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BROOKLYN THE MUSICAL COMES TO THE MUSIC HALL AT FAIR PARKEdited by Madelyn Miller, the TravelLady“Imagine ‘Hair’ or ‘Godspell,’ throw in a helping of Motown and filter the whole thing through the pyrotechnics of ‘American Idol.’” - The New York Times “Infectious pop-and-soul music with a succession of high-voltage performances.” - Newsday “Brooklyn will have a revered place in music-theatre history as the landmark musical of the first decade of the third millennium.” - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Single tickets are on sale now, priced from $11-$69, and may be purchased at The Box Office, 542 Preston Royal Shopping Center, without service charges. Tickets may be purchased at any Ticketmaster outlet or online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 214-631-ARTS (2787) with a service charge. For group sales of 20 or more, call 214-426-GROUP. The cast of Brooklyn The Musical is led by American Idol’s Diana DeGarmo as Brooklyn, and Tony® Award winners Melba Moore (as Paradice) and Cleavant Derricks (as Streetsinger). Derricks starred in the original Broadway cast of Brooklyn The Musical. Also from the Broadway production will be Julie Reiber as Faith and Lee Morgan as Taylor Collins. From the heart of Brooklyn comes a band of soulful street-corner singers and storytellers. With a mix of pop and soul, they set their stage and tell a wondrous sidewalk fairy tale about a young girl searching for fame and the father she never knew. With just one clue to lead her, she lands in the city that bears her name…BROOKLYN. Brooklyn The Musical premiered at the New Denver Civic Theatre on May 7, 2003 for a six-week limited engagement. The production opened on Broadway in September 2004 and played over 300 performances at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 West 45th Street. Brooklyn Records released “Brooklyn The Musical,” a one-of-a-kind live recording of the original cast album from the new Broadway musical. The album is available at www.brooklynthemusical.com and nationally at retail stores and Amazon.com. The Broadway design team will reunite for the tour, and includes: Ray Klausen (sets), Tobin Ost (costumes), Michael Gilliam (lights), Duncan Edwards (sound). JEFF CALHOUN (Director) is the director and choreographer of Deaf West Theater’s production of Big River (Broadway for the Roundabout Theatre Company; Tony and Drama Desk Noms. – Best Revival of a Musical; Drama Desk Nomination for Best Director of a Musical; Mark Taper Forum; Deaf West Theater: Ovation and L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards for both Direction and Choreography; and the National/Japanese tour). He began his relationship with Deaf West when he directed Oliver! (3 Ovation Awards including Best Direction). Jeff made his Broadway directing debut with Tommy Tune Tonight and collaborated with Tommy Tune on The Will Rogers Follies (6 1991 Tony Awards including Best Musical). Jeff directed and choreographed the Broadway revival of Grease! (Tony nom. – Best Choreography), and also co-choreographed the Tony Award winning revival of Annie Get Your Gun starring Bernadette Peters and later Reba McEntire. Jeff recently directed and choreographed Shenandoah starring Scott Bakula at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC. JOHN McDANIEL (Music Director/Conductor/Arranger/Orchestrator). Television: “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” (2 Emmy Awards, Music Producer; 5 Emmy nominations, Music Direction/Composition); Comedy Central “Friar’s Roasts” ‘99, ‘00, ‘01, ‘02 (Arranger/Conductor); “A Rosie Christmas” (Arranger/Conductor); Tony Awards ‘97, ‘98, ‘00 (Arranger). Broadway: Grease! (Music Director/Arranger); Chicago (Conductor); Patti LuPone on Broadway (Arranger); Annie Get Your Gun (Music Supervisor/Arranger); Taboo (Music Supervisor/Arranger). Recordings: Patti LuPone Live! (Conductor/Arranger); Annie Get Your Gun Cast Recording (Producer/Grammy Award); Three solo CD’s: John McDaniel At the Piano: Broadway, Christmas and Compositions; John McDaniel Live at Joe’s Pub; The Maury Yeston Songbook (Producer); Taboo Cast Recording (Producer/Arranger). Guest pops conductor throughout the country including San Francisco and St. Louis Symphonies. BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon. Please visit www.JohnMcDaniel.com. MARK SCHOENFELD & BARRI McPHERSON (Book, Music & Lyrics). Brooklyn The Musical marked the Broadway debut for the writing collaboration of Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson. Mark first met Barri in 1982 upon hearing her sing at a cabaret and hired her to record some of his music. Shortly thereafter, Barri moved to Massachusetts to raise a family. Years later, in 1991, Barri returned to New York to perform at a private-party gig. She involuntarily