D'Abruzzo to Star in Musical 'Austentatious' at NYMF

The New York Musical Theatre Festival and From the Top Productions will present the New York premiere of Austentatious, featuring Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Broadway: Avenue Q, Off-Broadway: I Love You Because) in a musical comedy about a community theatre troupe staging a new production of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. 

The show features music and lyrics by Matt Board and Joe Slabe, and book by Board, Jane Caplow, Kate Galvin, Luisa Hinchliff and Slabe.  The production is directed by Mary Catherine Burke and is being presented at the Julia Miles Theatre, where it runs from September 18th through 29th. 

A sold-out hit at the 2006 Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Austentatious "follows a community theater group as they attempt to stage a new adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  From chaotic auditions to a climactic tap off, bad theater has never been so good!," state press notes.  Rounding out the company are Lisa Asher, Stephen Bel Davies, Amy Goldberger, George Merrick, Stacey Sargeant and Paul Wyatt.

Board wrote music and additional lyrics for the short film The Dance To War and additional music for Lysistrata.  Upcoming works include Two's a Crowd which will workshop in London later this year. Caplo has worked in many different capacities with Musical Theatre companies including The Flying Foot Forum, Theater Latte Da, Nautilus Music-Theater, and Minneapolis Musical Theatre.  Galvin has worked in various capacities at TheatreFest, Theatre at Monmouth, and Roundabout Theatre Company. She is currently the Casting Director and Assistant to the Producing Artistic Director at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Hinchliff has worked as a Casting Director for The Next Big Thing and is currently Finance and Production Assistant at the Unicorn Theatre in London.  She also works as a dancer and choreographer.  Slabe's adaptation of The Paper Bag Princess played to capacity houses at the Calgary Centre for Performing Arts in 2003 and 2004. He also wrote three short musicals for Alberta Theatre Projects' PlayRites Festival and has worked extensively as a musical director. Slabe was the recipient of the 2004 Greg Bond Award for outstanding contributions to musical theatre in Calgary. Burke (Director) is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and has been a recipient of the prestigious Drama League Fall fellowship.

The production team includes Musical Director Matt Castle, Lighting Designer Jeff Croiter, Scenic Designer Jesse Poleshuck, Choreographer Rhonda Miller, Costume Designer Sarah Maiorino and Producing Consultant David Carpenter.  Leah McVeigh is the stage manager.

"The New York Musical Theatre Festival is," according to press notes, "the enormously popular three-week celebration that features the works of the newest generation of musical theatre writers.  One of the fastest-growing theatre festivals in the country today, the New York Musical Theatre Festival has, in three short years, presented a total of 99 new musicals, many of which have gone on to subsequent productions at Off-Broadway and regional theatres around the country."
 
Hailed as 'the Sundance of Musical Theatre,' NYMF is widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery.  NYMF is a flagship program of The National Music Theater Network, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and is presented by BroadwayWorld.com and Microsoft Health Services, in association with amNewYork, Ars Nova, GSD Productions, King Displays, Panasonic Astrovision, Playbill and Verizon Wireless, and is proudly supported by Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Broadway Bullet, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Choice Signs, City Theatricals, Frank & Camille's Fine Pianos, HX Magazine, Port Authority of NY and NJ, Seasons of Savings, Tekserve, TheatreMania.com, TheMENevent, Virgin Megastore and Wybron. NYMF is made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

All tickets are $20.00.   For reservations please call (212) 352-3101 or visit www.nymf.org to purchase tickets online. The Julia Miles Theatre is located at 424 West 55th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues.

Photo of Stephanie D'Abruzzo by Ben Strothmann