BMI Showcases New Work at Musical Mondays Dec.10

BMI presents a showcase of new material at Musical Mondays, held December 10 at 6:30PM at the Snapple Theatre Center (210 West 50th Street). Reserve at 212 989-6706 or musicalmondays@aol.com, BMI Workshop Members Special Admission $5 (Use Code: Blanche). General Admission $10

FEATURED DECEMBER 10

IN LIVING COLOR (a fifty minute sample), currently in development at the BMI Workshop
Music by Fred Thaler (last season's Easy City), Book and Lyrics by Robert Yarnall
"Back to the Future" meets "Leave it To Beaver" when two teenagers find themselves in the 1950's.
Linda Burson directs. Running time: approximately 50 minutes

KUDOS for MMTL's BACK HOME at the New York Musical Theatre Festival.
NYMF AWARDS: Honorable mention in two categories – The Verizon Best of Fest Award and Excellence in Lyrics.  Thank you all for your support and votes for the Best of Fest Award!

THE MASKED ZINFANDEL, music by Peter Yarin, Book and Lyrics by Justin Warner
In the faraway, quasi-medieval kingdom of Helvetica, young Sam the Shoemaker replaces the town's hottest masked hero/outlaw/celebrity.The cast includes Craig Fols (Musical of Musicals, the Musical,  original cast) Ray Bokhour (Broadway's Chicago) and Amy Zelcer (American Musical Project; "Harvard Idol" winner) Nancy Robillard (Culture Project, Luna Stage, Walnut Street Theatre) directs.
Total running time, approximately 60 minutes

A recipient of the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre Award, the Lehman Engel Musical Workshop consists of approximately 250 composers, lyricists and book writers who are actively writing new works for the musical theatre. The first year class is co-moderated by Workshop Artistic Coordinator Patrick Cook (Captains Courageous, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) and Workshop alumni Frederick Freyer (Captains Courageous). Deemed "the Harvard of musical theatre" by The New York Times, the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop was founded in 1961 by the late Lehman Engel, dean of American musical theatre, to create a setting where new writers could learn their craft. This year's workshop is from Sept 2007 – June 2008

Sponsorship for the Workshop is fully covered by BMI, leaving no cost for participating writers. The purpose of the Workshop is to bring writers together to work under the guidance and supervision of experienced professionals in order to develop new creative talent in American musical theatre. A springboard for new works, the Workshop creates a learning environment for members to experiment, take risks and learn from moderators and other participants.

Alumni include Tony Award winners Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez (Avenue Q), Edward Kleban (A Chorus Line), Maury Yeston (Titanic, Grand Hotel, Nine), Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horrors), Michael John LaChiusa (Hello Again, Marie Christine, The Wild Party).  Additional alumni - songwriters Tom Kitt and Amanda Green (High Fidelity) first met and collaborated in 2006 in the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, and songs from High Fidelity have been featured in BMI Workshop showcases.