Broadway's Brill Building Has A Magical Allure!

On one of our recent strolls along Broadway as we were preparing a story for our new blog Dan On Broadway, we once again walked past the legendary Brill Building. Only this time, we stopped and peeked inside.

The Brill Building (built 1931 as the Alan E. Lefcourt Building and designed by Victor Bark Jr.) is an office building located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the Theater District, just north of Times Square. 

It is famous for housing music industry offices and studios where some of the most popular American music tunes were written. The building is 11 stories and has approximately 175,000 square feet of rentable area. The "Brill" name comes from a haberdasher who once operated a store at street level and subsequently bought the building. The Brill Building was purchased by 1619 Broadway Realty LLC in June 2013 and is now undergoing a significant renovation. No problem, however. The current management was all to happy to have us take a look around and snap some photos.

The Brill Building's name has been widely adopted as a shorthand term for a broad and influential stream of American mainstream popular song (strongly influenced by Latin music, Traditional black gospel and rhythm and blues) which enjoyed great commercial success in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. Many significant American and international publishing companies, music agencies and recording labels were based in New York, and although these ventures were naturally spread across many locations, the Brill Building was regarded as probably the most prestigious address in New York for music business professionals.

By 1962 the Brill Building contained 165 music businesses. A musician could find a publisher and printer, cut a demo, promote the record and cut a deal with radio promoters, all within this one building. The creative culture of the independent music companies in the Brill Building and the nearby 1650 Broadway came to define the influential "Brill Building Sound" and the style of popular songwriting and recording created by its writers and producers.

Carole King described the atmosphere at the "Brill Building" publishing houses of the period:

Every day we squeezed into our respective cubby holes with just enough room for a piano, a bench, and maybe a chair for the lyricist if you were lucky. You'd sit there and write and you could hear someone in the next cubby hole composing a song exactly like yours. The pressure in the Brill Building was really terrific—because Donny (Kirshner) would play one songwriter against another. He'd say: "We need a new smash hit"—and we'd all go back and write a song and the next day we'd each audition for Bobby Vee's producer.
—Quoted in The Sociology of Rock by Simon Frith.

Among the hundreds of hits written in The Brill Building are "Yakety Yak" (Leiber-Stoller), "Save the Last Dance for Me" (Pomus-Shuman), "The Look of Love" (Bacharach-David), "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (Sedaka-Greenfield), "Devil in Disguise" (Giant-Baum-Kaye), "The Loco-Motion" (Goffin-King), "Supernatural Thing" (Fyre-Guthrie), "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" (Mann-Weil), and "River Deep, Mountain High" (Spector-Greenwich-Barry).

The Brill Building's new owners say that is "is now transforming into a state-of-the-art office complex for today’s media, fashion, tech, music and entertainment companies. A new 49th Street entrance will offer tenants privacy and security, with all the convenience of Times Square." 

The future of this legendary building looks bright, indeed!

Next time you're in the neighborhood, stop by. 

Interior building photos copyright 2015 by Dan Cirucci.

Broadway's Top Ten Grossing Shows

For the week ending 5/24:

1) The Lion King

2) Wicked

3) The Book of Mormon

4) Alladin

5) An American in Paris

6) Fish in the Dark

7) The Audience

8) Beautiful

9) Finding Neverland

10) The Phantom of the Opera

Broadway's Xanadu To Hilton Head 6/17

The Broadway smash hit Xanadu roller-skated its way into the hearts of theater critics and audiences alike.

The show will be presented by the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina in Hilton Head from June 17 through July 26.

A hilariously reinvented send-up of the 80s film, this irreverent musical adventure, about following your dreams, spins along to the addictive original hit film score of chart-topping tunes from Electric Light Orchestra and Olivia Newton John including “Magic,” “All Over the World,” “Suddenly,” “I’m Alive,” “Evil Woman,” “Strange Magic,” “Have You Never Been Mellow,” and “Xanadu,” to name a few.

Xanadu follows the beautiful Greek muse Kira as she visits Venice Beach, CA to coax an uninspired artist, Sonny, to build the first roller disco! When she accidentally falls in love with him, much to her jealous sister-muses' dismay, chaos and fun abound, skate wheels turn and disco balls twirl. This delightful fun-for-the-whole-family show earned an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical and was nominated for Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Book.

Subscribers - be sure to call the Box Office and book your seats for this summer smash hit!

Tickets for preview performances June 17-18 are $35 for adults and $25 for children 4-15; Regular tickets June 19-July 26 are $45 for adults and $31 for children.

'Fiddler' Headed Back To B'way 11/17

Producers Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, and Jam Theatricals are thrilled to announce that Fiddler on the Roof will play The Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway) and will begin performances on Tuesday, November 17, 2015 with an opening night scheduled for Thursday, December 17, 2015.

Rehearsals are set to begin Monday, September 28, 2015.

Five-time Tony Award-nominee and Drama Desk & Outer Critics Circle Award winner Danny Burstein (Cabaret, Golden Boy, Follies, South Pacific) will step into the iconic role of Tevye. Burstein will appear under the direction of Tony Award-nominated director Bartlett Sher, who was most recently nominated for a Tony Award for the current Broadway revival, The King and I.

Sher has directed Burstein on Broadway in the revivals of Golden Boy and South Pacific. Further casting and ticket on-sale date will be announced soon.

The design team includes scenic design by Michael Yeargan (Tony Award nominee, The King and I), costume design by Catherine Zuber (Tony Award nominee, The King and I), and lighting design by Donald Holder (Tony Award nominee, The King and I). Fiddler on the Roof will be their 5th Broadway production working with Sher, after South Pacific, Golden Boy, The Bridges of Madison County, and The King and I. Sound design is by Scott Lehrer (A Delicate Balance, South Pacific).

Fiddler on the Roof will also feature choreography by Hofesh Shechter, based on original conceptions and choreography by Jerome Robbins. Music direction and arrangements is by Ted Sperling (The King and I, South Pacific).

Fiddler on the Roof has music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein. The original Broadway production of the show, which opened in 1964 had the first musical theatre run in history to surpass 3,000 performances. The show won the 1965 Tony Award for Best Musical in addition to eight other Tony Awards that year.

