Broadway Close Up
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Merkin Concert Hall Monday, September 24, 2012 at 7:30 pm Kaufman Center presents Broadway Close Up Bound For Broadway XII Liz Callaway, host Sean Hartley, artistic director Featuring Songs from The Dogs of Pripyat The Great American Mousical Murder For Two Rocket Science Watt?!? With Appearances by Jill Abramovitz Aron Accurso Sean Attebury Hunter Bell Kellen Blair Heidi Blickenstaff Stephen Bogardus Alex Brightman Andy Einhorn Noah Galvin Alexander Gemigniani Zina Goldrich Marcy Heisler Gwen Hollander David Javerbaum Joe Kinosian Martin Landry Janice Mays Landry Ken Marks Brendan Millburn Jeremy Morse Lea Nardi Adam Overett Larry Pressgrove Jason Rhyne Aaron Riesebeck William Ryall Kristin Tarczynski Barbara Walsh Jason “SweetTooth”Williams Keith White Act I Murder For Two Book and Lyrics by Kellen Blair; Music by Joe Kinosian “It Was Her” JOE KINOSIAN and ADAM OVERETT “He Needs a Partner” JOE KINOSIAN and ADAM OVERETT Rocket Science Book by Patricia Cotter; Lyrics by Jason Rhyne; Music by Stephen Wiener Based on the film by Jeffrey Blitz; Music directed by Andy Einhorn “According to Kline” JEREMY MORSE and AARON RIESEBECK “Only Jenny” JEREMY MORSE “Williamsburg” STEPHEN BOGARDUS and BARBARA WALSH The Great American Mousical Book by Hunter Bell; Lyrics by Marcy Heisler; Music by Zina Goldrich Based on the book by Julie Andrews Edwards and Emma Walton Hamilton “Oh, For a Life in the Country” NOAH GALVIN and HEIDI BLICKENSTAFF “What Do You Think of That?” NOAH GALVIN “The Show Goes On” HEIDI BLICKENSTAFF Intermission Act Two The Dogs of Pripyat Book by Jill Abramovitz and Leah Napolin; Lyrics by Jill Abramovitz; Music by Aron Accurso; Based on The Dogs of Pripyat by Leah Napolin; Music directed by Andy Einhorn “To Be Someone’s Dog” ALEX BRIGHTMAN, ALEXANDER GEMIGNIANI, GWEN HOLLANDER, LEA NARDI, WILLIAM RYALL, KRISTIN TARCZYNSKI and KEITH WHITE “Dosvedanya” ALEX BRIGHTMAN, ALEXANDER GEMIGNIANI, GWEN HOLLANDER, LEA NARDI, WILLIAM RYALL, KRISTIN TARCZYNSKI and KEITH WHITE “You’ll Come Back” ALEX BRIGHTMAN Watt?!? Book and Lyrics by David Javerbaum; Music by Brendan Millburn “Watt?!?” KEN MARKS “That’s Your Department” JASON “SWEET TOOTH” WILLIAMS “This I Pray” LIZ CALLAWAY About the Host Tony nominee and Emmy winner Liz Callaway made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. She has gone on to star in Baby, Miss Saigon, The Look of Love, The Three Musketeers, and for 5 years appeared as Grizabella in Cats. The award-winning Sibling Revelry (created with her sister, Ann Hampton Callaway) played to great acclaim at the Donmar Warehouse in London. Their new show, Boom! was recently recorded Live at Birdland for PS Classics, and is currently touring venues across the country. Liz can be heard on the soundtracks of numerous animated feature films including the singing voice of the title characters in both The Swan Princess and the Oscar-nominated Anastasia. Her extensive concert career has taken her to Beijing, Shanghai, Tasmania, Sydney, Barcelona, Estonia, France, Korea, Iceland and just about every major city in the United States. Liz has released four solo recordings, the most recent being Passage of Time on the PS Classics label. About The Artists Jill Abramovitz is the lyricist of Martha Speaks (with composer Brad Alexander and bookwriter Kevin Delaguila), which was commissioned by TheatreworksUSA and will begin a national tour this fall. She is a contributing lyricist on It Shoulda Been You, starring Tyne Daly and directed by David Hyde Pierce (George Street, Village Theatre, Bound For Broadway 2010). She is also developing an adaptation of the Ken Loach film Bread and Roses with composer/husband Brad Alexander. She is incredibly proud of The Dogs of Pripyat, which was showcased at the 2011 NAMT Festival, Goodspeed’s Festival of New Artists, and was the recipient of the Weston Playhouse New Musical Award. Currently, The Dogs of Pripyat is in rehearsal for a developmental production at the University of Miami. As an actress, Jill has appeared on Broadway in Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, 9 to 5, and will begin rehearsals in December for the upcoming Cinderella. Aron Accurso, Composer/Additional Lyricist: Strega Nona (commissioned by Weston Six productions including The Atlantic Theatre and a National Tour by Maximum Entertainment.) The Dogs of Pripyat (showcased at the 2011 NAMT Festival, Goodspeed’s Festival of New Artists, Weston’s New Musical Award, and the University of Miami.) Training: Dramatists Guild Fellow, BMI Workshop (Harrington Award). Broadway: Sister Act (Associate Conductor), Little Mermaid (Keyboard 1), Billy Elliot (Casting, Rehearsal Pianist). Regional: Calvin Berger at George Street (Incidental Music/Music Director). Workshops: Aladdin, Up Here, Newsies, Addams Family, Hello My Baby, Red Clay. TV: Regis and Kelly, and Wendy Williams with American Idol Finalists. Education: BA in Music Composition with distinction from St. Olaf College. The events and details of Sean Attebury’s life cannot be highlighted here because he is in a witness protection program. Hunter Bell earned an OBIE Award, a Drama League nomination and