Friends Like These Wins Blau Award; Reading Held 12/4

The first annual Howard L. Blau Award for a promising new work of musical theater was presented to Friends Like These, with music by John McMahon, lyrics by Jay Jeffries, and with book by Jeffries and McMahon.  The musical was selected out of more than 50 entries.

Friends Like These will be showcased on December 4, 2006 at the TRU VOICES 7th Annual TRU Musicals Reading Series, sponsored by Bob Ost, at The Players Theater, 115 MacDougal Street.

Blau is an attorney with Blau and Kayman, a philanthropist, and a special friend of the performing arts community.   His award for Friends Like These will endow the December 4th reading, provide resources for producers and artistic directors, and help these professionals work on its next steps in development.

The December 4th TRU reading of Friends Like These will be produced by Joel and Phyllis Ehrlich, driving forces in the entertainment world.  Ehrlich was Senior Vice President at WarnerBros. and Senior Vice President at Marvel Entertainment. He is now president of The Harmony Consulting Group LLC—a marketing organization for the entertainment and sports world.   Phyllis Ehrlich is Senior Vice President at Cartoon Network.

"Friends Like These is the story of four sassy New York women—a young celebrity newswoman, a sensuous and free-spirited soap opera star, a wisecracking author, and an eccentric socialite—who prove that while men come and go, friends like these are forever," state press materials.

The December 4th reading of Friends Like These will feature Trisha Rapier(NEWSical, The Boy from Oz, Forbidden Broadway), Raissa Katona Bennett (Christine in Phantom of the Opera, first national touring companies of Cats and Parade), and Casey Clark (Shout! The Mod Musical, It Ain't Really My Birthday...in last May's TRU reading series), Jana Robbins (Good News, I Love My Wife, Crimes of the Heart, Romance/Romance, Gypsy and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife), and Eadie Scott (What in the World: The NEWSical Revue)

Jay Jeffries, an ASCAP songwriter, has written lyrics and sketches for countless Upstairs at the Downstairs revues.   He also wrote lyrics for the off-Broadway revues Fun City at the Jan Hus and For Love or Money at the Circle Rep.  On Broadway, with composer John Raitt, he wrote specialty material for Stardust.  Composer, pianist, musical director and Bistro Award winner John McMahon's Broadway credits include Prince of Central Park and the revival of the Gershwin musical Oh! Kay!. He composed the music for Satan's School for Girls, which was nominated for a Jeffrey award for its Chicago run at the Circle Theater.   His original revue "That's My New York!"--written with Friends Like These lyricist Jay Jeffries--opened at Judy's Chelsea in March of 2001, and won a 2002 Manhattan Association of Cabarets (MAC) award for the song "Where's Shirley?"

The December 4th reading of Friends Like These will be directed by Kelly Briggs (Cats, Les Miserables), head of Kelly Briggs Casting.

Previous recipients of TRU VOICES Musicals Reading Series include The Great American Trailer Park Musical, written by Betsy Kelso and David Nehls, which is planning a national tour right now; Nor'mal by Yvonna Adrian, Tom Kochan and Cheryl Stern, which played an off-Broadway limited run starring Tony nominee Barbara Walsh; and Saint Heaven by Marty Casella and Keith Gordon, which moved from last year's TRU series into a production at the Stamford Center for the Performing Arts starring former pop star Deborah Gibson and Tony winner Chuck Cooper.  

TRU (Theater Resources Unlimited), the organization sponsoring the Howard Blau Award and the 7th Annual Musicals Reading Series--was organized in March 1992 by Bob Ost, TRU's current president and a national award-winning playwright, composer and lyrist. TRU's goal is to promote a spirit of cooperation and support within the general theater community by providing information and a variety of entertainment-related services and resources that strengthen the capacity of producers, artists and theater professionals.