Ron Holgate, Kevin Early, Laila Robins and More Set for Amas' CASANOVA Reading, 2/6

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff/Artistic Producer) will present three staged readings of "Casanova", a new musical with music by Martin Sylvestri, book and lyrics by Joel Higgins, directed by Gabriel Barre. The readings will take place on Wednesday, February 6th at 6:00pm, and Thursday, February 7th at 3:00pm and 7:00pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street.

"Casanova" tells the epic story of one of the greatest adventurers, sensualists, and womanizers of European history. Giacomo Girolamo Casanova's life is a quest for love and acceptance throughout the power and pleasure centers of the 18th Century, a sweeping canvas for a huge narrative with a bold orchestral score to match.

"Casanova is a larger than life character who lived during an extraordinary time in European history," says Amas Artistic Producer Donna Trinkoff. "Joel and Marty know how to write a mesmerizing story full of action and grand passion. It makes for great theatre".

Martin Silvestri is best known to theatre audiences as the composer of the scores for "The Fields of Ambrosia" and "Johnny Guitar", which received four Drama Desk nominations and won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical in 2004. He also collaborated with Tim Rice and Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber on the original Tony nominated production of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, and is a Grammy-nominated producer and arranger.

Joel Higgins' award-winning work spans both theatre and television, both as writer and actor. In addition to the kudos he received as lyricist for Johnny Guitar and for his book and lyrics for Fields of Ambrosia, his many well-received Broadway appearances include Oklahoma and Shenandoah, for which he received the Theatre World Award. He also starred in the long-running TV hit, Silver Spoons, in which he played Ricky Schroeder's father. An accomplished songwriter, he has written television theme songs and national commercial jingles, as well as material for recording artists and cabaret revues.

Silvestri and Higgins are also composer and lyricist, respectively, of The Countess of Storyville, an epic musical of life in the historic demi-monde of turn-of-the century New Orleans, which with book by R. M. Cohen received an Amas Lab Reading last season.

Gabriel Barre's directing career is international in scope, with world premieres of the new musical "Tears of Heaven" recently in Seoul, Korea, the current long-running hit of Frank Wildhorne's "Carmen" in Prague, Czech Republic, and the upcoming new musical "The Monkey King" in Beijing, China. In New York, among his many original Off-Broadway credits is "The Wild Party" by Andrew Lippa at the Manhattan Theatre Club, which was nominated for numerous awards, including five Outer Critics Circle Awards and 13 Drama Desk Awards, both including Best Direction of a Musical and for which he won the Calloway Award for Best Direction.

The veteran cast of twenty four is led by Tony-winning actor Ron Holgate ("1776", "The Grand Tour", "Lend Me A Tenor"), Kevin Early ("Tale of Two Cities", "Thoroughly Modern Millie", "Death Takes a Holiday", Drama Desk nomination), and Laila Robins ("Heartbreak House", "Frozen", "The Real Thing".). Also featured are Lauren Blackman, Peter Cormican ("Follies"), Cicily Daniels ("The Little Mermaid" "American Boardwalk"), Dan Debenport, Michael Dexter ("Wanda's World"), David Edwards ("By Jeeves"), Leah Edwards ("Master Class"), Brittany Lee Hamilton ("The Countess of Storyville"), Christine LaDuca ("The Countess of Storyville"), Rita Markova, Kevin P. McGlynn ("Forbidden Broadway"), Doreen Montalvo ("In The Heights", "Giant"), Kenny Morris (Hairspray", "Les Miserables"), Jared Nepute, Camille Trzciski, Chris Vettel ("Annie", "Sunset Boulevard" National Tours, "Wanda's World") and Soara-Joye Ross ("Les Miserables").

The presentations are part of the ongoing Amas Musical Theatre Lab, a development series for writers, lyricists and composers to mount public readings of their new musicals. The Amas Musical Theatre Lab is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and by the Actors' Equity Association Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the BMI Foundation, the Barbara Bell Cummings Foundation, the Dramatists Guild, the Lucille Lortel Foundation, the Frederick S. Loewe Foundation, the Shubert Foundation, and through the generous support of many individuals.