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Porter, Stritch, Scott, Brown, Shaiman and More will Perform in Avenue Q Swings! on June 27th

By: May. 13, 2005
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Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who won a Best Original Score Tony last year for co-writing Avenue Q, will host Avenue Q Swings! at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on Monday, June 27th at 7:30pm. Billy Porter, Billy Stritch, Toxic Audio, Jason Robert Brown, Marc Shaiman and Sherie René Scott have been signed as some of the stars of the concert, with more to be announced shortly.

Two 50 year-old Steinway grand pianos at the Greenwich House Music School will be replaced with proceeds from the one-night-only performance, which will put Avenue Q songs through a number of new jazz, classical and other arrangements. Mary Ann McSweeney, who plays bass for Avenue Q and is also a composer/arranger, will provide musical direction for the show.

Lopez studied piano at the Greenwich House for 15 years, and even wrote much of Avenue Q's score with Marx at the school. The R-rated puppet musical would open on July 31st 2003 at the Golden Theatre to win three Tonys--the triple crown of Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book (Jeffy Whitty). John Tartaglia, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Rick Lyon, Ann Harada and Jennifer Barnhart were among the original cast members of the show.

Porter's Broadway credits include Miss Saigon, Five Guys Named Moe, Grease, Smokey Joe's Cafe, and the Actor's Benefit concerts of Dreamgirls and Hair; his CD Ghetto Superstar was recently released on Sh-K-Boom Records. Pianist-singer-composer Stritch has worked with Liza Minnelli as her producer and arranger; albums include an eponymous one, Jazz Live, Waters of March and In Your Dreams (on which he collaborated with Christine Ebersole). Toxic Audio's CDs include Toxic Audio, Chemistry and Word of Mouth. Brown is the composer-lyricist of Songs for a New World, Parade and The Last 5 Years; he is also an arranger, orchestrator and conductor. Shaiman wrote and arranged the music for Hairspray, and collaborated on its lyrics with Scott Wittman; he has also written songs for films. Scott is Tony nominated for her current role in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and has also starred in Grease, Rent, Aida and The Last 5 Years.

Tickets to Avenue Q Swings! range from $75 to $250, with the $250 tickets gaining the buyer access to a special post-show reception with the cast. Tickets are available through Ticket Central beginning June 1, 2005--call 212-279-4200. The Lucille Lortel Theatre is located at 121 Christopher Street.

For more information on the Greenwich House, click here.

For more i212-279-4200



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