Sex, Dating, Friendship, and all the blurry lines in between...The Boys Upstairs invites you into the fabulous living room of Josh, Seth, and Ashley. These three Hell's Kitchen Boys encounter all of the challenges, thrills, disappointments, tops and bottoms that young adult New York life has to offer. Seth is falling in love with his older boyfriend while attempting to seek approval from his single best friends. Ashley feeds on the variety, availability and accessibility of men in Manhattan. Josh finds inspiration from the antics of his two besties and his own humorously disastrous trials with dating and funnels it all into his newest writing concept. Just when these three settle into a rhythm of celebrating life and then analyzing it the next morning, they are all thrown for a loop when their incredibly hot neighbor Eric moves in below them. The "is he or isn't he" question is just one of many that these city boys ponder with style, scandal, and specialty cocktails!
The Boys Upstairs was first presented in the fall of 2008 to a packed house as a staged reading upstairs at Etc, Etc. It was directed by Christopher Gattelli and the cast included Michael Arden, Tyler Maynard, Colin Hanlon, Stephen Bienskie, and David Rudd.
It premiered as a full production in the 2009 New York International Fringe Festival. It was produced by Justin Allen Pifer and directed by Matthew Corozine. The cast included Joel Bauer, Nic Cory, Kristen Alexander Griffith, David Rudd, & Josh Segarra. It played an entirely sold-out run at the Soho Playhouse. The Boys Upstairs was then extended into the Fringe Encore Series where it was the only play to sell out the Soho Playhouse. The production received numerous rave reviews and the cast was featured on the cover of Next Magazine.
FringeNYC celebrated its 15-year history with presentations of some its 15 most well received productions including Urinetown, Dog Sees God and THE BOYS UPSTAIRS.
Under the brand new direction of Darren Katz, The Boys Upstairs was presented as a staged reading on June 9th at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. The cast include two-time tony nominee Robin De Jesus (La Cage Aux Folle, In the Heights), Zachary Booth (tv's Damages, Me, Myself, & I), Ven Daniels (Legally Blonde, Tarzan), Michael Zahler (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Boy in the Bathroom), and Mark Fisher (Little Dog Laughed, Wallenberg).
THE BOYS UPSTAIRS will now make its West Coast debut at the world reknown Celebration Theatre in L.A. Under the direction of Jeremy O'Keefe the cast will include Jeffery Self, Daniel Taylor, Kyle David Pierce, Chris Sams and Ben Baur. For tickets and more information click here
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Jason Mitchell (Playwright) is very excited that the next stop for THE BOYS UPSTAIRS is the Celebration Theatre. He was honored THE BOYS UPSTAIRS was a part of the Fringe Benefit Series after it's debut in the 2009 Fringe Festival. Jason's first play, THE RED BOX, is a love story of a diiferent genre that premiered in '06 at Walkerspace directed by Tesha Buss and produced by Sara Katz. It has recently been presented in university settings in Montreal and Connecticut as it investigates the subject of homosexual persecution during the Holocaust, a subject Jason has studied and lectured on around the world. Jason is currently writing his first book GETTING GROOMED, a how-to book on wedding planning for gay men. Jason attended the conservatory New World School of the Arts in Miami and graduated magna cum laude with a B.F.A. in Theatre from the University of Florida. When Jason isn't working as a playwright he can be found running events at the Soho House. www.jasonmitchell.info
REVIEWS
"HILARIOUS! SEX IN THE CITY MEETS BOYS IN THE BAND!"
Andy Propst, THE VILLAGE VOICE
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"ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS YEAR'S FESTIVAL!"
Bryan Stryker, STAGEBUZZ.com
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"SO FUNNY, SO SMART, AND SO RECOGNIZABLY REAL!"
Matthew Murray, TALKIN' BROADWAY
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"FRESH! IMPOSSIBLE TO RESIST!"
Patrick Lee, JUSTSHOWSTOGOYOU.com
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"FUNNY, HUMOROUS, AND CURRENT, YET TIMELESS!"
Adam Rothenberg, ADAUMBELLESQUEST.com
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"FAST PACED, FIERCELY FUNNY COMEDY!"
Oscar E. Moore, TALKENTERTAINMENT.com
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"AMAZING! THE CASTING WAS PERFECT"
Sarah Grace McCandless, SARAHDISGRACE.com
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"raucous energy!"
Brendan Hill, NYTHEATRE.com
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