Nikki M. James & More Lead LCT3's New Musical PRELUDES, Opening Tonight

Eisa Davis, Gabriel Ebert, Nikki M. James, Joseph Keckler, Chris Sarandon, and Or Matias, on piano, lead LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater production of PRELUDES, a new musical by Dave Malloy, inspired by the music of Sergei Rachmaninov, developed with and directed by Rachel Chavkin. PRELUDES, a world premiere and the first musical to be produced by LCT3 in the Claire Tow Theater, began performances on May 23 and opens tonight, June 15, running through Sunday, July 19 at the Claire Tow Theater (150 West 65th Street).

From the creators of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, PRELUDES is a musical fantasia set in the hypnotized mind of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov. After the disastrous premiere of his first symphony, the young Rachmaninov (to be played by Gabriel Ebert) suffers from writer's block. He begins daily sessions with a therapeutic hypnotist (to be played by Eisa Davis), in an effort to overcome depression and return to composing.

PRELUDES was commissioned by LCT3 with a grant from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

Paige Evans is Artistic Director/LCT3.

The production will have sets by Mimi Lien, costumes by Paloma Young, lights by Bradley King, sound by Matt Hubbs, musical direction by Or Matias, and casting by Caparelliotis Casting/Henry Russell Bergstein.

DAVE MALLOY is the winner of an OBIE Award, a Richard Rodgers Award, and a Jonathan Larson Grant. He is currently starring in his new musical Ghost Quartet at the The McKittrick Hotel. His other recent shows include Three Pianos, Beowulf - A Thousand Years of Baggage, All Hands, Beardo, The Sewers, Sandwich, Clown Bible, (The 99-cent) Miss Saigon, and Black Wizard/Blue Wizard at the Incubator Arts Project with co-creator/performer Eliza Bent.

RACHEL CHAVKIN is an OBIE Award-winning director and Artistic Director of the Brooklyn-based ensemble The TEAM. She is currently represented by Small Mouth Sounds at Ars Nova. Her past credits include The TEAM's Mission Drift (co-produced by PS 122, Lisbon's Culturgest, and London's Almeida Theatre), with music by Heather Christian; Meg Miroshnik's The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls, Lauren Yee's The Hatmaker's Wife, James Monaco's Reception, James Monaco and Jerome Ellis' Aaron/Marie, Rick Burkhardt, Alec Duffy and Dave Malloy's Three Pianos, and Taylor Mac's The Lily's Revenge (Act II).

The LCT3 program is supported by generous grants from The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Ford Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Time Warner Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, The Educational Foundation of America, and the J & AR Foundation.

EISA DAVIS LCT3: Luck of the Irish. Broadway: Passing Strange. New York Theatre: The Cradle Will Rock (Encores!); The Call, This (Playwrights Horizons); Angela's Mixtape (also playwright/New Georges); The Violet Hour (MTC); June and Jean in Concert (La MaMa E.T.C.); Jack (HERE Arts Center). Regional: La Jolla Playhouse, Center Theatre Group, Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Alliance Theatre, Old Globe, Geva Theatre. Film includes The Volunteer, The Stare, In the Family, Welcome to the Rileys, Passing Strange, Robot Stories, Pretty Bird, The Architect, Confess, Brass Tacks, Mourning Glory. TV: "The Good Wife," "The Blacklist," "Hart of Dixie," "Smash," "Mercy," "Damages," "The Wire," "Soul Food," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU," "Cosby," "Now & Then."

GABRIEL EBERT LCT (LCT3 and Newhouse): 4000 Miles (Obie Award). Broadway: Casa Valentina, Matilda The Musical (Tony Award), Brief Encounter, Red. Off-Broadway: Suicide Incorporated (Roundabout), The Sacrifices (SPF). London: The Heart of Robin Hood (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre). Regional: Prometheus Bound (ART); Every Good Boy Deserves Favor; Ah, Wilderness!, Much Ado About Nothing (Chautauqua Theater Company). Film: Jane Wants a Boyfriend. TV: "Made in Jersey" (CBS). Training: Juilliard (Group 38).

NIKKI M. JAMES LCT: Bernarda Alba. Broadway: Les Miserables (2014), Book of Mormon (Tony Award; Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations), All Shook Up, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Other Theater: Fetch Clay, Make Man (NYTW); Caesar and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet (Stratford); Walmartopia (Minetta Lane); The Wiz (Craig Noel Award, La Jolla Playhouse); House of Flowers (Encores!); All Shook Up, Babes in Arms (Goodspeed); The Gingerbread House (Playwrights Horizons). Film: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, Lucky Stiff, Almost Christmas, Caesar and Cleopatra, Pizza, The Velocity of Gray. TV: "Law & Order: SVU," "30 Rock," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "The Jury," "Third Watch."

JOSEPH KECKLER Performances include I am an Opera (commissioned by Dixon Place), WNYC Soundcheck, BBC America's The Nerdist, SXSW, Joe's Pub, BAM, Merkin Hall, The New Museum. Awards: Franklin Furnace Grant, Fellowship in Interdisciplinary Work from New York Foundation for the Arts, multiple residencies at MacDowell and Yaddo.

CHRIS SARANDON LCT: The Light in the Piazza. Broadway: Through the Glass Darkly, Cyrano De Bergerac, Nick and Nora, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Rothschilds, Censored Scenes from Hong Kong. Off-Broadway: The Voice of the Turtle, Marco Polo Sings a Solo, The Devil's Disciple, The Woods. Film: I Smile Back, Safe, Fright Night (2011), Loggerheads, My Sassy Girl, Let The Devil Wear Black, Roads End, Little Men, American Perfekt, Just Cause, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Goddess, Fright Night (1985), The Princess Bride, Flight 007, Slaves of New York, Forced March SGE, Child's Play, Collision Course, Protocol, Osterman Weekend, Cuba MGM, The Sentinel, Lipstick, Dog Day Afternoon (Academy Award nomination). TV: "God in America," "The Good Wife," "Psych," "The Unusuals," "Law & Order: SVU," "Law & Order," "Skin," "The Court," "ER," "Judging Amy," "The Wild Thornberries" (animated), "Stark Raving Mad," "Felicity," "Chicago Hope," "The Underworld," "Perversions of Science."

Or Matias Theater: Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (music director and conductor); Michael John LaChiusa's First Daughter Suite (music director/upcoming, Public); Rules of Play (composer/workshop, dir. Jonathan Bernstein). A composer and pianist, currently working on a new musical adaptation of The Wave, he has recently worked with the Trans Siberian Orchestra, Amadeus Leopold, Rachael Yamagata, and Andrew Nemr. Regularly performs at the Highline Ballroom, Le Poisson Rouge, Gramercy Theatre, Joe's Pub, Rockwood Music Hall. International Tours include New Zealand, Australia (Melbourne Festival), Germany, Kosovo. Education: Masters, NYU; attended Juilliard.

Photo Credit: Kyle Froman