Ten Questions. Ten Answers. And one Big Surprise in the audience …

CSI: Mayberry – An Unauthorized Parody
produced by Sour Grapes Productions

A grisly string of murders has come to the town of Mayberry, and it’s up to Andy and Barney to figure out who’s to blame from a list of familiar faces.

Show  Info:

• Tue Feb 16, 2016 10:30PM
• Sat Feb 20, 2016 3:20PM
• Tue Feb 23, 2016 10:30PM
• Sun Feb 28, 2016 5:10PM
• Thu Mar 03, 2016 7:10PM

Kraine Theater New York, NY $18

Answers by Genny Yosco
(playwright, director, co-producer, actor)

1. Forget the PR version. When you’re talking to your friends, how do you explain this show to them?
GENNY: “Hey, remember that weird thing that my mom and I came up with after putting together a children’s show in a week last August? The thing where EVERYONE DIES in The Andy Griffith Show? Well, that’s happening for real now, it got into a festival.”

2. Here’s a scenario: After the show some audience members go have a drink.  What’s the part of the show you hope they’re discussing?
GENNY: I hope that the fans of The Andy Griffith Show are discussing some of the in-jokes from the TV show (Floyd the Gay Deceiver! Ellie Walker’s mysterious disappearance! The Fun Girls!), and that those who aren’t particularly familiar with the original TV show are discussing some of the weird things I threw in (Barney went full bad-cop on that guy! What lunatic wrote this??)

3. What drives your show – character, theme or plot?
GENNY: Is “my desperate need for attention” an acceptable answer? Haha, but really, I’d say the decision to throw these characters – who aren’t exactly known for their prowess in law enforcement – into a real, dangerous, grisly situation is what drives most of the plot.

4. In rehearsals, read-thrus, or prior incarnations, what’s the one thing someone said about the show so far that made you (or the team) the most proud?
GENNY: One thing I’d like to say first and foremost is that I’m a bit of a masochist when it comes to my work: we haven’t done this show before (first performance is at a festival – pressure!!), and we’ll only be doing one week of rehearsals (MORE PRESSURE), but I’m more than confident that my cast can pull it off. But to actually answer your question, one thing that made me proud so far was the cast’s reactions to the script. After tossing and turning with it so much, the script I sent out to them was actually written in two days, and they all seem to think that it’s pretty good, so we’ll see if audiences agree!

5. If money and resources (and even reality) were no object what is the most lavish, luxurious, pointless prop, costume, effect – anything – that you would spend money on for this show?
GENNY: Blood. SO much blood. Stage blood, though, not like real blood, I’m not THAT creepy. But yeah, I’d pretty much have everyone coated head-to-toe in blood when they die. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but can you think of the dry-cleaning expenses?? And a few of my actors play more than one character, so the cleanup process would involve a more than a few people hired backstage to help out with that.

6. What’s the one thing you’re looking forward to regarding the FRIGID Festival itself?
GENNY: Okay, so there’s this one other show at the festival that I’ve been freaking out over – Li’l Women, A Rap Musical. It seems like something I’d do, haha! I really want to see all of the other shows!! I’m also excited for the theater that they put us in – it’s the biggest theater we’ve ever worked in! Plus getting into a festival is SUCH a cool thing, I still really can’t believe it. I know you asked for one thing, and that’s two, sorry. I ramble.

7. Is there a scene, a moment, a gesture … anything at all in the show that you anticipate may get a completely different reaction depending on the audience that night?
GENNY: There are two moments in this show that could either go REALLY well, or tank miserably depending on the audience! I don’t want to give too much away, but I feel like some people could either really appreciate what I’ve done, or get horribly offended.

8. What’s your favorite line from the show?
GENNY: “And her owning some kind of…or food-based whore house? Andy, whoever thought up a story like that would CLEARLY be out of their mind.”

9. What’s the last thing you usually do before the beginning of a show?
GENNY: Panic over the audience. During our Halloween show, I was panicking over how the audience was only half filled, and during our New Year’s Eve show, I was panicking over the fact that so many people bought tickets that we had to add seats to the audience to accommodate them all. It’s always something, haha.

10. You scan the audience and you see a face that stops you dead in your tracks – who is it? And why are you shocked?
GENNY: Andy Griffith. Why is he here? Who invited him? Is he going to try to sue us??

Well, I’ve got great news for you, Genny – he’s not going to sue you because he died in 2012.  No wonder you’re so shocked to see him! But if you DID see him out there I’d say it’s because he thought, after reading this 1o Things To Know feature, that it sounded like a terrific show that he just couldn’t miss! Thanks so much for answering our questions, Genny!

The rest of you – don’t forget to check out CSI: Mayberry – An Unauthorized Parody

 -*-*-

Horse Trade Theater Group will present the 10th Annual FRIGID New York Festival at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4^th Street between 2^nd Avenue and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1^st Avenue and Avenue A) February 16-March 6. All shows run 60 minutes, or less. Tickets are available for purchase in advance at http://www.horsetrade.info/  

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