a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical all for the original Broadway musical [title of show]. Other credits include the books for Silence! The Musical, Bellobration! (Ringling Bros. Circus), Villains Tonight! (Disney Cruise Lines), Now. Here. This. (Vineyard Theatre) and the upcoming The Great American Mousical (Goodspeed). He is a co-creator of the web series the [title of show] show and recently co-created and co-wrote the pilot Glass Houses for ABC Studios/Television and Cherry-Wind Productions. Hunter has developed new works at the O’Neill Center, Ars Nova, PS 122, Weston Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Source, and the NYMF and NY Fringe Festivals. He is a distinguished alumnus of Webster University, a proud member of WGA, the Dramatists Guild and a MacDowell Fellow. Kellen Blair is the co-creator of Murder For Two, the two-person murder mystery musical comedy that recently ran for over six months at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (following productions at 42nd Street Moon Theater and the Adirondack Theatre Festival). Kellen also wrote lyrics for Pirates Don’t Change Diapers (Theatreworks, USA) and took part in the 2010 Johnny Mercer Songwriting Project. In 2011, Kellen and collaborator Joe Kinosian won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Musical (Murder For Two). They were also recently featured in the York Theatre’s NEO Concert, which showcased the work of new musical theatre writers. Kellen is an advanced member at the BMI Musical Theatre Writing Workshop and a proud member of the Dramatists’ Guild. Heidi Blickenstaff appeared on Broadway in The Addams Family (Alice Beineke), The Little Mermaid (Ursula) and The Full Monty. She is proud to be a part of the original collaborative team that created [title of show] where she played herself. Off- Broadway: Now. Here. This. and [title of show] at the Vineyard Theatre, and Mosiac (Ruth) with Primary Stages. Regional: First You Dream: The Music of Kander and Ebb at The Kennedy Center and Meet John Doe (Ann Mitchell) at Ford’s Theatre (Helen Hayes Award). Tours: The Full Monty, Jekyll & Hyde, Steel Pier and The Who‘s Tommy. Heidi has performed many times at Merkin Concert Hall, singing in Broadway Close Up tributes to Jerome Kern, James Taylor, Lennon & McCartney and Noel Coward & Cole Porter. She has also sung for audiences at Carnegie Hall, Joe’s Pub and The 92 Street Y. She is a graduate of Duke University. Stephen Bogardus has appeared on Broadway in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Old Acquaintance, Man of La Mancha, James Joyce’s The Dead, High Society, King David, Love! Valour! Compassion! (Tony nomination, OBIE Award), Falsettos, Grapes of Wrath, Les Misérables and West Side Story. Off-Broadway credits include Sweet Adeline and Allegro (City Center Encores!), Love! Valour! Compassion! (MTC), Go Back to Where you Are, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland (Playwrights Hor-izon), Genesis and Umbrellas of Cherbourg (NYSF) and The Pavilion (Rattlestick). Regional: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown (Goodspeed), God of Carnage (Huffington), The Exorcist (Geffen Playhouse). Alex Brightman (Boychik) has performed on Broadway and also really far off. He loves to get his hands on great new musical theatre, which he believes this show absolutely is. Patricia Cotter’s plays include The Break Up Note-book (Renberg Theater, Los Angeles; GLAAD Award nominee, starring actress Jane Lynch); Three; Best/Worst; Flawed; The Girls. (Apartment A Theatre - playwright in residence) Her musicals (librettist/adaptations) include: The Break Up Notebook a Lesbian Musical, (based on her play) (Revision Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ September 2011, Hudson Theatre, LA); Mulan, Jr. (adaptation, additional lyrics, based on the Disney film Mulan with music and lyrics by Matthew Wilde, David Zippel, Stephen Schwartz, and Jeanine Tesori) licensed through MTI; she is currently developing Rocket Science: A Musical, (a Richard Rodgers Development Award 2010, composer Stephen Weiner, lyricist Jason Rhyne). Reading held at Playwrights Horizons, New York, NY (directed by Kathleen Marshall), The Los Angeles Festival of New American Musicals and ASCAP’s staged reading, August 2011. Patricia co-wrote the cabaret show, “So Far – Beth Malone”(Joe’s Pub, NYC, The Triad, NYC, Upright Cabaret, LA). Andy Einhorn’s credits include Broadway: Evita (Assistant Conductor), Brief Encounter (Music Director), Sondheim on Sondheim (Conductor), The Light in the Piazza. National tours: South Pacific, Sweeney Todd, The Light in the Piazza, The Lion King, Mamma Mia! Music director: Audra McDonald (Fall 2011 concert tour, Carnegie Hall) and Barbara Cook (Feinstein’s) Regional: 92nd Street Y “Lyrics and Lyricists,” Goodspeed (Radio Girl), Signature Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, PaperMill Play-house, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Houston Grand Opera. Cast Recordings: Sondheim on Sondheim (Grammy nom), Stage Door Canteen (DRG Records), Evita. Honors graduate, Rice University. Upcoming projects include Fun Home (Public Theatre, Music Director) and Cinderella (Broadway, Music Director).