Stephanie J. Block & Jason Alexander to Star in THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG for Reprise

Stephanie J. Block, Broadway star of "9 to 5: The Musical," "Wicked," "The Pirate Queen," and "The Boy From Oz," will star opposite Jason Alexander, Artistic Director of Reprise Theatre Company, in "They're Playing Our Song," the opening production of the company's 2010-2011 season, playing September 28 to October 10 (press opening September 29) at UCLA's Freud Playhouse.  
 
The musical - with book by Neil Simon, music by Marvin Hamlisch, and lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager - will feature a new song written for this production by Hamlisch and Sager.  Two other Hamlisch-Sager songs will be added - "One Hello," which was the theme of the film of Neil Simon's "I Ought to be in Pictures and is new to "They're Playing Our Song," and "If You Remember Me," from the film "The Champ," which was used in the national tour of "Song." All of these songs will be orchestrated by Larry Blank, the original music director of the show.
 
"They're Playing Our Song" will be directed by Lonny Price, who was a Tony nominee for his direction of "A Class Act" and won an Emmy Award for his direction of the PBS televised New York Philharmonic staging of "Sweeney Todd" starring Patti LuPone and George Hearn.  He directed the Audra McDonald "110 in the Shade" on Broadway, and staged "Camelot" and "Candide" for the New York Philharmonic. "Candide" starred Ms. LuPone and Kristin Chenoweth, and was also broadcast on PBS. The production will be choreographed by Joshua Rhodes, with musical direction by Bruce Kiesling.
 
Single tickets are available for "They're Playing Our Song" at www.reprise.org or through the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310/825-2101.  Christine Bernardi is Managing Director and Gilles Chiasson is Producing Director of Reprise Theatre Company. 
 
Stephanie J. Block has established herself as one of Broadway's most relevant and versatile leading ladies. She recently starred in "9 to 5: The Musical" as Judy Bernly earning her a Drama Desk nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Leading up to "9 to 5," Stephanie found herself busy onstage as well as in the recording studio, starring as Elphaba in the Broadway Company of "Wicked" and recording her debut solo album, "This Place I Know."
 
She also starred in the First National Touring Company of "Wicked" as Elphaba, which introduced the show to Los Angeles at the Pantages Theatre in 2005, and for which she won the prestigious Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actress and the Carbonell Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
 
Her other Broadway credits include originating the roles of Grace O'Malley in "The Pirate Queen" and Liza Minnelli in "The Boy From Oz" (opposite Hugh Jackman.)

Some of her regional credits include "Funny Girl," "Crazy For You" (L.A. Ovation Award Nominee), "Oliver!" (Critics Award-Best Actress), James Joyce's "The Dead," "Triumph Of Love," "The Grass Harp," "South Pacific," "Will Rogers Follies," and the World Premiere of "Wicked."

Ms. Block has sung with numerous symphony orchestras throughout the United States. Her solo concert has been critically acclaimed in both NYC and in London. Stephanie's voice can be heard on the original cast recordings of "The Boy From Oz," "The Pirate Queen" and "9 to 5: The Musical" (Grammy Nomination) and of course her solo album, "This Place I Know."
 
Jason Alexander starred on Broadway in the original companies of "Merrily We Roll Along;" "The Rink;" "Broadway Bound;" "Accomplice;" and "Jerome Robbins' Broadway," for which he won the Tony, Outer Critics, and Drama Desk Awards as Best Actor in a Musical. He also authored the libretto of the show, which received the Tony Award for Best Musical. On the L.A. stage, Jason has starred in "Give 'Em Hell, Harry;" "Defiled;" the long-running hit "The Producers" with Martin Short and the very first Reprise production, "Promises, Promises."
 
Featuring book by Neil Simon, "They're Playing Our Song" follows the on-again, off-again romance of one very despondent composer and one very ditzy lyricist, as they try to create their own unique love song. Based on the real-life love affair of the show's composer, Marvin Hamlisch, and the show's lyricist, Carole Bayer Sager, "They're Playing Our Song," ran 1,082 performances on Broadway.
 
