New York, N.Y. (April 6, 2026) – Direct from its NYC residency at the famed Laurie Beechman Theatre, the “brilliant and blistering” Cindy of Arc makes its Catskills debut. Two performances will be staged at the Bridge Street Theatre (Catskill, NY) on Saturday, May 16 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, May 17 at 2:00 p.m.
Finalist for the 2023 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater, the VERY timely celebrated comedy rock extravaganza by playwright and performer Cynthia Kaplan is about the problem men have with lying and where that’s gotten the rest of us. Particularly women. Cindy of Arc is directed by Emmy-Winning writer and Tony-nominated producer Dani Davis, who directs a cast of four, including Cynthia Kaplan with Dan Barman, Zachary Larson, and Rob Taube.
What is a scold’s bridle? What is the song Delta Dawn really about? Why are there no Jews in Whoville? In this brand new work of comedy and music, your guide, Cindy of Arc, will answer these and other pressing questions, taking you through an abridged history of the lies men tell in such popular areas as religion, politics, sex, and, of course, songwriting. Think American Utopia but with Nazis, expletives, cannibals, dogs, no David Byrne, and no Utopia. And no choreographer. And no money. And it’s a comedy. And we wear shoes. But otherwise, very similar.
“Frankly, I’d hoped to retire my horse, Buttons, after this last election, but for some reason the world keeps demanding political, feminist, subversive, comedic work, with rock songs and a hot band, and so we’ll be here, performing Cindy of Arc until the Twelfth of Never or a woman becomes president, whichever comes first,” says Cynthia Kaplan. “My one hope is that people leave the theater having laughed hard, sung along when invited to but not when not, been outraged, then headed back out of the theater inspired to do something. Performances of Cindy of Arc have raised over $12,000 for local and national reproductive rights organizations. We’re pretty chuffed about that.”
Time Out New York says “You’ll laugh until you can’t breathe,” and CBS News Commentator Nancy Giles calls Cynthia Kaplan “the funniest, funkiest white girl I’ve seen.” Cindy of Arc has also been called “A laugh-out-loud event” (Maryland Theatre Guide), “Brilliant and blistering” (NWTheatre.org), “Outrageously hilarious” (DelcoCultureVultures.com), “epically funny, and hyper-intelligent” (Folk Music Notebook Radio), “Hilarious…The show gave me early 90’s riot grrl political anarcho-punk folk meets Violent Femmes-style pop-rock” (Baltimore Fishbowl), “Raucously successful…A one-woman rock-n-roll tour through human history, mythology, literature, and more” (WBJC Radio, Maryland), and “Cindy of Arc is amazing. You are going to have a ball. Cynthia Kaplan is a genius” (Comedian Judy Gold).
Cindy of Arc recently enjoyed a monthly residency at NYC’s famed Laurie Beechman Theatre. It was first produced as a concert film shot during the pandemic in a barn on Cape Cod and premiered at the 2021 Cinequest Film Festival. In 2022, the show was workshopped on stage at Dixon Place Theater and the Five Angels Theater. Since then, Cindy of Arc has enjoyed several regional productions, including at NYC’s historic Bitter End, the 50th anniversary season of Seattle’s Tony Award-winning Intiman Theatre, Baltimore Theatre Project, and the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
General admission tickets are $30. Students: $25. For Tickets, visit BridgeStreetTheatre.com or call or call 518-943-3818. For more information, visit https://www.cindyofarc.com/.
The runtime is 65 minutes, no intermission.
Cindy of Arc is produced by Ordeal Music and associate produced by Georgia Monroe. Additional Orchestrations: Christopher Jahnke, Music Supervision: Nate Patten, Lighting Design: Bob Bonniol, Sound Design: Justin Brown, Projection Content Creation: R. Sikoryak.
Cynthia Kaplan (Writer/Cindy of Arc) has been performing comedy and music in clubs and theaters in New York and beyond for three decades and has recorded two albums with her award-winning band, The Cynthia Kaplan Ordeal. Her original comedy show, Cindy of Arc, has been touring regionally since 2023 and was a finalist for the 2023 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater. Kaplan is the author of two acclaimed collections of comic essays, “Why I’m Like This: True Stories” and “Leave the Building Quickly,” and her work has appeared in many anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. Kaplan also writes for film, TV, and the 52nd Street Project, and is co-host of the long-running Ruthless Comedy Hour at New York Comedy Club. She is an alumna of Circle in the Square Theatre School and has appeared in many plays and seven films. She has never appeared on “Law & Order.” www.cynthiakaplan.com.
Dani Davis (Director) is an Emmy award-winning writer, a Tony-nominated Broadway producer, a Helen Hayes Award recipient for producing, a critically acclaimed theater director and choreographer, and a television and media producer. Her Broadway and national tour producing credits include The Lonesome West, Little Women the musical, Billy Elliot, The Wedding Singer, Flashdance, and Dreamworks’ Shrek the musical (original and current). For Sony and PBS, Dani wrote the libretto (Emmy award) and directed Handel’s Messiah Rocks (7 Emmy noms), and she directed the national tour. For television, she was the co-creator and executive producer for the series “Girl Starter” with Al Roker Productions (Discovery networks). Dani is an award-winning regional theater director and choreographer. Currently in New York: Grief Dialogues: The Experience (Virtual Stage Lab, A.R.T.), and various workshops and lab productions through Spring 2025. She is the proud director of Cindy of Arc. In addition to the above, Dani produces Broadway-based benefit recording projects, sits on the board of several organizations serving young people, and is a graduate of Duke University. Mom to two young artists, Noah and Nina, she lives in New York City and Cape Cod. www.thedanidavis.com.
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