Kate Baldwin, Sally Mayes and More to Star in Georgia Stitt, Bob Banghart and John Strand's SNOW CHILD in Concert

Eowyn Ivey's debut novel The Snow Child, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, is reborn as a magical new musical featuring a score that combines Alaskan string-band traditions and contemporary musical theater. The 1920 Alaskan wilderness is a brutal place to try to save a marriage. Reeling from the loss of an unborn child, Mabel and Jack struggle to rebuild their lives even as the fissures between them continue to widen. But everything changes suddenly when they are visited by a wild, mysterious girl who embodies the dark woods that surround their cabin. In this beautiful and violent land, things are rarely as they appear, and what the snow child teaches them will ultimately transform them all.

Co-commissioned by Molly Smith at Arena Stage in Washington, DC and Art Rotch at Perseverance Theater in Juneau, Alaska, SNOW CHILD received its world premiere production at Arena Stage in spring 2018 with Molly Smith directing. On Saturday, November 17th at 8 pm, SubCulture will present the show to New York City in a concert adaptation featuring Kate Baldwin, Matt Bogart, Fina Strazza, Gerard Canonico, Sally Mayes and William Parry. With a score by Georgia Stitt (music and lyrics) and Bob Banghart (music) and a book by John Strand, SNOW CHILD will be performed with Lynne Shankel's orchestrations by HILARY HAWKE (banjo), ANDIE SPRINGER (violin), Wayne Fugate (mandolin), Andrew Zinsmeister (guitar), Jim Donica (bass), and Lynne Shankel (piano).

SNOW CHILD plays SUBCULTURE (45 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012) on Saturday, November 17th at 8 pm. (Doors open at 7 pm.) Tickets are $40 for General Admission and can be purchased at http://subculturenewyork.com/event/snow-child/ or by calling (212) 533-5470. SubCulture is a full-service venue experience for artists, entrepreneurs, innovators, and their enthusiasts, in one of New York's most evocative spaces. Designed as an intimate theater and gathering place in one room, SubCulture incorporates exceptional sound and lighting technology into a space with naturally strong acoustics and unique architectural features. The venue has received praise from The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Magazine for its exquisite sound, comfortable aesthetic, and unparalleled hospitality.

ABOUT THE CAST:

Kate Baldwin starred in the 2017 Tony Award winning Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly! for which she personally received Tony Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Award nominations. Other Broadway credits include: Finian's Rainbow (Tony Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Award nominations), Big Fish, Wonderful Town, Thoroughly Modern Millie and The Full Monty. Off-Broadway, she received Drama Desk nominations for her work in The Keen Company's production of John & Jen and The Public Theatre's production of Michael John LaChuisa's Giant. Also off-Broadway: Songbird at 59E59 Street Theaters. Film: Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best. TV: "Law & Order: SVU". PBS: "First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb" and "Live From Lincoln Center: Stephen Sondheim's Passion." Concerts: Chicago Humanities Festival, NSO, PSO and the American Songbook Series. Recording: Let's See What Happens and She Loves Him: Live at Feinstein's (PS Classics). www.kate-baldwin.com

Matt Bogart Broadway: Jersey Boys, Aida, Miss Saigon, The Civil War, Smokey Joe's Café (TV/DVD) and Camelot (Tour). Off-Broadway: James Joyce in Himself and Nora (Outer Critics Nom.) and in Dublin, Ireland. Recent work includes, world premier of Snow Child at Arena Stage, Rochester in Jane Eyre, Most Beautiful Room in NY at Long Wharf and Billy in Carousel with Wichita Symphony. TV: HBO's "Vinyl" as Robert Goulet, "Smash" as JFK, Law and Order & L&O: SVU. Mr. Bogart is an Affiliated Artist of Arena Stage in D.C., a theatre producer & record producer with solo recordings. www.MattBogart.com

Fina Strazza is delighted to continue to share the music of Snow Child after originating FAINA in the musical's World Premiere at Arena Stage. She made her Broadway debut at eight years old in the titular role of Matilda the Musical and was chosen by Mariah Carey to star in a the singer's directorial debut, Hallmark Channel's, 'A Christmas Melody,' wherein she performs a Carey-produced version of her number-one hit, "Oh Santa." She has developed roles with Broadway's Darko Tresnjak (Anastasia), Mark Brokaw (Alice Bliss), Christopher Ashley (Diana), and performed Off-Broadway (A Loss of Roses, and Animal with Rebecca Hall at Atlantic Theater). With multiple film and tv credits, Fina can next be seen in the upcoming feature films 'Callahan', 'Tribe', and 'Shadow Girl.'

