Erik Liberman (LoveMusik on Broadway, Reefer Madness in LA - Ovation Award-winner) and Michelle Pruiett (The Little Mermaid) are set to star in the 2010 New York Musical Theater Festival production of THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING YOU EVER HOID, a satirical Marx Brothers musical romp which will run at Urban Stages from September 30th thru October 12th. With music by Jim Beckerman, lyrics by Jim Beckerman and Andy Seiler, and a book by Seiler, Beckerman and Fred Wemyss, THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING YOU EVER HOID will be directed at NYMF by Donald Brenner (Ali Baba at Lincoln Center, Miracle on 34th Street at the Lortel) and is based on the 1930's radio series "Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel" by Nat Perrin, Arthur Sheekman, George Oppenheimer, and Tom McKnight. Liberman will play William Tecumseh Flywheel (Groucho Marx) and joining him as Fiorello Ravelli (Chico Marx) and Ringling T. Ringling (Harpo Marx) will be Jared Miller and Jonathan Randell Silver, respectively. The cast will also feature Liliane Klein, Ashley Fox Linton, Warren Freeman and John Fico.
Based on the hilarious, but little known "Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel" radio show, THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING YOU EVER HOID is a laugh-filled, tune-filled, Marx-filled extravaganza featuring all-new songs, including "Babes in Baghdad" and "Slimy Rhythm." In the show, when William Tecumseh Flywheel, Fiorello Ravelli and Ringling T. Ringling are let loose on an unsuspecting radio station, the airwaves will never be safe for detergent commercials again! It's zany! It's crazy! It's a night at the radio studio you'll never forget! And yes, it's The Most Ridiculous Thing You Ever Hoid.
Show writers Beckerman and Seiler are both well-respected entertainment journalists. Seiler, then an entertainment writer at USA TODAY, conceived the project in 2005, and began writing it with co-writers Jim Beckerman (who writes for The Record) and Fred Wemyss. Soon after, he become disabled by a serious illness and co-writers Beckerman and Wemyss finished the show. The creative team for THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING YOU EVER HOID also includes Aaron Diehl Productions (general management),
David Goldstein (lighting design), Bunny Mateosian (costume design), and Maggie Swing (production stage manager).
THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING YOU EVER HOID will run at Urban Stages at 259 West 30th Street (between 7th and 8th Ave), with performances on Thursday, September 30th at 8pm, Friday, October 1st at 1pm, Saturday, October 2nd at 1pm, Sunday, October 3rd at 8pm, Wednesday, October 6th at 8pm, Saturday, October 9th at 8pm, and Tuesday, October 12th at 8pm. Tickets, priced at $20, go on sale tomorrow 9/1 for purchase by phone at (212) 352-3101 or online at www.nymf.org.
For more information on the show you can visit
www.RidiculousThingTheMusical.comNow in its seventh year, the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is the largest annual musical theatre event in America and is widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery. NYMF provides a launching pad for the next generation of musicals and their creators to ensure the continued vitality of one of America's greatest art forms. Hailed as the "Sundance of Musical Theatre," NYMF discovers, nurtures, and promotes promising musical theatre artists and producers at all stages of development, and inspires a diverse audience through vibrant, accessible, powerful new work. NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2010 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group, TheaterMania.com, and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and is supported by AP-Red.com, Back Stage, Barnes and Noble, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Broadway.TV, Clear Channel Spectacolor, DFD-TV, King Displays, NASDAQ OMX, New World Stages, Next Magazine, PMD Promotions, The Port Authority of NY & NJ, Queerty.com, Season of Savings, Tekserve, Terra Fossil, Thomson Reuters, TheMenEvent.com, Times Square Squared, and Yelp. Major supporters include The
ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The Broadway League, The BWF Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jamie Ariel Phinney, The Charlie & Jane Fink Charitable Fund,
Cameron Mackintosh Foundation, The
Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Spiritus Gladius Foundation, and The Theater League. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