After Sager and Hamlisch scored an international hit with "Nobody Does It Better" (the theme song from "The Spy Who Loved Me",) they began to work on a new musical based on some surprising subject matter -- their own romantic life -- with the most successful and popular playwright of the era, Neil Simon.  They came up with an unusual, new form for a Broadway musical: a chamber musical with two main characters supported by a six-person Greek Chorus.  
 
"They're Playing Our Song" had its world premiere as part of the Center Theatre Group series at the Ahmanson Theatre of the Music Center.  It starred comic Robert Klein and Lucie Arnaz, who made her Broadway debut in the role and went on to star in Reprise's inaugural season's "Wonderful Town" in 1997.

Carole Bayer Sager has written the lyrics for "Don't Cry Out Loud," "Everything Old is New Again," "Come in From the Rain," "Heartbreaker," and "That's What Friends Are For," and has collaborated with Neil Diamond, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Peter Allen, Michael McDonald, and Burt Bacharach.  In 1977 she was romantically involved with Marvin Hamlisch. Hamlisch followed winning three Academy Awards in 1973 for "The Way We Were" and the score of "The Sting", with the score for "A Chorus Line" which won nine 1975 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Score for Hamlisch and lyricist Edward Kleban.
 
Neil Simon (Book) is currently represented on Broadway by "Promises, Promises." His other Broadway credits include: "Come Blow Your Horn," "Little Me," "Barefoot in the Park," "The Odd Couple," "Sweet Charity," "The Star-Spangled Girl,"  "Plaza Suite," "Promises, Promises," "Last of the Red Hot Lovers," "The Gingerbread Lady," "The Prisoner of Second Avenue," "The Sunshine Boys," "The Good Doctor," "God' s Favorite," "California Suite," "Chapter Two," "They're Playing Our Song," "I Ought to Be in Pictures," "Fools," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," "Biloxi Blues" (1985 Tony Award), the female version of "The Odd Couple," "Broadway Bound," "Rumors,"" Lost in Yonkers" (1991 Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award), "Jake's Women," "The Goodbye Girl,"" Laughter on the 23rd Floor," "Proposals," "The Dinner Party" and "45 Seconds From Broadway." Off-Broadway: "London Suite." Films include "Barefoot in the Park," "The Odd Couple," "The Out-of-Towners," "Plaza Suite," "The Heartbreak Kid," "The Prisoner of Second Avenue," "Murder by Death," "The Sunshine Boys," "The Goodbye Girl," "The Cheap Detective," "California Suite," "Chapter Two," "Seems Like Old Times," "Only When I Laugh," "I Ought to Be in Pictures," "Max Dugan Returns," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," "Biloxi Blues" and "Lost in Yonkers."

Lonny Price (Director) recently completed shooting his first feature, "Master Harold...and the Boys," starring Ving Rhame and Freddie Highmore, which he previously directed on Broadway with Danny Glover. Other Broadway credits include directing Audra McDonald in "110 in the Shade," Joan Rivers in "Sally Marr and Her Escorts" (which he co-wrote with Ms Rivers and Erin Sanders), Jenn Colella in "Urban Cowboy," and himself in "A Class Act," for which he also co-wrote the book (with Linda Kline) and was nominated for a Tony Award. He directed Gabriel Byrne in the PBS Live from Lincoln Center broadcast of "Camelot" (also starring Christopher Lloyd and Stacy Keach), and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's "Passion," which won the Emmy. For Great Performances; Leonard Bernstein's "Candide" (starring Kristin Chenoweth and Patti LuPone), as well as "Sweeney Todd" (with Ms. LuPone and George Hearn), for which he won the Emmy. Other television credits include his filming of the acclaimed Broadway revival of "Company," for which he received an Emmy nomination. This season, he directed episodes of ABC's "Desperate Housewives," as well as produced and directed "Sondheim! The Birthday Concert" for PBS' Great Performances, which will air November of 2010.
 
