Jordan Dobson and George Salazar Join Keen Company's GLORY DAYS Benefit Concert

Complete casting has been announced for Keen Company's upcoming benefit concert of Glory Days by Nick Blaemire and James Gardiner. Jordan Dobson (Bad Cinderella, Hadestown) and George Salazar (Keen’s Tick, Tick…BOOM!, Be More Chill, Godspell) join Tony nominees Derek Klena (Moulin Rouge, Jagged Little Pill, Anastasia) and Colton Ryan (New York, New York; Dear Evan Hansen) in this one-night-only event directed by Keen Company’s Artistic Director Jonathan Silverstein featuring new musical arrangements by Van Hughes. The concert takes place on Monday, February 12, 2024 at 7pm at Peter Norton Symphony Space (2537 Broadway, Manhattan). Tickets, which start at $25, are currently on sale at www.keencompany.org. 

A cult-favorite, coming of age rock musical, Glory Days premiered at Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway in 2008 and has since been performed all over the world. This benefit concert, with music direction by Lily Ling, reflects Keen Company’s efforts to champion small scale intimate musicals with a large emotional impact. Composer and lyricist Nick Blaemire is familiar to Keen Company audiences from his star turn as Jonathan Larson in their acclaimed 2016 production of Tick, Tick… BOOM!

Glory Days tells the story of four high school friends who meet up at their alma mater one year after graduation to reconnect, crush a few beers, and enact revenge on their former bullies in the form of an elaborate prank. But the guys quickly discover that a lot can change in a year — even the people they thought they knew best. This vibrant, energetic musical about friendship and fulfillment invites us to reminisce on our own heydays gone by and encourages us to live like the best is yet to come.

Nick Blaemire and James Gardiner remarked, “We’re so excited to be taking another look at Glory Days. When we started writing it, back in high school, 20 years ago...!, we envisioned a simple show like The Fantasticks, Suburbia, or Our Town –- one we could produce with just a band and a bench. Keen Company excels at that kind of intimate storytelling. We're lucky to have four of the most exciting actors and singers in New York. Symphony Space is a legendary venue. So it's an honor to introduce this show to the next generation with these wonderful collaborators.”

Proceeds from this special event underwrite Keen Company’s 24th Season including the Off-Broadway premiere of Kia Corthron’s Fish, a new intimate musical commission by Adam Gwon, resources for mid-career writers, and free theater mentorship for students in all five boroughs of NYC.

Please visit www.keencompany.org/glorydays/ for more information.

Glory Days is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC.

Keen Company expresses gratitude to the Performers’ Unions including Actors' Equity Association, American Guild of Musical Artists, American Guild of Variety Artists, and SAG-AFTRA through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their cooperation in permitting the Artists to appear in this program.

Biographies

Nick Blaemire (Music and Lyrics) is a writer and performer based in Brooklyn. At Keen Company, he played Jon in the Off-Broadway revival of Tick Tick Boom!, for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. At 23 years old, Nick wrote the score to the Broadway one-night sensation rock musical Glory Days (book by James Gardiner), which has since had over 50 productions around the world. He has written six other original musicals: A Little More Alive (commissioned by Broadway Across America, premiered at Williamstown Theater Festival, optioned as a feature film); Soon (premiered at Signature Theatre, won the Stephen Sondheim Young Artist Citation); Fallout (with Kyle Jarrow), Edge of the World (with Ethan Slater, commissioned by Artists Rep Theater), Quixote (with Daniel J. Watts, commissioned by Joe's Pub) and Space Dogs (with Van Hughes, produced Off-Broadway at MCC in 2022). Nick has released three EPs of pop songs, all available on iTunes, Spotify, etc. As an actor, he will soon be seen playing Adolph Green in Bradley Cooper's Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro for Netflix. He is repped by CAA and Writ Large. IG: @blaemire
 

