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NUMBERS NERDS: The [almost] All-Girl Math Challenge Comes to Peter Jay Sharp Theater
By: A.A. Cristi May. 22, 2017
Numbers Nerds is the story of an all-girl high school math team from Our Lady of Perpetual Chastity in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The team has won the Regional Math Competition and is chosen to compete in the National Math SUM-IT. These smart and funny whiz kids must unite to solve difficult math problems without getting distracted by math club drama or the pressures of getting into the right college. It is a story of girls becoming women and learning to work with each other so that the team can win. This heartfelt musical comedy proves that not only can girls rock math, but they can make us laugh along the way.
Numbers Nerds is presented by the New York Musical Festival. Producer: Larry Little; Music Director: Dylan Marcaurele; Costume Designer: Theresa Ham; Set Designer: Jen Price Fick; Lighting Designer: Michael Cole; Projections Designer: Kevan Loney; Stage Manager: Jessica Forella; General Manager: Simpson & Longthorne Theatricals; Graphic Designer: Simone Bouyer; Public Relations: Paul Siebold/Off Off PR.
Tickets are: $27.50. Visit NYMF.org. For more information, visit nymf.org/numbersnerds.
Six performances will be staged on the following schedule: Wed July 19 @ 8pm; Thurs July 20 @ 9pm; Fri July 21 @ 5pm; Sat July 22 @1pm; Sun July 23 @ 10:30am and 1:30pm.
Meet the Creative Team
Amber Mak (director/choreographer) is a Chicago based director/choreographer and the New Works Development Director for the Paramount Theatre. Her most recent project was directing and choreographing the critically acclaimed Disney's The Little Mermaid at the Paramount Theatre. Other select credits include: Director/choreographer of Hairspray (Paramount Theatre); SDC observership/assistant to Susan Stroman, Big Fish (Broadway); choreographer for Singin' in the Rain (Drury Lane Oakbrook - Jeff Nominated); director/choreographer for Mary Poppins, Swing, Legally Blonde, and Sound of Music (LTOTS); choreographer for The Music Man (The Clarence Brown Theatre); associate director/choreographer for Rachel Rockwell on numerous shows including Ragtime, Sweeney Todd, Emperor's New Clothes (world premiere), The Sound of Music (Lincoln Center Library Archive), Xanadu, Shout and Mary Poppins.
Amber was the founding artistic director for FWD Theatre Project in Chicago where she worked creating one-night-only concerts of new musicals in development in site specific locations. She had the honor of working with Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil on producing a concert version of La Revolution Francaise at the historic Thalia Hall. She is a proud graduate of Northwestern University.
Laura Stratford (book) is a co-founder and the Executive Director of Underscore Theatre Company. "Numbers Nerds" marks her fifth world-premiere musical collaboration with Alex Higgin-Houser and David Kornfeld. With Higgin-Houser and Kornfeld, she toured Grind: The (coffee shop, comic book) Musical to four cities and rave reviews in the Midwest Fringe Tour in 2010. The writing team's first production including Brendan Siegfried, Liberal Arts: The Musical! premiered in Chicago April 2012, was lauded for "great dialogue and lyrics" (Chicago Theater Beat), and "a lot of talent on display in the writing" (Windy City Times).
Alex Higgin-Houser (lyrics) is the Artistic Director and founding ensemble member of Underscore Theatre Company, Alex has collaborated with ensemble members David Kornfeld, Brendan Siegfried, and Laura Stratford on the Midwest tour of Grind: the Coffee Shop, Comic Book Musical (co-author, director, 2010), Liberal Arts: The Musical! (co-author, director, 2008/2012), Spa Fire (co-author, AbbieFest 2012; "STUCK" new musical festival 2013), Prone: The Casting Couch Musical Comedy (co-author, director, 2013), as well as directing The Rocky Horror Show (2011/2012) and Borderlands. Alex is currently spearheading the second annual Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, an effort to highlight emerging musical theatre talent in Chicago, and writing a brand new musical about the events surrounding the Chicago Haymarket Affair. In his spare time, Alex is director of Group Sales at Victory Gardens Theatre.
