SILENCE! THE MUSICAL Begins New Winter Schedule

SILENCE! The Musical, the unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, with book by Hunter Bell, music & lyrics by Jon and Al Kaplan, and direction & choreography by Christopher Gattelli, is set to begin a new winter playing schedule beginning tonight at The 9th Space Theatre at Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue (at 9th St.) SILENCE! The Musical opened July 9, 2011 to unanimous rave reviews, led by David Cote of Time Out and New York 1 News who said, “Pungent, punchy and raunchy, with a sheepish chorus to boot, the consummately silly SILENCE! will leave you stuffed and wanting mutton more.” The show immediately became a sold-out smash hit and was just selected by Time Magazine as one of the year’s Top 10 Plays and Musicals along with such lofty company as The Book of Mormon and War Horse.

Originally announced as an eight-week limited engagement, the show’s producers extended the run four times to accommodate the overwhelming demand for tickets. SILENCE! The Musical recently celebrated its 100th New York performance.

The original cast recording of SILENCE! The Musical, produced by Michael Croiter and Rich Affannato, has been released by Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records online at iTunes, Amazon.com for digital download, and is available at www.sh-k-boom.com. Finally, musical comedy fans outside of New York are now able to enjoy the critically acclaimed score, including such song selections as “If I Could Smell Her C---” and “Put the F--king Lotion in the Basket.”

In the Academy Award-winning film The Silence of the Lambs, rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling matches wits with the brilliant but insane cannibal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to catch the serial killer known only as Buffalo Bill. Clarice must face her own demons and race the clock to unlock Lecter’s clues before another innocent girl is killed and skinned by Bill. It’s a hair-raising thriller that’s kept countless millions on The Edge of their seats and permeated the pop lexicon with delightfully creepy quotes like “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti” and of course “It places the lotion in the basket.” And now, at last, this delicate symphony of suspense has been turned on its ear and retold in the only way it can be – as a musical. A singing chorus of floppy eared lambs narrates the action; Buffalo Bill gleefully dances a hoedown while kidnapping hapless Catherine Martin; and even Dr. Lecter, scary as ever, sings about the life he’d like to lead someday outside the prison walls.

David Garrison and Jenn Harris head the cast of SILENCE! The Musical, which also features Callan Bergmann, Stephen Bienskie, Harry Bouvy, Ashlee Dupré, Annie Funke, Deidre Goodwin, Howard Kaye, and Topher Nuccio. Music Supervisor is Mark Hartman, with orchestrations by Brian J. Nash.

Created by Jon and Al Kaplan in 2002, SILENCE! began as a collection of songs on the internet which immediately attracted a staggering number of fans. The Kaplans' subsequent screenplay SILENCE! The Musical was adapted by Hunter Bell into a live stage show, which also featured newly composed songs by the brothers. Fueled by a rabid cult following, SILENCE! shattered every box office record at the 2005 FringeNYC Festival, winning the award for Best Musical. SILENCE! The Musical met with further success in London where it garnered ecstatic reviews at the Above The Stag Theatre.

David Garrison starred as Steve Rhoades on the (also wildly irreverent) classic TV series Married With Children. His many New York stage credits include Wicked, Titanic, Torch Song Trilogy, The Pirates of Penzance, Hollywood/Ukraine, Geniuses, I Do! I Do!, and Snoopy. Jenn Harris received a Lucille Lortel Award for her performance in Modern Orthodox. Her other Off-Broadway credits include New Jerusalem, The Understudy and Swan!!! and she is a frequent guest star at Joe’s Pub: Our Hit Parade.

Bookwriter Hunter Bell co-wrote and starred in the Broadway musical [title of show] as well as Now. Here. This. at the Vineyard. Hunter is a co-creator of the web series the [title of show] show, and he recently co-created and wrote a television pilot which has been sold to ABC. Composer/lyricists Jon and Al Kaplan composed the music for two seasons of the animated series Code Monkeys and scored the Syfy Channel film Dinocroc vs. Supergator. They have also written comedy for the 2009 MTV Movie Awards and the 2011 Academy Awards. The Kaplan brothers recently launched a series of viral internet musicals led by their Arnold Schwarzenegger cycle, featuring Conan the Barbarian, Predator, Commando, and more. Director/choreographer Christopher Gattelli choreographed the hit Broadway revival of South Pacific, Godspell, Sunday in the Park With George, 13, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, The Ritz, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. West End: South Pacific, Sunday in the Park With George. Off-Broadway: Altar Boyz, Bat Boy: The Musical and tick, tick… BOOM!

Set design for SILENCE! The Musical is by three-time Tony winner Scott Pask, with costume design by David Kaley, lighting design by Jeff Croiter, and sound design by Carl Casella.

SILENCE! The Musical is produced Off-Broadway by Theater Mogul. The new winter playing schedule will be Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 8 PM; Friday and Saturday at 7:30 PM; and Sunday at 5 PM (six performances weekly). The running time is 89 minutes with no intermission. Tickets are $25 - $79 and are available by calling 212-352-3101 or through www.SilenceTheMusical.com.