-----

BIOS

DANNY BURSTEIN (Tevye) is a 5-time Tony Award nominee whose 15 Broadway credits include: Cabaret (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations); The Snow Geese; Golden Boy (2013 Tony and Outer Critics Circle nominations); Follies (2012 Tony, Astaire & Grammy Award nominations; Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards); Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown; South Pacific (Tony and Drama Desk nominations, Outer Critics Circle Award); The Drowsy Chaperone (Tony and Ovation Award nominations); Saint Joan; The Seagull; Three Men on a Horse; A Little Hotel On the Side; The Flowering Peach; A Class Act; Titanic and Company. Off-Broadway credits include: Talley's Folly (Lucille Lortel & Drama League nominations); Mrs. Farnsworth; Psych; All in the Timing; Merrily We Roll Along; Weird Romance and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. Film/TV includes: The Family Fang (directed by Jason Bateman); Blackhat (directed by Michael Mann); Lolly Steinman on "Boardwalk Empire" (directed by Martin Scorsese); "Louie"; Transamerica; "Absolutely Fabulous"; "Ed"; all the "Law & Order" series; "Hope & Faith"; Deception; Affluenza; American Milkshake; Nor'easter; Construction; Liv and Trust, Greed, Bullets & Bourbon. He recently made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Frosch in the Jeremy Sams/Douglas Carter Beane production of Die Fledermaus.

BARTLETT SHER (Director) is currently represented on Broadway by The King at I (Tony Award nomination). He is the Resident Director of Lincoln Center Theater, where he has directed Golden Boy by Clifford Odets (Tony Nomination), Blood and Gifts by J.T. Rogers, the new musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown by Jeffrey Lane and David Yazbek, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Tony Award nomination), Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific (2008 Tony Award, South Pacific went on to Australia where it was the most successful show in the history of the Sydney Opera House), Awake and Sing! by Clifford Odets (Tony Award nomination) and The Light in the Piazza by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel (Tony Award nomination). He has directed operas for the Metropolitan Opera (L’Elisir d’Amore, Le Comte Ory, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Roméo et Juliette for Salzburg Festival in 2008) and Seattle Opera/New York City Opera (Mourning Becomes Electra, 2003-2004). From 2000-2010, Mr. Sher was Artistic Director of Seattle’s Intiman Theatre, where his credits include the world premieres of Prayer for My Enemy and Singing Forest by Craig Lucas and Nickel and Dimed, Joan Holden’s adaptation of the nonfiction bestseller by Barbara Ehrenreich, and plays by Chekhov, Shakespeare, Goldoni and Tony Kushner, among other credits. His New York credits include the Theatre for a New Audience productions of Cymbeline, which premiered in England and was the first American Shakespeare production at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and for which he received the 2001 Callaway Award, and the American premiere of Harley Granville-Barker’s Waste, winner of the 2000 Best Play Obie. He is a graduate of Holy Cross College and received his graduate training in a class of international theatre artists at the University of Leeds in England.

HOFESH SHECHTER (Choreography). Israeli-born, UK-based choreographer Hofesh Shechter began his professional dance career with Tel Aviv’s Batsheva Dance Company. While working with Batsheva, he began studying percussion and went on to become a drummer in a rock band. He made his choreographic debut in the UK in 2003 with the duet Fragments, followed by Cult, Uprising, and In your rooms. In 2008 he formed Hofesh Shechter Company, an international cast of outstanding dancers and musicians, to create an extended version of Uprising/In your rooms: The Choreographer’s Cut. In 2010 Shechter presented Political Mother at the Brighton Festival, which brought the company international attention. It has since toured Australia, Asia, Europe, and the US, including at BAM. Shechter has worked as a choreographer at the UK’s Royal Court Theatre and the National Theatre and for BBC 4’s popular drama “Skins.” He is the recipient of many prizes, including the 3rd Serge Diaghilev choreography award for Fragments, an Audience Choice Award at the Place Prize 2004 for Cult, Movimentos Most Promising Newcomer in Dance Award in 2009, and the British Theatre Institute’s Award for Excellence in International Dance in 2011. He is an associate artist of Sadler’s Wells. Hofesh Shechter Company is the resident company at Brighton Dome.

JEROME ROBBINS (Original Concepts and Choreography) is world renowned for his work as a choreographer of ballets as well as his work as a director and choreographer in theater, movies and television. His Broadway shows include On the Town, Billion Dollar Baby, High Button Shoes, West Side Story, The King and I, Gypsy, Peter Pan, Miss Liberty, Call Me Madam, and Fiddler on the Roof. His last Broadway production in 1989, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, won six Tony Awards including best musical and best director. Among the more than 60 ballets he created are Fancy Free, Afternoon of a Faun, The Concert,Dances At a Gathering, In the Night, In G Major, Other Dances, Glass Pieces and Ives, Songs, which are in the repertories of New York City Ballet and other major dance companies throughout the world. His last ballets include A Suite of Dances created for Mikhail Baryshnikov (1994), 2 & 3 Part Inventions (1994), West Side Story Suite (1995) and Brandenburg (1996). In addition to two Academy Awards for the film West Side Story, Mr. Robbins has received four Tony Awards, five Donaldson Awards, two Emmy Awards, the Screen Directors' Guild Award, and the NY Drama Critics Circle Award. Mr. Robbins was a 1981 Kennedy Center Honors Recipient and was awarded the French Chevalier dans l'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur. Mr. Robbins died in 1998.

MICHAEL YEARGAN (Scenic Design). Theatre credits include designs for regional theatres in America, London's West End and Broadway and off-Broadway productions, including The King and I (Tony Award nomination), The Bridges of Madison County, Light In The Piazza, South Pacific (Tony and Drama Desk Awards) Awake and Sing, Cymbeline, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Blood and Gifts and Golden Boy. Opera credits include projects for San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric, Royal Opera House, La Scala, the Vienna Statsoper and 10 productions at The Met. He is a professor and co-chair of the Stage Design Department at the Yale School of Drama.

