11:30 and 7:30 at Playwrights’ Horizons.

http://nymf.org/festival/2016-events/crude/

It has been such a pleasure working with the entire company!!

Thank you Maureen Condon for bringing us all together.

UPDATE! Jamie DeRoy, Maria Stefanatos and I  were George’s models for the day.

We had fun and looked good! Thank you George.

Here is the link to our segment:

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Summer-Trends-at-Any-Age_New-York-387306271.html

PS: I found a very cute off the shoulder dress for myself per George’s suggestion. 🙂

We’ll be in the TV studio Monday July 18th.

Tune in at 12:30 on Channel 4 !!!

See what the latest trends in fashion are for real people!!!

For more about George, visit his website!

http://www.georgebrescia.com/

We hosted Jazz Party at Birdland Sunday June 5th, 2016. We never do the same thing twice. Joining us were Steve Sandberg on keys, Morris (MoGee) Goldberg on sax and penny whistle, Jeff Ganz on bass, Ray Marchica on drums and Maddy Ruff and Nina Hennessey on vocals. Rob Middleton made a guest appearance.

Coming up: CRUDE:The Musical – one of the 10 New Musical Readings chosen for this year’s NYMF!!

 

Here is the link for info and tix.

http://www.nymf.org/festival/2016-events/crude/

Full Cast Announced for
“CRUDE – THE MUSICAL”
An Official Selection of the 2016 New York Musical Festival

The full cast is set for CRUDE – THE MUSICAL, an official selection of the 2016 New York Musical Festival (NYMF). CRUDE is one of 10 new musicals to be presented as readings at the festival this month.

CRUDE is a musical romp through the world of big oil and high stakes PR, where solar start-ups and the press are pawns in a game of corporate intrigue.

Directed at NYMF by Ilana Ransom Toeplitz, the readings will be performed on July 14 (7:30 p.m) and July 19 (11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m) at Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street. More info at www.nymf.org/crude

The full cast of CRUDE includes Emily Ferranti (Broadway and National Tour: Wicked), Nina Hennessey (Broadway: Bye Bye Birdie, Les Miserables), Hugh Hysell (Off Broadway: Perfect Crime. Tour: The Phantom Of the Opera), Kimberly JaJuan (Broadway: Ragtime, Smokey Joes Café), Susannah Jones (National Tour: A Christmas Story. Regional: Company at Bucks County), Alex Kidder (Metropolitan Opera. Regional: Ragtime at Westchester Broadway), Paul HeeSang Miller (Broadway: The King and I, Mamma Mia), Trent Mills (National Tour and Toronto: Evil Dead The Musical), Michael Siktberg (NYMF: Are You There Morgan Freeman? Regional: Buddy at Theater By the Sea), George Slotin (Workshop: A Bronx Tale-The Musical, Regional: Show Boat at Shubert Boston) and Amaker Smith (Broadway: Priscilla Queen of the Desert, TV: Smash)

CRUDE is music directed by Jonathan Ivie (Broadway: Rock of Ages, Off Broadway: Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, 50 Shades-The Musical), with dramaturgy by Cate Cammarata (My Life Is a Musical). CRUDE’s book and score is by Maureen Condon who has been active in the Boston musical scene for more than a decade.

Tickets for CRUDE may be obtained by visiting www.nymf.org/crude. Industry professionals may request tickets by emailing CrudeTheMusical@gmail.com

About the cast of “CRUDE – THE MUSICAL”

Emily Ferranti plays Kelly Sullivan, Engineer for End-Run, Inc. Ferranti is a California native. She studied Musical Theatre at The Boston Conservatory where she achieved a B.F.A. Credits include Broadway: Wicked National Tours: Wicked 1st and 2nd National (Nessarose/Glinda u/s), Dreamgirls (Sweetheart), NY: Radio City Spring Spectacular (Laura Benanti u/s) Regional: Annie (Grace) Maltz Jupiter Theatre. TV: Forever. And not to be forgotten, Snugglefluff the Musical (Miss Honey Dew Jackson).

