Stephanie J. Block Joins Cast Of MY AMERICAN FAMILY, Reading Held 6/21

Stephanie J. Block (Drama desk nomination for 9 to 5, Wicked, The Boy From Oz) will join Gretchen Bieber (Hairspray), Jonathan Kaplan (Diary of Anne Frank, Theatre World Award, Tony nomination for Falsettos), and Erik Liberman (Lovemusik) for an industry reading of a new musical MY AMERICAN FAMILY . MY AMERICAN FAMILY is written by the award winning team of Michael Roberts (music and lyrics) Charlie Schulman (book) and will be directed by Daniel Kutner, on Monday, June 21 at 2:30PM & 5:30PM at The June Havoc Theater, The Abingdon Theater Complex, 312 West 36th Street.

MY AMERICAN FAMILY is a new musical that questions the "facts" surrounding an author's award -winning memoir. With a troubled family front and center, dueling versions of the truth collide as long-buried secrets are revealed in this hilarious and moving musical about family, memory and the passage of time.

For more information or to listen to a selection of music please visit www.MyAmericanFamily.info

Charlie Schulman (book) was recently named the 2010 Walton Fellow at The Arena Stage for his play The Great Man. His play Character Assassins will receive its world premier at NJ REP this September. He Co-Produced and wrote the book for the musical The Fartiste (Best Musical - FringeNYC). His plays have been produced Off-Broadway and in Regional Theaters. Plays include: Angel Of Death, The Common Enemy, The Greene House Effect, The Birthday Present (The Young Playwrights Festival -Outer Critics Circle Award) and The Ground Zero Club. Charlie is a recipient of The Charles MacArthur Award for Comedy, The Paulette Goddard Fellowship and is a three-time winner of The Avery Hopwood Award from The University of Michigan. His play The Kitchen was presented at The National Playwrights Conference and is currently being adapted as the musical My American Family. His plays are published by The Dramatists Play Service and in several anthologies. His chapter on Playwriting appears in The Portable MFA in Creative Writing (Writers Digest). He recently was commissioned by The Musical Theater Fund.

Daniel Kutner (director) is currently the full-time associate director to Broadway legend, Harold Prince. Projects with Mr. Prince include Lovemusik by Alfred Uhry at Manhattan Theatre Club's Biltmore Theatre on Broadway and Paradise Found by Richard Nelson & Ellen Fitzhugh at London 's Menier Chocolate Factory, co-directed by Susan Stroman. Dan directed the world premiere Off-Broadway hit musical, I Love You Because at the Village Theater, having directed it previously at the National Alliance of Musical Theater. Other credits include: Lea Salonga's The Journey So Far (also co-conceived) at the famed Café Carlyle; a new version of Kander and Ebb's And the World Goes Round which inaugurated the Gettysburg Arts Festival in Pennsylvania and subsequently played the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia. Other recent work include: a reading of Doug Parker & Denver Cassado's new musical, Life on the Mississippi at The York Theatre in NYC starring Ashley Brown. Dan has also helmed Manhattan Theatre Club's 2008 Spring Musical Gala at The Hilton Grand Ballroom and the 2009 Gala at Cipriani's. A Temple University graduate and a Philadelphia native, Dan served as the Inaugural Directing Fellow at the Philadelphia Theatre Company, assisting directors Mary B. Robinson, Tony winner Anna D. Shapiro, David Warren and Pam MacKinnon. From there, Dan became the Robert Moss Directing Resident at Playwrights Horizons where he served under Richard Nelson on the world premiere musical, My Life With Albertine (starring Brent Carver & Kelli O'Hara), and to John Benjamin Hickey on Theresa Rebeck's world premiere Bad Dates, starring Julie White. Upcoming directing projects: Deep Cover by Michael Wolk with Gorgeous Entertainment; It Must Be Him, a new play by Kenny Solms, former head writer for Carol Burnett; and a new play by Kristof Bathory entitled Garbo Returns starring Tovah Feldshuh.

Michael Roberts (music and lyrics) is the author, composer and lyricist of the hit Off-Broadway comedy GOLF: The Musical. Years after its critically acclaimed 2003-2004 run at the John Houseman Theater, there continue to be dozens of national and international productions, from Japan to Scotland. 2010 sees new productions from Palm Springs to Finland. His musical, The Fartiste, won the award for Best Musical at the 2006 Fringe NYC Festival. Michael's Thanks for the Memories, a one-man show about Bob Hope featuring two-time Tony nominee Joel Blum, received its premiere at The Prairie Theater in 2006. He was, for fifteen years, the lyricist and music director for The Broadway Kids, which had a successful run at The Lambs Theater in 2005-2006, and returned to Off-Broadway at New World Stages in December, 2008. He has also composed the incidental music for 2007's My Secret Garden at New York's 45th Street Theater and arranged incidental music for the Off-Broadway hit Jewtopia. Michael's music for the screen includes independent films, documentaries and features, including TriStar's Love Walked In, starring Dennis Leary, and the multiple award-winning Lemonade Stand. His music for television includes ABC TV, CNN, ESPN, The Golf Channel, and Bravo, as well as four seasons as a composer for the Emmy Award Winning sitcom "Remember WENN." As a music director, he has collaborated with Donna Murphy, Rupert Holmes, Leslie Gore, Hinton Battle, Stephanie Mills, Peter Noone, Bobby Sherman, Joan Rivers, and The Capitol Steps, as well as numerous stage productions.

 

Photo Credit: Linda Lenzi