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New York Musical Theatre Festival,

Musical Mondays Theatre Lab, Pat Flicker Addiss, and Ricky Stevens to Present

Back Home
The War Brides Musical

Book by Ron Sproat, Music by Christopher Berg, Lyrics by Frank Evans

Directed by Bick Goss

Performances Begin Monday, September 24th

At The Sage Theater (711 Seventh Avenue)

Part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival

August 22, 2007

Musical Mondays Theatre Lab, Pat Flicker Addiss and Ricky Stevens will present BACK HOME: THE WAR BRIDES MUSICAL as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF). Performances will be at The Sage Theater (711 Seventh Avenue), and will begin on Monday, September 24th, continuing through Sunday, September 30th.

About the Show

BACK HOME aims to shed light on a war story that is rarely told.  During World War II, over 70,000 British Women met and married American servicemen stationed in Great Britain.  After the war, husbands and wives were separated when the husbands were shipped home.  The separations, in most cases, lasted more than a year due to governmental indifference to the plight of the War Brides on both sides of the Atlantic.  The musical is based on true events and follows the journey of Maureen (Mo) Gubbins, a London postal worker and Ivy Hennessy, a mill worker from Leeds in their fight to be reunited with their husbands.

The Cast

The cast for BACK HOME will include Raissa Katona Bennett (Phantom of the Opera, Chess with Josh Groban), Jeff Scot Carey (Dorian Gray at NYMF), Joe Danbusky (Sound of Music, Shakedown Street in FringeNYC), Jenn Zarine Habeck (Show Choir! The Musical at FringeNYC), Adam J MacDonald (Talk of the Town), Kristin Maloney (The Streets of New York, Talk of the Town), Vanessa June Marshall (The Book of the Dun Cow), Christina Morrell (New Girl in Town), Danielle Erin Rhodes (Grease, Damn Yankees), and Steve Sterner (Morning Star).  Design duties will be handled by Maruti Evans (Sets and Lighting) and David Gilliam (Costumes).

Creative Team

Frank Evans (Lyricist) received the Jerry Bock Award for the musical version of the Kaufman-Ferber classic Dinner at Eight. He previously collaborated with Ron Sproat on Abie's Island Rose and Ravenswood. His play The Puma, written in collaboration with Julie Gilbert, about the obsessive relationship between Marlene Dietrich and Erich Maria Remarque, will be seen at Florida’s Kravis Center early next year.

Ron Sproat (Book Writer) has numerous credits beginning with The US Steel Hour, General Motors Presents, and Kraft Television Theatre.  He was head writer of "Dark Shadows" and created the character of Barnabas Collins. Theatre credits include Abie's Island Rose (Jewish Rep), and Ravenswood.

Christopher Berg (Composer) has composed cantatas, songs and vocal ensembles for the Mirror Visions Ensemble, often for performances in Paris. Many performers, including theater legend Elaine Stritch, have recorded his work.  His most frequently performed song, a setting of Frank O'Hara's "Poem," begins with the immortal line: "Lana Turner has collapsed!"

Director Bick Goss has worked with such luminaries as Bob Fosse and Harold Prince. His most recent New York directing credit is Roman Nights at the DR2.  Bick is the founder and Artistic Director of Musical Mondays Theatre Lab.

Musical Mondays Theatre Lab is now in its tenth season developing new works for the musical theatre. MMTL has been active with NYMF since their inception, and has presented works by writers such as Amanda Green and Tom Kitt (High Fidelity) and Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (Avenue Q).

Producer Pat Flicker Addiss is currently represented on Broadway by Spring Awakening, which received 8 2007 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.  Other Broadway credits include Little Women, Chita Rivera: A Dancer's Life, and Bridge & Tunnel.

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BACK HOME: THE WAR BRIDES MUSICAL

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About The New York Musical Theatre Festival

Now in its 4th year, The New York Musical Theatre Festival is the largest musical theatre event in America.  NYMF premiered 99 new musicals during its first three seasons, with more than a dozen of these shows transferring to successful off-Broadway and regional productions.  Hailed as "the Sundance of Musical Theatre," NYMF is widely regarded as the premier source for new material and talent discovery.

NYMF is a flagship program of The National Music Theater Network, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and is presented by BroadwayWorld.com in association with amNewYork, Ars Nova, GSD Productions, King Displays, Panasonic Astrovision, Playbill, Variety Magazine and Verizon Wireless, and is proudly supported by Backstage, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Broadway Bullet, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Choice Signs, City Theatricals, Frank & Camille’s Fine Pianos, HX Magazine, Port Authority of NY and NJ, Seasons of Savings, Tekserve, TheatreMania.com, TheMENevent, Virgin Megastore and Wybron. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

 

BACK HOME will begin performances on Monday, September 24th and will continue through Sunday, September 30th.  The schedule will be as follows:

 

Monday, September 24th at 8:00 pm

Tuesday, September 25th at 1:00 pm

Wednesday, September 26th at 4:30 pm

Friday, September 28th at 1:00 pm

Saturday, September 29th at 8:00 pm

Sunday, September 30th at 1:00 pm and 4:30 pm

 

Tickets are $20 and may be purchased by calling Theatermania at 212-352-3101, or online at www.nymf.org.

BACK HOME

THE WAR BRIDES MUSICAL

Book by Ron Sproat, Lyrics by Frank Evans, Music by Christopher Berg

Directed by Bick Goss

At The Sage Theater (711 Seventh Avenue, between 47th and 48th Street)

Part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival

Monday, September 24th through Sunday, September 30th

TICKETS:  $20.00; Call (212) 352-3101 or visit www.nymf.org

 

 

 

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