Nina Hennessey plays Judy Sullivan, wife of CEO Leo Sullivan/HR Director Solar Sands.  NINA HENNESSEY’s credits include: Broadway: Bye Bye Birdie; Cats; Les Miserables; Dreamgirls; Snoopy; Woman of the Year; Chess, & The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Actors Fund Concerts; Radio City Music Hall; 92nd Street Y Lyrics & Lyricists; Marvin Hamlisch Symphony Concerts. Jazz Performances: Birdland; Iridium; Smoke.  Off-Broadway: Sheba; Dali; Cummings&Goings; Close Enough for Jazz; Odyssey; Sweet Mainstreet. Regional: Silk Stockings; Lady in the Dark; Cinderella; Fanny; Gift of the Magi; Tintypes; Three Musketeers, and more. www.ninahennessey.com

Hugh Hysell plays Leo Sullivan, CEO of End-Run, Inc. HYSELL is currently performing Off Broadway in the 30th Anniversary cast of Perfect Crime. Other Off Broadway credits: My Big Gay Italian Wedding, My Big Gay Italian Funeral and Villain De Blanks. Tours: The Phantom of the Opera, Pippin, Pirates of Penzance, The Fantasticks. Regional: Tintypes (Seven Angels), Greater Tuna (Encore Stages), Buddy (Gateway), Man of La Mancha (Jupiter Theater), and A Christmas Carol (Hippodrome State Theatre). TV: Divorce (HBO), Suddenly Rich (TLC). Hugh is a Tony Award® winning Broadway producer and his producing projects have included Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Peter and the Starcatcher, Impressionism and others. He is a founding member of The Off Broadway Alliance and currently serves as a nominator for the Off Broadway Alliance Awards. www.hughhysell.com

Kimberly JaJuan plays Patsy Teller, Solar Sands Customer Service Manager.  JaJuan is a graduate of The Eastman School and The Juilliard School where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees respectively. She has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway and National Tours of: Smokey Joe’s Café, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Music of the Night, King David, Running Man, The In-Gathering, Dreamgirls, Ragtime, and Marie Christine, as well as Encores! Productions of: One Touch of Venus and The Broadway Bash. Film/television credits: Papal Mass at Madison Square Garden (with Gloria Estefan and Harry Connick Jr.), 2015 Miss America Pageant (with Vanessa Williams), America’s Got Talent, Tony Awards, Law and Order, Preaching to the Choir, The Life, Broadway Damage and Private Parts. Original cast albums: King David , Marie Christine, Redeemer Hymns, Hope for New York, New York Hymns , “Grace”, (Grammy nominated) “Great Joy I” and soon to-be-released “Great Joy II” with Broadway Inspirational Voices.

Susannah Jones plays Cassidy Sullivan, VP of PR at End-Run, Inc. In the last year, she played Susan in Company at The Bucks County Playhouse, Olivia in Twelfth Night with Mainestage Shakespeare and reprised her role as Mother in the 1st national tour of A Christmas Story-The Musical. NYC Credits include work at The Cell, Marvell Repertory, New Georges, NYC Fringe, and New York Musical Festival. Regional: Portland Shakespeare Project, Texas Shakespeare Festival, Stageworks/Hudson, Hudson Stage Company. Web Series: PLANT, for which she won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy at the 2014 LA Webfest. www.susannahjones.info

Alex Kidder plays Leo’s Hooker. Alex Kidder’s favorite credits include: Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus; Titanic (Kate McGowan); Marvelous Wonderettes (Missy); Ragtime (Mother U/S); Thoroughly Modern Millie (Miss Dorothy); and Avenue Q (Kate Monster). Alex is a CAP21 NYU Tisch Graduate. Proud member of AGMA and AEA.  www.alex-kidder.com

