The New York Musical Theatre Festival, Steven Cunningham with associate producer John Von Herget present the world premiere of JUST LIKE MAGIC Christopher T. Magician's Zany Magical Musical Extravaganza!!! with music by Ryan Mercy, lyrics by Christopher W. Barnes and book by Mr. Barnes and Cameron Cole and directed by Elizabeth Lucas, as a special event in the 2011 New York Musical Theatre Festival at TBG Theater (312 West 36th Street) in Manhattan, with performances tonight at 8:00pm; Saturday, Oct. 8 at 10:30pm and Thursday, Oct. 13 at 8:00pm. Associate producer for JUST LIKE MAGIC is John Von Herget.
Directed by
Elizabeth Lucas, JUST LIKE MAGIC features a cast that includes: Christopher T. Magician, Ryan Lipnicky (the Make-A-Wish Foundation pianist), Jojo the Dodo, Sammy the Safety Donut and The Anti-Chris.
Having performed magic shows at birthday parties throughout the New York City living room circuit, JUST LIKE MAGIC is the chance to see this talented performer live!
But this is no ordinary magic show...
Christopher T. Magician and his entourage have been hired to perform at a child's birthday party, but the show turns decidedly dark as Christopher suffers a complete mental breakdown in front of his young audience. Think "Blue's Clues" meets "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"! What begins as a fun magic show featuring toe-tapping songs, comedy, and puppetry ends with dead puppets and children scarred for life in this decidedly not-for-kids musical. (Oh and there's magic tricks. Super Awesome Magic Tricks!)
Additionally, in the style of The [title of show] show, the creative team behind JUST LIKE MAGIC have launched: OPERATION: SUTTON, a multi-part YouTube video campaign featuring Christopher T. Magician asking, begging, pleading, even bribing two time Tony Award winning Broadway star
Sutton Foster, to be his date to the NYMF opening night gala on September 26. Will Ms. Foster say yes? Will she even know the campaign is going on? Who knows....
JUST LIKE MAGIC marks the third collaboration between Christopher W. Barnes and Ryan Mercy, having written JUST LIKE MAGIC, GAGE: Part One, the up-coming DIRT ROADS and last year's NYMF reading MOST LIKELY TO DIE, previously. Additionally, Christopher W. Barnes is a graduate of both NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and the BMI Engel Lehman Musical Workshop. He also wrote the book and lyrics for GIRLS GONE WILD The Musical
Cameron Cole co-wrote the book of JUST LIKE MAGIC, and wrote the book for GAGE: Part One. He is currently finishing up writing a modern five-part play cycle entitled DEATH (And Straight Boys) which consist of the five plays Gaging Noel, Beasts of Suburbia, The Brotherhood of Manly Men, West of Hell, and Deconstructing Ben.
Elizabeth Lucas' credits include her rock movie musical, CLEAR BLUE TUESDAY, her slasher flick, RED HOOK, and her Sci-fi FADE TO WHITE. She's also made three shorts, including the multi-award-winning ISABELLA RICO, which appeared in 33 festivals worldwide and won Best Director and Special Achievement awards. A long-time stage director and a New York Musical Theatre Festival Founding Producer, Elizabeth has premiered a number of new musicals and directs regionally.
Steven Cunningham is thrilled to be working with Chris and Ryan on their show, and to be producing for the first time at NYMF! He previously produced Estro Encores at the 2010 Estrogenius Festival at Manhattan TheatreSource and associate produced JITNEY at Gallery Players.
Now in its eighth 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 ensuring their creators 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 2011 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group and TheaterMania.com. 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, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Theater League. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. 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. NYMF Memberships, which combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages and perks like early seating, and tickets to individual events are currently available for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or
www.nymf.org.
Performances of of JUST LIKE MAGIC will be Friday, Oct. 7 at 8:00pm; Saturday, Oct. 8 at 10:30pm and Thursday, Oct. 13 at 8:00pm at TBG Theater (312 West 36th Street) in Manhattan.
For more information and to purchase tickets, go to
www.nymf.org/justlikemagic.
