BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop Hosts Winter Smoker 1/13

The BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop announces its Winter Smoker, a semi-annual showcase for new songs from Workshop writers. The event will be held in the 30th Floor Media Room of BMI's New York office at 7 World Trade Center/250 Greenwich Street on Thursday, January 13 at 5:30PM and is open to members of the entertainment industry as well as Workshop members. Reservations are a must: Ssantana@bmi.com or 212 220-3177. Running time is 70 minutes.

The Smoker, now in its fourteenth season, is modeled after informal social gatherings at Cambridge University where the Workshop's two time Tony® Award winning and 2010 Oscar® nominated writer Maury Yeston performed his songs during his undergraduate days. Previous smoker participants include Best Musical Tony® Award winners Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (Avenue Q), Nancy Ford and Gretchen Cryer (I'm Getting My Act Together...), Eric Rockwell and Joann Bogart (The Musical of Musicals, The Musical) Amanda Green and Tom Kitt (High Fidelity), and Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (next to normal).

Recent and upcoming productions of musicals developed in the Workshop and by Workshop writers include Wanda's World by Beth Falcone & Eric H Weinberger at AMAS, preparing for a Broadway run directed by Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Calvin Berger by Barry Wyner, directed by Kathleen Marshall at George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ, Giant, based on the Edna Ferber classic novel, score by Michael John LaChiusa, directed by Jonathan Butterell at The Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia with an New York City run planned for 2011-12, The Story of My Life by Neil Bartram & Brian Hill, directed by Richard Maltby Jr. at Goodspeed's Norma Terris and on Broadway, Sammy Buck, Dan Acquisto and Eric Weinberger's And Then I Wrote a Song About It directed by Igor Gavin at Luna Stage, See Rock City by Brad Alexander & Adam Mathais at Barrington Stage and last summer at the Duke Theatre directed by Jack Cummings III for The Transport Group and The Kid, by Jack Lechner, Andy Monroe and Michael Zam, directed by Scott Elliott, produced by The New Group off-Broadway last spring.

Jill Abramovitz, (9 to 5 and Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me) who is also a Workshop writer will perform "Christmas Without You" by Joe Kinosian & Kellen Blair.

The writing team is gearing up for a world premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in spring, 2011. Leo Ash Evens, recently in Wanda's World, reteams with "Wanda" Composer-Lyricist Beth Falcone performing "Save the Environment." Bass player and recording artist Ritt Henn joins MAC-Award winning composer-lyricist Mary Liz McNamara performing the title song from her musical with co-book by Arden Kass, "The Good Girl."

Amy Justman (Company, White Christmas, upcoming Encores Lost in the Stars) performs "Exicting to Me" from the new musical Touched by Matt Van Brink & Charlie Sohne. Rosemary Loar (Sunset Blvd., Once Upon a Mattress (Broadway) Grinch Who Stole Christmas (National Co) and Jeannine Frumess (The Kid) sing "Prom Night" by The Kid composer Andy Monroe for his new musical Drive, which takes place mainly in automobiles.

Composer-Lyricist-Performer Jeff Blumenkrantz, Tony® nominated for his contributions to Urban Cowboy, is represented with a new song performed by Gillian Goldberg, who performed in the premiere production of Calvin Berger. Michael Ogborn's The Three Maries is a new musical comedy about Queen Marie of Romania's visit to Philadelphia in the late 1920's and how two local residents become part of the historic event.. Tracie Higgins performs "The Diction Lesson" with composer-lyricist-bookwriter Ogborn.

Raymond Bokhour ("Mr. Cellophane" in Chicago) performs two songs from The Suicide, Bokhour is the lyricist, Simon Gray, the composer and Tim Rosser is at the piano. Sean Hartley, who wrote book and lyrics for Drama Desk nominated Cupid and Psyche and bookwriter for the Spirit Award Winning Little Women, is author and composer of Snow. Snow is set in hippie populated Greenwich Village. Liz Queler, whose voice has been heard in films such as "The Little Mermaid" and for dozens of jingles sings "Free Love." Broadway Guitarist extraordinaire (next to normal) Simon Kafka accompanies Ms. Queler as well as Jihwan Kim, composer of Cupid and Psyche on piano.

Harris Doran, who just completed filming the lead role in the feature film "Junction" and is a NYMF best actor award winner for Love, Jerry sings "Step Right Up" by composer David Gaines and Lyricist Michele Foor whose work was performed at Lincoln Center's Bruno Walter Auditorium last December. Haley Greenstein sings composer/lyricist Rebecca Greenstein's "There's Nothing Wrong with Me."

The event is co-produced by Kleban Award Winner Patrick Cook, Artistic Coordinator of the Workshop and Frank Evans, Special Events Coordinator. Cook garnered an Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination for Captain's Courageous, produced by Manhattan Theatre Club. Evans, whose musicals have been seen from Alaska to London is a Jerry Bock Award winning lyricist. He has been named on Best of The Year Lists in The Palm Beach Post, The Norwich Bulletin and TheatreWeek. His play Puma, written with Julie Gilbert, plays New Jersey Repertory beginning February 24, in Long Branch, N.J.

The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, recipient of a 2006 Tony honor, Drama Desk Award and Drama League Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre, 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.

Now marking its 65th year in business, BMI is an American performing rights organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers in all genres of music. With a repertoire of more than 6.5 million musical works from around the world, the non-profit-making corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.