show: Sunday, Feb 14 at 7pm.

This year’s Suckers (L to R front: Nevin Martell, Molly Kelly; back: Twain Dooley, Allison Kirsch, Dustin Fisher, Brad Winter, Ayanna Dookie, and Derek Hills. Not pictured Jennifer Luu and director Stephanie Garibaldi).

Pre-Sales are sold-out, but you can still get standing-room tickets at the door for $10 starting at 7pm.

Friday, February 12, 2010 at 8pm @ Chief Ike’s Mambo Room
1725 Columbia Road, NW, Washington, DC 20009, $18

Couples, singles, stalkers, dreamers, internet porn surfers, and celibates all welcome for a night of true tales about love, sex, romance, and relationships.

Two more shows: Saturday, Feb 13 at 8pm & Sunday, Feb 14 at 7pm.

This year’s Suckers (L to R front: Nevin Martell, Molly Kelly; back: Twain Dooley, Allison Kirsch, Dustin Fisher, Brad Winter, Ayanna Dookie, and Derek Hills. Not pictured Jennifer Luu and director Stephanie Garibaldi).