Steven Strafford et al. to Join ISLAND SONG at 92YTribeca, 10/16

Kef theatrical productions, in association with Libra Theater Company and 92YTribeca, is thrilled to announce that casting is now complete for the developmental concert presentation of ISLAND SONG, a new song cycle with Music and Lyrics by Sam Carner and Derek Gregor. The concert will be presented on Sunday, October 16th at 92YTribeca (200 Hudson St, just south of Canal) at 7:00 PM. Tickets for the one-night-only event are $15.00 and are available at www.92ytribeca.org or at www.kefproductions.com.

The cast of ISLAND SONG, featuring the previously announce Autumn Hurlbert (Legally Blonde) and Andi Alhadeff, will also include Steven Strafford (Spamalot Las Vegas) and newcomers Cecelia Ticktin and Chris Behmke. (The previously announced Nick Gaswirth is no longer with the cast due to scheduling conflicts.) Adam Fitzgerald (kef's Artistic Director) will direct with Music Direction by Derek Gregor.

Island Song is a piece about isolation and connection in contemporary urban life. What are boundaries when people you've never met are inches away? How do you know what you want in a place with so many options? How do you cut through all the noise to make and keep a connection with someoneelse? This mosaic of songs tells the stories of people making it through the day and night in the city and all their painful, beautiful, and funny experiences along the way.

For more information on kef please visit www.kefproductions.com; for more information on Libra please visit www.libratheater.org

SAM CARNER (Lyrics, mostly) and DEREK GREGOR (Music, mostly) met at NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Their musical Unlock'd won a Richard Rodgers Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was produced at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2007, where it won the "Best of the Fest" audience award and received Talkin' Broadway Citations for "Outstanding New Musical" and "Outstanding Original Theatrical Score." Unlock'd has gone on to workshops at TheatreWorks Palo Alto and Ravinia. Sing, But Don't Tell, a concert of their songs, was presented at NYMF in the fall of 2009, and, in February of 2010, 12 cast members from the Broadway revival of HAIR performed an evening of their songs in the show Buzzed. They are currently at work on several book shows and a children's musical, in addition to their song cycle Island Song. Two of their songs were recently nominated for Manhattan Association of Cabaret Awards ("Sing, But Don't Tell" for Best Special Material and "After Hours" for Best Song). Derek writes country music with Laura Bell Bundy, and one of their songs was featured on her cd Longing for a Place Already Gone. Sam lectures regularly on musical theatre history and has taught musical theatre analysis courses at NYU and Yale. For more information on Sam and Derek: www.carnerandgregor.com

kef theatrical productions is an artist run company producing exciting and relevant theatrical works (www.killingwomen.com). Recent productions include Marisa Wegrzyn's Killing Women, Israela Margalit's First Prize and the critically acclaimed extended run of Michael Puzzo's Lyric is Waiting. Kef also presented "Artists Rising" (a composer/lyricist showcase) at Theatre Row and (as Associate Producer) the Drama Desk Award winning revival of Israel Horovitz' "Lebensraum". www.kefproductions.com

The Libra Theater Company is a company dedicated to creating quality New York theater that honors the commitments of the artist while maintaining a bold, artistic atmosphere. Over the past year Libra has produced two sold-out concerts: Entropy Songs, by 2011 Jonathan Larson grant recipient Joshua H. Cohen, and Fleet Week and Other Reasons to Sail, the songs of MAC award nominated songwriters Carner & Gregor. Their monthlyreading series, Thousand Crane Reading Series, has provided opportunities for over 60 actors to meet and read classic material. This year, Libra will producing the "In the Balance" series, a quarterly reading series. www.libratheater.org

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos