Children's Theatre Company Releases Statement on Michael Friedman; His New Musical THE ABOMINABLES to Premiere 9/15

Children's Theatre Company (CTC) released the following statement today upon hearing of the death of composer Michael Friedman, who was currently writing music and lyrics for The Abominables, a world premiere new musical set to open September 15:

A statement from Children's Theatre Company on the passing of Michael Friedman reads:

It is with heavy hearts that we share the news with our community on the passing of composer Michael Friedman who died on September 9th at the age of 41. Michael was the composer and lyricist of The Abominables, which is to receive its world premiere performance on Friday, September 15 in our UnitedHealth Group Stage. The Abominables was commissioned by CTC in 2011 and is written by Michael and his longtime collaborator Steve Cosson of The Civilians.

"Michael was an extraordinary artist and an incredible human being," said Artistic Director Peter C. Brosius. "He was brilliant, wildly funny and so deeply caring about other people. Michael was such a joy; his boundless energy, his infectious enthusiasm and his ability to be so fearlessly self-critical and clear eyed in the pursuit of something truly extraordinary made him utterly unique. He never rested, was a brave explorer of new possibilities and was one of the most creative forces you would ever meet. We deeply mourn his passing and feel truly blessed to have had this opportunity to work closely with him and bring his work to our audiences."

While we are deeply saddened that Michael will not see the world premiere, we feel fortunate to be able to bring one of his final works of art to the stage and share his artistry with the community, in particular, with children and families. We dedicate the performances of The Abominables to Michael Friedman. For more information about The Abominables, please go to childrenstheatre.org.

Michael Friedman's musicals include: The Abominables; Unknown Soldier, The Fortress of Solitude; Love's Labour's Lost; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and many works with the company The Civilians. He was The Barron Visiting Professor at the Princeton Environmental Institute and artist-in-residence at Spring Workshop Hong Kong. An evening of his songs was featured in Lincoln Center's American Songbook series and he received an OBIE Award for sustained achievement. His series of songs about the 2016 elections can be heard on The New Yorker Radio Hour on WNYC. He was the Artistic Director of City Center Encores! Off-Center and Artist in Residence and Director of the Public Forum at The Public Theater.

Children's Theatre Company (CTC) is the nation's largest and most acclaimed theatre for multigenerational audiences. It creates theatre experiences that educate, challenge, and inspire for more than 275,000 people annually. CTC is the only theatre focused on young audiences to win the coveted Tony Award® for Outstanding Regional Theatre and is the only theatre in Minnesota to receive three Tony® nominations (for its production of A Year with Frog and Toad). CTC is committed to producing world class productions at the highest level and to developing new works, more than 200 to date, dramatically changing the canon of work for young audiences.

CTC's engagement and learning programs annually serve more than 85,000 students ages 2-18 through Theatre Arts Training, student matinees, Bridges, and early childhood arts education programs that bring students to the theatre and bring teaching artists into the classroom. The ACT One program is CTC's comprehensive platform for access, diversity and inclusion in our audiences, programs, staff, and board that strives to ensure the theatre is a home for all people, all families, reflective of our community. www.childrenstheatre.org