STRANGE TAILS, BABY TALK, ROLL! and More Set for Ars Nova's ANT Fest, 6/1-28

Ars Nova has just released information about its upcoming June 2012 events, all part of ANT Fest, the annual All New Talent Festival. Tickets and more information can be found online at www.arsnovanyc.com.

ANT FEST: Political Subversities
June 1 @ 8pm, $10
Created & Performed by Political Subversities
Directed by Andrew Neisler

A team of sketch/musical dynamos highlights the humorous, the foolish and the downright absurd in today's social and political landscape in this darkly comic cabaret featuring side-splitting sketches, fast and funny monologues and Broadway-worthy songs.

ANT FEST: Sacrament Burger
June 2 @ 8pm, $10
Created & Performed by David Commander

Experimental art/toy theater pioneer David Commander premieres a ten-minute piece about food, ritual, and the ceremonial act of eating.

DOUBLE BILL with: Bea Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

ANT FEST: Bea Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
June 2 @ 8pm, $10
Written by Joe Tracz
Directed by Dominic Spillane

Welcome to the world of LARP (Live-Action Role-Playing), where a copyboy can be a king and a mom can be a medieval maiden. When a couple’s tension fractures their LARP guild, the membership divides, pitting Arthurian knights in a battle of the sexes against an equally legendary fellowship: The Golden Girls.

DOUBLE BILL with: Sacrament Burger

ANT FEST: Strange Tails
June 4 @ 8pm, $10
Directed by John Simpkins
Book by Michael Ruby
Music & Lyrics by Rob Rokicki

This musical evening of strange-but-true animal stories features tales of a waitress whose house and beloved parrot are foreclosed upon by a mega-bank, two English pigs who escape the slaughter only to become international media superstars, and quirky canine devotion.

ANT FEST: Baby Talk
June 5 @ 8pm, $10
Created & Performed by Nick Mills
Directed by Michael Izquierdo & Jess Brickman

Adam's newborn twins won't stop crying. He’s out of stories, so he comforts them with home movies of their absent mother. But where is she, and is she ever coming home? This multimedia solo show examines the all-prevailing power of heredity and the question of why we are who we are.

ANT FEST: L(y)re
June 6 @ 8pm, $10
Written by Christopher Oscar Peña
Directed by Mary Birnbaum

Music by Melissa LuskJoin some trashy Greek gods at the bar for this dirty Brooklyn basement concert mash-up of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth featuring indie parlor music and a smokeshow cast.

ANT FEST: Showgasm
June 7 @ 10pm, $5

Dive head first into a late night incarnation of Ars Nova’s infamous neo-vaudeville show-meets-party where you’ll experience cutting-edge comedy, music, theater, burlesque and everything in between. Meet this year’s festival talent while enjoying the rowdiest variety show in town. Tickets are only $5 but if you see the 8 pm show that night (The Tillers), admission is free!

ANT FEST: The Tillers
June 7 @ 8pm, $10

Created & Performed by The TillersCincinnati’s minstrels, The Tillers, resurrect the songs of America’s past and craft originals all their own in an evening of clawhammer banjo, acoustic guitar, upright bass, and high mountain harmonies that belt, croon, lament, and rejoice.

ANT FEST: Birthday Sax
June 8 @ 8pm, $10
Created & Performed by Tim Girrbach
Directed by Wendy Seyb

What if your favorite 1980s movie soundtracks were reinterpreted by Germany's überfan at his birthday celebration? You're in luck! Come boogie with Manheim, his Frauleins, and The Garden State Saxophone Quartet as they rock out to his all-time favorite songs. As Manheim would say, "Vhat ze hell are you vaiting for?! Let's Pahrrty!"

ANT FEST: Roll!
June 9 @ 8pm, $10
Written by Jeff Kuperman
Directed by Jeff Kuperman & Ricky Kuperman
Music by Owen Belton