STAGE TUBE: In Rehearsal with FIRST YOU DREAM Kander & Ebb Revue

The cast and director Eric Schaeffer of the musical revue First You Dream, set to open this month at the Kennedy Center, discuss the work of their show's muses John Kander and Fred Ebb, the songwriting team who created Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Zorba, and many more Broadway hits. Watch video interviews, plus footage of the cast in reherasal, below!

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will present First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb in the Eisenhower Theater June 8 to July 1, 2012. The musical revue will star Heidi Blickenstaff, James Clow, Alan H. Green, Leslie Kritzer, Patina Miller, and Matthew Scott.

Originally produced at Signature Theatre in Virginia and co-conceived by David Loud and Eric Schaeffer, the production features music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and will be directed by Eric Schaeffer. Jon Kalbfleisch will conduct the 22-piece Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. Press opening night is Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.

First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb celebrates the legendary five-decade partnership of songwriting duo John Kander and Fred Ebb who brought us Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Zorba. Songs include “The Cell Block Tango,” “Maybe This Time,” “Ring Them Bells,” “Sing Happy,” “Razzle Dazzle,” and many more.

John Kander and Fred Ebb’s long collaboration has created many Broadway standards and contemporary classics: Flora the Red Menace, Cabaret (Tony Award®), The Happy Time, Zorba, 70 Girls 70, Chicago, The Act, Woman of the Year (Tony Award®), The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman (Tony Award®), Steel Pier, Curtains, and The Scottsboro Boys. Their collaboration also transferred itself to movies and television, original material for the Academy Awards, Liza with a Z, Emmy Award and HBO’s Liza Minnelli’s Steppin Out (Emmy Award), Funny Lady, Oscar nominated for How Lucky Can You Get, Lucky Lady, New York, New York, Stepping Out and Chicago the movie. Oscar nominated for Move On. The song “New York, New York” became the official anthem of New York City in the mid-1980s. The Visit and All About Us have been produced regionally.

Director Eric Schaeffer’s Broadway credits include Follies, Million Dollar Quartet, Glory Days, and Putting It Together. In 2002 he served as artistic director of the Kennedy Center’s Sondheim Celebration, where he directed Passion and Sunday in the Park with George. Mr. Schaeffer is the co-founder and artistic director of Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia (winner of the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award), where he has directed many productions including Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods, Company, Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Pacific Overtures, Les Misérables, and The Witches of Eastwick, among others. In London, Mr. Schaeffer directed the world premiere production of The Witches of Eastwick at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2000 and Million Dollar Quartet. For the Kennedy Center, Mr. Schaeffer directed Mame starring Christine Baranski, in 2006, and most recently, Follies in its pre-Broadway run in 2011.

The Kennedy Center production of First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb will feature scenic design by James Kronzer, costume design by Kathleen Geldard, lighting design by Howell Binkley, and sound design by Kai Harada. The production will include musical staging by Karma Camp, orchestrations by William David Brohn, music supervision and vocal arrangement by David Loud, and casting by Laura Stanczyk Casting.