Tituss Burgess Hosts APAC's 10th Anniversary Gala

The Astoria Performing Arts Center (APAC) announces their Tenth Anniversary Season Gala honoring HAl Rosenbluth (Kaufman Astoria Studios) and Council Member Peter Vallone Jr. The Gala will feature a special performance entitled BEAUTIFUL MUSIC: 10 YEARS OF APAC, music directed by APAC Alum Jeffrey Campos and directed by APAC Artistic Director Tom Wojtunik. The Tenth Anniversary Season Gala will take place on Thursday, March 24, 2011 at Cienna (2818 31st Street, corner of 31st Street, Astoria, Queens). The event starts at 6:00 pm.

BEAUTIFUL MUSIC: 10 YEARS OF APAC is a medley created by Tom Wojtunik and Jeffrey Campos that will feature selections from the musicals produced at APAC in its ten year history: Children of Eden, Ragtime, Triumph of Love, A New Brain, Forever Plaid, Lucky Stiff, Is There Life After High School?, Nunsense, and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The medley will end with the Galt MacDermot song "Beautiful Music" from APAC's upcoming production of The Human Comedy, led by Mr. Burgess.

The medley will be performed by a cast of APAC alumni including Erika Amato (Triumph of Love), Stacie Bono (Children of Eden, Ragtime), Philip Deyesso (Children of Eden, Triumph of Love), Jonathan Gregg (Children of Eden, Ragtime), D. William Hughes (Ragtime), Shad Olsen (Children of Eden, A New Brain, Forever Plaid), Amanda Ryan Paige (Lucky Stiff), and Erin Michelle Washington (Children of Eden).

THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON GALA

Thursday, March 24, 2011
6:00-7:30pm Cocktails and Light Supper
7:30-8:30 Beautiful Music: 10 years of APAC and Honors
8:30-9:30 Dessert and Raffle Drawing

Tickets are $100 and are now available online at www.apacny.org

LEAD SPONSOR: Kaufman Astoria Studios
ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: Broadway Stages, TD Bank
SUPPORTING SPONSOR: Mt. Sinai Hospital of Queens

Cienna
2818 31st Street (corner of 31st Street)
Astoria, Queens
Valet parking available. N/Q to 30th Avenue

BIOGRAPHIES

HAL G. ROSENBLUTH (President, Kaufman Astoria Studios) As president of Kaufman Astoria Studios (KAS), HAl Rosenbluth has helped to solidify the historic Studio?s reputation as one of the largest and most comprehensive studio campuses in New York City.

PETER F. VALLONE JR. (District 22 ? Council Member) represents Astoria and the surrounding communities and serves as Chair of the Public Safety Committee. As Chair, he has led the fight to stop cuts to the NYPD, put more officers in our local precincts and for New York City to get the money it deserves from the state and federal governments.

Tituss Burgess is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a BA in Music. He recently starred in the as Nicely Nicely Johnson in the New Broadway Revival of Guys and Dolls. He originated the role of Sebastian the Crab in Disney's The Little Mermaid, Jersey Boys (OBC) and Good Vibrations (OBC). Regionally he was seen in The Wiz (Cowardly Lion, La Jolla), Songs For A New World w/ Jason Robert Brown, Brian D'Arcy James and Alice Ripley. He played Father in Children of Eden, Jim in Big River and a host of others. In the concert world, Tituss has served as soloists with the Prague Symphony Orchestra as well as for Academy Award Winner, Ennio Morricone. Television: "2009 Tony Awards", ?The View,? ?The Today Show,? "Good Morning America." His solo Cd ?Here's To You? is available on Itunes.

Jeffrey Campos (Music Director) APAC: Triumph of Love, A New Brain, Forever Plaid, Proof (incidental music). National Tours: Oklahoma! (MD), Annie (AMD), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Regional: Sunset Boulevard (Ogunquit, AMD), Mame (Cohoes Music Hall, MD). New York musical directing: NYC Mayor's Awards for Arts and Culture, Jack Perry is Alive (and Dating) (Ars Nova), Show Choir (NYC Fringe), A New Generation of Song (NYMF), Violet, The Wild Party, Like You Like It, City of Angels (The Gallery Players), Jesus Christ Superstar (Producer's Club), Bat Boy, Seussical, How to Succeed... Orch/arr. for Broadway Backwards. Served as the resident musical director of the Astoria Performing Arts Center and currently musical director of The Steinway Reform Church in Queens.

Tom Wojtunik (APAC Artistic Director/Director) has been in New York City since 1997, and in Astoria for the last eight years. For APAC, he has directed Children of Eden (NY IT Winner Outstanding Musical), The Pillowman, Ragtime (NY IT Nominee, Outstanding Musical), and Proof. NY directing credits include: Bright Lights, Big City (MMC); The Who?s Tommy (NY IT Nominee, Outstanding Musical), Man of La Mancha, Six Degrees of Separation, Urinetown (NY IT Award, Outstanding Musical), Take Me Out (The Gallery Players); The Play About the Naked Guy and Edenville (NY IT Nominee ? Best Director, Emerging Artists Theatre); The Miss Education of Jenna Bush (FringeNYC, Best Solo Show & Audience Favorite); Rum and Vodka and The Good Thief (Prospect St. Productions); I?m in Love with Your Wife (Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival); and workshops of David?s Play and Bella Via (Ensemble Studio Theatre). Tom served as a 2007/2008 Resident Director at Ensemble Studio Theatre, where he was an Associate Producer on the 2008 Marathon of One-Act Plays. He was an Associate Casting Director at Charles Rosen Casting, produced the 2002 Festival of New Musicals for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, and served as Artistic Director of NeoPack, a theatre company focused on new work, from 2001-2004. BFA: Marymount Manhattan College. Member: SDC, LCT Directors? Lab, Emerging Artists Theatre.

THE ASTORIA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, INC. (APAC), a not-for-profit organization, was founded in 2001 by actress Susan Scannell (?Dynasty?). Our mission is to bring high quality theatre and entertainment to Astoria/Long Island City and to support local youth and senior citizens. We are a professional theatre company that complements a full season of award-winning mainstage programming with dedicated community programming.

Each year, APAC brings extended networks of artists, technicians, and volunteers together to produce musical revivals and modern plays. Our mainstage productions have been recognized for their quality and exceptional production values. We have received fourteen New York Innovative Theatre Award nominations and four wins (Children Of Eden, 2010, Ragtime, 2009), and an Off-Off Broadway Theatre Review Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical (Is There Life After High School?, 2004). We are invested in bringing visibility to new voices in American theater, and through our series The 15/20s: Staged Readings of New Works, we present new plays by emerging playwrights.

Our commitment to local youth and senior citizens is reflected in our annual community programming. We offer a free musical theatre performance program for children ages 8-13 (Summer Stars) and an after school playwriting program for middle school students (Astoria Playmaking Program). In 2005, we launched Senior Stars, a performance program for Queens residents over the age of sixty.

We are committed to keeping our work accessible: the programming is varied in order to reach a broad audience, produced regularly each season and affordable, so that theater-going can be habit for the people who see APAC?s shows.

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski