The Songbook Project, Inc. is pleased to announce plans for a late summer benefit, TRUNK SONGS, featuring two treasures of the American Musical Theatre: Craig Carnelia (Sweet Smell of Success, Three Postcards) and Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party, john & jen). During this one-night-only special concert event, each composer will present a mixture of his lesser-known works, combined with some of their best-loved compositions. The concert will be held on Saturday, September 24th at 8pm at The Duplex Cabaret Theatre (61 Christopher St., in the heart of New York's West Village), and is part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF). For tickets ($25), please contact Smarttix: 212.868.4444, or visit httP://www.smarttix.com. There is a two-drink minimum associated with this event, and no one under 21 will be permitted.
As both composer and lyricist, Craig Carnelia wrote the score for the Broadway musical Is There Life After High School and contributed four songs to Studs Terkel's Working, for which he received a Tony nomination. Three Postcards, written with playwright Craig Lucas and presented at Off-Broadway's Playwright's Horizons, was named one of the year's ten best musicals by Time Magazine, and is included in the Burns-Mantle anthology,Best Play of 1986-1987, as Best Musical of the Season. In 1994, Three Postcards received a second production Off-Broadway, this time at Circle Rep. Also Off-Broadway, Notes, a collection of Mr. Carnelia's songs, was presented by Manhattan Theatre Club. He contributed single songs to The No-Frills Revue, Diamonds and A...My Name Is Still Alice. Craig wrote the lyrics for the Broadway musical, The Sweet Smell of Success, with music by Marvin Hamlisch and book by John Guare. Hamlisch and Carnelia were also represented on Broadway later in 2002 by Imaginary Friends, a play with song by Nora Ephron. Craig has won a number of major songwriting awards, among them the Johnny Mercer Award as "Emerging American Songwriter" and the prestigious Kleban Award for distinguished lyric writing. There are two critically-acclaimed compilation recordings of his songs: Pictures In The Hall (performed by the composer and actress-singer Maureen Silliman) and Cast Of Thousands (performed by Eric Michael Gillet), as well as a published collection of his work: The Songs of Craig Carnelia.
Andrew Lippa wrote the book, music and lyrics for The Wild Party, which was given its world premiere in 2000 at Manhattan Theater Club in New York City. The Wild Party won the Outer Critics Circle Award for best Off-Broadway musical of the season and Mr. Lippa won the 2000 Drama Desk Award for best music. The show was nominated for thirteen Drama Desk Awards, including Best New Musical. Last summer saw the premiere of Mr. Lippa's A Little Princess, (book and lyrics by Brian Crawley) at Theatreworks in Palo Alto, CA. In 1999, Mr. Lippa contributed three new songs to the Broadway version of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, (including "My New Philosophy" for Tony-Award winner, Kristin Chenoweth) and created all new arrangements. He also wrote the music and co-wrote the book (with Tom Greenwald) for john & jen, which played in New York City in 1995 at The Lamb's Theater. Mr. Lippa's recordings include The Wild Party (RCA Victor), which he also produced, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (RCA Victor), which earned him a Grammy Award nomination for his producing efforts, and john & jen (Fynsworth Alley), which he associate produced. In addition, he produced the original cast recording of Bat Boy, The Musical for RCA Victor, and his singing voice can be heard on The Sondheim Album on Fynsworth Alley. Vocal selections from
THE SONGBOOK PROJECT, INC is a charitable 501 (c) (3) organization, dedicated to the promotion of the art of live performance with a special focus on new and classic popular songs. Further, the organization strives to preserve this heritage of song and to foster its artists, and present these songs in schools, community centers and other venues with the goal of educating and developing new audiences.
Dedicated to discovering new work and new artists, THE NEW YORK MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL celebrates the diversity, creativity, and future of musical theatre. NYMF is a flagship program of the National Music Theater Network, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, and is America's largest annual musical theatre event. NYMF is produced in association with Cadillac and Virgin Megastores, and proudly supported by amNewYork, The Village Voice, WB11, Receptasign, King Displays, Rosco Lighting, Scharff Weisberg Inc, Dodger Stages, TheaterMania.com, BroadwayWorld.com, broadway.com, HX, Next and Manhattan Living. For more information, visit http://www.nymf.org
