DESPERATELY SEEKING THE EXIT Extends Through 6/10

Writer/performer Peter Michael Marino presents a comic autopsy on his $6 million West End musical fiasco Desperately Seeking Susan in DESPERATELY SEEKING THE EXIT. Directed by Obie Award winner John Clancy, performances of this solo tell-all comedy run through May 18 at the Triple Crown Underground with newly added shows June 3 & 10 at The PIT Underground. The American premiere will be followed by the West Coat Premiere at the Bang Studio in LA, the UK premiere in Manchester, England presented by VertiGo Productions and a run at the 2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

In 2007, American playwright Peter Michael Marino wrote a musical based on the film “Desperately Seeking Susan” featuring the music of Blondie. It opened on London’s West End…and closed a month later. DESPERATELY SEEKING THE EXIT offers a behind-the-scenes peek at how this £4 million musical was made and unmade: hatching the idea, deals with MGM, Debbie Harry and even Madonna; the workshops, the previews, the scathing reviews and the closing night. Once you’re in, there’s no way out!

Peter Michael Marino is a writer, actor, director and teacher. He received the 2010 and 2011 Backstage Reader’s Choice Award for Favorite Comedy Teacher for his acclaimed “Flying Solo” classes at The PIT. He also received the Back Stage Bistro Award for his cabaret spoof, Lance Jonathan: More About Me! He is the co-writer of the lesbian pulp homage Hollywood Nurses. He has directed and developed shows with Delilah Dix (Ars Nova, Laurie Beechman Theatre and Edinburgh Fringe), Mark Giordano’s Mad Man (The PIT), Sheila Head’s Head Games (IO West, Ars Nova), and Alicia Levy’s Chickapalooza (The PIT, Ars Nova). As a performer, he appeared in STOMP for five years off-Broadway and on tour, as well as in numerous regional productions and workshops.

John Clancy is an Obie Award-winning director, playwright, and a partner in Clancy Productions, an acclaimed international theatrical touring and Production Company. He is the founding Artistic Director of The Present Company and a founding Artistic Director of The New York International Fringe Festival. He has directed six Scotsman Fringe First winning productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including Americana Absurdum (Brian Parks), Cincinnati (Don Nigro), Horse Country (C.J. Hopkins), screwmachine/eycandy (C.J. Hopkins) and his own Fatboy. Both Horse Country and Cincinnati went on to win The Best of the Fringe Award at the Adelaide Fringe in 2004. In 2002 he received a Glasgow Herald Angel for excellence in direction at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. John was awarded The New York Magazine Award in 1997 for “creativity, enterprise and vision”.

DESPERATELY SEEKING THE EXIT runs May 17 & 18 at 7PM at Triple Crown Underground. (330 7th Ave at 28th St, accessible from the 1 train at 28th Street). Tickets are "Pay What You May," available on a first-come, first served basis; no advance reservations will be taken. A full bar is available.

DESPERATELY SEEKING THE EXIT also runs Sundays June 3 & 10 at 8PM at The PIT Underground (123 East 24th Street, accessible from the F,N,R trains at 23rd Street). Tickets are $8, available at www.BrownPaperTickets.com or 1-800-838-3006.

For more information, visit www.SeekingTheExit.com.