CATHERINE ZUBER (Costume Design). Broadway: The King and I, Golden Boy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Born Yesterday, Edward Albee’s Seascape, Dinner at Eight, Twelfth Night (Tony nominations), The Royal Family, South Pacific, The Coast of Utopia, The Light in the Piazza, Awake and Sing! (Tony Awards), The Bridges of Madison County, Gigi, The Big Knife, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ivanov, Triumph of Love, Women on the Verge, Macbeth, Doubt, The Sound of Music, The Red Shoes, among others. Off-Broadway: BAM/Old Vic’s The Bridge Project 2009, ‘10, ’11, Opera: Two Boys, L’Elixir of Love, Tales of Hoffman, Barber of Seville, Compte d’Ory (Metropolitan Opera).Recent: The Sound of Music: NBC/Universal. Graduate of the Yale School of Drama.

DONALD HOLDER (Lighting Design) Broadway credits include: The Lion King and South Pacific (Tony awards), The King and I, On the Twentieth Century, Bridges of Madison County, Golden Boy, Ragtime, Les Liasons Dangereuses, A Streetcar Named Desire, Movin’ Out, Gem of the Ocean, Juan Darien (all Tony nominated), You Can’t Take It With You, Bullets Over Broadway, The Spiderman, Big Fish, Bullets Over Broadway, Annie, Cyrano De Bergerac, The Boy From Oz, many others. Off-Broadway: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (TFANA), Blood and Gifts, Happiness (LCT), many others. Opera: Two Boys and The Magic Flute (Metropolitan Opera). Television: “Smash” Seasons 1 and 2.

Performers Announced For June 7 Tony Awards

The first batch of performers for the American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards® ceremony has been announced—and the list is full of stars including Kristin Chenoweth, Chita Rivera, Christian Borle, Brian d’Arcy James, Kelli O’Hara, Ken Watanabe, andVictoria Clark, to name a few.

The June 7 telecast will also feature performances from many of this season’s nominated musicals, as well as other shows seen on Broadway this season.

You can watch these stars and showstoppers—with many more to come!—at the 69th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming. The show will be broadcast live on CBS from Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sunday, June 7 from 8:00 – 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT time delay).

The Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.
Shows and Stars

The entertainment-packed 2015 Tony Awards ceremony will feature performances from the 2015 Tony-nominated shows in the Best Musical and Best Revival of a Musical categories, including:

• 2015 Tony Nominee and 69th Annual Tony Awards Co-Host Kristin Chenoweth and the cast of On the Twentieth Century
• 2015 Tony nominees Brian d’Arcy James, Christian Borle, Brad Oscar and the cast of Something Rotten!
• 2015 Tony Nominee Chita Rivera and the cast of The Visit
• 2015 Tony Nominees Kelli O’Hara and Ken Watanabe and the cast of The King and I; and
• The casts of On the Town, Fun Home and An American in Paris.

The Tony Awards upholds a valued tradition of recognizing the excellence of the entire Broadway season each year. This year’s telecast will also feature not-to-be missed performances including:

• Vanessa Hudgens, 2015 Tony Nominee Victoria Clark, and the cast of Gigi
• Past Tony-nominees Matthew Morrison and Kelsey Grammer, and the cast of Finding Neverland; and
• Tyne Daly and the cast of It Shoulda Been You.

Check back soon for more info about the 2015 Tony Awards.

It's Only A Play - Or Is It?

Terrence McNally's It's Only A Play has had a storied history.

It was originally created in 1978 and then produced in 1982 and again in 1985 and 1992.

The original 1978 version of the play was called Broadway, Broadway. It starred Geraldine Page and James Coco and closed during tryouts in Philadelphia.

But the play just wouldn't die. It kept coming back in different, updated versions.

Now, it's finally made it to Broadway where it's completing (on June 7) a run that began last October 9.

In it's glossy new Broadway version, It's Only A Play is a big-time star vehicle once again pairing Broadway's hottest couple (Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane) in a raucous piece with an ensemble that includes Stockard Channing, F. Murray Abraham and Katie Finneran with Jack O'Brien at the helm directing.

This is a play about opening night on Broadway. It's a play about a play.

Here's how it goes: A wealthy first-time Broadway producer, Julia Budder (Finneran), is throwing an opening night party for The Golden Egg at her luxurious Manhattan home. The playwright Peter Austin (Broderick), the director, the actors, along with assorted friends and hangers-on (including a critic) nervously wait for the late-night reviews printed in the newspapers. Meanwhile they gossip and throw out the names of the celebrities who are in attendance. Virginia Noyes (Channing), the star of the show, is taking drugs. James Wicker (Lane), an old friend of the playwright, is now a successful TV actor who turned down the lead in the play, and is relieved and secretly thrilled about the bad reviews that arrive. And, although Ira Drew (Abraham) is a theater critic, he is very critical of the theater because he has no talent to actually participate, despite his secretly writing plays. Not discouraged by the bad reviews for The Golden Egg, the assembled parties eagerly make plans for their next play, which they know will be a hit.

One of the problems with It's Only A Play is that the characters are really all caricatures. They are basically exaggerated cutouts of classic Broadway types: the aging Hollywood star who snorts cocaine; the former Broadway star who sold out to TV; the frustrated critic; the naive young actor/wannabe; the anguished director; the idle-rich producer and the head-in-the-clouds playwright. On top of this, there's virtually no character development here. The play is simply constructed as a showcase for clever lines and over-the-top performances.

So, it's left to the actors to ham it up and make the most of their lines and their overblown personalities. And, there are some real funny lines and lots of inside-Broadway jokes. The humor often hits the bullseye and the audience laughs so much that the whole affair is nothing short of uproarious. Lane can milk a line better than an Iowa farmhand and when Channing deadpans you're witnessing Broadway gold. But Broderick is somewhat off the mark and there's not enough interplay between him and Lane. Plus, the whole setup takes too long, tying up a first act that is way too verbose.

In the second act the pace quickens and the ensemble seems to gel a lot better. Still, the ending might leave you feeling like you've been had. Very little actually happened in the course of the evening (it's all pretty much in real time) and somehow, we're back where we started. Too clever by half?

But, where else can you see an assemblage of talent like this? And how often will you hear this many wisecracks -- many of them triggering real, live belly laughs? The swipes at the Brits are delightfully telling. The jibes at Broadway's new love of mammoth productions loaded with special effects are warranted. And even the Jersey jokes are funny.

Remember the title: It's Only A Play.