Paul HeeSang Miller

plays Brian Scribner, Wall Street Journal Investigative Reporter.  Miller’s credits include: Broadway: King and I (Lincoln Center Theatre), Mamma Mia! (Broadhurst, Winter Garden Theatre). Regional: Walnut Street, North Shore Music Theatre, Kansas City Starlight, PCLO, Weston Playhouse, St Michaels Playhouse, MT Wichita. @millerp323

Trent Mills plays Tim Slickmann, Senior Auditor at BigWhat4. Mills is a Comedian, Singer and Writer based out of NYC. He recently returned from Toronto where he reprised the lead role in Evil Dead the Musical. He has performed improv at The National Comedy Theater, The PIT and Off the Cuff. He’s currently writing, producing and directing several shorts for his newest comedy channel My Cat’s Headshot. Trent recieved his BFA in musical theater from The Boston Conservatory. www.trentmills23.wix.com/TrentMills

Michael Siktberg plays Chad Cook, CFO at End-Run, Inc. NYC credits include Girlfriend From Hell: the musical! (54 Below) and Are you there Morgan Freeman? (A New York Musical Theatre Festival official selection). Siktberg’s Regional credits include The Buddy Holly Story (Theatre by the Sea) Saturday Night Fever (Ogunquit playhouse), Cats, Beauty And The Beast, Into The Woods, and Carousel. Michael is a graduate of the American Music And Dramatic Academy.

George Slotin plays Matt Weismann, junior BigWhat4 auditor. Slotin is making his NYMF debut with CRUDE. Recently, Slotin was seen in Show Boat (U/S Ravenal/ Ens.) at The Shubert Theatre in Boston and the workshop of A Bronx Tale (Dir. Jerry Zaks, Choreo. Sergio Trujillo). Favorite credits include Enoch Snow in Carousel, Damn Yankees (Dir. John Simpkins), Spamalot (Dir. Jennifer Werner), Nicely-Nicely in Guys and Dolls and The Joe Iconis Christmas Spectacular. TV: Best Week Ever with Neil Patrick Harris. 4EAA! @georgeslotin  www.georgeslotin.com

Amaker Smith plays Jackson Barker, SEC Investigator, and he is also the Reader of Stage Directions for CRUDE-The Musical. Amaker Smith’s favorite credits include: On TV, Season 2 of the series SMASH, and on Broadway, he played Jimmy in the original cast of Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Amaker has a BFA from Julliard.

About the team of “CRUDE – THE MUSICAL”

CRUDE is directed at NYMF by NYC-based director/choreographer Ilana Ransom Toeplitz. Ilana directed the recent hit reading of Shark Attack! The Musical, the sold-out 2015 NYMF selection Are You There Morgan Freeman?, and Reefer Madness (both 2014 at New World Stages feat. Alan Cumming & 2015 10th Anniversary Concert at 54 Below). Ilana also served as Assistant Director on Leigh Silverman’s 2014 Tony-nominated revival of Violet and was recently named the Drama League’s 2016 New Musicals Directing Fellow.

Music Director for CRUDE is Jonathan Ivie, who is making his NYMF debut. Jonathan has been seen conducting and playing on Broadway most recently at Rock of Ages and Off-Broadway at Natasha Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 and 50 Shades The Musical.

Cate Cammarata is Dramaturg for the NYMF Reading of CRUDE. She is the Associate Artistic Director for Rhymes Over Beats, and Literary Manager of Theater Resources Unlimited. She has worked on Broadway and Off-Broadway in NYC as a producer, director, writer and dramaturg.  She is currently producing My Life is a Musical by Adam Overett. She is also currently directing Ocean in a Teacup at Planet Connections. She is a member of the teaching faculty at SUNY Stony Brook Theatre Arts.

Maureen Condon, author of the book, lyrics and music for CRUDE has been active in the Boston musical scene for more than a decade.

