UnsungMusicals Developing USO Musical UP IN ARMS; Autumn Hurlbert, Brian Sears & More Star in Reading

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) has announced that it is currently developing Up in Arms!, a new musical by Emmy Award winner Arnold Auerbach ("The Phil Silvers Show," Call Me Mister) and Tony Award winner Frank Loesser (Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed...). A private exploratory reading was held on July 15, 2013. UMC is targeting Fall 2014 to present the new work, which is being developed in collaboration with the estates of Mr. Loesser and Mr. Auerbach.

Up in Arms! is conceived by UMC artistic director Ben West (The Fig Leaves Are Falling, At Home Abroad, Make Mine Manhattan) as a 1940s U.S.O. show. Hosted by Hollywood ham Corky Scott, the colorful salute to the armed forces features performances by an assortment of outrageous entertainment personalities, with special appearances by three eccentric uniformed personnel.

The new work is being created using original material written by Auerbach and Loesser for their World War II army revues, as well as additional unpublished material written by Auerbach during his years in uniform. West also directs the entertainment, with musical director Benet Braun (The Fig Leaves Are Falling) providing new arrangements for the nearly 20 little-known Loesser numbers that make up the score.

UMC's exploratory reading featured Autumn Hurlbert (Nobody Loves You, Legally Blonde), Brian Sears(The Book of Mormon), Kevin Vortmann (A Little Night Music), Matt Walton (The Fig Leaves Are Falling, "One Life to Live") and Stuart Zagnit (The Wild Party, Seussical).

UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. (Ben West, Artistic Director) is a not-for-profit Production Company dedicated to the preservation of musical theatre through the restoration and presentation of obscure but artistically sound works. Focusing primarily on overlooked projects from the Golden Age of musical theatre, which UMC more broadly defines as the 40 years between Mr. Florenz Ziegfeld and Mr. Stephen Sondheim's respectiveFollies (1931-1971), UMC treats each property as a new musical, thereby providing a unique collaboration between the artists of today and those of the past. Recent UMC projects include acclaimed productions ofThe Fig Leaves Are Falling and Make Mine Manhattan, a starry concert presentation of At Home Abroad, world premiere concerts of Gatsby and Nothing is Forever and New York International Fringe Festival productions of Platinum and How Now, Dow Jones.

UMC is also devoted to researching, assembling and restoring the material from unpublished and out-of-print musical shows. To further the mission of preserving these historic works for future generations, UMC's material is receiving its own collection in the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. For more information visit www.UnsungMusicals.org.