David Kornfeld (music) received his BA in Composition from Carleton College and is currently pursuing his MFA in the Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. His musicals include Haymarket: The Anarchist's Songbook, Liberal Arts: The Musical!, Grounds: A Fresh-Brewed Musical, Prone: a Hardcore, Amateur Musical, and Numbers Nerds. He is a Co-Founder of Underscore Theatre Company in Chicago. Thanks to Sarah and the fam for all your love and support! davidkornfeld.com
Larry Little (Producer and Story) wrote the original story for NUMBERS NERDS, a tale that introduces a set of characters modeled on real-life people. And as these characters express their passion for numbers, they present a theme built on Larry's his second career as a Certified Public Accountant. Numbers Nerds is Larry's 100th production, extending his thirty-five year career as an actor, director, and producer. Larry is the lead producer of CPA Theatricals, producing theatre for under-served populations. Larry also publishes the widely read blog: Everything Musical Theatre. Larry is thrilled to be a part of NYMF 2017. cpatheatricals.org/
Dylan Marcaurele (additional music) is a NYC-based composer, orchestrator, and MD. Credits include... Copyist: Hamilton (Broadway and Chicago), 17 Again (dir. Adam Shankman), Scotland, PA (dir. Lonny Price), Tootsie (dir. Scott Ellis), Night Shift (dir. Kathleen Marshall). Orchestrator: Casino Evil (dir. Tony Parise), Order of he Golden Sphinx Gala (prod. Amanda Lipitz feat. Brian Stokes Mitchell). MD: A Dog Story (prod. Ken Davenport). He is a recent graduate of Harvard University. www.dylanmarcaurele.com
The New York Musical Festival nurtures the creation, production, and public presentation of stylistically, thematically, and culturally diverse new musicals to ensure the future vitality of musical theater. Now in its fourteenth year, the Festival is the premier musical theater event in the world. The preeminent site for launching new musicals and discovering new talent, the Festival provides an affordable platform for artists to mount professional productions that reach their peers, industry leaders, and musical theater fans. More than 90 Festival shows have gone on to productions on and Off-Broadway, in regional theaters in all 50 states, and in more than 24 countries worldwide. Festival alumni have received a wide array of awards including the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. In 2013, NYMF received a special Drama Desk Award in recognition of its work "creating and nurturing new musical theater, ensuring the future of this essential art form." NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. 2017 NYMF is sponsored by The City of New York Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, PRG, TheaterMania, and Clear Channel Outdoor, and is supported, in part, 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. The NYMF PASS is a great way to experience The New York Musical Festival. With a NYMF PASS, you can get into the theater before individual ticket holders. Passes also offer the exclusive ability to book tickets before they go on sale to the public. Individual tickets are now on sale! For more information, please visit: www.nymf.org
Meet the Cast
Danielle Davila (Mary Kate) - Credits include The Little Mermaid (replacement Arista, Ensemble, and Ariel Double) with The Paramount Theatre, In The Heights (swing, replacement Yolanda u/s Vanessa) with Porchlight Music Theatre; Rock-A-Hula and Lights! Camera! Music!with Norwegian Cruise Line; Wizard of Oz (Dorothy), Pinkalicious (Pinkalicious), Hairspray (Shelley), Swing!, The Addams Family, and Mary Poppins with Little Theatre on the Square; The Music Man (Zaneeta) with Western Playhouse; A Chorus Line (Bebe), Spamalot, and Seussical the Musical with Timberlake Playhouse. She holds a B.F.A. from Millikin University. www.danielledavila.com
Madison Kauffman (Barbie) - Credits: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Paramount Theatre), and Heathers the Musical (Kokandy Productions). Regional Credits: Guys & Dolls, The Fantasticks, Violet, The Drowsy Chaperone, Julius Caesar, Gypsy, and Into the Woods (Festival 56). BFA in Musical Theatre (Millikin University).
Jake Morrissy (Leroy) Credits include Disney's The Little Mermaid and Mamma Mia! (Paramount Theatre), Shrek!, How to Succeed..., Chicago, All Shook Up, and Sister Act (Little Theatre on the Square), Violet (Capital City Theatre), The Full Monty and Loving Repeating (Kokandy Productions), and Fiddler on the Roof (Tent Theatre). Jake obtained his BFA in Musical Theatre from Millikin University.
Maisie Rose (Melissa) holds a B.A. in Theatre from Northwestern University. Favorite NU credits include Sheila in Hair and Mary Flynn in Merrily We Roll Along. Chicago credits include Loving Repeating (Kokandy Productions) and Things to Ruin (Refuge Theatre Project). Workshops include The Legend of New York (Salzman/Cunningham) and La Revolution Francaise (Schönberg/Boublil and Mahler). maisiezrose.com
Sharon Sachs (Ms. McGery) Chicago credits: Les Miserables (Jeff Award nomination) Slaughterhouse Five (World Premiere) Romeo and Juliet, Thoroughly Modern Millie, 42nd Street, A Christmas Carol, The Music Man, A Girls Guide to Chaos, Grease, Misalliance, The Man Who Came To Dinner, Once Upon A Mattress, Nunsense, Winnie The Pooh. LA credits: The School for Scandal, Equal Unto The Angels (LA premiere). TV credits: "GRIMM," "Episodes," "2 Broke Girls," "Dexter," "Weeds," "Huff," "My Name Is Earl," "The Chronicle," "Kickin It." Film credits: "Home Alone 3," "Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer."
Tiffany Tatreau (Amber) New York credits: Ocean in Ride the Cyclone (MCC Theater). Chicago credits: Sophie in Mamma Mia!, Mary Robert in Sister Act, Anna in Spring Awakening (Marriott Theatre); Shelley in Bat Boy (Griffin Theatre); Ocean in Ride The Cyclone (Chicago Shakespeare, U.S. Premiere); and more. Tiffany is an alumna of the American Theatre Wing's SpringboardNYC and earned her BFA in Musical Theatre from the Chicago College of Performing Arts. She is represented by Stewart Talent. tiffanytatreau.com
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