The O'Neill Cabaret and Performance Conference, under the artistic direction of Michael Bush, runs July 30-Aug. 9. The July 30 Cabaret Open House offers conference attendees the chance to glimpse highlights of the forthcoming shows and meet the artists.

The first original offering will be jazz vocalist Allan Harris in Cross That River, the "story of a young slave who makes his way to freedom and becomes a Black Cowboy in the American West," on July 31. Harris, who penned music and lyrics, also stars. The song cycle was co-written with Pat Harris and Emmy winner Andrew Carl Wilk, who directs.

Penny Fuller (The Dinner Party, Applause) will offer a look at life as a Southern Miss raised in the North in The War Between My States, on Aug. 1. Ronnie Spector, of the Ronettes, will offer an evening about her life in "Beyond the Beehive" on Aug. 2.

On Aug. 3 the O'Neill will present a double-bill featuring Amanda Green (High Fidelity) in Does This Song Make My Ass Look Fat, and Randi Michaels and Michael Aman's Secrets of Songwriting.

The songs of Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire will be presented in A Time for Love, a musical exploration of marriage, on Aug. 5. John Epperson, "the artist principally known as Lypsinka," performs "a revue of his trek from small-town Mississippi to big Manhattan showbiz" in Show Trash on Aug. 6. The O'Neill Center will present an eclectic evening of material from the 2008 Cabaret Fellows Aug. 2 and 7. The musical spoof, The Cousins Grimm (a former NYMF participant), penned by Ted Sod, Dan Martin and Michael Biello, will be staged Aug. 8.

The finale, presented on Aug. 9, will showcase the best of the O'Neill Center's Cabaret and Performance Conference.

For tickets phone (860) 443-1238 or visit www.theoneill.org.