Lottery Announced For THE MERRILY CHAPTERS NYC Presentation

The Stage Door Foundation and Pam Pariseau have announced a special lottery for live studio audience tickets to a special industry presentation showing how Stephen Sondheim created MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG through the eyes of original Broadway cast member, David Loud.

The Merrily Chapters will be presented on Monday November 25th featuring performances by Elizabeth Stanley, Matthew Scott, David Loud and Evan Rees.

Presented as part of Open Jar Studios's ongoing ARTIST IN THE OPEN JAR series. Filmed in front of a live audience of young theatre makers, the series aims to connect the current generation of theatre makers with the cultivation of the next generation.

Seating to be in the live studio audience for this live-capture presentation is limited and only available via lottery. Audience members will also be treated to a post-presentation Q&A and conversation with David Loud. All up and coming theater makers are invited to enter the free lottery (and to pre-submit questions you would like to ask David Loud) at https://forms.gle/3x3RbW9FLuuAWHdXA

The Merrily Chapters is David Loud's autobiographical story of the tragi-comic Broadway adventure that began when he was cast, at the age of 18, in Harold Prince's original 1981 production of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along.

David Loud occupies a unique place in Broadway history: in addition to his distinguished body of work as a music director and vocal arranger, he also originated three roles as an actor. He served as music director for the Broadway premieres of Kander & Ebb's The Visit, Susan Stroman's production of The Scottsboro Boys; James Lapine's Sondheim on Sondheim, Kander & Ebb's Curtains, Frank Galati's production of Ahrens & Flaherty's Ragtime, Kander & Ebb's Steel Pier; A Class Act; The Look of Love; and revivals of Porgy and Bess, She Loves Me; The Boys from Syracuse, Company; and Sweeney Todd. He originated the roles of Manny in Terrence McNally's Master Class, Sasha (the Conductor) in Curtains, and made his Broadway debut in Harold Prince's original 1981 production of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along.

The cast of The Merrily Chapters will include Elizabeth Stanley (Jagged Little Pill, Company), Matthew Scott (Sondheim on Sondheim, An American in Paris), David Loud and Evan Rees (Into The Woods). The Merrily Chapters is directed by Noah Racey (The Terms of My Surrender, Thoroughly Modern Millie, 5th Avenue's Guys & Dolls) with music direction by Evan Rees. The Merrily Chapters is adapted by David Loud and Noah Racey from David Loud's book, Facing the Music: A Broadway Memoir.

The Merrily Chapters is co-produced by The Stage Door Foundation, a not-for-profit organization providing support to artists as they develop theatrical projects, allowing individuals to focus on the creative process. Their mission is to secure and provide support to theatrical artists by providing access to professional mentorship, subsidized investments, and a supportive network infrastructure that can ignite the innovation of art. The vision of The Stage Door Foundation is to shape a world where art can be dreamed, developed, and realized without obstacles, to cultivate a performing arts ecosystem that celebrates diversity, inclusivity, and the untold stories waiting to be unveiled. Other projects of The Stage Door Foundation include The Broadway Workroom and this fall's upcoming Time Step Symposium

More information: https://www.stagedoor.org

David Loud occupies a unique place in Broadway history: in addition to his distinguished body of work as a music director and vocal arranger, he also originated three roles as an actor. He served as music director for the Broadway premieres of Kander & Ebb's The Visit, starring Chita Rivera and Roger Rees; Susan Stroman's production of The Scottsboro Boys; James Lapine's Sondheim on Sondheim, with Barbara Cook and Vanessa Williams; Kander & Ebb's Curtains, starring David Hyde Pierce and Debra Monk; Frank Galati's production of Ahrens & Flaherty's Ragtime, with Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, and Audra McDonald; Kander & Ebb's Steel Pier; A Class Act; The Look of Love; and revivals of Porgy and Bess, She Loves Me; The Boys from Syracuse, Company; and Sweeney Todd. He originated the role of Manny in Terrence McNally's Master Class (starring Zoe Caldwell), played Sasha (the Conductor) in Curtains, and made his Broadway debut in Harold Prince's original 1981 production of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along.

