THE PAPARAZZI Kicks Off In Historic Ellington Room

Algonquin Theater Productions has announced that the new Al Tapper musical "The Paparazzi" will kick off its historic New York run at the Ellington Room February 28th, 2019 at 7pm. The evening will be a one night presentation, highlighting actors from both Guadalajara and New York, singing songs from the show in both English and Spanish. It will be directed by legendary Mexican director Mauricio Cedeno. Productions of "The Paparazzi" in both languages are then scheduled for later in 2019.

"The Paparazzi" tells the story of Christie Barnes, an ambitious young journalist who starts with dreams of winning a Pulitzer Prize but instead gets caught up in the non-stop, chaotic world of the paparazzi, where speed is more important than substance and headlines more important than the truth. It is a world of slander, lies, betrayal and the original fake news, where only the fastest and most ruthless come out on top.

Cedeno directed the world premiere of "The Paparazzi" in Mexico in 2018, featuring Luisa Cortes as Christie and Joaq Romero as the spirit of Walter Winchell, who acts as a narrator. The American counterparts are L.R. Davidson as Christie and Drama Desk award winning actor Ken Jennings as Winchell. The plan is to bring the entire Mexican cast here to re-create the show in Spanish while a separate New York cast does the show in English, running at the same time.

"The ultimate goal, of course, is to have a terrific show," says Tony Sportiello, artistic director of Algonquin and book writer for "The Paparazzi". "But over and above that we have the opportunity to demonstrate how artists from Mexico and the United States can work together to create a piece of art, how we can collaborate despite coming from different backgrounds and speaking different languages. Now more than ever we need to build bridges, and not walls."

Tapper's other musicals include "Sessions", "An Evening at the Carlyle", "David", "ImPerfect Chemistry", "All Aboard" and "National Pastime". "National Pastime" has played all over the country and in Guadalajara, where it won several major awards including Best Actress (Giselle Restelli), Best Director (Cedeno) and Best Production.

The Ellington Room is located at 400 West 43rd Street, It has been the home to numerous concerts, events and readings and was featured in the documentary "Miracle on 42nd Street" about Manhattan Plaza.