BWW JR: Butz, Noll and Broadway's Best Support MDR's Debut of RATED P

RATED P

FOR BROADWAY-LOVING PARENTS, JUST IN TIME FOR MOTHER'S DAY!

About 40 minutes South of the starry lights of Broadway, along New Jersey Transit's Midtown Direct line, you'll find the town of Maplewood, New Jersey and it's neighbor, South Orange. Dubbed "Where Broadway Comes Home to Sleep", this idyllic suburb is home to a healthy contingent of commuting, Broadway performers, many of whom are parents. Lucky for those of us who are true fans, these talented suburbanites have created a New Theatre Company housed in the beautiful, South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC). Named MDR (Midtown Direct Rep) after the train line that gets its members to work eight times a week, the company includes an impressive list of some of Broadway's best including Norbert Leo Butz, Christiane Noll, and Michele Pawk just to name a few.

MDR founding member and TONY Award Nominee Christiane Noll was impressed to find out "how many brilliantly talented theater folk have moved out here to have families!"

This May, just in time for Mother's Day (hint, hint), MDR will debut it's first, fully-produced production entitled RATED P (The P is for Parenthood). With Book and Lyrics by MDR's co-founder and co-artistic director Sandy Rustin and Music and Lyrics by Dan Lipton and David Rossmer, this sketch/musical comedy explores the wonders and lunacy of raising kids from conception to college. Starring local Broadway veterans from SOPAC's Midtown Direct Rep, RATED P brings the audience along on a hilarious and touching journey of both the joys and the drama of parenthood.

Check out this video of the song "Parent Teacher Conference" from Rated P:

"This show isn't just for Parents, it's for anyone who's ever HAD a parent" says RATED P's director and MDR's co-artistic director/founder Jeremy Dorbrish.

Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz (currently starring in Catch Me If You Can) is also a founding member of MDR. Both Butz and Christiane Noll have donated solo evenings to benefit this production of Rated P.

"For a brand New Theatre Company to have celebrated artists like Norbert and Christiane supporting us and performing with us is thrilling," says Dobrish.

"It's really exciting" says Noll, "Rated P, a show about parenthood is a perfect first show. A large segment of the population out here is made up of couples who moved here to have families. I can't wait to see how wholly this show is embraced!" 

Last January, I took the short trip out to South Orange to catch a developmental reading of RATED P. Let's just say I got my ab workout from laughing so hard, and I can't wait to see a full production. It's the laughter of recognition, as I saw my life as both a child and a parent played out with musical comedy panache. The cast of four includes David Josefsberg (Alter Boyz, The Wedding Singer), Courtney Balan ([Title of Show], Cry-Baby), Bradley Dean (Spamalot, A Little Night Music) and JoAnna Young (The Drowsy Chaperone, Grease). Almost all of the cast and creative team has been touched by parenthood, and they all lived to tell the tale....and have a sense of humor about it.

Another MDR member is TONY award winner Michele Pawk who says, "The South Orange/Maplewood community is probably the most talented suburb in America! Now, instead of taking the midtown direct train into Manhattan, this amazingly gifted group of artists is dedicated to bringing Broadway-caliber theatre to our own community...Plus, all of us parents will get home that much sooner after our shows!"

I will be spending part of my Mother's Day weekend taking the Midtown Direct out to South Orange to catch RATED P. If you'd like to do the same, SOPAC is offering a 30% discount to BroadwayWorld.com readers.

To get the discount code, follow BroadwayWorldJr on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Photo Credit: Thomas Singer