Laura Benanti to Take Part in Andrew Lippa's I AM HARVEY MILK Premiere, 6/27-28

I Am Harvey Milk, the new oratorio with music and words by Tony and Grammy Award nominee Andrew Lippa, will have its world premiere at The Nourse Auditorium (201-299 Hayes Street, San Francisco) as part of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus 35th Anniversary Celebration concert, "Harvey Milk 2013." The special two-night engagement will take place at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 27 and Friday, June 28. Starring Mr. Lippa as Harvey Milk and Tony Award-winner Laura Benanti as the Soprano soloist, I Am Harvey Milk is directed by Noah Himmelstein, conducted by Dr. Timothy Seelig, orchestrated by August Eriksmoen, and will feature the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus accompanied by the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony. I Am Harvey Milk is produced by Bruce Cohen, in association with Robb Nanus and Jessica Leventhal.

I Am Harvey Milk was commissioned by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, along with Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus, Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles, Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus, Vancouver Men's Chorus, and Heartland Men's Chorus. Following this World Premiere Event, the piece will be made available for choruses to perform from coast to coast.

I Am Harvey Milk weaves the story of Harvey Milk's life - from boyhood to his rise as the first openly gay man to hold public office in California to his assassination. Part choral work, part theater piece, I Am Harvey Milk is an emotional celebration of an American icon.
Harvey Milk 2013 will also feature the debut of I am the Legacy, featuring a variety of performance pieces celebrating the legacy of Harvey Milk submitted by artists from around the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tickets for Harvey Milk 2013 range in price from $25-$65 and are available now online at SFGMC.org or through City Box Office at (415) 392-4400.

Andrew Lippa wrote the music and lyrics for the upcoming musical Big Fish which opens on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre in October, 2013. He wrote the Tony-­nominated music and lyrics to the hit Broadway musical The Addams Family with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (Jersey Boys). The Addams Family currently has productions in Australia, Brazil, Sweden and is touring the United States. Mr. Lippa wrote the music for the 2008 Broadway production of Aaron Sorkin's play The Farnsworth Invention directed by Des McAnuff. Asphalt Beach (music and lyrics) was premiered at Northwestern University by the American Music Theatre Project in October, 2006. The Wild Party (book/music/lyrics) had its world premiere in 2000 at the Manhattan Theater Club in New York City. The Wild Party won the Outer Critics Circle Award for best Off-­Broadway musical of the season and Mr. Lippa won the 2000 Drama Desk Award for best music. 2004 saw the premiere of A Little Princess (book and lyrics by Brian Crawley) at Theatreworks in Palo Alto, CA. In 1999 he contributed three new songs to the Broadway version of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (including "My New Philosophy" for Tony-­Award Winner Kristin Chenoweth) and created all new arrangements. He wrote the music and co-­wrote the book (with Tom Greenwald) for john & jen, which premiered in New York City in 1995 at The Lamb's Theater. He is currently working on a musical adaptation of Jules Feiffer's book The Man In The Ceiling and will be, for the first time, creating a role for himself in a new full-­length musical. Mr. Lippa is proud to have been music director for Kristin Chenoweth since 1999 for many of her concerts. He conducted/played her sold-­out shows at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC in 2007, at Carnegie Hall in 2004, and at the Donmar Warehouse in London in 2002. He has conducted the San Francisco, Chicago, and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras for Ms. Chenoweth, among others. Additionally, he is an accomplished singer having been heard in many venues in New York and, in 2005, as a guest artist at the Adelaide Cabaret Convention in Adelaide, Australia. Recordings include Julia Murney's CD I'm Not Waiting (producer, 3 songs), The Wild Party (RCA Victor) which he also produced, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (RCA Victor) which earned him a Grammy Award nomination, The Addams Family (Decca Broadway), A Little Princess (Ghostlight), and john & jen (Fynsworth Alley). He also served as producer on all of these recordings. Jazz phenom Peter Cincotti recorded the song Raise The Roof on his CD titled On The Moon (Phil Ramone, producer). Idina Menzel recently released Life of the Party on her Barefoot at the Orchestra CD and DVD. In addition, Mr. Lippa produced the original cast recording of Bat Boy for RCA Victor and his singing voice can be heard on The Sondheim Album on Fynsworth Alley and If I Sing on PS Classics. Vocal selections from The Wild Party, The Addams Family, and john & jen are published by Hal Leonard and licensed by MTI. New releases of vocal folios for A Little Princess and Big Fish are soon to follow. Mr. Lippa also contributed a choral piece to the It Gets Better campaign (premiered by musical theater students at Texas State University) which will be released by Hal Leonard in July, 2013. Awards include a Tony nomination, Grammy nomination, the Gilman/Gonzalez-­Falla Theater Foundation Award, ASCAP's Richard Rodgers/New Horizons Award, The Drama Desk, The Outer Critics Circle and second place for the Alice B. Deucey Award for all-­around outstanding fifth-­grader (lost to Cynthia Fink). Memberships include ASCAP, Actor's Equity, the AF of M and The Dramatists Guild where Mr. Lippa serves as Council member. A graduate and supporter of the University of Michigan, Mr. Lippa was born in Leeds, England but grew up in suburban Detroit. www.andrewlippa.com