And, indeed it is!

Before Or After The Theater: It's The Lambs Club!

The Lambs Club, just off Broadway on West 44th has quickly become a favorite of ours whenever we're headed to see a show on the Great White Way.
Inside The Lambs Club, guests are transported from the hustle and bustle of Broadway to the welcoming oases of the restaurant's many one-of-a-kind spaces.
The distinguished history that connects the landmark building to the Great White Way is prominently displayed in the main dining room, which boasts an enormous 18th century fireplace, a gift from Architect Stanford White to The Lambs, a turn of the century members-only thespian society, from whom the venue takes its name.
Though the Club (actually a fine restaurant) has no connection to the original Lambs group, it retains its distinguished air in a remarkably welcoming and relaxing atmosphere and you can overnight at the lovely Chatwal Hotel which is connected to The Club.
The Lambs Club offers Chef Geoffrey Zakarian's modern approach to American cuisine with distinct ingredients, highly seasonal menus and a signature approach to hospitality.
Executive Chef Eric Haugen, who works closely with Zakarian on menu development, was named Zagat's 30 Under 30 in New York City and noted as one of the "culinary world's major up-and-comers". Chef Haugen marries his passion for food and his classical training to innovate while remaining true to Zakarian's signature style.
The Club is open from 7 AM till late at night. And the menus are varied and always tempting.
At lunch you can select from appetizers, sandwiches or main courses including a Spanish omelet, ricotta and black pepper cavatelli or crispy skin branzino. As you can see, we chose a creamy onion soup (so fresh and fragrant!) and the classic burger. The fresh bread (perfectly warm) comes with the pre-fixe two or three course lunch which offers different features every day. Brunch is offered on weekends from 11 till 3.
Be sure to put The Lambs Club at the top of your list. Highly recommended!

All photos copyright 2015 by Dan Cirucci.

Curious, Paris Get Drama League Awards

On Broadway, the Drama League has announced its award winners for the season and once again The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and An American in Paris have won the top honors. These two shows are Tony nominees and were also honored with Outer Critics Circle awards.
The Distinguished Performance Award goes to Chita Rivera for her role in The Visit and the League also honored Joel Grey with a Lifetime Achievement award.
Here's the complete list:

Distinguished Performance Award
Chita Rivera for The Visit

Distinguished Production of a Musical
An American in Paris

Distinguished Production of a Play
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Distinguished Revival of a Musical
The King and I

Distinguished Revival of a Play
You Can’t Take It With You

Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater
Joel Grey

Unique Contribution to the Theater
WNET (Neal Shapiro, David Horn)

Founders Award for Excellence in Directing
Stephen Daldry

Top Ten B'way Show Grosses - Week Ending 5/10

Broadway's top ten shows (by seats sold) for the week ending 5/10:

1. The Book of Mormon

2. Fish in the Dark

3. Fun Home

4. The Audience

5. The King and I

6. Aladdin

7. Skylight

8. On the Twentieth Century

9. An American in Paris

10. The Lion King

Paper Mill Sets 'Ever After World' Premiere

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Todd Schmidt-Managing Director) is proud to announce complete casting for the world-premiere musical Ever After, directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award® winner Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes, Nice Work If You Can Get It), featuring a book and lyrics by Marcy Heisler and music by Zina Goldrich.

Ever After will star two-time Tony Award®-winner Christine Ebersole (Grey Gardens, 42nd Street) as Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent, Tony Award® nominee Tony Sheldon (Priscilla Queen of the Desert) as Leonardo da Vinci, Emmy Award® winner Charles Shaughnessy (Urinetown, “The Nanny”) as King Francis, James Synder (If/Then) as Prince Henry and Drama Desk Award nominee Margo Seibert (Rocky) as Danielle de Barbarac.

Ever After will also feature Tony Award®-nominee Charl Brown (Motown The Musical), Mara Davi (The Drowsy Chaperone), Annie Funke (Hairspray), Julie Halston (You Can’t Take It With You), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Newsies) and an ensemble including Jill Abramovitz, Ashley Blanchet, Nick Corley, Stephanie Elise Gandolfo, Gregg Goodbrod, John Hillner, Sean Martin Hingston, Gwen Hollander, Fred Inkley, Will Mann, Liz McCartney, Alison Morooney, Kevin Munhall, Kevin Michael Raponey, Rachael Scarr, Justin Schuman, Jonathan Shew and Aléna Watters.

Paper Mill Playhouse presents the world premiere of a new musical based on the 1998 film starring Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston. This is no fairy tale. Ever After sets the record straight on the fable of Cinderella. Her name was Danielle and it was always about her wit, her smarts, her strength and her good friend Leonardo da Vinci. She makes her own dreams come true. Warm and romantic, funny and smart, this is the musical you’ve been waiting for.

“We’re thrilled to present the world premiere of this beautiful musical,” commented Mark S. Hoebee, Producing Artistic Director for the Millburn theater. “I am delighted to showcase a new musical with strong, female leads, created by strong, female artists including Kathleen Marshall, Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich.”

The award-winning design team of Broadway veterans will feature Derek McLane (scenic design), Jess Goldstein (costume design), Peter Kaczorowski (lighting design), Nevin Steinberg (sound design), Mary-Mitchell Campbell (music supervision), David Gardos (music direction), Leah Loukas (hair and wig design), Rick Sordelet (fight direction) and casting by Telsey + Company.

Ever After begins performances Thursday, May 21, 2015, and runs through Sunday, June 21, 2015.

Ever After is sponsored by J.P. Morgan. Paper Mill Playhouse's 2014-2015 Season is proudly sponsored by Investors Bank.

Ever After will be performed at Paper Mill Playhouse eight times a week, Wednesday through Sunday. Performance schedule: Wednesday at 7:00pm, Thursday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm, Friday at 7:00pm, Saturday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm and Sunday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm. Tickets are on sale now and range from $28 to $99. Tickets may be purchased by calling 973.376.4343, at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online atwww.PaperMill.org. Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express accepted. Groups of 10 or more can receive up to a 40% discount on tickets and should call 973.315.1680. College students can order $20 rush tickets over the phone or in person at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office on the day of the performance.

