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THIS WEEK'S WANZeGRAM IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Find out more about MY ILLUSTRIOUS WASTELAND here!

TOD KIMBRO’S MY ILLUSTRIOUS WASTELAND IS COMING!

Tod's brand-new sci-fi rock musical, MY ILLUSTRIOUS WASTELAND, is one of the most highly anticipated theatrical events of the year.  The show premieres July 10th, 2008 at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center Margeson Theatre!  Wasteland features seven songs from Tod's album, Soundtrack to a Chemical Spill, along with ten brand new numbers.  Equal parts futuristic adventure epic, twisted social commentary, and high-energy rock show, this is a musical and theatrical experience like no other. The show is being produced by Orlando Fringe Guru Beth Marshall, directed by local Orlando Sentinel blog referee John DiDonna, and choreographed by Blue of the VarieTEASE family!

Everyone in Orlando seems to be involved in the show in some capacity, including our own DOUG, who has on on-stage role.  Central Florida theatrical veteran Mike Marinaccio is assistant directing, and indeed directed WANZIE in a recent filming of a tiny cameo appearance, which will be projected on screen during each presentation. It’s a big secret just how many of Orlando’s "Who's Who" are making such cameo appearances, but upon arrival at the Full Sail soundstage to film his clip, WANZIE reports he passed David Lee and Miss Sammy leaving from just having filmed their clip.

Look at this cast of characters:

The ensemble includes Willie Marchante, Ryan Leyhue, Jolie Hart, Lanie Hoxie, Domonique Minor, Dorothy Massey, Lisa K. Rinaldi, Michelle Rogers, Corey Volence, and Elizabeth Murff among others. The show stars Brittany Berkowitz as Sunny Day, Christopher McIntyre as Mogs, Beth Marshall as Loretta, and Tod Kimbro as The President Reverend M.D.        

ANTHONY JOHNSON
in a
Command Performance
for
Theater Impresario and Fiancé Michael Wanzie

By Special Arrangement with Producer Kenny Howard

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

@ 6 PM

The Footlight Lounge @ the PH
SEATS ARE LIMITED AND GOING FAST!

Click Here - Reserve Now



Musical Accompanist John B. de Haas

Tickets Only $10

Click Here - Reserve Now

See and hear Anthony speak of his “broken babler” and then sing
"Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" from Les Miserables all while in his bed in Japan:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mp_OiUkX-ds

TV-LAND GONE A MUCK IN NEW ROCHELLE AT PH!

Just in time for dinner, the 2008 multi-sell-out Fringe hit comes to The Parliament House by popular demand!  It’s Donna Reed meets Medea as Janine Klein (Monorail Inferno, My Pal Bette) stars in John Ryan’s (My Pal Bette) hilariously campy look at the sinister side of TV-LAND’s happiest sitcom family. Also featuring Tim Debaun (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) as the father who should know best but is a little too preoccupied with a certain sassy waitress, Brittany Berkowitz* (The Little Dog Laughed) as the delightful daughter who’s a little too popular with the boys, and John Ryan as the all-American son with a strange fascination with Rock Hudson. Will matriarch Vicki (Klein) be able to keep everyone smiling? Will daddy accept his children’s indiscretions, or will they all just end up dead? Find out at the Footlight Theater in July. Don’t forget to wash your hands first!

1st prize Winner 2008 Rollins College Friends of the Annie Fringe Grant

Fringe Sell-Out Award Winner!

"It sets the bar for fabulosity" – Margaret Nolan, Kangagirl Productions L.L.C.

"Give this family a theme song and 8pm time slot of their own." - Al Pergande, Ink19.com

“Yes, that’s it! I’ve decided; I’m going to save my family! And if that doesn’t work, I’ll just kill them all. Either way, I suspect this will be another lovely week in New Rochelle.” - Vickie

2 SHOWS ONLY

Saturday, July 19th* @ 8 PM
Saturday, July 26th, 2008 @ 8 PM

* The July 19th performance will feature a one-time only special appearance by our director, Yvette Kojic (whom P-House regulars will remember from MY PAL BETTE), as the sexually adventurous daughter, Becky.