stopped at a remote street corner in Brooklyn Heights after hearing the sound of a voice she vaguely recognized. She discovered that Mark had become a homeless street performer, getting by on $40 a day. Barri invited Mark back to Massachusetts to stay with her husband and two children. Mark repaid Barri by developing music with and for her and soon, the street poet and cabaret singer had the skeleton of a most unusual new musical. DIANA DeGARMO (Brooklyn) shot to fame as the runner up on American Idol. Her debut single “Dreams” went to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Singles Sales chart. She just completed her Broadway debut as Penny Pingleton in Hairspray and also starred as Maria in West Side Story at the American Musical Theatre of San Jose. She performs in concert year-round and travels worldwide to entertain the troops. Diana is excited about performing the role of Brooklyn opposite Melba Moore. Diana has also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Live with Regis & Kelly and The View. CLEAVANT DERRICKS (Streetsinger). Broadway: Dreamgirls (Tony®, Drama Desk Award & L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award), Bob Fosse’s Big Deal (Tony®, Drama Desk Award nominations), Your Arms Too Short to Box With God. L.A. Theatre: The Full Monty (NAACP Theatre Award - best actor). Film: Moscow on the Hudson, The Slugger’s Wife, Offbeat, Carnival of Souls, Bluffing it, World Traveler. TV series regular: “Sliders,” “Thea,” “Drexell’s Class,” “Good Sports,” “Woops!” Cleavant’s CD, Beginnings, is available at www.cleavantderricks.com. MELBA MOORE (Paradice) was last on Broadway in Les Misérables portraying the ill-fated Fantine. A singer with a multi-octave range, Moore began her career as a back-up singer for the likes of Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and Liza Minnelli. Her work in the original company of Hair led to her Tony® winning role in Purlie, and since then Moore has performed in concert arenas throughout the world. Her R&B hits include “I Am His Lady,” “Falling” and “Read My Lips,” which was nominated for a Grammy Award. Moore was also recently seen in the Paramount film “The Fighting Temptations.” LEE MORGAN (Taylor) Broadway: Brooklyn the Musical, The Who’s Tommy (original cast album). Off-Broadway: Almost Heaven: The Songs of John Denver, Heat Lightning. NY workshops: Mask (dir. Richard Maltby), Footloose. Regional: Almost Heaven (Walnut Creek), Brooklyn The Musical (Denver Civic Theater), Quincey Morris in Frank Wildhorn’s Dracula (La Jolla), The Who’s Tommy (La Jolla), Hamlet in Hamlet and Brutus in Julius Caesar (Texas Shakespeare Festival). Film: Time and Again. Lee’s a singer songwriter and performs with his music partner, Joe Lutton. They have a debut album, Basic, and a second in the works. Listen to their music at http://www.joeandlee.com. JULIE REIBER (Faith) is excited to be a part of BKLYN again. She performed both the roles of Brooklyn and Faith in the original Broadway Company where she was a swing. Most recently Julie performed with the Indianapolis Symphony in The Beat Goes On: The Music of the Baby Boomers and also just returned from a Jekyll and Hyde concert tour in South Korea. Other credits include: All Shook Up (Broadway) and RENT (tour) among others. www.juliereiber.com. The Dallas Summer Musicals 2006 season continues with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring Tony Award-winning Norbert Leo Butz, October 3-22, 2006. This hilarious parody of Hollywood opened on Broadway in March, 2005, and has been selling out nightly since. With a book by Jeffrey Lane and David Yazbek’s music and lyrics, the Tony-award winning hit musical has been favorably compared to The Producers. Dallas audiences will be among the first in the country to see the national touring production of this exciting new show. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels will also be the 2006 State Fair of Texas musical. Tickets are priced from $28.50-$75.50. Season sponsors for Dallas Summer Musicals are The Dallas Morning News, WFAA TV Channel 8, and American Airlines. For more information about Dallas Summer Musicals, call 214-421-5678 or visit the Dallas Summer Musicals website at www.dallassummermusicals.org. Madelyn Miller is a writer and web entrepreneur who writes for www.travellady.com, www.carladynews.com, www.chocolataeatlas.com, www.cocktailatlas.com, www.teaAtlas.com and has others coming soon. |
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Direct
from Broadway, Brooklyn The Musical, a new musical by Mark Schoenfeld and Barri
McPherson, directed by Tony® Award nominee Jeff Calhoun, with music supervision,
arrangements and orchestrations by Grammy® and Emmy® Award winner John McDaniel,
comes to the Music Hall at Fair Park July 25-August 6, 2006. The national tour
is produced by Dallas Summer Musicals.