Photo Flash: Liars & Believers' LE CABARET GRIMM in Rehearsal for NYMF

Haley Selmon (A Midsummer Night's Dream at Stratford-Upon-Avon), ASHLEY LANYON (The Boy Friend at Lyric Arts Mainstage), DAVIE M. KAIN (Shakespeare's R+J), JENNA SCHOEN (Broadway.tv's Next Broadway Star), Brandon Timmons (Curtains at the Boston Conservatory), Bart Mather (The Donkey Show at A.R.T., Matchmaker... at NYMF), MERYN BECKETT (Jesus Christ Superstar at The Curtis Theatre) and ALESSANDRA VAGANEK (Sweet Charity at the Boston Conservatory) will star in JASON SLAVICK and CASSANDRA MARSH's LE CABARET GRIMM in the 2012 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Check out photos of the cast and creative team in rehearsal below!

LE CABARET GRIMM is a punk cabaret fairy tale {sans fairies} adapted from Tales of The Brothers Grimm. It tells the story of a young girl thrust into the dark wood who travels the world to save her enchanted prince. LE CABARET GRIMM is darkly comic adult fairy tale of love, loss, unfairness and wishes. It is where Weimar cabaret meets tattoos and piercings, with a score ranging from torch song to ska, and masks, puppets and dance.

With book, lyrics and direction by JASON SLAVICK and music and music direction by CASSANDRA MARSH, LE CABARET GRIMM features choreography by MICHELLE CHASSE (Principal Dancer with Portland Ballet and Ballet New England), mask design by ERIC BORNSTEIN (Museum of Fine Arts Boston, The Kennedy Library/Museum, Boston Lyric Opera) and puppet design by ALEXANDRA CARPORALE and TYLER BROWN.

Lighting design is by AARON SHERKOW (Huntington Theater Company, American Opera Projects). Costume design is by KENDRA BELL (Song of Songs and 28 Seeds for Liars & Believers). MARC EWART (Song of Songs for Liars & Believers) is the production stage manager. ERICA PRANCE is the assistant stage manager. REBECCA LEIFER is the assistant to the director.

LE CABARET GRIMM will be presented at The 45th St. Theatre Mainstage (354 West 45th Street). Performances will be held on Monday, July 23 at 8pm; Tuesday, July 24 at 1pm; Wednesday, July 25 at 9pm; Friday, July 27 at 11pm; and Saturday, July 28 at 7pm and 10pm.

JASON SLAVICK (Writer/Lyricist/Director) For Liars & Believers (the LAB) he recently directed 28 Seeds, an apocalyptic sci-fi steampunk musical collaboration with the steampunk phenomenon Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys. Slavick co-wrote and directed Song of Songs: a LoveRomp and wrote and directed Le Cabaret Grimm – a punk cabaret fairy tale {sans fairies}, which premiered at the LAB. He wrote and directed Heaven & Hell - The Fantastical Temptation of the 7 Deadly Sins, a new musical adapted from the album by Joe Jackson that was presented at The Boston Conservatory in 2007.

As a company member of Boston Theatre Works, Slavick directed Othello (Elliot Norton Award nominated for Best Production and Best Actor), The Tempest, Antony & Cleopatra and Macbeth. He dramaturged and directed Emily Mann's critically acclaimed Meshugah, Olga Humphrey's Veronika Vavoom Volcanologist, and his own play J: A One-Act Improvised Tragi-Comedy. He also directed numerous developmental workshops and readings including The Tattooed Girl by Joyce Carol Oates and Paranoia by Olga Humphrey.

Slavick directed Professional Skepticism at The Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, The Good Woman of Setzuan and The Cherry Orchard at The Boston Conservatory, Betty and Mortie at The New Theatre, Frankenstein at The Stanley B. Theatre, Baby with the Bathwater for InCharge Productions, The Stronger at The Left Bank Theatre in Tel Aviv, and Aristotle Doesn't Live Here Anymore and A Land Without Trees at The Second Hand Independent Theatre, which he founded in Philadelphia.