GREAT SHOWS NOW ON SALE THROUGH OUR BOX OFFICE:

VarieTEASE: CARNIVALE

Wed. June 25th @ 9:00 PM
Wed. July 02nd @ 9:00 PM
Sat. July 05th @ 8:00 PM
Wed. June 16th @ 9:00 PM

Footlight Theatre @ the Parliament House
$15.00

Leslie Jordan: MY TRIP DOWN THE PINK CARPET
Tuesday, July 8th @ 8:00 PM

Footlight Theatre @ the Parliament House
$43.00

PAUL WEGMAN: A TRIBUTE
Benefit Screening
Saturday, July 12th @ 8:00 PM

Footlight Theatre @ the Parliament House
$8.00

THEATER: Urinetown Directed by David Lee, featuring Equity actors and 22 other UCF Grad and Undergraduate Theater Majors, including a local go-go God performing gymnastic feats you will have to see to believe! One of the most uproariously funny musicals in recent years, URINETOWN is an irreverently humorous satire in which no one is safe from scrutiny. Praised for reinvigorating the very notion of what a musical could be, URINETOWN catapults the "comedic romp" into the new millennium with its outrageous perspective, wickedly modern wit, and sustained ability to produce gales of unbridled laughter. Four times the size of the recent Angry Bovine Theater Production and four times closer than the recent SCC production and with 444 less middle schoolers than the recent Fringe production, this URINETOWN was created to be the BIGGEST and "splashiest" version of URINETOWN in Orlando history! See the show the way it was meant to be seen ... BIG and SPLASHY! URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL! U.C.F. June 19th-22th, 26th-29th Box Office (407) 823-1500 COMEDY: Mo’ Laughs Mondays Central Florida’s Alternative Open Mic Comedy Nights returns to the place where it began in May 2007 with a new earlier start time of 8PM. The open-mic is open to anyone who has performed stand-up comedy before or has the desire to give it a try for the first time. The crowd is predominantly gay, but all are welcome to perform. Gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual, transgendered and Republican are welcome. There will be no cover charge and drink specials consist of $3 Bud and Bud Light Bottles, $4 Martinis (Featuring Martinis named after famous comics). Watermark columnist Jeff Jones resumes hosting duties. Additional guest appearances are scheduled in upcoming months with many local Orlando open-mic favorites. Monday, July 7th, 2008 8PM (sign-up at 7:30 PM) Continuing on the first Monday of each month             Revolution Orlando 375 S. Bumby Ave. Orlando, FL Jeff Jones (407) 493-4083 www.molaughscomedy.com for updates: jeff@molaughscomedy.com Do you know about an event, audition, opportunity, or anything else that you believe subscribers should know about? Email WANZIE here and tell him about it.  There are no guarantees, but all will be considered! We reserve the right to edit all entry requests!

A NOTE FROM WANZIE!

By the time you are reading this I will have met my fiancé Anthony Johnson, in person, for the very first time. I admit he’s a little young and I am old enough to be his grandparent, so I may have to consider adoption as opposed to marriage, but one way or the other I will force ... I mean ... foster a relationship of some sort with my little YouTube honey!
 
At the time this gram is going to press, Anthony has not yet arrived, although by time you are reading this he will have landed at OIA Thursday morning. He will have had a tech rehearsal at the PH with Kenny and Chuck today and joined us for WANZIEandDOUG night at La Nouba this evening. Later today Anthony will be joining me at a birthday party in the afternoon, and then will be going to see David Lee’s interpretation of Urinetown at UCF on Saturday evening (8 PM) along with the entire cast and crew of When Pigs Fly. So if you’re planning on seeing Urinetown, why not go tonight when the audience will be lousy with semi-celebrities and the pre-show and intermission mingling will be at its very best.

On Sunday, I expect to see ALL WANZeGRAM subscribers who live within a 75-mile radius of Orlando at the 6 PM show at the PH - ANTHONY JOHNSON: From YouTube To You.

Please come so Kenny can hopefully recoup the airfare for Chrissake. Plus; I have Anthony believing that half of Orlando waits to read my recommendations for what to do on any given weekend and that with the stroke of pen or a few pecks on a my MacBook keyboard I can fill a theater to overflowing with no problem. So, if you care at all about my credibility in the estimation of my long distance loved one then you will be there.  After all it’s not JUST a show put on by a wonderfully talented and engaging individual, it’s also an engagement party!

By the way, Anthony and I are registered at Toys R Us.

I’m WANZIE and That’s All I Wrote!