Condon’s We Are Americans, a 9/11 tribute, has been performed at The Boston Marathon, and at hundreds of other venues nationwide by Massachusetts Singing Trooper, Sgt. Daniel M. Clark. His performances of Condon’s songs have been broadcast on Boston and Providence, RI, TV stations.

Her Christmas on Cape Cod, and We Are Americans have been performed numerous times by The Cape Symphony Orchestra, who also have performed selections from CRUDE including “When I Think of Christmas,” and “Puerto Rico in Your Arms.”

“I started writing songs specifically for this musical in 2008, when I teamed up with John McKenna, of Conifer, Colorado, who has written the full rock orchestra musical arrangements for my songs and produced the album for CRUDE, says Condon.

Berklee College of Music Professors Kevin Bleau, author of the new musical Roswitha, and Bob Winter, who has performed for many years as the pianist for The Boston Pops, have written the piano arrangements for this festival reading.

Carly J. Bauer is Casting Director for CRUDE. Recent casting projects include: Do The Blind Dream? (The Player’s Theatre), Ocean in a Teacup (Planet Connections) and the Columbia University’s MFA shorts, Zenith (debuting at Lincoln Center 2017), and I Miss You. Carly is also a member of the Untitled Theatre Collective.

Aaron Pratt is the General Manager for the 2016 NYMF Reading of CRUDE. Aaron Pratt, Matthew Wright and Erin Brooks are the creative partners behind Good People Management Group.

Meg Whitehurst is Stage Manager for the NYMF reading of CRUDE. She is a freelance stage manager based in New York City. Past stage management experience: The Cobalteans (NYMF 2015 & 2016 Reading) The Allies (Unabridged Productions) and Only (Playground: A Festival of New Plays).

Artistic design for the promotional materials for CRUDE was provided by both Aaron Pratt, and Marcus Liuzzi, of Crossroads, Inc., a graphic design company based in Yarmouth Port, MA.

About “CRUDE – THE MUSICAL”

CRUDE – THE MUSICAL is an official selection of the 2016 New York Musical Festival.  The musical has also been read at: The Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster, MA; the New Opera and Musical Theater Initiative (NOMTI) in Boston; and the Provincetown Theater’s Playwrights’ Lab, in Provincetown, MA.

About The New York Musical Festival

The New York Musical Festival nurtures the creation, production, and public presentation of stylistically, thematically, and culturally diverse new musicals to ensure the future vitality of musical theater.

Now in its thirteenth year, the Festival is the premier musical theater event in the world. The preeminent site for launching new musicals and discovering new talent, the Festival provides an affordable platform for artists to mount professional productions that reach their peers, industry leaders, and musical theater fans. More than 90 Festival shows have gone on to productions on and Off-Broadway, in regional theaters in all 50 states, and in more than 24 countries worldwide. Festival alumni have received a wide array of awards including the Tony Award® and the Pulitzer Prize. In 2013, NYMF received a special Drama Desk Award in recognition of its work “creating and nurturing new musical theatre, ensuring the future of this essential art form.”

NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2015 is sponsored by The City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Fuzzrocket, PRG, TheaterMania, and Clear Channel Spectacolor, and is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

The NYMF PASS is a great way to experience The New York Musical Festival. With a NYMF PASS, you can get into the theater before individual ticket holders. Passes also offer the exclusive ability to book tickets before they go on sale to the public. Individual tickets are now on sale!

The 2016 New York Musical Festival will take place July 11 – August 7. For more information, please visit: www.nymf.org

Late Breaking News!!!! Ray Marchica and I will be hosting our own musical party at BIRDLAND this coming Sunday 8/2/15 at 6PM!  Ray Marchica on Drums-Tom Hubbard on Bass-Sean Harkness on Guitar- Bob Quaranta on Piano..Great band. Great tunes. Great company! Marisa Mulder is a special guest and so is Ian Herman.