David Alpert to Direct Reading of BARNYARD FOLLIES , 5/28

Barnyard Follies is a new musical intended for young performers, written by Sam Carner of the Carner & Gregor team (Unlock'd, Island Song). Directing the reading is David Alpert (Associate Director of If/Then, The Best Man, A Trip to Bountiful) and musical direction is provided by Jason Wetzel (Assistant Conductor for After Midnight and numerous touring credits including Young Frankenstein, The Drowsy Chaperone). The cast features 24 young performers ranging in age from seven to nineteen and includes Sebastian Hedges Thomas, currently on Broadway as Young Charlie in Kinky Boots. The reading will take place at 6pm on May 28th at The Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons.

BARNYARD FOLLIES is a 45-minute romp on a farm in Ohio where a rag-tag group of farm animals are faced with losing their home to a parking lot developer. The livestock pool their talents and send an SOS out to a famous Broadway director's cat. With help from this new professional feline friend, they pull together a last minute attempt to save their beloved grounds and avoid being split up forever.

Since 1991, Actors Connection has been predominately working with adult actors 18 and older. Starting this year, programs are now being offered to serve even more of the creative industry including kids, songwriters, comedians and playwrights.

The new programming list includes one week of summer camp starting July 14. The brand new camp program includes workshops on acting for the camera, musical theatre, improvisation and commercials all taught by specially selected industry guests. Camp is offered for ages eight to seventeen. Upcoming opportunities for adults include a workshop for lyricists and composers in a class with Drew Gasparini (Crazy Just Like Me, Make Me Bad with Alex Brightman, Contributing composer for SMASH) on June 1st, intro to stand-up courses, cabaret programs at Don't Tell Mama, College Showcases for graduating theatre classes and the popular West Coast trip, LA Connection.

For more information on the reading, new programming, kids classes or general questions, reach out to Colleen Finnegan at colleen@actorsconnection.com, visit actorsconnection.com or come to a new actors orientation seminar held regularly.