October Babies Unplugged! Kat Georges! Raphael Moser! Susan Scutti! Aug. 24-7:30-East Village

To celebrate Raphael Moser's one year anniversary at online poetry journal October Babies (http://octoberbabies.wordpress.com), we're doing a one-night only reading: October Babies Unplugged! Features include the three OB mainstays—Kat Georges, Raphael Moser & Susan Scutti—PLUS guest poets who have contributed to the journal during its two-year lifespan.

Guest poets? Make that NYC-based poetic luminaries—including Madeline Artenberg, Steve Dalachinsky, Thomas Fucaloro, Robert Mueller, Yuko Otomo, Eve Packer, and George Spencer.

One night only! Tuesday, August 24, 7:30 pm at Bar Ten-Eleven (171 Ave. C, btwn 10th & 11th). Great venue—and it's FREE!

About October Babies: October Babies began in December 2008 with weekly contributions from Susan Scutti and Kat Georges. In August 2009, Raphael Moser joined as a weekly contributor. The goal of the publication is for each of the main contributors to write and post a new poem-in-progress every week, to keep creative juices flowing and allow for commentary on work as it is being developed. Sprinkled between the weekly contributor's work are the poems of guest poets, curated by Scutti. For more information, email lunarmind@gmail.com (please include October Babies in the subject line).

And be sure to visit October Babies online at http://octoberbabies.wordpress.com) to read, comment & contribute your poetry!

Poet and Alzheimers Activist Gary Glazner On Tap at Cornelia St. Cafe Friday, Aug. 20th

FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2010

6 PM | CORNELIA STREET CAFE

SON OF A PONY POETRY SERIES

Featured poet

GARY GLAZNER

PLUS

NYC's Best Open POETRY Mike

Hosted by

Kat Georges

Gary Glazner is the founder and Executive Director of the Alzheimer's Poetry Project, (APP). The National Endowment for the Arts listed the APP as a “best practice” for their Arts and Aging initiative. NBC's “Today” show, NPR's “All Things Considered” and Voice of America have featured segments on Glazner’s work. Harper Collins, W.W. Norton and Salon.com have published his work. In 2010, the U.S. Embassy is funding a pilot project for the APP in Germany. To date the APP has held programming in 20 states and served over 10,000 living with dementia. More info at www.alzpoetry.org.

The featured reading follows the fabulous Son of a Pony open reading at the cafe. Poet/rocker/mistress of ceremonies Kat Georges hosts. Doors open at 5:45 p.m.; the open reading begins at 6 p.m. Admission is $7, which includes a free drink.

Cornelia Street Cafe is at 29 Cornelia Street, between W. 4th Street & Bleecker, just around the corner from the W. 4th Street subway station. Phone: 212-989-9319. www.corneliastreetcafe.com

Photo credit: Mike McGee

Den of Thieves by Stephen Adly Guirgis Opens Thur Aug. 29th at NYC's Chernuchin Theater

Den of Thieves, the hysterical dark farce by Stephen Adly Guirgis, gets its NYC revival starting Thursday, Aug. 19 at Chernuchin Theater, 314 54th St. (btwn 8th & 9th Ave.). Presented by Glen Hagen Theatrical, and directed by David Triacca, the cast features Michelle Cox, Wesley Curtis, Ralph John (RJ) Lucci, Giovanni Rho, Julia Sun, Chris Triana, and TRP's own Peter Carlaftes as "The Big Tuna."

In this outrageous comedy, Paul and Maggie meet at a 12-step program for shoplifting addicts. Flaco, Maggie's ex-boyfriend, and Boochie, a topless dancer and Flaco's girlfriend, convince Paul and Maggie to join them for one last "easy" score of $750,000 in unprotected drug money. Oops. Things go totally wrong and they end up as prisoners in The Big Tuna's basement, engaging in madcap verbal gymnastics to set things straight--and get the hell out of there.

The play was first presented to rave reviews in 1996 at The LAByrinth Theater (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jon Ortiz, Artistic Directors). According to the L.A. Times, Den of Thieves "unfolds with cracklinc comic propulsion and a screwball sweetness as unexpected as it is welcome . . . thoroughly impressive . . ."

Den of Thieves opens Thursday August 19 and runs thru August 29th, Tuesday thru Friday at 8 pm; Saturday 2 pm & 8 pm, and Sunday 2 pm & 7 pm. Closing day, Sunday, August 29 is 2pm show only.

Tickets, priced $24-$30, are available by visiting www.smarttix.com or by calling (212) 868-4444. The American Theater of Actors, The Chernuchin Theatre, is located on the 2nd floor of 314 West 54th Street. For more information visit www.denofthievesnyc.com.

