SESSION GIRLS, a new musical by three-time Emmy nominee, Mia Moravis, debuts March 6, 2018 at 9:30PM at Feinstein's/54 Below, and features A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder's Lauren Worsham and Lisa O'Hare.
Says Session Girls leading lady Lauren Worsham, "I'm excited to be a part of such a female centered story!" Adds Lisa O'Hare, "Lauren and I are thrilled to be working together on this. I actually just did the first episode of my podcast, Starring Mom, with Lauren, and we were saying how excited we are about it." Casting Director Robin Carus, who brought Ms. Worsham and Ms. O'Hare to the project, states, "Session Girls celebrates creative women and their successes... it is a beautiful and relevant story for today."
Session Girls gives us the inside scoop on music producer Joli Nye (Ms. Worsham), recording studio executive Celia Webb (Ms. O'Hare), bawdy backup vocalist Cocoa (Lesli Margherita-Matilda The Musical; Dames At Sea), and classical cellist Mariana (Oyoyo Joi-The Book Of Mormon), and their trials and tribulations as they navigate the music world, their love lives, and unanticipated change.
The Session Girls subplot covers a harrowing major label/recording studio merger, helmed by Terrence Rand (Brian Charles Rooney, The Threepenny Opera), who is smitten in a most gentlemanly way with his new producer, Joli (Ms. Worsham) and, by happenstance, in the uncomfortable position of calming his anxious theater producer pal, Mitchie Karabakis (Robbie Rozelle, Director/Producer Feinstein's/54 Below, in a cameo performance). Max Beft (Ryan Andes, Big Fish; Sweeney Todd) is a studio engineer, enthralled with Cocoa, much to the chagrin of Celia (Ms. O'Hare), as Max's fiancée Maya (Megan McGinnis, Disney's Beauty And The Beast; Les Misérables ) is her cousin. Amidst all of this, cellist Rouald Finckel (Bart Shatto, War Paint; Les Misérables), fiancé to Mariana, is hoping for marriage, but Mariana isn't ready, and has business plans with Delivery Guy (Jeff Hiller, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; Nightcap). Cocoa's Nashville musician cousin, Lucinda (Emily Padgett, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory), arrives with unbridled-and sometimes unwelcome-enthusiasm. Ms. Padgett's offstage, and very welcome, enthusiasm was shared via a tweet in January, where she stated, "So excited to play with this incredible group of gals!!!"
Session Girls is brimming with original witty, charming and memorable tunes in myriad genres, such as "Painfully Self-Aware", "Miss Manners Got It Wrong", "You're Never A Shoo-In", "If You Wanna Make Dough On A Show", "I'm A Producer (And You're Not)", "I Dreamt Of You", "We Should All Just Be Excellent", "What's The Point?", the award-winning "Nothing To Brag About", and more.
Grammy and Tony Award-winning Broadway Records President Van Dean will co-produce. Grammy- and Tony Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning Michael J. Moritz Jr. is Music Director, and will produce the subsequent cast recording, to be released on Broadway Records. Joe Graziosi is Music Supervisor. Tickets are available at: https://54below.com/events/new-musical-session-girls-mia-moravis/ or by calling (646) 476-3551.
Mia Moravis is a Van Dean/Stephanie Rosenberg Producing Partner of Anastasia The Musical~Broadway, and in 2016 co-produced You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown Off-Broadway at The York Theatre Company. She is a three-time Emmy Awards nominee, a Remi Award-winning filmmaker, and has won awards in the realms of acting and songwriting/composing (24-time ASCAP PLUS Award recipient). Moravis is a Voting Member of NARAS (Grammy Awards), LARAS (Latin Grammy Awards), and serves as a Judge for the Primetime and Daytime Emmy Awards. She also produces and is a voice-over artist in a collaboration with iHeartRadio iRead2Know. Her Celtic songs EP, Dunoon, honoring her childhood home in Scotland, was released last fall on Gotham Records UK, and features her multi-award-winning signature piece, Shakespeare And Me.
Broadway Records (Van Dean, President) is one of the preeminent theatrical record labels to produce original cast albums for major Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, including the Grammy and Tony Award-winning The Color Purple (2015 revival), the Grammy nominated Matilda The Musical and Fiddler on the Roof (2015 revival), Allegiance and Disaster!, among others. Recent releases include Anastasia, Bandstand, Groundhog Day, The Lightning Thief, The Visit, Doctor Zhivago, Side Show (2014 revival), Bonnie & Clyde, Big Fish, and NBC's television events The Wiz Live! and Peter Pan Live!. The label's critically-acclaimed "Live at Feinstein's/54 BELOW" series features top Broadway stars, including Patti LuPone, Aaron Tveit, Annaleigh Ashford, Norbert Leo Butz, Sierra Boggess, Laura Benanti, Emily Skinner & Alice Ripley, Frank Wildhorn and Friends, Micky Dolenz, and many others. Most recently, Broadway Records launched the Broadway for Orlando initiative (in partnership with creators Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley) as a response to the Pulse nightclub mass shooting. The all-star benefit single, "What the World Needs Now is Love" (recorded at NYC's Avatar Studios on Wednesday, June 15, 2016) has been downloaded more than 65k times and raised over $100k to date and counting, with 100% of the proceeds benefitting the GLBT Center of Central Florida. Additionally, the song reached No. 1 on the iTunes song chart in its first week of release and broke into the Billboard Top 100 with no commercial radio play. To learn more, visit BroadwayRecords.com.
Michael Feinstein, one of the world's great musical artists, and 54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, have united to give New York an unparalleled destination for entertainment and dining. Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, is the performance venue in the grand tradition of New York City nightlife. A few blocks from the heart of Times Square and just below the legendary Studio 54, Feinstein's/54 Below is a classically designed state-of-the art nightclub in the theatre district that hosts audiences with warmth and style. Feinstein's/54 Below presents iconic and rising stars from the worlds of Broadway and popular music. The venue provides a food and beverage menu from early evening through the wee hours of the morning that is worthy of the world-class entertainment on the stage. In their description of the venue, The New York Times writes Feinstein's/54 Below "has the intimacy of a large living room with unimpeded views and impeccable sound; there is not a bad seat. Its sultry after-hours ambience is enhanced by brocade-patterned wall panels planted with orange-shaded lanterns. And the atmosphere is warmer and sexier than in Manhattan's other major supper clubs." Located at 254 West 54th Street, Feinstein's/54 Below features up to three shows nightly with cover charges ranging from $15-$105. Visit www.54Below.com
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