A LETTER TO HARVEY MILK to Receive Industry Reading Next Week

The award-winning musical, A Letter to Harvey Milk, based on the short story "A Letter to Harvey Milk" by Lesléa Newman, will enjoy an invite-only industry reading in New York City on Monday, June 22, 2015 at Times Square's Playroom Theatre. A Letter to Harvey Milk, has a book by Jerry James, Cheryl Stern and Laura I. Kramer, lyrics by Ellen M. Schwartz with additional lyrics by Cheryl Stern, and music by Laura I. Kramer, it has been musical directed, arranged and orchestrated by Ned Paul Ginsburg, and the reading will be directed by Evan Pappas (Performer: Parade, My Favorite Year).

In this poignant story set in San Francisco, Harry, a retired kosher butcher meets Barbara, a young lesbian who teaches a writing class. After showing her the impassioned letter written to his late friend Harvey Milk, the two form a bond that unearths memories both have struggled to suppress. Who knew writing to a late friend could change everything?

The cast of six will feature Michael Bartoli (Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act), Adam Heller (Broadway: It Shoulda Been You, Elf, The Musical), Barrie Kreinik (NYC: 39 Steps), Cassidy Ladden (Broadway: Annie Get Your Gun), C.J. Pawlikowski (The Underclassman), David Perlman (Broadway: Baby, It's You), and Tia Speros (Regional: Caroline, Or Change, Guys And Dolls). James Harker (Broadway: Doctor Zhivago, Mothers and Sons) stage manages and Lisa Dozier King (Off-Broadway: Bedbugs, F#%KING UP EVERYTHING) is the General Manager.

A Letter to Harvey Milk was a standout production at the 2012 New York Musical Theatre Festival where industry professionals recognized the new musical by awarding it Excellence in Writing/Book and Writing/Lyrics as well as Most Promising Musical. The show was also a finalist for the Richard Rodgers Award. One year after the award-winning NYMF production, Ellen M. Schwartz passed away and celebrated writer/performer Cheryl Stern joined the team to finish the project.

Who's Who:

JERRY JAMES (Book) is the author of eleven plays, variously produced in New York City, Toronto, Munich, Denver, Philadelphia, Washington, Boca Raton, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and on tour in Great Britain. The National Library of Medicine twice commissioned works from him. He is also a writer of short fiction, his stories having been awarded prizes in San Diego, Chicago and Ireland. "...She Wears Red Feathers," won first prize in the Spring 2006 Coffee House Fiction contest. The holder of an MFA from Penn State, Jerry is a member of The Dramatists Guild and an alumnus of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop

ELLEN M. SCHWARTZ (Lyrics) was the winner (with Bonnie Sanders) of the Quest For new Musicals for her work as lyricist, composer and librettist of COME UP 'N SEE ME, an award sponsored by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Richard Stilgoe. Her musical: The Trapped Family Singers, (Lyrics and Book) was a featured, award winning musical in the New York Fringe Festival. She wrote lyrics for Miami Beach Monsters which was presented at New York's Triad Theater and for Home For The Holidays, presented at the Pasadena Playhouse. Ellen wrote (music and lyrics) for The Care Bears (books and records) and has had her music and lyrics featured in movies: Rappin...First Love Never Dies released by Atlantic Records and "Never Again," "You Can Go" produced by Eric Schaeffer. She attended N.Y.U.'s Film School, The Juilliard School of Music and B.M.I Theater Music Workshop.

LAURA I. KRAMER (Composer/Book) has written numerous songs both as composer/lyricist and composer. She collaborated with lyricist Mitchell Bernard on the original musical, As The Years Go By. Her song "Armgart" can be heard on mezzo-soprano Lori Brown Mirabal's album, "Geliebter, Komm." Laura's choral works have been performed by choruses in the U.S. and Canada, and she received a commission from her alma mater, Skidmore College, to write a choral composition. She met lyricist Ellen Schwartz while in the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Laura is a member of the Dramatists Guild