James Gardiner (Book) is a Helen Hayes Award-winning actor, playwright and filmmaker who currently resides in the Washington DC area. Mr. Gardiner wrote the book for Glory Days (music and lyrics by Nick Blaemire), which opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway in 2008. At the age of 23, he was the youngest librettist to have his work produced on Broadway. Mr. Gardiner's work has been produced commercially in Tokyo, London, and Sydney and has appeared regionally throughout the United States and Canada. James is currently the Director of Creative Content at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. He was the Associate Producer and Editor on the 2021 Signature Features Season including After Midnight, Midnight at the Never Get, Daniel J. Watts’ The Jam: Only Child, Simply Sondheim, and Detroit 67. Signature Features was heralded as "one of the most artistically successful endeavors" of the pandemic by The New York Times. As an actor, Mr. Gardiner has performed at The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Signature Theatre, Ford's Theatre, Studio Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Round House Theatre, Folger Theatre and various other companies in the Washington D.C. area. Mr. Gardiner received his BA in Theatre from the University of Maryland, College Park and currently teaches musical theatre performance at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. 

Jordan Dobson Broadway: Bad Cinderella (Prince Sebastian), Hadestown (Orpheus), A Beautiful Noise (Shilo, OBC), West Side Story directed by Ivo van Hove (Tony). Select Regional: Hair (Two River Theatre), Austen’s Pride, Into the Woods (ACT of Connecticut), The Wanderer (Papermill Playhouse), Cabaret, Gypsy (Arden Theatre Co.), Hamlet (Oguma Playhouse), The Color Purple (Theatre Horizon). Film: William in Netflix’s “Maestro” directed by Bradley Cooper. Much love to his incredible family and Dave at Creative Talent Company!

Derek Klena will reprise his role as “Christian” in the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Moulin Rouge beginning February 6th. Previously, he received a Tony Award nomination for originating the role of "Nick Healy" in Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill. Other Broadway: Anastasia (OBC), The Bridges of Madison County (OBC), Wicked (10th Anniversary Company). Off-Broadway/Regional: Sunset Boulevard (Kennedy Center), Dogfight (Second Stage, Clive Barnes Award nomination), Carrie (MCC), Diner (Signature Theatre D.C.), Unknown Soldier (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Hairspray (Hollywood Bowl). On television, Derek can be seen in the pivotal role of “Wes” in the MAX series, “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin,” and he will soon reprise his role in season 2. Derek is known for his memorable arc as “DJ Fingablast” on Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s Netflix hit “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” Other TV credits include “City on a Hill,” “The Code,” “Blue Bloods,” and “A Holiday Spectacular.”
 

2023 Tony Nominee Colton Ryan most recently starred in the Susan Stroman-directed Broadway musical New York, New York, with music by John Kander & Fred Ebb, along with Lin Manuel Miranda. For his extraordinary performance in the show, Colton was nominated for the 2023 Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Tony Awards. TV and Film credits include: Rian Johnson’s “Poker Face;” the lead role opposite Elle Fanning in Hulu’s “The Girl from Plainville;” Universal’s Dear Evan Hansen; Apple TV+’s “Little Voice” executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson. On stage, Colton received the 2019 Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance for his role of “Gene Laine” in Conor McPherson's Girl From the North Country. The play premiered at The Public Theatre before its Broadway debut at the Belasco Theatre in 2020. Other theater credits include Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway, and off-Broadway runs of Alice by Heart (MCC Theatre., dir. Jessie Nelson) and The White Card (A.R.T., dir. Diane Paulus).

George Salazar. Broadway: Be More Chill (Drama Desk/Outer Critics Circle nominations); Godspell. National Tour: Spring Awakening. Off-Broadway: Be More Chill (Lucille Lortel Award); The Lightning Thief (Drama Desk Nomination); tick, tick… BOOM!; Here Lies Love. Regional: Little Shop of Horrors (Pasadena Playhouse); The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical (La Jolla Playhouse); Head Over Heels (Pasadena Playhouse); The Bottoming Process (IAMA); Broadway Bounty Hunter (Barrington Stage). TV: “Superstore;” “American Crime Story: Impeachment;” “Nancy Drew;” “Alice’s Wonderland Bakery.” Albums: Be More Chill (Original Cast & Original Broadway Cast); Two-Player Game; The Jonathan Larson Project; The Lightning Thief; Godspell.