On Aug. 4 press representatives for FringeNYC stated that Yeast Nation broke records as the earliest production to sell out a performance in the festival's 15-year history.
Featuring music by Mark Hollmann and book and lyrics by Greg Kotis, Yeast Nation has now sold out all performances of the Aug. 12-28 run at La Mama ETC, representatives confirmed to Playbill.com.
Co-author Kotis directs the engagement, which has choreography by Wendy Seyb (Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway) and musical direction by William Wade.
In addition to Harris (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Cry-Baby), the cast includes Erik Altemus, Jennifer Blood, Rheaume Crenshaw, Rick Crom, Nick Gaswirth, Kimiko Glenn, Douglas Goodhart, Antwayn Hopper, Lauren Lebowitz, George McDaniel, Manu Narayan, Charlie Plummer, Emily Tarpey and Joy Suprano.
According to the creators, "Yeast Nation takes us back to the year 3,000,458,000 B.C., when the world’s first salt-eating yeasts float in the brine of the primordial sea. The yeasts' aging and tyrannical king is unwilling to confront the depletion of their saline food supply. But when the king’s son dares to venture where no yeast has ventured before, the course of existence is changed… forever! Equal parts Greek tragedy and Shakespearean court drama, Yeast Nation features an eclectic rock score, bizarre hilarity, and a story of love and hope that, as the yeasts sing, 'is not only our story, but yours.' Also, everyone is named Jan ('yahn')." Hollmann and Kotis' Urinetown also debuted at the Fringe Festival in 1999, where it played an extended run and took the Overall Excellence Award for a Musical. It later transferred Off-Broadway to the American Theatre of Actors on April 1, 2001, and transferred to Broadway in July 2001 to the Henry Miller's Theatre, where it ran for 965 performances. It earned Tony Awards for Best Book (Kotis), Best Score (Hollmann) and Best Direction (John Rando).
John Arthur Pinckard and Ryan Bogner produce the FringeNYC run.
Visit FringeNYC, or phone (212) 279-4488. La Mama ETC is located at 74 East 4th Street.