Sally Mayes made her Broadway debut in Cy Coleman's WELCOME TO THE CLUB. Her performance won critical praise along with a Theater World Award and Outer Critics Circle nomination as one of Broadway's Outstanding Newcomers. On Broadway, Sally is perhaps best known for her performance in the Roundabout Theater revival of SHE LOVES ME for which she won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations. Sally appeared as Aunt Corene in URBAN COWBOY (Drama Desk nomination). She drew raves as Mae West in the National Tour of DIRTY BLONDE and also appeared in the Broadway revival of STEEL MAGNOLIAS. Sally starred in several Off-Broadway productions including CLOSER THAN EVER (Outer Critics Circle nomination), DAS BARBECUE, PETE N' KEELY (Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical), PLAY IT COOL, GOOD OL' GIRLS, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME. Film and television credits include ALPHA HOUSE, CITY HALL, DOUBLE PARKED and BYE BYE BIRDIE, LAW AND ORDER CRIMINAL INTENT, SEX AND THE CITY, and THE JOB. Sally also appears on countless cast recordings including, CLOSER THAN EVER, SHE LOVES ME, DAS BARBECUE, BYE BYE BIRDIE, LOST IN BOSTON, UNSUNG MUSICALS, UNSUNG SONDHEIM, and NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, to mention a few. Sally has five solo albums, THE Dorothy Fields SONGBOOK, OUR PRIVATE WORLD: THE COMDEN AND GREEN SONGBOOK, THE STORY HOUR, BOYS AND GIRLS LIKE YOU AND ME, and VALENTINE. Sally's much anticipated nightclub appearances have garnered her rave reviews from coast to coast, she has been nominated for twelve Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC) awards and has won two Back Stage BISTRO awards for excellence in cabaret and recording.

Gerard Canonico is so excited to be working with this wonderful team! He was most recently seen in the Off-Broadway production of the worldwide hit sensation known as "Be More Chill" as Rich Goranski. His other notable Broadway credits include "Groundhog Day" (Original Broadway Cast. Fred), "Spring Awakening" (Original Broadway Cast. Ensemble / Moritz Replacement), "American Idiot" (Original Broadway Cast). His Off-Broadway credits include "Bare" (New World Stages), Dear Evan Hansen" (2nd Stage Theater), "Brooklynite" (The Vineyard Theater), and "The Talls" (2nd Stage Uptown Theater). Regional: "Be More Chill" (Two River Theater). His Feature Film work includes "Stuck", "Boy Wonder", and "Not Fade Away" (Director David Chase). Gerard also freelances as a musician on a variety of instruments and projects. Most notably he fronts and plays guitar in the only touring tribute band to Blink-182 known as The Dude Ranch. As well as an original band known as 5J Barrow. 5J Barrow have multiple albums online. 2 EP's (A 3rd on its way) currently feature Gerard on Drums. The EP's are entitled The Journey: Volumes 1-3. You can also hear his drumming talents on "The Fractured Years" self-titled album and Declan Bennett's album "Record:Breakup". All are available on every streaming platform. Instagram @GerardCanonicoOfficial

William Parry has originated roles in eleven Broadway productions: most recently as Jensen in last season's Groundhog Day; as well as Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George, and Passion/both filmed for PBS; Agamemnon at Lincoln Center; Gypsy with Bernadette Peters (dir. by Sam Mendes); Camelot (understudy to Richard Burton and Richard Harris); and the original Jesus Christ Superstar. Off-Broadway: original productions of Sondheim's Assassins and Road Show, Dessa Rose at Lincoln Center, and Cymbeline and Dispatches at The Public Theater, among others. National Tours: A Few Good Men, Memphis, and Titanic (Captain E.J. Smith). Some 50 regional productions-favorites include: Joe Keller in All My Sons, J. Edgar Hoover in All The Way. Numerous TV and Film credits. Radio: Two seasons on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion."