Slavick is also the author of The Dancing Bear, The Golem, Icaphish, Alice: A Grotesque Turn in Twelve Scenes and a short story entitled The Old Woman of the Mountain.
He received his MFA in directing from The Trinity Repertory Conservatory in Providence, where he was awarded the Pell Scholar Award and directedRichard III,Waiting for Godot, The Caucasian Chalk Circle and others. There he had the great fortune to work with Oskar Eustis, Brian Kulick, and Kevin Moriarity. He also studied at the Eugene O'Neill National Theatre Institute and at the Warsaw Theatre Academy in Warsaw, Poland.

CASSANDRA MARSH (Music and Music Direction) is a critically-acclaimed and award- winning pianist, vocalist and music director. As a cabaret artist she has performed throughout Boston and the country including such venues as The Napoleon Club, Dedo's, Club Cafe?, The Park Plaza Hotel, The Boston Harbor Hotel, The French Library, The Duplex, The Majestic Theatre, Club Passim and North Shore Music Theatre. She received her BFA from Ithaca College with additional studies at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto, The Longy School of Music and The American Music Center in New York. As a musical director Cassandra has over 50 shows to her credit including Tony n' Tina's Wedding Boston production and two seasons on the national tour. Most recently she was Assistant Music Director for North Shore Music Theatre's production of My Fair Lady, The King and I and Hello, Dolly!

Marsh has written and produced three one-woman shows and is currently working on her latest installment, The Unashamed Accompanist. She also has composed and written the book for Alice, a musical adaptation of the Lewis Carroll story, which has been produced by several theatre companies including The Boston Baked Theatre and The Middlesex School for the Arts. As a singer songwriter she is currently working on her CD, Spellbound with Hope, due out on the Whirlygirl Label.

Marsh is an experienced church musician and has served for the last eight years as the Minister of Music at The First Church of Winthrop United Methodist. She also serves Cambridge Welcoming Ministries, which is an LGBTQ inclusive church. Marsh is an activist and founding member of The Winthrop Coalition for Peace and Justice.

Slavick and Marsh first wrote LE CABARET GRIMM with a student ensemble in 2008. With the founding of Liars & Believers in 2009, that script became the basis for the professional premiere of LE CABARET GRIMM and the inaugural production of Liars & Believers. Over the course of a year, the show was redeveloped through an ensemble-based collaborative process and was presented in April, 2010 at the Boston Center for the Arts. It played for three weeks to a sold-out run and public acclaim, signaling the arrival of a new experimental voice in Boston.

Liars & Believers is a Boston-based experimental theatre company dedicated to creating original, innovative theatre. They are committed to supporting the great artistic talent of Boston through interdisciplinary exchanges. Using their unique collaborative process, they develop their shows with diverse ensembles of performers using live music, dance, puppetry, masks and other artistic disciplines to tell meaningful stories in exciting ways.

Liars & Believers was founded as a non-profit company in 2009 and has created a new experimental musical each year. In 2010 they premiered Le Cabaret Grimm – A Punk Cabaret Fairy Tale {sans fairies}; in 2011 they premiered Song of Songs – a LoveRomp; and in 2012 they premiered 28 Seeds, an apocalyptic, sci-fi, steampunk musical created in collaboration with Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys. In April 2013 they will premiere their latest work, Icarus.
The Liars & Believers company is comprised of JASON SLAVICK, RACHEL HOCK, JEFF KUBIATOWICZ, KATE SMOLIK and MARK EWART. The Board of Directors includes JONATHAN GARLICK, AHRON HERRING and JASON SLAVICK.

Now in its ninth year, the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is the largest annual musical theatre event in America and is widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery. NYMF provides a launching pad for the next generation of musicals and their creators to ensure the continued vitality of one of America's greatest art forms. Hailed as the "Sundance of Musical Theatre," NYMF discovers, nurtures, and promotes promising musical theatre artists and producers at all stages of development, and inspires a diverse audience through vibrant, accessible, powerful new work.

For tickets, scheduling and further information about LE CABARET GRIMM, visit www.LeCabaretGrimm.com, www.nymf.org/LeCabaretGrimm or find the show on Facebook or Twitter @liarsbelieve.

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