'Sophia's Fall' Announces Band Members for NYMF Premiere

SOPHIA'S FALL, a musical by Benjamin Birney and Rob Seitelman, will perform at The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) as part of their new Dance Series. Jason Summers (Growing Up 70’s) will choreograph and direct. Performances will begin on Thursday, September 18th, continuing through Saturday, September 20th.

The band for SOPHIA'S FALL is made up of:

Mary Ann Ivan (Musical Director, Arranger, keyboards) has worked on numerous Broadway shows, including Tommy, The King and I , Jekyll & Hyde and toured with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, My Fair Lady. She is currently with Jersey Boys.  As a composer, she has written over 600 songs, orchestral pieces, ensemble works, 4 Film credits, and 11 musicals.

Paul Saenz (guitar) is a founding member of the band Jak Tweed and spent the early, mid, and late nineties playing everywhere throughout the NYC Metro area as well as many East Coast colleges. Currently, he is fronting the band Six Ft Sissy; the group just released their debut CD in April ; in May, the band signed an agreement with DLV Famous Artist Music to place the CD in Film & TV and they are currently #4 on the IndieMusic.com chart.

Motohito Fukushima (bass) has recorded and performed with a variety of artists, including Interoceanico, Los Changos, Labalteu band, Vladimir Cetkar, Marta Gomez, Dave Samuels, Hiromi, Hal Crook, Donny McCasalin, Ari Hoenig, Eddie Henderson, Mike Stern and Dave Weckl. He has  performed at such venues as the Lower Roxbury Jazz Festival (Boston), Globalquerque (New Mexico), Kansai International Jazz Festival (Osaka, Japan), Sziget Festival (Budapest, Hungary), Flower Festival( Deburecen, Hungary) and The Blue Note in New York.

Sam Wiley (drums) has performed with The Big Apple Circus and Ringling Brothers. Sonny Paladino (Piano / Assistant Musical Director) recently served as the Music Supervisor for Disney's High School Musical European tour; Broadway credits include Grease, Mama Mia, and the first National Tours of Disney's High School Musical and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Five tracks featuring these musicians are now available for download at www.sophiasfall.com. These songs are only a fraction of the 23 rock tunes that will be heard when SOPHIA'S FALL plays at 37 Arts from September 18th – 20th.

SOPHIA'S FALL is an intense musical journey chronicling the final acts of creation through the eyes of Sophia, the mother angel who saved Adam and Eve from Lucifer and his fallen demons.  An epic love story, SOPHIA'S FALL is about the triumph of love over justice and the battle that rages inside each of us.  A four-piece rock band and fluid, modern dance choreography round out a dark, tuneful score.  SOPHIA'S FALL is an official selection of the 2008 New York Musical Theatre Festival.
About The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF)

Hailed as "the Sundance of Musical Theatre," The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) exists to revitalize one of America’s greatest art forms by discovering, supporting and promoting new musical theater artists, producers, and projects, and by introducing a diverse audience to the vibrancy of contemporary musical theater. Since its inception in 2004, the three-week annual festival has premiered more than 130 new musicals – many of which have gone on to award-winning productions in New York, in regional theaters and on tour in 38 states, and nine countries worldwide.  NYMF 2004 hit Altar Boyz has played well over 1,000 performances off-Broadway and is now in its fourth year at New World Stages; fellow NYMF alum [title of show] recently began performances at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway.

Widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery, NYMF is the flagship program of The National Music Theater Network, a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization, and is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com and TheaterMania.com, and is supported by amNewYork, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, King Displays, Panasonic Astrovision, and TheMENEvent. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

Festival memberships are on sale now and can be purchased online at www.nymf.org or by calling (212) 352-3101; single tickets go on sale on September 1. For more information, visit www.nymf.org.

For tickets and schedule please visit www.nymf.org