CHERYL STERN (Book/ Additional Lyrics) created lyrics for the critically acclaimed, Jonathan Larson award winning, Off-Broadway musical, Nor'mal: starring Barbara Walsh at Transport Group. (book by Yvonne Adrian, music by Tom Kochan). The school adaptation of Nor'mal: has enjoyed much success touring the US as part of the Normal in Schools program. She is a contributing writer for The Audience (Drama Desk nom. Best Musical). Requiem for William, That's Life! (Outer Critic's nomination) and A Christmas Survival Guide (Samuel French). Other credits include: Being Audrey, The Gene Game (EST), Buffalonia (solo performance, EST),new verses for Carnival of the Animals (Cleveland Orchestra), In the Cracks(CNBC's America's Talkin') and Littlest Light on the Christmas Tree (Vital Theatre).Cheryl's most recent collaboration with Tom Kochan and Yvonne Adrian, Famous, A Hollywood Musical is a TRU Musical Reading Series winner. Cheryl is currently writing Shoes and Baggage, a new solo theatre piece with music by Tom Kochan. She is a graduate of Northwestern University.

EVAN PAPPAS (Director) as a Director; Off-Bway production of Liberty at Theatre 80. 7 Brides For 7 Brothers (SF Bay Area Critics Best Production Award, and Director nomination), Funny Girl (SF Bay Area Critics Director nom), The Drama League Benefit Honoring Kristin Chenoweth In NYC, Some Place Like Home by Adam Gwon (Best Director Award 2013 Soundbites Festival, NYC) Moscow by Lauren Simon (Samuel French One-Act Festival, NYC), Parallel Lives (Theatre for the New City), Daily Sounds (Finalist in The Strawberry Festival NYC), West Side Story (Opera North), Carousel, A Man Of No IMPORTANCE (Montclair State Univ.), West Side Story (Santa Fe College), Broadway Babes (Covent Garden Festival), Assoc. Dir. on Being Sellers (Brits off-Bway, 59E59Theatre, NYC), My Way (Depot Theatre). He has directed many readings including A Letter To Harvey Milk, Blindsided By A Diaper, J'oy Vey,, Secrets...The J Edgar Hoover Musical, Pumped, along with many Cabarets and Industrials around the country. He has had a long standing relationship with the Connecticut Downtown Cabaret's high-end children's theatre group directing Jack And The Beanstalk, Frankenstein, Allison Wonderland in English Panto style to much acclaim. He also teaches and has written and directed over 40 showcases at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, NYC.

NED PAUL GINSBURG (Musical Director/ Orchestrator/ Additional Arrangements) has been a contributing orchestrator to Beauty And The Beast (on Broadway), Minnelli On Minnelli, Wonder Pets, Paper Moon, Casper-The Musical, "The Academy Awards Show," Radio City Easter Show, Night Of 1000 Stars, New York Pops At Carnegie, Inside Out, and to several Warner Bros. films, included the Oscar-nominated Michael Collins. He orchestrated Sammy for The Old Globe Theater in 2009. He has worked for or with such composers as Alan Menken, Elliot Goldenthal, Bobby Lopez, Michael-John La Chiusa, Larry Grossman, Jerry Bock, and Jason Robert Brown, and for the entertainers Bernadette Peters, Diahann Carroll, Liza Minnelli, Elaine Stritch, Chita Rivera, Kathie Lee Gifford, Tony Danza, Faith Prince, and many, many others. From 1993-2000 he produced and arranged the highly acclaimed cd series The Broadway Kids, showcasing young performers singing classic and modern musical theater songs.

LESLÉA NEWMAN is the author of 65 books for readers of all ages including the short story collection, A LETTER TO HARVEY MILK, the poetry collection, STILL LIFE WITH BUDDY, the teen novel-in-verse, OCTOBER MOURNING: A SONG FOR MATTHEW SHEPARD, and the children's classic, HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES. Ms. Newman's literary awards include creative writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation, and several American Library Association Stonewall Honors. Nine of her books have been Lambda Literary Award finalists. Her newest poetry collection, I CARRY MY MOTHER was recently published by Headmistress Press. A past poet laureate of Northampton, MA, she currently teaches at Spalding University's low-residency MFA in Writing program.