No.11 Productions in Association with FRINGENYC Presents QUESTFOR THE WEST: Adventures On The Oregon Trail! An Interactive Musical Comedy

Book by Julie Congress, Ryan Emmons, Zachary Fithian and Jed Neads

Music and Lyrics by Rebecca Greenstein and Danny Tieger
Directed by Ryan Emmons

August 11-26, 2012 – Five Performances
Sat. 8/11 @ 7:00pm
Fri. 8/17 @ 5:30pm
Tues. 8/21 @ 2:00pm
Sat. 8/25 @ 7:00pm
Sun. 8/26 @ 5:30pm

Runtime: 90 minutes, no intermission

Venue #3 – Theatre 80 St. Marks Place
80 St. Marks Place, NYC 10003

The New York International Fringe Festival – FringeNYC
A production of The Present Company
August 10th – 29th
Tickets: $15-$18. For tickets visit http://www.fringenyc.org/basic_page.php?ltr=Q#Questf

Visit www.no11productions.com for more information!

No.11 Production in association with FringeNYC presents Quest for the West: Adventures on the Oregon Trail!, an interactive musical comedy.  Part of the 16th annual New York International Fringe Festival, the production will be held at Venue 3: Theatre 80 St. Marks Place, 80 St. Marks Place, New York, NY 10003 for five performances from August 11-26, 2012. Ryan Emmons directs a cast of six, including John Bambery, Julie Congress, Steven Conroy, Haley Greenstein, Scott Johnson (SaratogaArtsFest/FringeNYC), Maxwell Schneller.

1848. Oregon fever has swept the nation. Jebediah and his wagon party embark on a 2,000-mile journey West.  On the trail, the party encounters a river (how will they cross it? You decide…it’s interactive!), animals to hunt (“get out your balls, it’s time to go hunting”), prickly pear cacti (help them jump over these dangerous succulents!) and the ever present danger of dwindling water rations…and dysentery!  Along their quest, the pioneers’ journey is filled with more than dirt trails.  Romance develops; deep secrets & betrayals are revealed; and Jebediah’s darkness gets…darker.

This musical comedy is a scored interactive game for the audience which works together as a team to determine the events that occur.  Play well and you may just make it onto the Top 10 Score Board!  2,000 miles.  90 minutes. 11 songs.  8 games.  6 characters.

From Writer/Director Ryan Emmons
“We’re used to games and apps at our fingertips on a daily basis – this musical leans into those sensibilities, but the laughter and interaction that come along with live theatre could never be achieved on a computer screen. Manifest Destiny and the courage of the pioneers remind us of the outrageous trek men and women took west, our ability to make our own opportunities and the notion that it is in working (and playing) together that extraordinary things can be achieved.”

Quest for the West: Adventures on the Oregon Trail! plays for five performances from August 11 through 26 as follows:  Sat. 8/11 @ 7:00pm; Fri. 8/17 @ 5:30pm; Tues. 8/21 @ 2:00pm; Sat. 8/25 @ 7:00pm; Sun. 8/26 @ 5:30pm.

Quest for the West: Adventures on the Oregon Trail! is presented by No.11 Productions.  Director: Ryan Emmons;Musical Director: Enrico de Trizio; Assistant Music Directors: Ryan Buchanan & Jonathan Breit; Incidental Music: Steve Goodwin; Props Designer: Jennifer Neads;Visual Art: Jen Neads; Costume Designer: Julie Congress;Lighting and Set Designer: Ryan Hauenstein; Additional Choreography: Olivia Wingerath; Stage Manager: Lauren Byrd; Video Trailer: Lauren Byrd; Publicist: Paul Siebold/Off Off PR.

Ryan Emmons (Book/Director) is a founding member and Co-Artistic Director of No.11 Productions.  Directing credits with No.11 Productions include Coosje, A Christmas Carol, Medea, MythUnderstood and Jet of Blood.  Most recently, Ryan was the SDC Observer for Ghost the Musical on Broadway.  Ryan has directed projects for Home Made Theatre (NY), Kentucky Repertory Theatre (KY) and Columbia University (NY).  He is Chapter Co-Director of the New York Educational Theatre Association and has studied at both the British American Drama Academy and the Royal Shakespeare Company.  Ryan holds a BS in Theatre from Skidmore College.

No.11 Productions is a non-profit 501(c)3 theatre company committed to revealing the strength of the human spirit and the importance of hope.  Founded in 2008 by graduates of Skidmore College, No.11 has had productions in The New York International Fringe Festival, FRIGID New York, the Band of Puppets Festival, the Capital Fringe Festival and the Saratoga ArtsFest. The company received a grant from the Puffin Foundation in 2010 for a community production of Aristophanes’ Assemblywomen. No.11’s Quest for the West: Adventures on the Oregon Trail!, MythUnderstood and A Christmas Carol were guest productions at the Kentucky Repertory Theatre in 2011.  For more information, visit www.no11productions.com.

Advance tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at http://www.fringenyc.org/basic_page.php?ltr=Q#Questf, by phone at 866-468-7619 up to 24 hours before the show, in person at FringeCENTRAL (1 East 8th Street at Fifth Avenue) from 12n-8pm beginning July 20th.  Tickets are $18 at the door and can be purchased 15 minutes before each performance (cash only) at Venue #3: Theatre 80 St. Marks Place.

Venue #3: Theatre 80 St. Marks Place is located at 80 St. Marks Place, NYC 10003. Take the “F” train to 2nd Avenue, the “B”/“D” to Grand Street, or the “J”/”Z” to Bowery.

The run time is 90 minutes with no intermission.

Past praise for Quest for the West

“In all honesty, this is one of the cleverest new musicals that I have seen in years!” – Lauren Honeycutt, MD Theatre Guide

“Musical hilarity” – J. Jordan, nytheatre.com

“Teaches the lesson that if we persevere, the experiences of our journey will help mold us into the people we want to be.” – Stephen Tortora-Lee, The Happiest Medium