Fat Cat Killers
Written by Adam Szymkowicz
Directed by Andrew Block
Apr. 24 - May 17
Holy Luigi Mangione! Prescient Black Revenge Comedy
Sparkplug Productions in association with Thin Duke Productions and The Gene
Frankel Theater present the New York Premiere of FAT CAT KILLERS, an eerily
prescient black comedy about corporate greed by ADAM SZYMKOWICZ (Clown Bar,
Marian Or The True Tale of Robin Hood, Kodachrome, Deflowering Waldo, Hearts Like
Fists) that was penned long before Luigi Mangione made international headlines.
Directed by Ovation and L.A. Drama Critics Circle award-winner ANDREW BLOCK
(who recently helmed the acclaimed premiere of Adam Szymkowicz' Clown Bar 2),
previews begin April 24 at The Gene Frankel Theater, with opening slated for Thursday,
May 1.
In FAT CAT KILLERS Michael and Steve have just gotten laid off. So they have decided
to kidnap the CEO of the company who laid them off.
FAT CAT KILLERS stars CHRISTOPHER LEE (Adam Szymkowicz’ Clown Bar 2,
recurring roles on One Life to Live, All My Children, and As the World Turns), DAVID
CARL (Gary Busey's One-Man Hamlet, Trump Lear, David and Katie Get Re-Married,
The Awesome 80s Prom, Point Break LIVE!) and PHILIP CRUISE (Final Boarding Call
with Ma-Yi, Refuse with Gemini Collisionworks). The production team includes
REBEKKAH ROSS (Production Manager), SCOTT FETTERMAN (Production Designer)
and TONY LEPORE (Stage Manager, Sound Design).
FAT CAT KILLERS runs April 24 - May 17 with performances Wednesdays and
Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sunday, April 27 at 5pm.
The Gene Frankel Theater is located at 24 Bond Street in the East Village.
Tickets are
$35, available at www.sparkplugproductions.com.
_________________
ADAM SZYMKOWICZ’s plays have been produced throughout the U.S., and in
Canada, England, Wales, The Isle of Man, Ireland, Scotland, The Netherlands, New
Zealand, Australia, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Turkey, Switzerland, South Korea,
Thailand, Sweden, Austria, Slovenia, Malaysia and Lithuania. His work has been
presented or developed at such places as Portland Center Stage, MCC Theater, Ars
Nova, South Coast Rep, Playwrights Horizons, LCT3, LAByrinth Theater Company, The
Lark, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Primary Stages and The New Group, among
others. Published plays include Deflowering Waldo, Pretty Theft, Food For Fish, Hearts
Like Fists, Hearts Like Planets, Incendiary, The Why Overhead, Adventures of Super
Margaret, 7 Ways To Say I Love You, Rare Birds, Marian Or The True Tale of Robin
Hood, Kodachrome, Clown Bar, Clown Bar 2, Clown Bar Christmas, Mercy, The
Bookstore, Old Fashioned Cold Fusion, The Parking Lot, The Night Children, The
Wooden Heart, Stockholm Syndrome, When Jack Met Jill, Heart of Snow, Christmas
Tree Farm, 100 Things I Never Said To You, 100 Love Letters I Never Sent and Nerve.
His plays are published by Dramatists Play Service, Concord/Samuel French,
Playscripts, Broadway Play Publishing, Theatrical Rights Worldwide, Stage Partners
and Original Works Publishing, and are featured in numerous Smith and Kraus and
Applause books. His monologue book, Small Explosions came out from Applause in
early 2023. His book on playwriting, Letters to a Young Playwright comes out from
Applause in fall of 2024. He has been to The Orchard Project, Green Gulch,
Theatre4ThePeople’s the Barn and to JAW at Portland Center Stage, served twice as
Playwright in Residence at the William Inge Center, and twice as a Dramatists Guild
Fund’s Traveling Masters. Szymkowicz received two grants from the CT Commission
on Culture & Tourism, and has been commissioned by South Coast Rep, Rising
Phoenix Rep, Texas State University, The NOLA Project, Single Carrot Theater,
Majestic Rep, The Chance Theater, Concord Theatricals/The Educational Theatre
Association and Flux Theater Ensemble. Adam received a Playwright’s Diploma from
The Juilliard School's Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program and an MFA
from Columbia University where he was the Dean’s Fellow. Szymkowicz is a two-time
Lecomte du Nouy Prize winner, a member of the Dramatists Guild, Writer’s Guild of
America, and was a member of Primary Stages’ Dorothy Strelsin New American
Writer’s Group, the MCC Playwright’s Coalition and of the very first Ars Nova Play
Group. He has interviewed over 1100 playwrights on his blog.