Bruce Kiesling (Music Director) was just named the Conductor of the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA), the Los Angeles Philharmonic's community youth orchestra initiative. The program is directly inspired by incoming music director Gustavo Dudamel's experiences in Venezuela's world-renowned music education program "El Sistema." Bruce also currently serves as the Music Director of the Tulare County Symphony in California's Central Valley. His background encompasses conducting, harpsichord performance, theater, and piano work in both classical and popular genres. Originally from Canton, Ohio, Dr. Kiesling received degrees from the University of Michigan, the University of Miami (Florida) and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Bruce spent eight years as Resident Conductor for the Greensboro Symphony, and served as Music Director and Conductor for the Greensboro Symphony Youth Orchestra, having led the orchestra at the Kennedy Center, the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, and Carnegie Hall. Bruce also led the Choral Society of Greensboro from 2007-2009. In the theater, he spent several years as the Supervising Music Director for the five-time Emmy-award winning political satire troupe, The News in Revue. The other aspect of Bruce's careers is that of an active and busy composer. He has provided music for more than twenty productions, including the feature films "Wesley," "Seven Days of Yellow," "Di Passaggio," "Foresight" and the award winning shorts "1915" and "Stormy Weather."
 
Joshua Rhodes (Choreographer) Josh was the assistant choreographer for the original Broadway production of "The Drowsy Chaperone". He held the same title for the West End production and the current national tour as well. Other productions with Casey Nicholaw include "Follies" (Encores), "South Pacific" (Carnegie Hall, PBS), and "Tin Pan Alley Rag" (Roundabout). For Lonny Price, Josh choreographed "Broadway Three Generations" at the Kennedy Center.   Recently, Josh choreographed "Chess" and "Dreamgirls" at the North Carolina Theatre. Josh has choreographed many opening numbers for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids events with his longtime collaborator Lorin Latarro. Josh performed in seven Broadway shows and was fortunate enough to work closely and learn from many amazing directors and choreographers.
 
 Larry Blank (Additional orchestrations) was the original MD/Conductor for "They're Playing Our Song" on Broadway as well as several other far less successful musicals. In LA, he was the Musical Director/Conductor for "Sugar Babies," "La Cage Aux Folles," "Evita" and "The Phantom of the Opera". He was also the MD for Michael Crawford's tours of Australia and the UK. He created the Tony nominated orchestrations for "The Drowsy Chaperone" and "White Christmas" as well as Martin Short's "Fame Becomes Me" for composer Marc Shaiman. Larry is co-orchestrator with Marc Shaiman for "Catch Me If You Can". Larry's orchestrations were heard last year for Reprise's production of "Carousel". Larry was (uncredited) orchestrator for the stage and film productions of "The Producers" as well as the film version of "Chicago". Larry has been orchestrator on many films for composer Marc Shaiman, arranger on four Academy Awards shows and was conductor for Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli at the Grammys. Larry is a frequent guest as conductor/arranger for BBC Radio Two in London. Larry has had the pleasure of arranging/conducting for the following singers: Barbra Streisand, Betty Buckley, Michael Crawford, Michael Feinstein and many others. He arranged/orchestrated Barbara Cook's "Count Your Blessings," "John Barrowman Swings Cole Porter," and the song 'Rags To Riches' for Barry Manilow's "Greatest Hits of the 50s" CD.

Jason Alexander is proud to be serving as Artistic Director for Reprise and is delighted to be working with its wonderful staff and Board of Directors. Jason is probably best known for his 9 year, award-winning stint as George Costanza on the hit TV series, "Seinfeld." However, those who know him only as George will be surprised to learn of his extensive background as an actor, director, producer, and writer. Besides "Seinfeld," his television credits include: "Bob Patterson" (prod./co-creator); "Listen Up" (prod.); the TV films of "Bye Bye Birdie," "The Man Who Saved Christmas," "Cinderella", and "A Christmas Carol;" guest appearances on "Newhart," "Friends," "Monk," "Star Trek-Voyager," "Malcolm in the Middle," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and multiple episodes of the animated series "Duckman," "Aladdin," "Dilbert," and "Dinosaurs." His film credits include: "Pretty Woman;" "White Palace;" "North;" "Dunston Checks In;" "Love, Valor, Compassion;" "Rocky and Bullwinkle," "Ira and Abby" and the upcoming, "Hachiko."  Jason has directed in every medium: Television ("Seinfeld," "Remember WENN," "Campus Ladies," "Everybody Hates Chris"); Film ("For Better or Worse" and "Just Looking"); and Stage ("The God of Hell" at the Geffen; "Sunday In The Park With George" and the newly adapted "Damn Yankees" at Reprise and countless benefits). Jason produced the films, "Agent Cody Banks" and its sequel as well as the TV special "Ultimate Trek." He has also authored the children's book, "Dad, Are You the Tooth Fairy?" He has won the title of Parlour Magician of the Year at the prestigious Magic Castle and he is a noted player on the celebrity poker circuit. Jason resides in L.A. with his wife Daena and their children, Gabriel and Noah.