Beat Constellations: Tributes to Neal Cassady, Jack Micheline, Bob Kaufman & more: Wed. Aug. 18, 6 pm @ Cornelia St. Cafe

This annual event celebrates the works, artistic & cultural contributions of numerous later Beat era luminaries, read by contemporary poets. High energy talented performers tonight, so hold onto your hats!

Neal Cassady- Big Mike
Herbert Hunke- Zoe Artemis
Jack Micheline- Zack King-Smith
Mary Norbert Korte- Puma Perl
Bob Kaufman- Yvon Cormier
Ray Bremser- George Wallace
Janine Pommy Vega- Kat Georges
Dan Propper- Barbara Ann Branca

Another session of the George Wallace Poetry Explosion!!

Be there! Doors open at 5:45 pm. Show starts at 6. $7 admission.
Cornelia St. Cafe, 29 Cornelia St. Between W. 4th St. & Bleecker. 212-989-9319. http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com/

Cure for Summertime Blues: Theater, Poetry & Rock this Sat., Aug. 14 at Parkside Lounge (LES)

This Saturday, Aug. 14, Three Rooms Press presents a sizzling book launch for Peter Carlaftes' latest release, Triumph for Rent: 3 Plays, which will feature a torrid New York premiere of his uproarious play, Spin-Dry, along with poetry and live music.

"Spin-Dry" is a rollicking comedy anchored at Second Wind: A designer celebrity rehab center, set smack-dab in the 90s, where MTV mavens rub elbows with rockers and movie stars. The wild ride features Sara Kinetic (her mom died at Altamont; her dad in outer space), as she weaves her way through trysts and turns to get back on top of her game. The play stars Puma Perl, David DeCuir, Natalie Rose, Max Carlaftes, Kat Georges & Peter Carlaftes.

Also on tap will be sizzling readings from current and upcoming Three Rooms Press authors Jane Ormerod, Matthew Hupert, Thomas Fucaloro, Ryan Buynak, and Ronnie Norpel. In addition, the beloved downtown r'n'b band The JD's (featuring Bob Musial) will round things out with a swinging set of smokin' tunes.

Doors open 6:45. Show starts at 7:00. Tickets $10 at the door. Parkside Lounge is at 317 E. Houston (at Attorney). Reservations: info@threeroomspress.com.

ABOUT PETER CARLAFTES: Peter Carlaftes began his theatrical career on the playgrounds of the Bronx, and after seeing the world, branched out to Manhattan and beyond. He served as artistic director of San Francisco's Marilyn Monroe Memorial Theater from 1993-2000. Nine of his plays have been staged, to critical acclaim, among them Anity, Frontier A-Go-Go, Spin-Dry and Closure. He also created and staged a deconstruction of Knut Hamsun’s classic novel Hunger, and created and starred in a one-man rendition of Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming. He has recently written and performed his solo work, Lenny Bruce: Dead & Well, and starred in numerous Off-Broadway plays including Arsenic & Old Lace and Barefoot in the Park, and will soon be seen in a revival of the 1995 Stephen Adly Guirgis black comedy, Den of Thieves.In 2010, he's authored three books on Three Rooms Press, including A Year on Facebook (humor), DrunkYard Dog (poetry) and Triumph for Rent: 3 Plays.

ABOUT THREE ROOMS PRESS: Since 1993, Three Rooms Press has been a leading voice in the independent poetry, literature and dramatic fields, publishing more than 30 books of poetry, theater, and literary fiction, with a focus on the work of the best current New York underground writers. In addition, Three Rooms Press produces and promotes a variety of events; in the past 16 years it has staged more than 400 events in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Las Vegas and Europe.

This Friday: Poet Peter Chelnik Rides the Son of a Pony at Cornelia Street

AUGUST 6, 2010

6 PM | CORNELIA STREET CAFE

SON OF A PONY POETRY SERIES

Featured poet

PETER CHELNIK

joined by tenor sax Bob Feldman

PLUS

NYC's Best Open POETRY Mike

with your host

Kat Georges

Peter Chelnik's books include Railroad Heart, East Coast Line, Manhattan Wilderness, Eternity Road and Wildflower Serenade. He has had seven plays produced Off-Off-Broadway. These dramatic works include Street Rag, Prairie Fire, Parking Lot, Moving Target, Scarsdale Station and Tremont Vortex. Peter has also written Trick Bag, a novel of the 1960's. And yes, he does believe "the word will set you free." His latest book is STRAWBERRY HARMONY New Poems (Little Sky Press, March 2010).

The featured reading follows the fabulous Son of a Pony open reading at the cafe. Poet and innovative mistress of ceremonies Kat Georges hosts. Doors open at 5:45 p.m.; the open reading begins at 6 p.m. Admission is $7, which includes a free drink.

Cornelia Street Cafe is at 29 Cornelia Street, between W. 4th Street & Bleecker, just around the corner from the W. 4th Street subway station. Phone: 212-989-9319. www.corneliastreetcafe.com