Broadway Arranger, Composer Sam Davis Set for THE AMAS SONG SALON Next Month

Amas Musical Theatre and The Amas Song Salon will offer a special presentation with four rising Broadway talents - Sam Davis (An American in Paris), Daniel May (Flower Drum Song), Rashidra Scott (Sister Act), and A.J. Shively (Bright Star) - who will explore the art of musical orchestrating and arranging.

The evening will be held on Monday, September 19 in a spectacular, sky-high location on West 57th Street. The evening will begin at 6pm with cocktails and supper, followed by the performance and post-performance discussion at 7:30pm. Tickets are $105 (tax deductible as allowed law) and may be purchased online at www.amasmusical.org or by calling 212-563-2565. This is a one time event and the seating is limited.

Just as George Gershwin's An American in Paris is winding down its acclaimed Broadway run, Holiday Inn -- The New Irving Berlin Musical is set to start previews. Both feature music written over 70 years ago by beloved American composers. How do classic melodies get polished and reset for major new musical interpretations? Who is entrusted to create the dance and vocal arrangements and the interstitial music that both meets the needs of the show and honors the original composer's intent?

Enter Sam Davis, a Broadway arranger, conductor, pianist, and winner of the Jonathan Larson Award for composition. What is the process of writing and supplementing the music of another composer in service of a new musical? How does his own music inform that process? Join us for a special evening asMr. Davis, assisted by the vocal talents of Daniel May, Rashidra Scott, and A.J. Shively, sheds light on how he places his own talents in the service of the work of American masters like Gershwin and Berlin.

The Amas Song Salon series, from New York's award-winning Amas Musical Theatre, is designed to present up-close and personal soirees celebrating the Broadway songbook and some of its brightest talents in a relaxed environment. Intimate, entertaining and informative.

Sam Davis is a composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist. Broadway credits as arranger include An American in Paris, Gigi, Side Show (also musical director), Big Fish, Scandalous, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012), and Holiday Inn. Film and television credits as arranger include the Coen Brothers'Hail, Caesar!, "Good Behavior", and the upcoming remake of Beauty and the Beast. Sam is the composer of the Off-Broadway shows Red Eye of Love(Amas Musical Theatre), Love and Real Estate (59E59 Theater), and the award-winning children's musical Bunnicula (script by Charles Busch, Daryl Roth Theater.) He also composed music for The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare in the Park). Other theater credits include The Little Dancer and The Trumpet of the Swan at the Kennedy Center, and musical supervisor for the 2009 national tour of Dreamgirls. Recordings include his debut album as composer, Love on a Summer Afternoon (P.S. Classics), and the original cast albums of Bunnicula (Yellow Sound) and Red Eye of Love (Ghostlight). He is also arranger for several projects in development for Broadway, including Disney's Frozen. Sam is a winner of the Jonathan Larson Award and a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music.

Daniel May is a native of Los Angeles who is thrilled to be back in NYC! Credits: Broadway: Flower Drum Song (Harvard u/s). National Tours: Thoroughly Modern Millie (Ching-Ho). Other Credits: Red Eye of Love (Amas Musical Theatre, Enemy Soldier) I Only Have Eyes for You (Ricardo Montalban Theatre, Swing) Miss Saigon (McCoy Rigby, Assistant Commissar) and Beijing Spring (East West Players, Xian) www.atbtalent.com

Rashidra Scott can be seen on Broadway in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Previously, she has been on Broadway in ensemble and lead roles inAvenue Q, Finian's Rainbow, Hair, and Sister Act. She was on the road as a background vocalist for renowned singer Patti Austin's "BeboperElla!" tour in conjunction with the release of Austin's Ella Fitzgerald tribute album, "For Ella." Rashidra's television appearances include Violet (the singing nurse) on Sony/FOX's "Rescue Me," "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," "Dancing With The Stars," the 2011 and 2014 Tony Awards, "The View," "Good Morning America," "The Today Show," "Wendy Williams," the Walt Disney World Christmas Parade, and the Macy's and CBS Thanksgiving Day Parades.

A.J. Shively Broadway: Bright Star (Drama Desk Award Nomination); La Cage Aux Folles. Nat'l Tour: The Sound of Music. Off-Broadway: February House(The Public); Brigadoon (Irish Rep); Unlock'd (Prospect); A Contemporary American's Guide To A Successful Marriage (Cherry Lane); Things To Ruin(Second Stage); Little Airplanes Of The Heart (Ensemble Studio Theatre); ReWrite (Urban Stages). Regional: Kennedy Center; Old Globe; CenterStage; TUTS; George Street Playhouse; Long Wharf; TheatreWorks- Silicon Valley; Sharon Playhouse; Gulfshore Playhouse; NYMF; Fringe NYC. TV/Film: "The Daily Show"; Syrup; HairBrained; Nobody Walks In LA; From Nowhere. BFA: University of Michigan.

Christopher Scott (Director) is a member of the Playwright Directors Workshop at the legendary Actor's Studio. Off-Broadway he has directed Greed: A Musical For Our Times produced by longtime collaborator Eric Krebs, as well as the hit musical Golf:The Musical by Michael Roberts and Nancy Friday's My Secret Garden which he not only directed but also adapted from her ground-breaking bestseller. For many seasons, Christopher worked as Director for Theatreworks/USA, the nation's largest professional not-for-profit theatre for young audiences. He is an adjunct faculty member at Baruch College/CUNY where he teaches in the fine and performing arts department and an Artistic Associate with Amas Musical Theatre, founded by Rosetta Lenoire.

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer) now in its 48th year of continuous operation is New York City's award-winning pioneer in diversity and multi-ethnic casting in the performing arts since 1968. Amas ("you love" in Latin) is devoted to the creation, development and professional production of new American musicals through the celebration of diversity and minority perspectives, the emergence of new artistic talent, and the training and encouragement of underserved young people in the New York area. In recent years, Amas has emerged as a leading not-for-profit laboratory for new musicals, the most recent being Broadway and the Bard, starring Len Cariou and Red Eye of Love, which was awarded the Joseph A. Callaway Award for Outstanding Choreography. Its production of The Other Josh Cohen received six 2013 Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Musical, a 2013 Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Musical, and a 2013 Off-Broadway Alliance nomination for Best New Musical. Other shows that Amas has developed include A Taste of Chocolate, Triassic Parq, The Countess of Storyville, Distant Thunder, Marry Harry, Me and Miss Monroe, Aesop & Company,Signs of Life, Wanda's World, Shout! The Mod Musical, Lone Star Love, From My Hometown, Zanna, Don't!, 4 Guys Named Jose and Stormy Weather: Reimagining Lena Horne. Amas education programs include the Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy, Lens on Live Theatre and in-school theatre arts residencies designed in partnership with elementary, middle, and high schools.