2011 FRINGE BENEFIT SERIES READING
CELEBRATION THEATRE PRODUCTION
ABOVE THE STAG LONDON PRODUCTION
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!
HISTORY OF THE SHOW
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 made its West Coast debut at the world reknown Celebration Theatre in L.A. Under the direction of Jeremy O'Keefe the cast included Jeffery Self, Daniel Taylor, Kyle David Pierce, Chris Sams and Ben Baur.
The international debut of this play took place at the Above The Stag Theatre in January of 2015 where it received critical praise and played an entirely sold out run. Under the direction of Andrew Beckett, this production starred Simon Walton, Joe Leather, Stan Eldridge, Daniel Garcia and Hugh O’Donnell.
The Boys Upstairs will be presented this spring by Pride Films and Plays.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Jason Mitchell (Playwright) is thrilled that THE BOYS UPSTAIRS is continuing to reach new audiences. Jason's first play, THE RED BOX, is a love story of a different genre that premiered in '06 at Walkerspace. 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 also a wedding planner and author having recently published his first book GETTING GROOMED: THE ULTIMATE WEDDING PLANNER FOR GAY GROOMS. 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. He currently works for Shiraz Events as their resident wedding planner and splits his time between New York and Los Angeles. 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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