Geva Presents Maureen McGovern In CARRY IT ON

Geva Theatre Center's 2010/11 Season continues with Broadway and recording star Maureen McGovern in a new production. Carry It On is a personal story through the songs of a generation. Conceived and written by Philip Himberg and Maureen McGovern, Carry It On features classic songs of the 60s and 70s, described by The New York Times as "the second half of the Great American Songbook."

From her early days as a folk singer in the late 60s, to her Oscar-winning gold records as the "Disaster Theme Queen," Broadway and recording star Maureen McGovern performs a moving musical memoir that chronicles a generation. Songs by the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and others are given a fresh rendition against the backdrop of her very personal story.

Maureen McGovern's nearly 40-year career includes Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Traditional Pop Vocal, Special Guest on the Grammy Award-winning CD/DVD Songs from the Neighborhood: The Music of Mister Rogers ("Best Musical Recording For Children"), Oscar-winning InternationAl Gold Records "The Morning After" and "We May Never Love Like This Again" from the classic disaster films, The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, the Oscar-nominated song "Wherever Lover Takes Me" from the film Gold and "Nice to Be Around" from Cinderella Liberty. Other hit recordings include "Can You Read My Mind?" from the motion picture, Superman and "Different Worlds" from the ABC TV series, "Angie." Other critically acclaimed recordings include songwriter tributes to George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Richard Rodgers, Marilyn and Alan Bergman and her solo piano/voice albums, Another Woman in Love and The Pleasure of His Company
(Grammy Nomination for "Best Traditional Pop Vocal"). Her Carry It On companion CD is A Long and Winding Road, currently released by PS Classics. It has been praised by The New York Times as "...a captivating musical scrapbook from the 1960s to the early 70s. Ms. McGovern's vocal technique is second to none" and was voted by Playbill.com and Talkin' Broadway.com among the "Best Performances" and "Top 10 Vocal Recordings."

On Broadway she most recently appeared in the Little Women, The Musical as 'Marmee;' for which she received a Drama Desk nomination. She reprised the role for the 32-city, national tour. Maureen made her Broadway debut as 'Mabel' in The Pirates of Penzance, starred as 'Luisa' in Nine with Raul Julia, and as 'Polly Peachum' in 3 Penny Opera with Sting. Off-Broadway, Maureen originated the role of 'Mary' in Brownstone. Her regional productions include 'Mrs. Anna' in the recent 1st National Tour of The King and I; Dear World and Elegies
(directed by Philip Himberg); The Lion in Winter; Letters From 'Nam; The Sound of Music; South Pacific; Guys & Dolls (playing both 'Sarah' and 'Adelaide'); and I Do, I Do. Her children's musical, The Bengal Tiger's Ball, for which she wrote the music, co-created and in which she starred, had its Central Florida premiere in 1999, co-sponsored by Disney.

Audiences will remember her appearances in such feature films as The Towering Inferno and as 'Sr. Angelina,' the guitar strumming nun in the comedy classic Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel. She was also the voice of
"Mary" in DreamWorks' animated feature Joseph: King of Dreams.

She is the recipient of numerous lifetime honors and accolades and serves on the National Board of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and is Chairperson of the annual "Shamrocks against Dystrophy" Campaign. Maureen has performed for 31 consecutive years on the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon. As a National Spokesperson
for the American Music Therapy Association, she is dedicated to addressing the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of patients and caregivers through music.

Philip Himberg (Conceiver, Writer and Director) is the producing artistic director of The Sundance Institute Theatre Program where he has created and overseen the developmental theatre laboratories since 1997. Under Mr. Himberg's direction, Sundance has successfully produced over 150 new works for the stage including The Light in the Piazza, Grey Gardens, Spring Awakenings and I Am My Own Wife.

Jeffrey Harris (Musical Director, Pianist) has had a long association with Ms. McGovern arranging and performing on six of her CDs, writing many songs for her. Mr Harris is a much sought-after conductor and musical director with such Broadway credits as Gypsy (starring Patti LuPone), On the Town, Chicago, Fosse, Beauty and the Beast and Crazy for You. He is a frequent guest pianist and conductor with many orchestras around the country.

The design team includes Neil Patel (scenic design), Gayle Susan Baizer (costume design), David Lander (lighting design) Maya Ciarrocchi (video design) and Ian Hildreth (sound design).

Carry It On is co-produced by Buckingham Properties LLC and Fickle 93.3.