AVENUE Q Stars to Reunite as Judges for York Theatre's TUNE IN TIME Next Month

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director), will host the return engagement of the game show for musical theater lovers called TUNE IN TIME, presented by Amy Engelhardt and Heather Shields, hosted by Emily McNamara, with Musical Director Nate Buccieri and annoyingly insistent timekeeper Sheila Head.

The November installment will be presented on Monday evening, November 9, 2015 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's (Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue).

In this "Musical Theater Olympics," three teams of composers and lyricists who have never worked together are forced to collaborate - and to beat the clock. Their task? They must write a song for a new Broadway musical, the title of which is picked from a hatful of audience suggestions - and in a style determined by a spin of the dreaded Genre Wheel - all within 20 minutes! TUNE IN TIME is an evening of edge-of-your-seat suspense, brain-frying bravery, and musical theatre magnificence. Each edition of TUNE IN TIME features a different roster of musical theater composers and lyricists as well as a panel of celebrity judges.

The November installment will feature lyricists Meghan Kelleher (songwriter), Sukari Jones (Location, Location, Location!!!), and Kathleen Wrinn (Ten: The Story of Grace and Joe) and composers Bobby Cronin (unlucky in Love, 2014 NEO writer at the York), Andy Roninson (creator of the podcast Take a Ten Musicals), and Adam Spiegel (Cloned! and a returning TUNE IN TIME champion).

The panel of illustrious celebrity judges will feature three members of the original cast of AVENUE Q: Tony Award nominee Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Jordan Gelber, and Ann Harada. In May of 2000, the York played host to the very first readings of the original version of Avenue Q, then subtitled "Children's Television for Twentysomethings." D'Abruzzo and Harada have been with the show since those performances, and the role Gelber would later play was essayed by future Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist/librettist Brian Yorkey.

General Admission tickets for TUNE IN TIME are priced at $20 and can be purchased online at www.yorktheatre.com, or by visiting the York Theatre Company Box Office (Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue), or by calling the Box Office at (212) 935-5820 during regular business hours (Monday through Friday, 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.).

Previous winners have included Christiana Cole and Joe Kinosian for their experimental assault on the inside of the piano, the outside of the proscenium, and the concept of luncheon meat from The Sweating Smörgåsbord; Jordan Mann and Landon Braverman for their love anthem, "Retweeter" from the disco-era musical, The Capricious Hashtag (anachronism be damned); Bill Nelson and Brad Simmons for their original song "Kiss Her" from the fictional The Slighted Hickey, à la Jason Robert Brown; Lisa DeSpain and Sarah Ziegler for their selection from the nonexistent new multi-culturally themed musical, The Chatty Apple; David Gomez and Zach Redler for their original song, "Too Soon," from the fictional Jason Robert Brown musical, The Gassy Breakthrough; Kellen Blair and Dave Christensen for the title song from the fictional 50s/60s throwback musical The High-Octane Chola; David Sisco and Kate Anderson for their stunning duet from the mock operetta, The Moist Aardvark; Dan McKenzie and Ben Wexler for the love duet from the faux Disney musical, The Sticky Snake; Erik Jareth Ransom (two-time champ) and Clay Zambo for their song from the imagined historical epic The Hairy Ebola; and Avi Amon and Robbie Torres for the Disney-style musical The Lovely Piano.

Photo Credit: Jay Brady

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