Off-Broadway, David created the vocal and dance arrangements for Kander & Ebb's And the World Goes 'Round. He has created arrangements for Marin Mazzie, Jason Danieley, Audra MacDonald, Victoria Clark, Rebecca Luker, Paulo Szot, Liz Callaway, and Betty Buckley. He conducted the incidental music for Mike Nichols' revival of Death of a Salesman and collaborated with Wynton Marsalis and John Doyle on A Bed and a Chair, a jazz interpretation of Sondheim's music. Other favorite projects include The Land Where the Good Songs Go, a concert of Jerome Kern songs at Merkin Concert Hall; First You Dream, a revue of Kander & Ebb songs that was broadcast on PBS; and five highly acclaimed programs in the 92nd Street Y's Lyrics and Lyricists series: On A Clear Day: the Musical Vision of Burton Lane, Taking a Chance on Love: the Music of Vernon Duke, Let's Misbehave: the sensational songs of Cole Porter, Frank Loesser: Lyricist, and A Good Thing Going: the Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince Collaboration.

David is a graduate of Yale University and has been on the faculty of the Yale School of Drama, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and Fordham University. He is currently the music director of the Musical Theatre program at Manhattan School of Music, a program he helped found in 2016.

His book, Facing the Music; a Broadway Memoir, was recently published by Regan Arts, a division of Simon & Schuster.

Elizabeth Stanley is an award-winning actor, singer and musician, best known perhaps for her work on Broadway, recently starring in the Alanis Morissette musical Jagged Little Pill, earning nominations for the Tony Award, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle, as well as a Grammy Award for the original cast recording. Elizabeth has captivated New York theater audiences ever since her Broadway debut as "April" in the revival of Sondheim's Company directed by John Doyle, and has since played an eclectic array of comedic and dramatic, classic and contemporary leading ladies including "Claire De Loone" in the Broadway revival of On the Town (Drama Desk nomination), Dyanne in Million Dollar Quartet, Allison in Cry-Baby, Gussie in James Lapine's production of Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along (Encores), and last year The New York Times nodded to her performance as Vera in the City Center's gala production of Pal Joey as "Best Theater of 2023". Other credits include as The Nurse in Hello, Again (Transport Group, Drama League Award), F**king A (Signature Theatre), and starred opposite Vanessa Williams and Santino Fontana in Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle in Concert at Carnegie Hall with MasterVoices and recently as Luisa in Maury Yeston's Nine opposite Steven Pasquale at The Kennedy Center. Elizabeth alsostarred as Francesca in the First National Tour of Jason Robert Brown's The Bridges of Madison County, and as Kira in the First National Tour of Xanadu.Equally present on screen, Elizabeth appears in Season 3 of Katori Hall's "P-Valley" and was a recurring guest star on the FX series "Kindred" and HBO Max's "Gossip Girl". Other guest appearances include "The Equalizer," "New Amsterdam," "Younger," "Blue Bloods," "N0S482," "FBI," "The Get Down," "The Affair," "Black Box," "Made in Jersey," "Fringe," and Company(PBS Great Performances). Ms. Stanley is an associate artist at Barrington Stage, and has performed at such wonderful theaters as Philadelphia Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Sundance Theatre Festival,Sacramento Music Circus, Pittsburgh CLO, Rep. of St. Louis, The O'Neill, Pioneer TheatreCompany, Cincinnati Playhouse, among others. As a concert soloist, she appeared last season with the San Diego Symphony at The Rady Shell conducted by Rob Fisher, and in a new symphonic production of Ragtime with The Boston Pops conducted by Keith Lockhart. She has also performed with Colorado Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Ocean City Symphony, New York Pops Underground, and many solo engagements. Elizabeth is a graduate of Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. IG: @ElStans

Matthew Scott recently appeared in Titanic at Encores! He starred as Adam Hochberg An American In Paris on Broadway and the National Tour. Matthew featured in Sondheim On Sondheim, conceived and directed by James Lapine, with a star-studded cast including Barbara Cook and Vanessa Williams. Matt also appeared on Broadway in A Catered Affair, and in the original company of Jersey Boys, as well as Bess Wohl's Tony Nominated Grand Horizons. On the West End in London, Matt starred in I Loved Lucyat the Arts Theatre. Matthew's many Regional credits include starring roles at the Kennedy Center, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, Paper Mill Playhouse, Signature Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Co., Pittsburgh CLO, The MUNY, TUTS, Goodspeed Opera, Alliance Theatre, York Theatre Co., and the O'Neill Theatre Center. Television credits include First You Dream: The Music Of Kander & Ebb (PBS), All My Children and appearances on the 2006 and 2009 Tony Awards. Matthew has performed with symphonies across the U.S. and in Canada and is featured on multiple recordings and soundtracks including Sondheim On Sondheim; Jerome Kern: The Land Where The Good Songs Go; Noel And Cole. With Rebecca Luker, he recorded The Enchanted Train by Jerome Kern and P.G. Wodehouse. Matthew's debut album, "THE JESUS YEAR - a letter from my dad," based off his critically acclaimed one man show is available at PS Classics and anywhere you buy and stream music. BroadwayWorld Cabaret says, "The Jesus Year is a masterpiece," and named it their "Favorite show of the year." Matthew serves on Faculty at both The Manhattan School of Music and NYU Tisch's New Studio on Broadway. He is a proud graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. www.matthewscott.biz

