Schimmel Center At Pace University Presents BABY, DREAM YOUR DREAM

Schimmel Center at Pace University concludes its 2018-19 Cabaret Series with an evening of standards and musical theater selections composed by women titled Baby, Dream Your Dream: The Great Women Songwriters on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at 7:30pm. Tickets start at $29 and can be purchased at SchimmelCenter.org, by phone at 212-346-1715, or by visiting the Schimmel Center Box Office at 3 Spruce Street, Manhattan. Box office hours are Tuesday-Saturday, Noon-5pm, and then beginning three hours prior to each performance, through intermission.

The concert's title comes from a song with lyrics by Dorothy Fields from the Tony Award-winning show Sweet Charity. Other songwriters who will be saluted include Mary Rodgers (Once Upon a Mattress, Working), Betty Comden (On the Town, Peter Pan, Bells are Ringing), Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Violet), Lynn Ahrens (Once on This Island, Ragtime, Seussical), Marilyn Bergman ("The Way We Were," Ballroom), Carolyn Leigh ("Witchcraft," "Young at Heart"), Billie Holiday, Carole King, Ann Ronnell, and Dory Previn. Audiences will recognize such classics as "The Party's Over," "I've Got Your Number," "God Bless the Child," and "The Best is Yet to Come."

""There are so many really famous songs and shows written by women, and nobody knows a women wrote them," said Deborah Grace Winer, creator and writer of the show. " Every contemporary woman songwriter stands on the shoulders of these pioneers-in-heels. And since we're kicking off the centennial of a woman's right to vote-there's no better time to celebrate them."

The Schimmel Center performance will be hosted by Ms. Winer and feature a quartet of Broadway divas, including Jenn Gambatese (School of Rock, Tarzan, All Shook Up), Kenita Miller (Once On This Island, The Color Purple), Linda Purl (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,TV's The Office ), and Margo Seibert (Rocky, In Transit). The band consists of John Oddo (music direction, arrangements, piano), Aaron Heick (reeds), Jay Leonhart (bass and vocals), and James Saporito (percussion). The production is directed by Mark Waldrop.

Deborah Grace Winer (Creator, Writer, Host) is a leading expert on the classic American Songbook. Her current collaborations include Feinstein's/54 Below, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, Schimmel Center/Pace University. She recently completed a nine season run as Artistic Director of the 92Y's Lyrics & Lyricists concert series, presiding over 50 original shows and steering the venerable series back to audience and critical acclaim. Author and dramatist, her four books include On the Sunny Side of the Street: The Life and Lyrics of Dorothy Fields, recently reissued on Amazon, and The Night and the Music: Rosemary Clooney, Barbara Cook and Julie Wilson Inside the World of Cabaret. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, and her plays, off-Broadway and regionally. www.deborahgracewiner.com

Jenn Gambatese (Vocalist) most recently starred as Principal Rosalie Mullins in School of Rock on Broadway. She also originated the Broadway roles of Jane in Disney's Tarzan, Natalie in All Shook Up (Outer Critics Circle nomination), and Marie in Is He Dead, not to mention appearing in Hairspray, A Year with Frog and Toad, and Footloose. She traveled across America by bubble as Glinda in Wicked, and captured hearts in Chicago as both Maria in The Sound of Music and Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel for The Lyric Opera. She also played Carrie for Goodspeed Musicals, earning her second Connecticut Critics Circle Award. The first came from her portrayal of Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun, also at Goodspeed. Favorite Off-Broadway shows include Fiorello! and Stairway to Paradise for City Center's Encores!, and The School for Lies with Classic Stage Company. She is married to Curtis Cregan and they have two wonderful daughters.

Kenita Miller (Vocalist) most recently was seen in Broadway's Once On This Island (Drama Desk nomination). Other Broadway credits include The Color Purple and Xanadu. For Encores! at NY City Center, Kenita has appeared in The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Merrily We Roll Along, and The Wild Party. She received a Drama Desk nomination and Audelco Award for her Langston In Harlem, a Drama Desk Award for Working (Drama Desk Award), and the 2014 Barrymore Award as Outstanding Featured Actress for Parade. Kenita's Film and TV credits include "Sesame Street," "Hostages," "Blacklist." Follow her on Twitter! @miller_kenita.

