Fresh Fruit Festival

The Fresh Fruit Festival is a New York summer arts festival featuring the work of LGBT artists. Held every July, the festival was founded by Carol Polcovar in 2003 and sponsored by All Out Arts and New Village Productions. It is currently a program of All Out Arts a 501c3 organization. It includes a wide range of plays, visual arts, dance, and film presentations. Along with the Hot! Festival, it is among the most prominent LGBT-themed festivals in the New York artistic community. Fresh Fruit Festival enters its 10th year in 2011. Carol Polcovar held the position of Artistic Director of the festival for the past seven year. Frank Calo a long time Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway producer is the current Artistic Director. Fresh Fruit Festival is the only grassroots multidiscipline LGBT Arts Festival in NYC, growing not from a theater group but from LGBT political activists seeking to fight homophobia through the arts.

Past Festivals

Performing Fruits 2007

Special Events

Can't Prove It On Me: A Benefit for Fresh Fruit and the Musicians of New Orleans, honoring LGBT Jazz Greats Featuring Rome Neal, ButtaFly Soul, Linda Oh, Laraine Goodman, and Jolie Garrett.

Going Bananas II: A Night with the funniest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Comics Hosted by Murray Hill

The Art Of Drag: Hosted by Clover Honey Featuring The Church Ladies For Choice, Samantha Richards, Jacqueline Jonee, Radical Faeries, Millie Shayntwrite, and Lady Maria Chaste Diva

Theatre

Fading To Grey by Richarf A. Pettey
Mentor by John S. Green
Monroe Bound by Lucile Scott
The Long Ride Home by Robert Gompers
William & James by Robert Tsonos

Short Plays and Performance Art

Love Scenes by David Pumo
The Naked Dead Elephant In The Middle Of The Room by Larson Rose
Lay Down and Love Me Again
Striped & Teased by Kimberly Dark
Debutantes Balls by Scott Turner Schofield
A. Gender by Joey Hateley

Poetry/Spoken Word

LeShaun Lovell
Buttafly Soul
Ainsley Drew

Visual Arts

Mariette Pathy-Allen
Isaiah Shackelford
John Sages
Daniel L. Malisky

Dance

Agnes De Garon
Buttafly Soul

Performing Fruits 2006

Special Events

CAVALCADE OF FRUITS at the Slipper Room: SONGS FROM A FRUIT RICH SOUL: Featuring a world of musical imagination with MC: ButtaFlySoul and David Brown, Lisa Jackson and Kathy Valentine with Anne Rebold. FRUITS: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE: Highlights from this year’s festival and a look at the best of past performances.

TWO SPIRIT EVENING: Celebrating of the First LGBT People on our Continent • Produced by Robert Urban • Featuring Georgie Jessup, Roger Kuhn, John Birdsong, Maurice Kenny and honoring Kent Lebostock recipient of the Fresh Fruit Award for Service to Diversity

Theatre

Why'd Ya Make Me Wear That, Joe? by Vanda
To Whom It May Concern by Aurin Squire
My Mother Told Me I Was Different by Carol Polcovar

Short Plays and Performance Art

Tokyo Penguin
Stories From the Big House by Robin Cloud
Real Smiles by Jon Spano
The Bottom Line: Sex Politics and Masturbation by JEN/ed and Jen De Wald

Poetry

FRESH FRUIT and WE 3 PRODUCTIONS present PURE POETRY at the TELEPHONE BAR
- Producer and Host: Robert Urban
- Poets: baron, Tami Beyer, Angelina Lim, Thomas March, Richard Loringer, Amy Ouzoonian, Jack Sheeler, Chavisa Woods, Tamiko Beyer, Robert Urban, Chocolate Waters

Film and Video

OUT TO THE MOVIES

Queer Duck: The Movie - created by Mike Riess and directed by Xieth Feinberg
Bright Lights/Out City - produced and directed by Tony Sawicki and featuring Clover Honey

Dance

Outsider Dancing pieces choreographed by Chelsea Ellis and Sean Dorsey

Development (Play Readings)

The File on Ryan Carter by David Gaard
ATA by Nick Mwaluko

Performing Fruits 2005

Musicals, Musical Revues, Cabaret Performance

Ain't We Got Fun by Micheal McFaden
What's Your Problem by Hector Coris and Paul L. Johnson
Fresh Fruit Cocktail curated and directed by Bob Ost
The Girl That I Marry, Elaine St. George

Plays

Waafrika by Nanna Mwaluko
Pen Pals by Barbara Kahn
Somewhere in Between by Ronny Almog

Performance Pieces and Short Plays

The Pamachene Belle by Carolyn Gage featuring Leslie Bernadini
Calamity Jane Writes a Letter To Her Daughter by Carolyn Gage with Leslie Bernadini
Diagnosis Jew Pain written and performed by Michael Feldman
Tender Hooks written and performed by Paige Collette
Low Brow written and performed by Pedro Angel Serrano

Poetry and Literature

Fruit ala Mode curated by Vittoria repetto
Donna Mikowitz reads from her new work

Multi-Media

Somewhere in Between, Ronnie Almog
From Brooklyn to Maui, Ayin Adams

Musical Performance (without book)

Trans/Gender/ Rock/ Explosion curated by Robert Urban presented by Fresh Fruit and
Urban Productions with Lisa Jackson and her band Girl Friday, Georgie Jessup, Temptress and Vibralux

Spoken Word

Homo Hip Hop Poetry Jam 2 curated by baron, MC ButtaFlySoul

Video

From Brooklyn to Maui, Ayin Adams

Visual Art

Fresh Fruit installation at Blue Heron Arts Center’s Mainstage by Nick Curto

Performing Fruits 2004

PLAYS

In the Shadow of a Dream by John Adams directed by Alec Harrington
Getting It written and directed by Kevin Jones

PERFORMANCE AND SHORT PLAYS

Tea and Torniquets written and performed by Keith Angora
Albee Damned by Kevin Brofsky
Cucumber Dreams written and performed by Michael Cross Burke
Bad Habits (Lesbian Nun Tells All) written and performed by Kelli Duham
Daring and Divine written and performed by Beth Smulyan
Skinny Isn’t Sexy written and performed by Elizabeth Whitney
TIMEBOMB written and performed by Derek Zasky

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

Justin Tranter, singer and songwriter
Jenn Lindsay, singer and songwriter
Nhojj, singer and songwriter
sean360x, vocalist and performance artiste
Deina McBryde, vocalist

POETRY

Susan Sherman
Rachel Guido deVries
Jennifer Foltesor
Beatrix Gates
Gale Jackson
Vittoria Repetto
ButtaFlySoul
Maurice Jamal
sean360x
Kyana Brindle
Claudia Alick
Prince Chulo
Lorraine Sabine

COMEDY

Pedro Angel Serrano

DANCE

Experienca Dance Company, Jade Esteban Estrada choreographer

Performing Fruits 2003