ANDREW BLOCK (Director) received the Ovation and L.A. Drama Critics Circle awards
for Best Director & Production for the world premiere of John Pollono’s Small Engine
Repair. Delighted to be working with playwright Adam Szymkowicz and Sparkplug after
last season’s NYC Fringe hit Clown Bar 2 (Audience Choice, Most Fringe
awards). Selected credits include: Kelley Nicole Girod’s This Stretch of
Montpelier & Body of Water (The Fire This Time); Mark Jason Williams’ Straight Faced
Lies & The Other Day (Theatre at 14th St Y); John Pollono's Lost and
Found (FringeNYC Encore, Lucille Lortel Theatre); David Caudle’s Downward Facing
Debbie (World premiere, Paradise Factory); Sondheim’s Company (Gallery
Players); Why Bother? (Best Director, Planet Connections Festivity); Adam
Rapp’s Bingo with the Indians (GLAAD award nomination for Outstanding Theatre, West
Coast premiere); Illuminati (Best Director, Network OAF); Bedroom Farce (FAPC);
Reach (Ivy Theatre Company); Avenue Q (Manhattan College); Inherit the
Wind (Manhattan College); Rumors (AADA); The Shape of Things (Adelphi University);
Recovery (FringeNYC). Andrew also serves as TDF's liaison and representative to
NYC's vibrant Off and Off-Off Broadway community.
SPARKPLUG PRODUCTIONS was founded by Christopher Lee and Rebekkah Ross,
Artistic Directors, to create performance opportunities for artists we believe in. Our goal
is to produce new works utilizing multimedia and to bring artists from different disciplines
together. This cross-pollination of artistic processes creates a cooperative spirit among
artists and fosters collaboration. By working together, we hope to develop a platform
that allows us to break through boundaries and conventions to create new multimedia
works as well as a vibrant community of artists. SparkPlug is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit
organization and donations are tax-deductible. www.sparkplugproductions.com, IG:
@splugnyc
THIN DUKE PRODUCTIONS was founded in 2003 by Philip Cruise, Artistic Director,
with the goal of bringing both classical and original works to the New York City stage for
an affordable price that are accessible to all. The mission has always been to showcase
performers who struggle for a seat at the table due to such classic roadblocks as lack of
representation, momentum, or money. Thin Duke and SparkPlug Productions have
been producing original works as Thin Duke/SparkPlug Productions since the 2018
world premiere of Dean Haspiel’s The Last Bar at the End of the World.
Sparkplug Productions in association with Thin Duke Productions and The Gene
Frankel Theater present the New York Premiere of FAT CAT KILLERS, an eerily
prescient black comedy about corporate greed by ADAM SZYMKOWICZ (Clown Bar,
Marian Or The True Tale of Robin Hood, Kodachrome, Deflowering Waldo, Hearts Like
Fists) that was penned long before Luigi Mangione made international headlines.
Directed by Ovation and L.A. Drama Critics Circle award-winner ANDREW BLOCK
(who recently helmed the acclaimed premiere of Adam Szymkowicz' Clown Bar 2),
previews begin April 24 at The Gene Frankel Theater, with opening slated for Thursday,
May 1.
In FAT CAT KILLERS Michael and Steve have just gotten laid off. So they have decided
to kidnap the CEO of the company who laid them off.
FAT CAT KILLERS stars CHRISTOPHER LEE (Adam Szymkowicz’ Clown Bar 2,
recurring roles on One Life to Live, All My Children, and As the World Turns), DAVID
CARL (Gary Busey's One-Man Hamlet, Trump Lear, David and Katie Get Re-Married,
The Awesome 80s Prom, Point Break LIVE!) and PHILIP CRUISE (Final Boarding Call
with Ma-Yi, Refuse with Gemini Collisionworks). The production team includes
REBEKKAH ROSS (Production Manager), SCOTT FETTERMAN (Production Designer)
and TONY LEPORE (Stage Manager, Sound Design).
FAT CAT KILLERS runs April 24 - May 17 with performances Wednesdays and
Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sunday, April 27 at 5pm.
The Gene Frankel Theater is located at 24 Bond Street in the East Village.
Tickets are
$35, available at www.sparkplugproductions.com.
