Rhinebeck Writers Retreat Presents Reading Of THE PROXY MARRIAGE By Adam Gwon And Michele Lowe

Rhinebeck Writers Retreat is presenting a private reading of the new musical, THE PROXY MARRIAGE, book and lyrics by Michele Lowe and music and lyrics by Adam Gwon, on May 7 in New York City, which includes actors Jason Tam (Jesus Christ Superstar Live on NBC, Broadway: A Chorus Line, If/Then), Whitney Bashor (The Bridges of Madison County), Anika Larsen (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Avenue Q), and Daniel Jenkins (Mary Poppins, Billy Elliot, Big River). The reading is directed by Lonny Price (Sunset Boulevard starring Glenn Close) and music directed by Vadim Feichtner (Falsettos Broadway revival).

THE PROXY MARRIAGE was selected for Rhinebeck Writers Retreat's Triple R program, which gives musical theatre writers 2 readings and a residency to do extensive development in a compressed time frame. Adam and Michele participated in Rhinebeck's weeklong residency in the Hudson Valley in 2016 and were selected for this program to do more intensive development on their musical. Triple R is fully funded by Rhinebeck Writers Retreat and made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and lead support from Cathy Cabrera and Rick Ungar, Elizabeth and William Mills, and Steve Reynolds.

Created in 2011 by Founding Executive Director Kathy Evans, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat provides a sanctuary for writers to develop their new musicals in the heart of the Hudson Valley. Past Rhinebeck Writers include Kirsten Childs, Joe Iconis, Itamar Moses, Duncan Sheik, Kyle Jarrow, Nathan Tysen, Chris Miller, David Hein and Irene Sankoff, and Stew and Heidi Rodewald. Musicals developed in Rhinebeck have been seen at The Public Theater, Barrington Stage, Second Stage Theatre, The Old Globe, and Playwrights Horizons. All costs are covered by contributions, including The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund, The Frederick Loewe Foundation, and The Noël Coward Foundation. We thank our major individual supporters: Liz Armstrong, Rick Farrar and Jeff Zadroga, Amy and Roger Faxon, Duke and Pam Reyes, Peter Risafi and Steven Wheeler, Jacqui and Lew Rose, and Alec Stais and Elissa Burke. www.rhinebeckwriters.org

Soldiers serving overseas know that if they want to marry their stateside sweethearts they can do it in Montana. It's the only state where neither the actual bride nor the actual groom has to be present--and the marriage is legal! The Proxy Marriage follows two Montana high school seniors who act as stand-ins for these weddings: William is an aspiring composer and Bridey is the star of their high school musicals who yearns for a career on the New York stage. When senior year is done, they leave Montana to pursue their separate dreams. The story traces their increasingly complicated relationship over the next 10 years as life pulls them apart and then together again one week every August to "marry" each other. As the world changes, so do William and Bridey's hopes and dreams. Finally, they realize that perhaps what they were longing for all along was each other.

Adam Gwon is a composer and lyricist whose musicals include: Off-Broadway: Ordinary Days (Roundabout Theatre), Old Jews Telling Jokes (Westside Theatre); Regional: String (Village Theatre), Cake Off (Signature Theatre, Helen Hayes Award nomination; Bucks County Playhouse), Cloudlands (South Coast Repertory), The Boy Detective Fails (Signature Theatre), Bernice Bobs Her Hair (Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma); West End: Ordinary Days (Trafalgar Studios). Adam's songs have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and more, by such luminaries as Audra McDonald, Kelli O'Hara, and Brian d'Arcy James. Honors include the Kleban Award, Fred Ebb Award, Richard Rodgers Award, Frederick Loewe Award, Second Stage Theatre's Donna Perret Rosen Award, Weston Playhouse New Musical Award, ASCAP Harold Adamson Award, and the MAC John Wallowitch Award.

Michele Lowe is a playwright, lyricist, and librettist. Current projects: The Greatest developed while she was Artist in Residence at the 2017 Sundance Theatre Lab and a commission for Transport Group's 20th Century Project with composer Zoe Sarnak. Broadway: The Smell of the Kill; Off Broadway: String of Pearls (Outer Critics nom for best play, Primary Stages), A Thousand Words Come to Mind with composer Scott Davenport Richards (Joe's Pub); Regional: Inana (Francesca Primus Prize, Susan Blackburn finalist, Denver Centre), Victoria Musica (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), Map of Heaven (Denver Centre), Mezzulah 1946 (City Theatre). Samuel French, Dramatic Publishing, and Smith and Kraus publish her work. Michele lives in New York and works with writers, clergy, and political candidates across the country. www.michelelowe.net

Lonny Price directed Glenn Close in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard on Broadway and at the English National Opera, Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd starring Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel at the ENO and Lincoln Center, and Carousel, also at the ENO. His Broadway credits include Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill starring Audra McDonald (also on the West End and for HBO), 110 in the Shade, 'Master Harold' ... and the Boys, Sally Marr and Her Escorts (co-written with Joan Rivers and Erin Sanders), Urban Cowboy, A Class Act (Tony nomination, Best Book, with Linda Kline). His work with the NY Philharmonic includes Company, Sondheim: The Birthday Concert (Emmy Award), and Passion. He directed television captures of his Sweeney Todd (Emmy Award), Company, Camelot, and Candide. His documentary, Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened is currently streaming on Netflix.

Vadim Feichtner (Musical Director) BROADWAY: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Falsettos. OFF-BROADWAY: Fly By Night, A New Brain (Encores), Little Miss Sunshine, Nobody Loves You, The Other Josh Cohen, Elegies: A Song Cycle, The Memory Show, Infinite Joy, The Burnt Part Boys, Ordinary Days, Long Story Short, I Sing!. Writing Credits include: Surviving the Avalanche (Barrington Stage), Lincoln Center Songbook's Songs of Innocence and Experience and incidental music for NY Public Theater's As You Like It (both written with William Finn). TV: Last Week Tonight, Live From Lincoln Center. DICTIONARY: Webster's Children (holding a tuba)