BIOGRAPHIES

Christine Ebersole (Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent), a Maplewood, NJ, resident and two-time Tony Award®-winning actress, has captivated audiences on the Broadway stage, television series and specials, films, concert appearances and recordings. Ms. Ebersole is a Paper Mill Playhouse favorite who starred in several Paper Mill shows including Mame, Paper Moon and Shenandoah.

One of her first jobs was as an understudy in the Broadway musical On the Twentieth Century, followed by her turn as Ado Annie in Oklahoma! From there it was on to Ryan’s Hope, One Life to Live and Saturday Night Live before landing the high-profile role of Guinevere opposite Richard Burton in Camelot.

Ms. Ebersole then shifted her focus from stage to screen and soon headed to Hollywood, appearing in many hit movies, including Amadeus, Tootsie and Richie Rich. She added an extensive list of television credits as well, including The Cavanaughs, Valerie and the title role in Rachel Gunn, R.N.

Her ensuing New York stage performances include her Tony Award®-winning performance as Dorothy Brock in the smash hit revival of 42nd Street, Steel Magnolias, The Best Man, and Dinner at Eight, for which she received both Tony and Outer Critics Circle nominations.

Ms. Ebersole received virtually every Off-Broadway award and her second Tony Award® for Leading Actress in a Musical for her dual role as Edith Bouvier Beale and “Little Edie” Beale in Grey Gardens. Acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, the show was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and its CD was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Ms. Ebersole’s career continued to arc with her starring role in Blithe Spirit on Broadway with Angela Lansbury and her many guest appearances on innumerable popular television series, including her recurring role as Ms. “New Parts” Newberg in the hit cable show Royal Pains. Ms. Ebersole continues to appear in numerous concert halls and cabaret venues throughout the country, including performances in City Center Encores!, at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, the Kennedy Center, Boston Symphony Hall, Feinstein’s and Café Carlyle.

Margo Seibert (Danielle de Barbarac) is, according to USA Today, “a Broadway newcomer with a delicately compelling presence and a throbbing, textured singing voice that lets us hear the character coming out of her shell.” Last season, she made her debut on the Great White Way singing the music of Ahrens & Flaherty as Adrian in Rocky, as well as giving a tour-de-force (and Drama Desk-nominated) performance in the original musical Tamar of the River. Across the board, she has been recognized for her depth of character and nuanced vocal performance.

James Snyder (Prince Henry) has been seen on stage and screen, notably in Broadway’s If/Then and Cry-Baby, for which he received a Drama League Award nomination. His additional theater credits include Johnny Baseball at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Fanny at New York City Center, Broadway: Three Generations at The Kennedy Center, Rock of Ages (Los Angeles, Las Vegas), Oedipus the King, Mama (Troubadour Theater Co.), Happy Days, The Fantasticks (Sacramento Music Circus), Hamlet, Sneaux, Oklahoma! and Star Wars Trilogy in 30 Minutes. On television, he has appeared in Blue Bloods, Drop Dead Diva, CSI, Without a Trace, Cold Case, Gilmore Girls, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, among others. Mr. Snyder’s film credits include She’s the Man, An American in China, Anderson’s Cross, Shuttle and Pretty Persuasion (Sundance Film Festival).

Charl Brown (Captain Laurent) received a 2013 Tony Award® nomination for best performance by a featured actor in a musical for his performance as Smokey Robinson in Motown. Brown was also seen in the Broadway companies of Jersey Boys and Sister Act.

Mara Davi (Marguerite de Ghent) appeared in the Broadway productions of The Drowsy Chaperone, A Chorus Line and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. In addition to playing Dana on The Good Wife, Ms. Davi had recurring roles on Smash and Blue Bloods.
Zina Goldrich (Composer), along with lyricist Marcy Heisler, is the 2009 winner of the Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theatre Songwriting. Last season, Ms. Goldrich earned a Drama Desk Nomination for Best Music for her work on the DR2 Theatre production of Dear Edwina. She also composed the score for Junie B. Jones, which completed three successful off-Broadway runs for Theatreworks USA and was twice nominated for the Lucille Lortel Award. Other scores include Allison Under the Stars and Adventures in Love. She has composed for Johnny and the Sprites and Pooh’s Learning Adventures, and she was a staff songwriter for Walt Disney Feature Animation. Ms. Goldrich studied under Jerry Goldsmith in the USC Scoring for Motion Picture and Television program. She is the recipient of ASCAP’s Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, the Seldes-Kanin Fellowship, a Jonathan Larson grant and numerous scholarships. On Broadway she played keyboards for Avenue Q, Bombay Dreams, Oklahoma and Titanic, where she also conducted. Currently, Zina Goldrich is scoring episodes of Wonderpets for Nickelodeon and Third and Bird for the BBC.

Marcy Heisler (Book and Lyrics) is co-recipient, with composer Zina Goldrich, of the 2009 Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theatre Songwriting. She earned a 2009 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Lyrics for Dear Edwina and a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Junie B. Jones, Other collaborations with Zina Goldrich include Adventures in Love, Allison Under the Stars, and The Marcy and Zina Show, which tours throughout the U.S. and Canada. As a lyricist, Ms. Heisler has contributed songs for many Disney projects, including Johnny and the Sprites, Pooh’s Learning Adventures, and The D Show. As an adaptor, she wrote new versions of 101 Dalmatians, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and The Jungle Book for Disney Theatricals, and she collaborated with composer Michael Picton on songs for Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus 137th Edition. Ms. Heisler has collaborated with composer Zina Goldrich since 1993, and they are past recipients of ASCAP's Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award and the Seldes-Kanin Fellowship.


Zina Goldrich (Composer), along with lyricist Marcy Heisler, is the 2009 winner of the Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theatre Songwriting. Last season, Ms. Goldrich earned a Drama Desk Nomination for Best Music for her work on the DR2 Theatre production of Dear Edwina. She also composed the score for Junie B. Jones, which completed three successful off-Broadway runs for Theatreworks USA and was twice nominated for the Lucille Lortel Award. Other scores includeAllison Under the Stars and Adventures in Love. She has composed for Johnny and the Sprites and Pooh’s Learning Adventures, and she was a staff songwriter for Walt Disney Feature Animation. Ms. Goldrich studied under Jerry Goldsmith in the USC Scoring for Motion Picture and Television program. She is the recipient of ASCAP’s Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, the Seldes-Kanin Fellowship, a Jonathan Larson grant and numerous scholarships. On Broadway she played keyboards for Avenue Q, Bombay Dreams, Oklahoma and Titanic,where she also conducted. Currently, Zina Goldrich is scoring episodes ofWonderpets for Nickelodeon and Third and Bird for the BBC.

