Astoria Performing Arts Center to Stage Human Comedy and MilkMilkLemonade

By Adam Hetrick
18 Aug 2010

Artistic director Tom Wojtunik
Artistic director Tom Wojtunik

The Astoria Performing Arts Center will produce Hair composer Galt MacDermot's rarely-seen 1984 musical The Human Comedy in spring 2011 as part of its tenth anniversary season.

Under the artistic direction of Tom Wojtunik, APAC will launch its 2010-2011 season with Joshua Conkel's MilkMilkLemonade, running Oct. 28-Nov. 13. (The work previously made its New York debut last September Off-Off Broadway). José Zayas will direct the comedy "about gay children, a parasitic twin, an antagonistic grandmother, a depressed chicken and our growing bodies."

In May 2011, Wojtunik will helm The Human Comedy, which will reunite the design team from APAC's IT Award-nominated production of Children of Eden.

Based on the William Saroyan story, Human Comedy has music by MacDermot and a libretto by William Dumaresq. The design team includes Christine O'Grady (choreography), Michael P. Kramer (set design) and Hunter Kaczorowski (costume designer).

According to APAC, "The coming-of-age tale focuses on young Homer Macauley, a telegram messenger who is exposed to the sorrows and joys experienced by his family and the residents of his small California town during World War II. Homer's mother Kate is struggling to support her children following the death of her husband, his older brother Marcus is in the Army, his teenaged sister Bess daydreams about romance, and his younger brother Ulysses divides his attention between the passing trains and an unrequited desire to know why his father had to die."

As part of APAC's "15/20s" staged works series, a reading of The Groaning Board by House of Yes playwright Wendy Macleod will be offered Dec. 9. The series will also include Nastaran Ahmadi's Doctoring Sept. 16; Afterglow (A Comedie of Bad Manners) by Sarah Overman March 28, 2011; and Alex Goldberg's It is Done Feb. 10, 2011.

For tickets and further information phone (212) 352-3101 or visit APACNY.org.