 As the very first production of New York City’s 2026 Fresh Fruit Festival on Monday, April 20th, Dennis Bush’s The Sloppy Abandon of Excavated Love had high expectations. Indeed, the play met this challenge with flying (rainbow flag) colors. Directed by Lester Thomas Shane, the comedy-drama offers an intimate look at four openly gay men whose lives are intertwined not only personally, but also via the trajectory of gay male history through the last five decades. If that sounds like an overly grand description, I assure you it’s not. The different ages of the characters affect their personalities, their outlooks on their own lives, and how they interact with each other. When one of the 35-ish characters makes a musical theater reference that the 20-something man doesn’t understand, it’s one of the funniest and also most realistic moments in the show. (The audience, for the record, got the reference!) Aaron (John Trindl) is Generation Z. Kelvin (Mark-Eugene Garcia) is Generation X. Marcus (Chris Ikner) and Jason (Collin Hendley) are somewhere in between. There is also the voice of yet another generation making his presence known in The Sloppy Abandon of Excavated Love— but more about that later…
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 New Comedy “With Bated Breath” to Set Lower East Side Ablaze this April
Powerhouse Playwright Mark-Eugene Garcia presents another clever work at FRIGID NY NEW YORK, NY — This spring, the quiet, conservative town of Virgin, Minnesota, is about to get a very loud, very public wake-up call. The world premiere of With Bated Breath, a riotous new comedy exploring what happens when a “purity-first” town accidentally inhales a cloud of high-potency sexual enhancers comes to FRIGID NY. The production runs from April 24 through May 3, 2026, at the legendary Under St. Marks theater under Manhattan.  With Bated Breath, a new comedy by Mark-Eugene Garcia, will make its world premiere at Under St. Marks with a limited run as part of FRIGID NY.
 The New York Premiere of Mark-Eugene Garcia's comedy With Bated Breath will run at Frigid New York this spring. Welcome to Virgin, Minnesota-a town so stuck in its ways that even the cows might be celibate. Mayor Frankie is determined to save the town from economic doom by bringing in a new factory, run by the brilliant but no-nonsense Dr. Corazon De La Fuente. But here's the twist: the factory manufactures sexual enhancement pills, and it doesn't take long before things start to get... steamy. Just as the townsfolk are warming up to the idea of jobs, an accident sends a mysterious cloud of sex-enhancing mist floating through Virgin. Now, the once-uptight residents are overcome with desire, and all their repressed urges start bubbling up like a Midwestern hot dish left on high. Under the watchful (and hilariously judgmental) eye of Old Lady Warner, the whole town is turned upside down as everyone deals with newfound lust, confusion, and a whole lot of awkward conversations. "With Bated Breath" is a laugh-out-loud romp about how one small town gets a big dose of hormones and learns to loosen up-ready or not! The production is directed by Rodrigo Ernesto Bolaños. The cast includes Federico Mallet Flores as Oliver Cox/Gunner Warner, Dylan Glick as Ulaf Anderson/Mona Lurie, Matthew Penalva as Mayor Frankie, Duncan Pflaster as Pastor Johnson, Martha Lorena Preve as Dr. Corazon De La Fuente, Erin Solér as What's Her Face/Randy Johnson, and Kirstin Wolf as Old Lady Warner/Blondie Peterson. The production is produced by Aaron Clark Burstein, stage managed by Tori Oatway, with scenic design and props by Adrian Walker, intimacy coordination by Katie Royse Ginther, and costume design by Tearzah Rai. Performances are on April 24th, April 25th, May 1st, and May 2nd at 7pm and April 26th and May 3rd at 2pm. |
Mark-Eugene GarciaWriter/Actor/Storyteller. Theatre Maker. Husband. Bad Hombre. Cat Taunter. ContentsArchives
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