Linda Purl (Vocalist) -- Currently: The High Life (Hulu). Recent recurring TV roles: Oath with Sean Bean; Homeland, True Blood, The Office, Designated Survivor. She has starred in over 45 made-for-TV movies, and is especially known for Charlene Matlock on Matlock and Ashley Pfister, Fonzie's fiancée, on Happy Days. Broadway: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; Getting and Spending. Solo albums include Midnight Caravan and Up Jumped Spring. Past concert venues include Catalina Jazz Club, 54 Below, Naples Philharmonic, Crazy Coqs (London), Club Raye (Paris) and Satin Doll (Tokyo). www.lindapurl.com

Margo Seibert (Vocalist) originated the leading roles of "Adrian" in the Broadway production of Rocky (Drama League nomination), and of "Jane" in the new Broadway musical In Transit. Off-Broadway: Tamar Of The River(2014 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical), The Thanksgiving Play at Playwright's Horizons (dir. by Moritz von Stuelpnagel), The Undeniable Sound Of Right Now at WP Theatre & Rattlestick. Regional (select credits): Doll's House Part 2, Ever After, The Last Five Years, The Boy Detective Fails, Candide. TV: "Instinct", "The Good Cop", "Elementary", "Boardwalk Empire". Margo recently launched her first solo album, 77th Street, which can be found at www.margoseibert.com. @margo_seibert

John Oddo (Music Direction, Arrangements & Piano) was music director, pianist and arranger for Rosemary Clooney for almost 20 years, including for 20 of her recordings and countless televised performances. He was pianist for the recent NBC Tony Bennett 90th Birthday special, and as an arranger collaborates frequently with the Boston Pops. He has been music director/arranger/pianist for such artists as Tony Danza, Christine Ebersole, James Naughton, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, Barbara Cook and is a longtime collaborator of Michael Feinstein's. Various PBS specials as music director/arranger/conductor include Feinstein's recent shows from the Rainbow Room.

Aaron Heick (Reeds) wasa member of the Late Show with David Letterman orchestra. He is currently a member of K.J. Denhert's band and has been a longtime member of Adam Holsman's Brave New World. Aaron was featured as a soloist with Sting, both live at Carnegie Hall and on the album Symphonicities, Among other career highlights, Aaron toured and recorded with Chaka Kahn through the 1990s and played on Barbra Streisand's 2006 US and '07 European tours. He has played and recorded with dozens of artists, including Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Bette Midler and Michael Feinstein. aaronheick.com

Jay Leonhart (Bass Player and Vocalist)attended the Peabody Conservatory as a child and became a jazz musician at the Berklee College of Music. Among his many associations have been Barbara Carroll, Marian McPartland, Phil Woods, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz and Mike Renzi. He has been named most valuable bassist in the recording industry three times by the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences. In the 1980s, Jay became known as a lyricist when he began leading his own recording sessions and his songs started to be recorded by other singers. He has recorded 15 albums for DMP, Sunnyside, Nesak and DRG, and his one-man show of his own songs is titled The Bass Lesson. jayleonhart.com

James Saporito (Percussion) has played on 60+ major motion picture soundtracks and 150+ records with artists such as Marilyn Horne, Gladys Knight, Billy Joel, Barbara Cook, Tony Bennett and Celine Dion. His extensive Broadway resume includes the original La Cage aux Folles, Sunset Boulevard, Jekyll & Hyde, Little Women and The Wedding Singer. James is principal percussion of The New York Pops Orchestra and associate principal of The New York City Ballet Orchestra. He is a member of the Westchester Philharmonic and the American Composers Orchestra, and often performs with the New York Philharmonic. Mr. Saporito lives in NJ with his wife, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Melinda Wagner.

Mark Waldrop (Stage Director) is director, book writer and lyricist of the legendary Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly. He directed and provided special material for Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends, which earned a Tony award nomination. He directed and wrote material for Bette Midler on her Divine Miss Millennium tour, and has directed cabaret and concert performances for Faith Prince, Sutton Foster and Brooke Shields, among many others. His numerous New York and regional credits include Radio City Music Hall and NEWSical the Musical.

Julie Crosby (Producer & General Manager) is a partner at Cromono International, which produces and manages artists and their work through offices in New York, Paris and Taipei. Current projects include Matt Williams' Actually We're F**ked, Adam Seidel's Original Sound, Martha Clarke's God's Fool, the French production of Gone With the Wind in China, Ballet Jazz Montreal's Dance Me, Deborah Grace Winer's Classic American Songbook programs, Heirloom (now streaming on Vimeo with over 5 million views), and filmmaker Jesse Rosen's The Yogi. www.cromono.com