THE GOLD Set for NYMF

THE GOLD, a new musical featuring a book by Andrea Lepcio & Philip Yosowitz and music and lyrics by Philip Yosowitz, will be presented in the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival Developmental Reading Series.

In this sweeping historical fiction, Joseph Cohen is a Jewish-German boxer whose ambition is to win the Berlin Olympics of 1936. His dreams are thwarted, and Joseph's fight for the gold becomes a battle for his family, identity, and country. Left with nothing, Joseph must reinvent himself in a new land. THE GOLD is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the journey of self-discovery that each of us takes as we search for purpose in our lives.

A celebration of the universal themes of love, loss, reconciliation and reinvention, THE GOLD began as a personal tribute to one family's story. In the 1930s, Joseph Yosowitz, a young Jewish Czechoslovakian, fled Hitler's brutal grip, traveling a perilous underground route to Belgium and stowing away on a cargo ship that carried him to the United States - and to safety. Of his six sisters left behind in Czechoslovakia, only one survived the Nazi terror. A half century later, one of his sons, Philip Yosowitz, a Houston plastic surgeon, musician and composer, embarked on a labor of love which became THE GOLD.

THE GOLD was conceived and written by Yosowitz over a five year period, completed over a decade ago. Yosowitz teamed up with his daughter, Laura Yosowitz, founder of Vital Arts Collaborative, as producer to develop the new work. Andrea Lepcio joined the team as bookwriter in 2008. Together, they have taken THE GOLD from a 450-page, handwritten score through three development readings, demo recordings, many special events and two productions. The 2009 production of THE GOLD was held at Houston's prestigious Miller Outdoor Theatre and now the musical is being seen in New York for the first time ever.

THE GOLD will be directed by Michael Bush, the former Director of Artistic Production and Associate Artistic Director for the Manhattan Theatre Club, who most recently directed the Off-Broadway productions of Bikeman, Psycho Therapy, Cactus Flower and Based On A Totally True Story. In his 25-year career at MTC, he helped artistically guide more than 200 new plays and musicals, including the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Proof and Doubt, and the Tony Award-winning Love! Valour! Compassion!

The cast of THE GOLD will feature Bob Ader (Broadway's All The Way Home, A Matter of Position, The King and I; TV's Car 54, The Defenders, The Steve Lawrence Show), Mick Bleyer (The Anthem at the Lynn Redgrave Theater), Eric Cole (Broadway's Rock of Ages), Ashley Brooke (Doctor Zhivago, Lies My Father Told Me), Josh Davis (Broadway's Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; Off-Broadway's White's Lies, My First Time), Michael Ingram (Orange is the New Black, Louie; Broadway's Jekyll & Hyde, Sweet Charity), Jennifer Malenke (Broadway's Into the Woods, The Actat 54 Below), Natalie Ortega (Once Upon A Mattress at The York) and Josh Skurnik (Goodspeed Opera House, Paper Mill Playhouse).

Music Supervision and Music Direction is by Steven Jamail. Jamail composed the scores for The Lovely Bones and Nicholas and Alexandra under the direction of Tony Award-winning producer Stuart Ostrow. His original music and arrangements have been performed on Broadway and at The Public Theater and Lincoln Center. His television work includes the 40th Birthday Special of Rachel Ray, music direction for The Apprentice, The Rosie Show on OWN and NBC's Tree Lighting at Rockefeller Center.

Andrea Lepcio is best known for Looking for the Pony, a finalist for the Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award and for the NEA Outstanding New American Play Award. It was presented in a "Rolling World Premiere" Off-Broadway at Vital Theatre Company and Synchronicity Performance Group in Atlanta and subsequent productions. Her plays and musicals have been produced and developed at HERE, Lark Play Development Center, Manhattan Theatre Source, New York Music Theatre Festival, New Shoe, Shalimar Productions, TerraNova Collective, Three Chicks, Titans Theatre, Vital Theatre, Williamsburg Art Nexus and Women's Project.

THE GOLD will be performed on Thursday, July 16 at 4pm; Thursday, July 16 at 7:30pm; and Sunday, July 19 at 6:30pm.

Free tickets for the NYMF Developmental Reading Series become available to the general public 48 hours before each performance, on a space available basis. Tickets may be reserved by phone at (212) 664-0979 x26 or by waitlist at the Theatre Row Studio Theatre starting one hour before each curtain.

The Studio Theatre at Theatre Row is located at 410 West 42nd Street in New York City.