D'Abruzzo, Angel, Etc. Join NYMF 'Ben Folds' Line-Up

Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Ashley Parker Angel, Manoel Felciano, Will Chase, Constantine Maroulis, Greg Naughton, Chip Zien and Tony-winner Lillias White have joined the line-up of Broadway talent to perform when The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) kicks off its first-ever Spring Concert series with More Unauthorized Musicology of Ben Folds" on Monday, March 26 at 7pm at the Zipper Theatre (336 West 37th Street).   

"Broadway and Off-Broadway's finest talents take o­n the songs of pop sensation Ben Folds, whose offbeat cast of characters, biting lyrics and virtuosic melodies have rocked and touched the music world for over a decade. Directed by Jess McLeod (NYMF's Associate Director of Programming), with music direction by Brian J. Nash, the Folds concert returns by popular demand, having sold out its initial engagement last September when it was presented as part of the 3rd annual New York Musical Theatre Festival," state press materials.
 
The March 26th concert also features the talents of actors Michael Arden, Stephen Bogardus, Felicia Finley, Liz McCartney, Kevyn Morrow,  J. Robert Spencer, Bob Stillman, and Michael Winther.
 
"Ben Folds is the widely-acclaimed singer-songwriter, pianist and founder of the now-defunct Ben Folds Five.  He started out trying to create the 'loudest piano band in existence' and, along with drummer Darren Jessee and bassist Robert Sledge, churned out two albums of nerd-populated, joyously frustrated pop/rock Folds himself christened 'punk rock for sissies.'  The upshot: a surprising mega-radio-hit, 'Brick,' about Folds taking his high school girlfriend to get an abortion."
 
Director Jess McLeod, who conceived the concert, calls Folds an "Elton John, Billy Joel-style piano man, an exhilarating musician with a truly distinctive way of rocking out on pop hooks.  He's funny and bitter and sorrowful as hell, and he reclaimed rock for every nerd you ever were, knew or dumped back in high school.  But it's the ping of his lyrics – smart, simple and always character-driven -- and his natural predilection for storytelling that make him a secret Sondheim, and the resulting truthfulness of his songs that hits us the hardest." 
 
General admission tickets are $50.  VIP tickets (including a post-show reception with the cast) are $90. 
 
Now entering its 4th year, the New York Musical Theatre Festival is the largest musical theatre event in America.    Hailed as "the Sundance of Musical Theatre,"  NYMF is widely-regarded as an essential source for new material and talent discovery, and has presented over 90 musicals in its first three years - including the hit shows Altar Boyz, [title of show], and The Great American Trailer Park Musical.  In 2007, it will present its 100th musical production.

For tickets, or for more information on the NYMF Spring Concert Series, call 212-352-3101 or log onto www.nymf.org.

Photo of Constantine Maroulis by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.