From the creators of Oedipus for Kids, comes the new comedic musical, THE ZEGEND OF LELDA, a fifteen-minute excerpt of which will be presented as part of the 2011 West Village Musical Theatre Festival, running in Series B from June 8-12 at the 13th Street Repertory Theatre (50 West 13th Street, New York, NY). Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at www.ZegendOfLelda.com. 

Who can forget the first time they grabbed their pixelated sword, clutching a wooden shield while fighting off nightmarish monsters in order to collect some weird triangles and save the princess? Or the blinding glow of that golden video game cartridge as you screamed over the eight-bit soundtrack that you’d be down for dinner in just a minute, which easily turned into four hours? Now, one of the most epic and enduring video game series of all time is presented as it was meant to be: as a musical, on stage, and in a fully non-copyright-infringing manner. 

Join us for this Zegendary adventure, and all attendees who come in costume will receive a free feeling of satisfaction from dressing up in costume in a public place. 

With music and book by Robert J. Saferstein and lyrics and book by Gil Varod, THE ZEGEND OF LELDA is a hysterical journey through the video game world in search of bored fairies, questionable power ups, and a chorus of singing deformed villains. Watch as the hero Zink (Ronen Bay) and his trusted friends Boomy (Zack Moody), Sierra Myst (Zoe Farmingdale), and Old Man (Sean Ward) fight to save Princess Lelda (Susanne Nancy Kobb) and the kingdom of Tall-Rule from the evil Dannon (Steve Copps) and his Shmoblins (Steve Walker and Amy Van Deusen). Direction is by Ron Grimshaw. Piano and Musical Direction are by Brenna Sage. Featuring vocal arrangements by Scott Stein and guitar by Natalia Garrido Rosa. 

 Saferstein and Varod previously collaborated on Oedipus for Kids, a 2006 Next Link Selection, which played a sold-out, extended-run production during The New York Musical Theatre Festival. Hailed as a “spoof of children’s theater with some truly funny songs and endearingly loopy performances from a cast of just three,” by Charles Isherwood of the New York Times, the musical is currently available for licensing and purchase at Samuel French, Inc., and has since been produced regionally.

In addition to writing musicals, Robert J. Saferstein is also a theatrical production photographer and has photographed over twenty musicals, plays, and operas on and off-Broadway. Gil Varod is best known for his site www.broadwayabridged.com where he writes abridged scripts that spoof Broadway shows. 

Now in its second year, The West Village Musical Theatre Festival features eighteen new works from some of musical theatre’s most exciting emerging and established writers in under five hours. The festival is presented in three separate series, each consisting of six completely different one-act musicals or snapshots of larger musicals presented in ninety-minutes. For more information, visit www.wvmtf.com.

From The Final Edition.