_________________
ADAM SZYMKOWICZ’s plays have been produced throughout the U.S., and in
Canada, England, Wales, The Isle of Man, Ireland, Scotland, The Netherlands, New
Zealand, Australia, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Turkey, Switzerland, South Korea,
Thailand, Sweden, Austria, Slovenia, Malaysia and Lithuania. His work has been
presented or developed at such places as Portland Center Stage, MCC Theater, Ars
Nova, South Coast Rep, Playwrights Horizons, LCT3, LAByrinth Theater Company, The
Lark, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Primary Stages and The New Group, among
others. Published plays include Deflowering Waldo, Pretty Theft, Food For Fish, Hearts
Like Fists, Hearts Like Planets, Incendiary, The Why Overhead, Adventures of Super
Margaret, 7 Ways To Say I Love You, Rare Birds, Marian Or The True Tale of Robin
Hood, Kodachrome, Clown Bar, Clown Bar 2, Clown Bar Christmas, Mercy, The
Bookstore, Old Fashioned Cold Fusion, The Parking Lot, The Night Children, The
Wooden Heart, Stockholm Syndrome, When Jack Met Jill, Heart of Snow, Christmas
Tree Farm, 100 Things I Never Said To You, 100 Love Letters I Never Sent and Nerve.
His plays are published by Dramatists Play Service, Concord/Samuel French,
Playscripts, Broadway Play Publishing, Theatrical Rights Worldwide, Stage Partners
and Original Works Publishing, and are featured in numerous Smith and Kraus and
Applause books. His monologue book, Small Explosions came out from Applause in
early 2023. His book on playwriting, Letters to a Young Playwright comes out from
Applause in fall of 2024. He has been to The Orchard Project, Green Gulch,
Theatre4ThePeople’s the Barn and to JAW at Portland Center Stage, served twice as
Playwright in Residence at the William Inge Center, and twice as a Dramatists Guild
Fund’s Traveling Masters. Szymkowicz received two grants from the CT Commission
on Culture & Tourism, and has been commissioned by South Coast Rep, Rising
Phoenix Rep, Texas State University, The NOLA Project, Single Carrot Theater,
Majestic Rep, The Chance Theater, Concord Theatricals/The Educational Theatre
Association and Flux Theater Ensemble. Adam received a Playwright’s Diploma from
The Juilliard School's Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program and an MFA
from Columbia University where he was the Dean’s Fellow. Szymkowicz is a two-time
Lecomte du Nouy Prize winner, a member of the Dramatists Guild, Writer’s Guild of
America, and was a member of Primary Stages’ Dorothy Strelsin New American
Writer’s Group, the MCC Playwright’s Coalition and of the very first Ars Nova Play
Group. He has interviewed over 1100 playwrights on his blog.
ANDREW BLOCK (Director) received the Ovation and L.A. Drama Critics Circle awards
for Best Director & Production for the world premiere of John Pollono’s Small Engine
Repair. Delighted to be working with playwright Adam Szymkowicz and Sparkplug after
last season’s NYC Fringe hit Clown Bar 2 (Audience Choice, Most Fringe
awards). Selected credits include: Kelley Nicole Girod’s This Stretch of
Montpelier & Body of Water (The Fire This Time); Mark Jason Williams’ Straight Faced
Lies & The Other Day (Theatre at 14th St Y); John Pollono's Lost and
Found (FringeNYC Encore, Lucille Lortel Theatre); David Caudle’s Downward Facing
Debbie (World premiere, Paradise Factory); Sondheim’s Company (Gallery
Players); Why Bother? (Best Director, Planet Connections Festivity); Adam
Rapp’s Bingo with the Indians (GLAAD award nomination for Outstanding Theatre, West
Coast premiere); Illuminati (Best Director, Network OAF); Bedroom Farce (FAPC);
Reach (Ivy Theatre Company); Avenue Q (Manhattan College); Inherit the
Wind (Manhattan College); Rumors (AADA); The Shape of Things (Adelphi University);
Recovery (FringeNYC). Andrew also serves as TDF's liaison and representative to
NYC's vibrant Off and Off-Off Broadway community.
SPARKPLUG PRODUCTIONS was founded by Christopher Lee and Rebekkah Ross,
Artistic Directors, to create performance opportunities for artists we believe in. Our goal
is to produce new works utilizing multimedia and to bring artists from different disciplines
together. This cross-pollination of artistic processes creates a cooperative spirit among
artists and fosters collaboration. By working together, we hope to develop a platform
that allows us to break through boundaries and conventions to create new multimedia
works as well as a vibrant community of artists. SparkPlug is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit
organization and donations are tax-deductible. www.sparkplugproductions.com, IG:
@splugnyc
THIN DUKE PRODUCTIONS was founded in 2003 by Philip Cruise, Artistic Director,
with the goal of bringing both classical and original works to the New York City stage for
an affordable price that are accessible to all. The mission has always been to showcase
performers who struggle for a seat at the table due to such classic roadblocks as lack of
representation, momentum, or money. Thin Duke and SparkPlug Productions have
been producing original works as Thin Duke/SparkPlug Productions since the 2018
world premiere of Dean Haspiel’s The Last Bar at the End of the World.