By Adam Hetrick
20 Aug 2007

Love Sucks, the new punk-rock musical by Stephen O'Rourke and Brandon Patton, will receive its world premiere as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival this September.

Using Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost as inspiration, Love Sucks "is set in the burgeoning underground scene of the 1970's East Village," according to press notes. "Two competing rock bands, The [all-guy] Molotovs and [all-girl] The Guttersnipes, swear off love because they've lost too many musicians to jealous lovers. In order to stay focused on the music, each band member can have sex with someone only three times. But when the guys and girls meet up, their rule comes back to bite them in the ass."

O'Rourke and Patton previously collaborated on an original musical for the Atrainplays which was featured at NYMF in 2005.

Director Andrew Goldberg, who previously developed and directed the Off-Broadway hip-hop hit Bomb-itty of Errors from Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, returns to familiar territory with the NYMF production.

The creative team includes sets by Shoko Kambara, lights by Aaron Spivey, sound by Ken Travis and costumes by Amelia Dombrowski.

Casting for Love Sucks will be announced shortly.

Love Sucks runs Sept. 26-Oct. 6 at the Julia Miles Theater, located at 424 West 55th Street in Manhattan. For tickets and further information visit www.nymf.org.