Kathleen Marshall (Director and Choreographer) has received three Tony Awards® (out of nine nominations), three Drama Desk Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Astaire Award, the George Abbott Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for the Arts and was named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Marshall directed and choreographed the Broadway productions of Nice Work If You Can Get It, Anything Goes, Grease, The Pajama Game and Wonderful Town. She choreographed the Broadway productions of Boeing- Boeing, Little Shop of Horrors, Follies, Seussical, Kiss Me, Kate, Ring Round the Moon, 1776 and Swinging on a Star, as well as the West End revival of Kiss Me, Kate. She served as assistant choreographer to her brother, Rob Marshall, on the Broadway productions of Kiss of the Spider Woman, She Loves Me and Damn Yankees.

Ms. Marshall is an Artistic Associate of City Center Encores!, where she was the Artistic Director for four seasons. For Encores!, she directed and choreographed I’m Getting My Act Together . . . , Bells Are Ringing, Applause, 70 Girls 70, House of Flowers, Carnival, Hair, Wonderful Town and Babes in Arms.

For the New York Shakespeare Festival, she directed and choreographed Two Gentleman of Verona, and for Second Stage Theatre, she directed and choreographed Saturday Night, the New York premiere of Stephen Sondheim's first musical.

For ABC/Disney, she directed and choreographed Once Upon a Mattress, starring Tracey Ullman and Carol Burnett, and choreographed The Music Man, starring Matthew Broderick (Emmy nomination). She also choreographed the musical sequences in the film My Week With Marilyn.

She recently directed Joe DiPietro’s Living on Love at the Williamstown Theatre Festival starring Renée Fleming, which is opening on Broadway this spring. Ms. Marshall is an Associate Artist of the Roundabout Theatre Company.

Splashy 'Something Rotten' A Bard's Omelet

Shakespeare and Broadway have been going together for a long time.
And beyond the countless revivals of Shakespeare's plays on The Great White Way (most notably Hamlet and Richard III, we suppose) Shakespeare has been feely adapted musically from West Side Story to Cole Porter's take on The Taming of the Shrew, titled Kiss Me Kate.
In that show, Porter advised us all to brush up on our Shakespeare with these distinctively witty lines:

Brush up your Shakespeare
Start quoting him now
Brush up your Shakespeare
And the women you will wow

Just declaim a few lines from Othella
And they'll think you're a hell of a fella
If your blonde won't respond when you flatter 'er
Tell her what Tony told Cleopatterer

If she fights when her clothes you are mussing
What are clothes? Much ado about nussing
Brush up your Shakespeare
And they'll all kow-tow

Well, you'd better follow Porter's advice if you plan to see the new musical Something Rotten. Because not only is the bard a featured character in the show (broadly played by the talented Christian Borle) but Will's lines (and lies) are literally all over the place.
You know this is no ordinary musical right at the top of the show when Michael James Scott and the ensemble declare the Middle Ages dead and gone and break out into a rousing number called Welcome to the Renaissance. And that sets the pace for the whole evening -- a sort of vaudevillesque journey that juxtaposes eras and time frames in a show that combines elements of Pippin, Spamalot, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and The Drowsy Chaperone.
This is a musical without a single serious notion. It's simply silliness on steroids.
As the penniless playwright Bottom Brothers (Nick and Nigel) Brian D'arcy James and John Cariani are alternately fixated and frazzled as they set about trying to concoct a stage production in the shadow of the great Shakespeare. Nick decides to consult a soothsayer (superbly portrayed by Brad Oscar) who advises him to write something called a muuuusical -- a show where characters spontaneously burst into song for no apparent reason, even though they nonetheless advance the plot and enhance character development.
And so, we get the number simply called A Musical -- perhaps the funniest, grandest, drop-dead display of hilarity your likely to see on Broadway this season. It really does stop the show, eliciting huzzahs from the crowd.
And this sets the Bottom Brothers on their circuitous journey to construct a new musical show entitled Omelet (sounds like Hamlet, get it?). But Shakespeare and a villainous preacher named Brother Jeremiah (Brooks Ashmanskas) have other ideas. Throw in Nigel's romance with the preacher's daughter (Kate Reinders) and you have the makings of a truly tortured, twisted tale.
And this is where the trouble comes in, because the ribald spontaneity of the whole affair clashes with what there is of a story. And the show reveals itself to be a very big production built around a much smaller idea. You begin to suspect that at the core, there are really only one or two jokes here spun dozens of different ways.
But the whole undertaking never takes itself seriously anyway. Which means you are invited to turn on your zany button, imagine history however you wish and go with the flow. And while you're doing so, listen closely for the countless lines from Shakespeare, the fractured historical references, the inside-Broadway jokes, the mimicry of other musicals and the present-day asides.
One minute you're at Forbidden Broadway; the next, you're at The Book of Mormon.
It's all wild, wacky and sometimes way too shrill and breathless. It can make you long for even a tiny bit of subtlety. Just a smidgeon or two.
But that's not in the cards here -- and this show has ten Tony nominations to prove its street creds.
So, take a deep breath and hang on tight.
Rapid-fire direction. Superb cast. High-spirited insanity. That's Something Rotten.

Free 'Stars In The Alley' Set For 5/27

The Broadway League and United Airlines are hosting this year's Stars in the Alley in legendary Shubert Alley. The two hour concert with live music will take place on Wednesday, May 27, 2015.

Stars in the Alley is a FREE outdoor concert held in the heart of the Theatre District that celebrates the end of the 2014 - 2015 Broadway season and adds to the festivities leading up to the 2015 Tony Awards.® The event in Shubert Alley, west of Seventh Avenue between 44th & 45th Streets, will consist of performances from this season as well as numbers from current long-running shows.