Since its inception in 1997, Reprise Theatre Company has been a focus of the Los Angeles musical theatre community, producing productions of great American musicals, and a wide variety of concerts, staged-readings, special events and outreach programs.  In May 2007, Jason Alexander became Artistic Director.  Christine Bernardi is Managing Director and Gilles Chiasson is Producing Director of Reprise.
 
Since its inaugural production of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Promises, Promises," which starred Mr. Alexander, Reprise has brought to the stage vibrant productions from all eras of American musical theatre including the Gershwins' "Of Thee I Sing" and "Strike Up the Band," Cole Porter's "Anything Goes," and Rodgers and Hart's "The Boys from Syracuse" and "Babes in Arms," Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel," as well as Richard Rodgers' later "No Strings."  The "Golden Era" has been well represented - Burton Lane and E.Y. Harburg with "Finian's Rainbow," Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe with "Brigadoon," Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green with "On the Town" and "Wonderful Town," Irving Berlin with "Call Me Madam," Robert Wright and George Forrest with "Kismet," both of the Richard Adler and Jerry Ross musicals "The Pajama Game" and "Damn Yankees," Johnny Mercer and Gene dePaul with "Li'l Abner," Jule Styne with "Bells are Ringing," and Frank Loesser with "The Most Happy Fella" and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."
 
Musical theatre reached a new peak of popularity in the sixties, along with new creative talents, and Reprise has presented shows by many of them including Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt with "The Fantasticks," Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick with "She Loves Me," Gerome Ragni, James Rado and Galt MacDermot's "Hair," Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone with "1776," Charles Adams and Lee Strouse with "Applause," Stephen Schwartz with "Pippin," Cy Coleman with "On the Twentieth Century" (libretto by Betty Comden and Adolph Green), "City of Angels" (lyrics by David Zippel), and "I Love My Wife" (libretto by Michael Stewart), Jerry Herman with "Mack and Mabel," Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's "Once on This Island," and four Stephen Sondheim musicals - "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Company," "Sweeney Todd," and "Sunday in the Park with George."
 
Many of the great stage performers working today, as well as those who make their residence primarily in Los Angeles, have appeared in Reprise shows including Scott Bakula, Christine Baranski, Brent Barrett, Orson Bean, Jodi Benson, Stephen Bogardus, Dan Butler, Len Cariou, Carolee Carmello, Vicki Carr, Patrick Cassidy, Anthony Crivello, Jason Danieley, Lea DeLaria, Cleavant Derricks, Manoel Feliciano, Rodney Gilfry, Kelsey Grammer, Josh Grisetti, Harry Groener, Bob Gunton, Sam Harris, Gregory Harrison, Simon Helberg, Mimi Hines, Judy Kaye, Jane Krakowski, Marc Kudish, Ledisi, Vicki Lewis, Judith Light, Rebecca Luker, Eric McCormack, Maureen McGovern, Joey McIntyre, Donna McKechnie, Andrea Marcovicci, Marin Mazzie, Julie Migenes, Karen Morrow, Burke Moses, Kelli O'Hara, John O'Hurley, Ken Page, Robert Picardo, David Hyde Pierce, Larry Raben, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Roger Rees, Charles Nelson Reilly, Cathy Rigby, Alexandra Silber, Douglas Sills, Rex Smith, Brent Spiner, Lea Thompson, Steven Weber, Lee Wilkof, Ruth Williamson, Marisa Jaret Winokur, Lillias White, Fred Willard, and Rachel York.