CSC's ALLEGRO Cast and More Set for Panel, Performance at 92Y Tonight

In advance of Classic Stage Company's rare production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1947 musical Allegro, CSC's artistic director Brian Kulick and Tony Award-winning director John Doyle lead a conversation on the legendary team's most personal, groundbreaking and little-known work. The discussion also includes Ted Chapin, president and executive director of Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company, and cast members George Abud, Claybourne Elder, and Jane Pfitsch.

"RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S ALLEGRO: CONVERSATION & PERFORMANCE" is set for tonight, Oct 22 at 8:15 pm. Tickets from $30.

An ensemble musical, Allegro chronicles nearly four decades in the life of a mid-western country doctor, an everyman, from birth to mid-life self-discovery. The evening will also feature performances by members of the cast.

ABOUT THE PANELISTS:

Brian Kulick (Artistic Director) -- Currently in his twelfth year as Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company. Recent productions for CSC include Brecht's A Man's a Man, The Caucasian Chalk Circle with Christopher Lloyd and Galileo with F. Murray Abraham; Shakespeare's The Tempest with Mandy Patinkin, Ostrovsky's The Forest with Dianne Wiest and Shakespeare's Hamlet and Richard III with Michael Cumpsty. He commissioned and co-directed poet Anne Carson's award-winning An Oresteia, which was comprised of her translations of Aeschylus' Agamemnon, Sophocles' Electra and Euripides' Orestes. From 1996-2001, Mr. Kulick was an Artistic Associate at The Public Theater, where he directed Twelfth Night, The Winter's Tale and Timon of Athens at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, and also A Dybbuk, Pericles and Kit Marlowe at The Public's downtown home. Prior to this, Mr. Kulick was the Associate Artistic Director of Trinity Repertory Company where he directed Romeo and Juliet, The Illusion and Don Quixote. He has directed the premieres of works by Nilo Cruz, Charles Mee, Tony Kushner, Han Ong and Kathleen Tolan. His work has also been seen at New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, The Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Magic Theatre, ACT Theatre (Seattle) and The McCarter Theatre. His work in opera/music theatre includes Carmen, Pelléas andMélisande, A Soldier's Tale, The Guilty Mother and The Anatole Cycle (all for Long Beach Opera).

John Doyle (Director/Designer) -- Mr. Doyle is Associate Director of Classic Stage Company where his credits include Passion. Theatre in the US includes: Sweeney Todd (Tony Award, Best Director of a Musical), Company (Tony Award, Best Musical Revival), A Catered Affair (Drama League Award, Best Musical Production), Ten Cents A Dance(Williamstown/McCarter), Road Show (Public Theater/Menier Chocolate Factory), Where's Charley? and Irma La Douce (Encores!), Wings (Second Stage), Kiss Me Kate (Stratford), Caucasian Chalk Circle (ACT),Merrily We Roll Along and The Three Sisters (Cincinnati), The Visit (Williamstown). In the UK, Mr. Doyle has been artistic director of four regional theatres. Numerous credits include: The Gondoliers, Mack and Mabel (West End), The Color Purple (Menier Chocolate Factory), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Regent's Park), Oklahoma! (Chichester), Amadeus (Wilton's Music Hall). Opera includes Madama Butterfly (Grange Park), Lucia Di Lammermoor (Houston/La Fenice/Sydney Opera House), Peter Grimes (Metropolitan Opera, New York), The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (LA Opera). He directed the feature film Main Street.

Ted Chapin (President and Executive Director of Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company) -- As president of Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company for the past 30 years, Ted Chapin has spearheaded many Broadway productions during his tenure, the most recent of which is Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella. In addition to managing the works of Rodgers and/or Hammerstein, the company has taken on the representation of other writers, ranging from Irving Berlin to Andrew Lloyd Webber. Mr. Chapin's career began as production or directorial assistant for the Broadway productions of Follies, The Rothschilds and The Unknown Soldier and His Wife, as well as Leonard Bernstein's Mass at the Kennedy Center and Candide in San Francisco. Mr. Chapin has been a visiting lecturer at several universities and colleges, and his book, Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical "Follies," was published in 2003; it won an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award and a Special Jury Prize for Distinguished Achievement by the Theatre Library Association. Mr. Chapin serves on several boards including the American Theatre Wing, where he was chair for four years, and New York City Center, where he was the originating chair of the Encores! Advisory Committee. He is currently a member of the Tony Administration and Management Committees.

George Abud (Charlie Townsend) -- Regional: Fiddler on the Roof (Human Race Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Geva Theatre Center), Man of La Mancha and Oliver Twist (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ). A recent winner of City Center Encores! Off-Center Sondheim Remix Challenge for his Middle-Eastern adaptation of "Children and Art," which he performed live for Stephen Sondheim. B.F.A.: Wayne State University.

Claybourne Elder (Joseph Taylor, Jr.) -- Broadway/NY: Bonnie and Clyde (Buck, also cast recording), Stephen Sondheim's Road Show (Hollis, premier cast, also recording), Tennessee William's One Arm (Ollie, Drama Desk Nom. Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play), Venice (Michael-Victor, also recording), Two by Two (Japheph, with Jason Alexander), Sondheim 80th Birthday Celebration (City Center). Regional: Sunday in the Park with George (George, Signature Theatre),Take Flight (Lindbergh, McCarter Theater), Into the Woods (Wolf/Cinderella's Prince, Kansas City Rep.). Developmental workshops: Post Office (Center Theatre Group), Giant(The Public Theatre), Mortality Play (Yale Repertory Theatre), Sounds Like Love (Lincoln Center). TV/Film: "The Carrie Diaries" (Pete O'Malley).

Jane Pfitsch (Emily) -- Broadway: Cabaret (2014 revival), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Roundabout), Company (2007 revival). Off-Broadway and regional credits include: The Snow Queen (World Premiere at San Jose Rep), Educating Rita (The Huntington Theater Company, IRNE Nomination), Merrily We Roll Along (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park),Ten Cents A Dance (Williamstown Theatre Festival/McCarter Theater Center), The 39 Steps (New World Stages), Man of La Mancha and The Liar (The Shakespeare Theatre of NJ),Pumpgirl (MTC), Barefoot in the Park (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Mrs. Warren's Profession (The Alley Theatre). Film/TV: 27 Dresses, "Elementary," "All My Children." Studied at the Brown/Trinity M.F.A. Program.

About 92nd Street Y - Now celebrating its 140th Anniversary, 92nd Street Y is a world-class, nonprofit cultural and community center that fosters the mental, physical and spiritual health of people throughout their lives, offering: wide-ranging conversations with the world's best minds; an outstanding range of programming in the performing, visual and literary arts; fitness and sports programs; and activities for children and families. 92Y is reimagining what it means to be a community center in the digital age with initiatives like the award-winning #GivingTuesday, launched by 92Y in 2012 and now recognized across the US and in a growing number of regions worldwide as a day to celebrate and promote giving. These kinds of initiatives are transforming the way people share ideas and translate them into action both locally and around the world. More than 300,000 people visit 92Y annually; millions more participate in 92Y's digital and online initiatives. A proudly Jewish organization, 92Y embraces its Jewish heritage and welcomes people of all backgrounds and perspectives. For more information, visit www.92Y.org.

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