More details about Stars in the Alley to be announced. For Broadway information in NYC as well as for shows on tour across North America and internationally, visit http://broadway.org/

The Tony Awards will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from Radio City Music Hall, on the CBS television network on Sunday, June 7, 2015. For more information on the Tony Awards, please visit www.TonyAwards.com.

United Airlines is the title sponsor of Stars in the Alley® and is the official airline of The Broadway League and the Tony Awards. The event is produced by The Broadway League. Live music sponsored by the Music Performance Trust Fund and the Film Funds. Official Hospitality partner is Junior's Restaurant. The official media partner is The New York Times.

Paris, Curious Lead Outer Critics B'way Awards

The 2015 Outer Critics Circle Awards have just been announced on Broadway. The big winners this years are The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-Time, An American In Paris, Hamilton and The Kibg and I.
Here are the winners:


OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY PLAY

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time


OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY MUSICAL

An American in Paris


OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY PLAY

Between Riverside and Crazy


OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL

Hamilton


OUTSTANDING BOOK OF A MUSICAL

Hamilton


OUTSTANDING NEW SCORE

(Broadway or Off-Broadway)

Hamilton


OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY

(Broadway or Off-Broadway)

You Can't Take It With You


OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

(Broadway or Off-Broadway)

The King and I


OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A PLAY

Marianne Elliott The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time


OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL

Christopher Wheeldon An American in Paris


OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHER

Christopher Wheeldon An American in Paris


OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN

Bunny Christie The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time


OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN

(Play or Musical)

Catherine Zuber The King and I


OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN

Paule Constable The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time


OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A PLAY

Alex Sharp The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time


OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Helen Mirren The Audience


OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Robert Fairchild An American in Paris


OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Kristin Chenoweth On the Twentieth Century


OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY

Richard McCabe The Audience


OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Annaleigh Ashford You Can't Take It With You


OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Andy Karl On the Twentieth Century


OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Ruthie Ann Miles The King and I


OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE

Jim Dale Just Jim Dale


JOHN GASSNER AWARD

(Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright)

Ayad Akhtar The Invisible Hand

The King And I Extends, Sets National Tour

Kelli O’Hara and Ken Watanabe

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Producing Artistic Director, André Bishop) has extended the run of its critically acclaimed production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King And I, directed by Bartlett Sher, indefinitely at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65 Street). In addition, the Ambassador Theatre Group and NETworks Presentations LLC will launch a national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater production, which was recently nominated for 9 Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical, in November 2016 in Providence, RI. The National Tour will play multi-week and single week engagements throughout the 2016-17 touring season and beyond. Casting and additional engagements for the tour will be announced at a future date.

This open-ended run of The King And I is performed Tuesday evenings at 7pm, Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm. Beginning July 9, all Thursday evening performances will begin at 7pm.

The King And I, which features a cast of 51, was recently nominated for 9 Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical – Bartlett Sher, Best Actress in a Musical – Kelli O’Hara (Anna Leonowens), Best Actor in a Musical – Ken Watanabe (the King of Siam), Best Featured Actress in a Musical – Ruthie Ann Miles (Lady Thiang), and Best Choreography –Christopher Gattelli, based on the original choreography by Jerome Robbins.

The King And I has sets by Michael Yeargan; costumes by Catherine Zuber; lights by Donald Holder (all three nominated as well for 2015 Tony Awards); sound by Scott Lehrer (2015 Drama Desk Award nomination); and casting by Telsey + Company/Abbie Brady-Dalton, CSA. The production, featuring an orchestra of 29 conducted by music director Ted Sperling, is performed with the musical’s original 1951 orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and dance and incidental music arranged by Trude Rittmann.

One of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s finest works, The King And I boasts a score which features such beloved classics as Getting To Know You, Hello Young Lovers, Shall We Dance, I Have Dreamed, and Something Wonderful. Set in 1860’s Bangkok, the musical tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher, whom the imperious King brings to Siam to tutor his many wives and children.

Lincoln Center Theater is grateful to the Stacey and Eric Mindich Fund for Musical Theater at LCT for their leading support of this production. American Express and The Jerome L. Greene Foundation are the major sponsors of The King And I. Generous support is also provided by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, Florence and Robert Kaufman, The New York Community Trust-Mary P. Oenslager Foundation Fund, and Stephanie and Fred Shuman.

THE KING AND I One of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s finest works, The King and I, set in 1860’s Bangkok, the tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, whom the imperious King brings to Siam to tutor his many wives and children.