Noah Racey (Director, Co-adapter) Noah is the Associate Artistic Director of OpenStage Theatre & Company as well as Head of Musical Theatre at Colorado State University's School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Broadway credits include The Terms of My Surrender; Curtains (Bobby Pepper); Never Gonna Dance (Lucky Garnett); Thoroughly Modern Millie (Associate Choreographer, Ensemble); and Follies (Young Theo). Other NYC: Kicking & Screaming (a collection of new song and dance creations at Symphony Space); The Fix (Original Collaboration w/Jason Robert Brown), A Good Thing Going - The works of Sondheim & Prince (and numerous concerts at 92nd St. Y). Regional credits include Sense & Sensibility and Big Fish (OSTC), A Walk In The Woods (Bas Bleu Theatre), Annie Get Your Gun and Show Boat (Goodspeed Opera House, both won Connecticut Critics Circle award for best choreography), Showboat (Asolo Repertory Theatre), Guys & Dolls (Seattle 5th Ave). As writer: Noah Racey's: PULSE (Asolo Repertory Theatre, dir. Jeff Calhoun); Look for Noah's acclaimed solo show, Mountain Grove (dir. Dick Scanlan). Noah is a Boston Conservatory Graduate, and a product of-and strong proponent for-arts funding in public schools.

The Stage Door Foundation (Producer) is a not-for-profit organization providing support to artists as they develop theatrical projects, allowing individuals to focus on the creative process. Their mission is to secure and provide support to theatrical artists by providing access to professional mentorship, subsidized investments, and a supportive network infrastructure that can ignite the innovation of art. The vision of The Stage Door Foundation is to shape a world where art can be dreamed, developed, and realized without obstacles, to cultivate a performing arts ecosystem that celebrates diversity, inclusivity, and the untold stories waiting to be unveiled.

Pam Pariseau (Producer) is the Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Broadway Teaching Group, a full service arts education program that has connected theatre educators with the Broadway community for twenty-five years. She has served as Creative Development Director for Stage Entertainment (producers of Anastasia, Sister Act, Rocky, and Big Fish); Creative Director for the National Artists Management Company (where she worked on the Broadway productions of Chicago, Annie Get Your Gun and the off-Broadway production of This Is Our Youth starring Mark Ruffalo); Casting Director and Literary Manager for Musical Theatre Works; Development Director for New View: Musicals in Process and Artistic Director of the Helen Hays Performing Arts Center in Nyack, New York and the Chiswick Park Theatre in Sudbury, Massachusetts. For thirteen years, she was Vice President of James Hammerstein Productions, where she produced on- and off-Broadway and in London's West End. Broadway credits include Jason Robert Brown's Honeymoon in Vegas, Tracy Letts' Superior Donuts, and Chekhov's The Seagull with Kristin Scott Thomas and Peter Saarsgard. West End productions include Dealer's Choice, Sunday in the Park with George and Dirty Blonde (directed by James Lapine and featuring the original Broadway cast). Off-Broadway credits include Laurence O'Keefe's Bat Boy The Musical, Slut, The Big Bang, My Name Is Rachel Corrie (directed by Alan Rickman) and David Cromer's Our Town, which had the distinction of being the longest-running professional production of Our Town in history and was the winner of the 2009 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival and Outstanding Director. In 2011, Pam received the Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, The Boston Conservatory.

Open Jar Studios, led by CEO Jeff Whiting, has long been a cornerstone of artistic excellence and innovation. With state-of-the-art facilities and a commitment to nurturing emerging talent, Open Jar Studios continues to shape the landscape of Broadway and is dedicated to the creation of art and the cultivation of the artist Located in the heart of the Theater District, OPEN JAR STUDIOS features some of the largest studios in New York City for rehearsals, auditions, and support offices for productions of all sizes. Two 4,000 square-foot studios with 22-foot high ceilings make the space ideal for Broadway rehearsals. The large studios accompany a number of different-sized studios suited perfectly for dance rehearsals, music rehearsals, production offices, and even costume fittings. Under the direction of Jeff Whiting, Open Jar Studios. https://www.openjarstudios.com/