FEBRUARY HOUSE CD Release Party Set for Joe's Pub Tonight, 10/16

Members of The original cast of The Public Theater's critically-acclaimed musical February House will reunite at Joe's Pub tonight, October 16^th at 7:00pm for an evening of song, and to celebrate the release of the official February House original cast recording (StorySound, 10.16) produced by Gabriel Kahane and Ted Sperling.

Directed by Davis McCallum, the world premiere of February House debuted at The Public Theater in May 2012 as part of The Public's Musical Theater Initiative and enjoyed an extended run in The Martinson Theater. "Gabriel Kahane is one of the great bright lights of the American musical theater, a young man whose intellectual and spiritual depth is coupled with extraordinary artistic talent," writes Public Theater artistic director Oskar Eustis in the recording's liner notes. "He has created a jewel, a musical of impact and power which also announces the emergence of a major new voice in our theatrical landscape."

"It's the music that makes the magic in February House," raved Ben Brantley in the New York Times. Based on THE BOOK OF the same name by Sherill Tippins, February House tells the true story of Harper's Bazaar editor George Davis's attempts to found an artist commune in Brooklyn Heights during World War II.

With a score that is as eclectic and brilliant as the tenants of 7 Middagh Street, the February House cast recording shifts between contemporary art song, stripped-down folk, and nouveau tin-pan alley. Jerry Gerard of Bloomberg claims the work, "has introduced a vital new voice to the musical theater".

The Cast members performing at Joe's Pub tonight, October 16^th are: George Davis – Julian Fleisher; Carson McCullers –Kristen Sieh; W. H. Auden – Erik Lochtefeld; Chester Kallman – A. J. Shively; Benjamin Britten – Stanley Bahorek; Reeves McCullers – Ken Clark; Erika Mann – Stephanie Hayes; Gypsy Rose Lee – Kacie Sheik. For more details, visit February House Original Cast Recording Release.

Gabriel Kahane (Music and Lyrics). His most recent recording as a singer-songwriter is Where are the Arms, which was released in 2011. As a composer of concert works, he has been commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Kronos Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, the Caramoor Festival, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, for whom he serves as Composer-in-Residence from 2011-2013 through a Music Alive! grant from Meet-the-Composer. He has performed and/or recorded with, among others, Sufjan Stevens, Chris Thile, Brad Mehldau, and composer/conductor John Adams. In October, he makes his Carnegie Hall solo debut in a concert devoted to his music. He was also a MacDowell Colony Fellow in 2010 and 2011. 

Stanley Bahorek (Benjamin Britten) appeared on Broadway in The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His Off-Broadway credits include Queen of the Mist and See Rock City. He has appeared in the world premieres of Ordinary Days;Mormons, Mothers and Monsters; St. Ex, and Up in the Air at The Kennedy Center.         

Ken Clark (Reeves McCullers) has appeared in the National Tour of La Cage Aux Folles and has been seen regionally inUrinetown, Guys and Dolls, Sweeny Todd, and Rent.

Julian Fleisher (George Davis). His Off-Broadway credits include the world premiere of Coraline and he has composed original music for the John Cariani's Off-Broadway play Almost, Maine. As a singer/songwriter he has collaborated with Ana Gasteyer, Molly Ringwald, Diana Krall and Martha Plimpton, among others. His albums include Rather Big and Finally. 

Stephanie Hayes (Erika Mann) has worked as an actor, writer, and musician in Sweden, the UK, and Canada. Her credits at the Yale School of Drama include The Seagull, Eurydice, Much Ado About Nothing, Homebody/Kabul, and Orestes. Her written plays include Rigor Mortis, Exit, Commander Kitty! and Vaska Vaska Glöm: A Tale of Foreigners and Fish. 

Erik Lochtefeld (W.H. Auden) has appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning play Metamorphoses. He has also appeared Off-Broadway in The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci and regionally in Candide, Ethan Frome, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, and the world premiere of Richard Nelson's How Shakespeare Won the West. His television credits include "All My Children," "Third Watch," and "Law & Order."

Kacie Sheik (Gypsy Rose Lee) has appeared in the Shakespeare in the Park, Broadway, West End, and National Tour productions of The Public's revival of HAIR. Her film and television credits include Julie & Julia and "Law & Order."

A. J. Shively (Chester Kallman) recently made his Broadway debut in the revival of La Cage Aux Folles. His other select theater credits include The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks, The Sound of Music, Brigadoon, Things to Ruin, and Little Airplanes of the Heart. 

Kristen Sieh (Carson McCullers) has performed in New York, nationally, and internationally with Elevator Repair Service'sGATZ, The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928), and Shuffle. She has also appeared in New York in Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage, Architecting, An Oak Tree, Saint Joan of the Stockyards, and The Women of Lockerbie. Her television credits include Louise on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and "Law & Order."

Visit www.joespub.com for more information.