Turturro Takes Stage As Zorba For Encores

Just as The King and I brings to mind Yul Brynner, the name Zorba immediately makes us think of Zorba the Greek and that could only be Anthony Quinn.
But unlike Yul Brynner, Anthony Quinn never won an Oscar for the role he made famous. In fact, he never snagged a best actor Oscar. His only Oscars were for best supporting actor and they were awarded for Viva Zapata and Lust for Life.
Still, like Yul Brynner, Quinn was often cast in more exotic roles, playing ruggedly handsome he-man parts of various races and ethnicities.
If you never saw Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek, you're missing one of the best film performances ever in one of the best movies ever made.
In 1968 the talented team of John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics) turned Zorba into a moderately successful Broadway musical which ran for more than 300 performances and then went on the road. But it didn't star Anthony Quinn -- not in its original run, anyway.
Then, in 1983 the show was revived with Quinn and Lila Kadrova recreating their film role, sort of. Quinn and Kadrova also toured in the revived musical but that was the last time we've seen a major production of the show. And yes -- we did see the Anthony Quinn/Lila Kadrova version of the musical and got to meet Quinn after the show.
Fast-forward to 2015. Broadway is now having a love affair with Kander and Ebb. Their triumphant Chicago is still running and is now the longest-running American musical on the Great White Way. Their classic Cabaret just completed a long run with Alan Cumming reprising his role. And their newest musical, The Visit with Chita Rivera has just opened to rave reviews and lots of Tony nominations.
As a sort of cherry on the Kander and Ebb sundae, Zorba last night opened a very limited run through Sunday as part of the Encores series at City Center.
This time around Zorba is played by John Turturro with co-stars Santino Fontana, Marin Mazzie, Zoë Wanamaker and Robert Cuccioli.
The story of Zorba focuses on the friendship that evolves between Zorba and Nikos (Fontana), a young American who has inherited an abandoned mine on Crete, and their romantic relationships with a local widow and a French woman (Wanamaker), respectively. A largely musical commentary on the story is provided by a character called The Leader (Mazzie).
Long before the term "bromance" came into vogue, Zorba gave us a man-crush story about a plaintive young man and his zesty, sometimes mentor.
Zorba is an unusual musical -- a musical that opens with a song (Life Is . . . ) that declares "life is what you do while you're waiting to die." And, much of Zorba is about death -- or at least the struggle to squeeze every drop out of every day because none of us knows which of our days will be our last. And, that's the great plea and lesson of Zorba, himself -- you must live and live every moment in time as if it's the first time you've ever lived it, because it truly is.
The plea is boldly trumped by Turturro in his opening song, The First Time. And indeed, Turturro sings well enough to pull it off even though this is probably the first time anyone in the audience has heard him sing on Broadway, or perhaps anywhere else for that matter.
Granted, Zorba (the show and the character) can be a bit preachy and modern musicals have learned to transmit their message (if they have any at all, these days) in a more indirect fashion.
Three people die in Zorba and none of the deaths are really pretty, though one (accompanied by a birthday song) takes us full circle from birth to death.
Still, if you didn't like the movie, you won't like the musical because this simply is not a finger-snapping, razzle-dazzle 'em show. But the Greek influence that is present throughout the score (complete with Bouzouki) is captivating. And, as always the 30-piece Encores Orchestra under the direction of Rob Berman is sheer perfection.
The young (but already impressively-accomplished) Santino Fontana has one of the best voices on Broadway. And the same came be said for more experienced Marin Mazzie, whose range is absolutely astonishing. We could easily listen to them all night.
And Zoë Wanamaker takes a role that could have quickly turned to caricature and infuses it with depth and poignancy.
Standouts: Mazzie's performances of Life Is . . . and The Crow; Wanamaker's take on No Boom Boom and Happy Birthday; Fontana's That's A Beginning and Turturro's understated Woman. Other numbers that resonate (with an outstanding ensemble) include The Top of the Hill and The Bend of the Road.
Zorba is a show of enough charm, zest and encapsulated truths (usually rendered by the title character himself) to give you new reason to face life's absurdities. And, 47 years after I first saw the show I found it to be richer and more meaningful than I had ever imagined.
This time around it was a lump-in-the-throat musical for me -- and that' just fine!

Pageant Cast Album Will Launch June 22

Producers are pleased to announce that the first ever cast recording of the critically-acclaimed musical PAGEANT will be released on June 22, 2015, digitally and on compact disc via select outlets. The cast of the recent revival – nominated for a 2015 Drama Desk Award for Best Revival of a Musical and a 2015 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Musical Revival – will reunite to launch the Original Cast Recording at 54 Below (254 West 54th Street) on June 22, 2015, at 9:30pm. Hosted by co-author Bill Russell (Side Show), the launch party will feature highlights from the album, including the opening number “Natural Born Females,” the evening gown competition “Something Extra,” and several of the contestants’ talents. It will star Drama Desk nominee John Bolton (A Christmas Story) as genial host Frankie Cavalier, and the contestants vying for Miss Glamouresse: Nick Cearley as Miss Great Plains, Nic Cory as Miss Industrial Northeast, Alex Ringler as Miss Texas, Marty Thomas as Miss Deep South, Seth Tucker as Miss West Coast, and Curtis Wiley as Miss Bible Belt. Swings Luke McCollum and Fred Odgaard will also be participating in the concert. Micah Young will serve as Musical Director. Members of the cast and creative team will be on hand afterwards to autograph CDs. There is a $30-$40 cover charge and $25 food and beverage minimum. Tickets and information are available at www.54Below.com. Tickets on the day of performance after 4:00 are only available by calling (646) 476-3551. PAGEANT has book and lyrics by Bill Russell & Frank Kelly, with music by Albert Evans and a concept by Robert Longbottom. Following a sold-out benefit run for BC/EFA, PAGEANT returned in a limited Off-Broadway engagement that began June 29, 2014, at The Davenport Theatre (354 West 45th Street), and after three extensions, played its final performance on October 26, 2014. The revival was directed by Matt Lenz and choreographed by Shea Sullivan. The creative team also included scenic design by Paul Tate De Poo III, costumes by Stephen Yearick, lighting by Paul Miller & Kirk Fitzgerald, and sound design by David Sanderson. PAGEANT was produced by SAS Productions, Kitty Potapow, Michelle R. Rogers, Drew Desky, and ABS Productions. Here’s what the critics had to say: “The time is ripe for the piquant charms of the musical Pageant!” -Entertainment Weekly “OUTRAGEOUS, GROUNDBREAKING AND THIGH-SLAPPINGLY HILARIOUS! Every aspect of this flag-flying, Rockettes-kicking mini-extravaganza crackles and pops. From the opening number to the surprise finale… there’s a laugh a minute awaiting summer audiences badly in need of some. THE CAST IS SPLENDIFEROUS!” -Rex Reed, NY Observer “GOOD, CLEAN, CAMPY FUN… Anyone can take pleasure in that!” -The New Yorker “No funny bones are spared! Pageant is pure entertainment … A COMEDIC ROMP!” -Metro “Cheeky and charming. PAGEANT IS SO MUCH FUN, there are no losers anywhere in the house!” -Talkin Broadway “4 STARS! YOU’LL HOWL THROUGH 90 MINUTES OF RAPTUROUS JOY. The six contestants competing for Miss Glamouresse are ABSOLUTELY SUBLIME!” -StageZine Like every beauty pageant you've seen before, PAGEANT features contestants desperately vying for a glittering tiara. With swimsuit, talent, and evening gown competitions – the show includes both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat! Unlike some beauty pageants you've seen before, the female contestants are all played by men. And the audience gets to select the winner each night. Filled with excitement and suspense, but first and foremost, beauty. Let the beauty begin! PAGEANT debuted Off-Broadway in 1991 at the Blue Angel in New York where it ran for more than a year before playing successful engagements on the West End and around the world. Prior to the 2014 Off-Broadway revival, PAGEANT was seen earlier that year in a sold-out five-show special engagement that benefitted Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS at the Red Lacquer Club, which was the first time it had returned to the New York stage in more than twenty years.