ABOUT THE CREATIVES:

John Strand (book), playwright-in-residence at Arena Stage, Mead Center for American Theater, 2014-2016, is a winner of the Charles MacArthur Award for playwriting and a recipient of an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant. Recent work includes the play The Originalist, featuring the character of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (Arena Stage, Asolo Rep, Pasadena Playhouse, Court Theater Chicago, 59E59th St. Theaters, NYC); the book and lyrics for the musical Hat! A Vaudeville (South Coast Repertory); the book for the musical The Highest Yellow (Signature Theatre); Lorenzaccio, an adaptation of Alfred De Musset's 1834 French classic (Shakespeare Theatre Company); the play Lincolnesque (The Old Globe); and the novel Commieland (Kiwai Media, Paris). He is at work on the film adaptation of his play The Originalist.

Bob Banghart (co-composer) has been performing throughout Alaska, Canada and the Pacific Northwest since the mid-70s. He co-founded the Alaska Folk Festival and Juneau Jazz and Classics, which are annual weeklong festivals in their 43rd and 30th years, respectively. He began composition work with the 1991 Perseverance Theatre production The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, directed by Molly Smith, and has since scored over a dozen theater productions, an opera and numerous independent TV shows and films. Recent works include The Little Prince directed by Katie Jensen, Metomorphosis directed by Dave Hunsaker and the opera Hansel and Gretel directed by Henning Hegland. Bob lives in Juneau, Alaska with his with Laura Lucas and their dog Jasmine.

Georgia Stitt (co-composer/lyricist) wrote Snow Child, Big Red Sun, Samantha Spade: Ace Detective, Mosaic and The Water and has recorded three albums of her songs: This Ordinary Thursday, Alphabet City Cycle (featuring Kate Baldwin), and My Lifelong Love. She is currently writing SHE with Warren Adams and The Big Boom with Hunter Foster, as well as a collection of art songs and an as-yet-untitled oratorio. Her choral piece with hope and virtue (using text from President Obama's 2009 inauguration speech) was featured on NPR, and her orchestral piece, Waiting for Wings, co-written with husband Jason Robert Brown, was commissioned and premiered by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Georgia is on the Board of Directors for The Lillys and she is the Founding Director of MAESTRA, an organization for women theater composers and conductors. www.georgiastitt.com

Erin Ortman (Director) recently directed Time Out NY Critics Pick One Thousand Nights and One Day by Marisa Michelson and Jason Grote, which premiered last Spring at ART/NY. She has directed concerts for numerous theatre artists including Kate Baldwin, Alexander Gemignani, Grace McClean, Michael Cerveris and Sky Pony. She is currently developing a Jeanette Rankin Project with Ari Afsar and Lauren Gunderson (The O'Neill), swingset/moon with Alexander Gemignani and Daniel Glenn (The Roundabout), This is Everything with Colin Nissan and Adam Zotavich (Vintage Theatricals) and American Psalm with Caridad Svich (The Sheen Center.) She has also directed and developed work at LAByrinth, Ars Nova, Pipeline, New Georges, Pan Asian Rep and NYSAF, among others.

Lynne Shankel (Music Director/Orchestrator) has written orchestrations and arrangements for everyone from Chita Rivera, the New York Pops and Raul Esparza to Tony Award winner/Bon Jovi member David Bryan and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. On Broadway, she was music supervisor/arranger/orchestrator for ALLEGIANCE, music director/arranger for CRY-BABY, and resident music supervisor for the Tony-award winning revival of COMPANY. She was music director/arranger for the Off-Broadway hit ALTAR BOYZ, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination for orchestrations. Lynne received a second Drama Desk nomination for THE EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY (by Paul Loesel and Scott Burkell). She recently orchestrated the critically acclaimed premiere of LIFE AFTER in Toronto. As a composer, credits include bare: The Musical and POSTCARD AMERICAN TOWN.