Cheryl Stern's SHOES AND BAGGAGE to Return to the cell

After a critically acclaimed run at Nancy Manocherian's the cell last season, Cheryl Stern's one-woman musical Shoes and Baggage returns to the cell for two performances, September 12 at 7PM and September 13 at 7PM.

The production features music by Emmy-Award Winning composer Tom Kochan and direction by Joe Barros. In a wild and wacky world of online shopping, credit card debt, The Home Shopping Network, Broadway stars, boutique pets, and a Buffalo family where we finally find "three grown women in a changing room," this solo musical odyssey wrestles with an unbridled passion for fashion, addiction and the quest for change. Don't miss this leaner and meaner new edition that is being readied for bookings throughout the US.

Seating is extremely limited. For reservations email: shoesandbaggagersvp@gmail.com. Performances will be held at the cell 338 West. 23rd Street New York, NY 10011.

Cheryl Stern was last seen in Marc Acito and Amy Engelhardt's critically acclaimed rock musical Bastard Jones at the cell and starred last season in her solo musical, Shoes and Baggage (with music by Tom Kochan and directed by Joe Barros). Broadway: La Cage (2010 Tony winning revival starring Kelsy Grammer), The Women starring Cynthia Nixon (Roundabout, PBS), Laughing Room Only. National Tours: La Cage, Grand Night For Singing, Les Miserables, Evita. Off Broadway: Fiorello (Encores!), Being Audrey, Requiem for William, First Lady Suite (Transport Group), City Of, Game Show, I Love You...Now Change, The Immigrant. Regional: Bells Are Ringing (Berkshire Theatre Group) Fiddler (Goodspeed), Candide (IRNE Award, Huntington Theatre), Into The Woods (Westport Playhouse), Falsettos (Barrington Stage), Light Up The Sky (Seattle Rep), Sisters Rosensweig (Geva) TV: "Unforgettable", "Law & Order: Criminal Intent", "All My Children", "As The World Turns", "Sondheim at Carnegie Hall". Film: "Brooklyn Lobster", "This Is Where I Leave You". Cheryl created lyrics for the Jonathan Larson Award winning, Off Broadway musical, Nor'mal:, starring Barbara Walsh. (Book by Yvonne Adrian, music by Tom Kochan) now retitled Pretty to the Bone. Other works include Famous, A Hollywood Musical (www.famousthemusical.com), Buffalonia and Are We There Yet. Cheryl was a contributing writer for Transport Group's hit Off Broadway production of The Audience (Drama Desk nom. Best Musical), Being Audrey, That's Life (Outer Critics Circle nom.) and A Christmas Survival Guide. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and a proud resident member of the cell.

Tom Kochan (Composer) is a Drama Desk nominee for his score to Almost, Maine for Transport Group. Other career highlights include: The Elephant Man starring Bradley Cooper and Patricia Clarkson at Williamstown Theatre Festival, two plays with Arthur Miller (at Roundabout and Williamstown), five CD's with James Galway (on RCA Records), three NYC productions with filmmaker Mike Leigh (including the Obie Award winning Ecstasy), and the Jonathan Larson award winning musical Pretty to the Bone. He is the proud recipient of an Emmy Award for his work on "As The World Turns".

Joe Barros (Director) is a director and an award-winning choreographer with an emphasis on new work development. This summer, Joe choreographed the world premiere of Marc Acito and Amy Engelhardt’s critically acclaimed rock musical Bastard Jones Off-Broadway (The Cell), directed an immersive staging of The Owl and the Pussycat at Alice’s Tea Cup (Out of the Box Theatrics), and served as the Musical Theatre Division director for Broadway For All – a company working to diversify the American stage and screen. Broadway: Gigi (associate director; directed by Eric Schaeffer). Off-Broadway: Cagney which ran for over a year at the Westside Theatre (associate director; directed by Bill Castellino), the all-female A Taste of Things to Come (associate director; directed by Lorin Latarro, York Theatre Company & Bucks County Playhouse), Hard Times (NY IT Award nominee, Best Choreography), Charlotte’s Web (Theatreworks USA), I Married Wyatt Earp (59E59), The Belle of Tombstone with Heather Mac Rae and Karen Mason (Museum of Jewish Heritage), Cheryl Stern’s Shoes and Baggage (The Cell), King Kong (workshop). Regional/Int'l: Beaches with Shoshana Bean and Whitney Bashor (Chicago’s Drury Lane), For Tonight (Goodspeed, NYMF), Brother Russia and The Haunted Hotel (DC’s Signature Theatre), Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical and Catch Me If You Can (SSTI), Carrie (recipient of SDCF's Guest Artist Initiative program, MSU), Nine and Die Fledermaus (Italy), Small Town Story (Hartt, also conceived). With Ryan Haase, Joe is writing a musical about Ryan White, the teenage hemophiliac who became the poster child for AIDS in the 1980’s (with an all-teenage cast). Artistic Director: New York Theatre Barn. Upcoming: Mommie Dearest (written by Christina Crawford and David Nehls). www.joebarros.com

Nancy Manocherian's the cell is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the incubation and presentation of new works by emerging artists. Started in 2006 by Founding Artistic Director Nancy Manocherian and Artistic Director Kira Simring, the cell has produced over a dozen critically acclaimed world premiere productions of new plays and musicals over the past 10 years. the cell also features the jazz @ the cell series and has served as a home base for a large community of resident artists and organizations such as Blackboard Reading Series, Artists Without Walls (AWOW), Irish American Writers and Artists (IAW), Sybarite5 and Tribeca New Music. www.thecelltheatre.org

Photo by Michael Bonasio