War Brides Sing Their Songs 'Back Home' at NYMF, 9/24-30

New York Musical Theatre Festival, with Musical Mondays Theatre Lab, Pat Flicker Addiss, and Ricky Stevens to present Back Home: The War Brides Musical with a book by Ron Sproat, music by Christopher Berg, lyrics by Frank Evans and directed by Bick Goss.  Performances begin Monday, September 24 through September 30 at The Sage Theatre (711 Seventh Avenue).

"Back Home aims to shed light on a war story that is rarely told.  During World War II, over 70,000 British Women met and married American servicemen stationed in Great Britain.  After the war, husbands and wives were separated when the husbands were shipped home.  The separations, in most cases, lasted more than a year due to governmental indifference to the plight of the War Brides on both sides of the Atlantic.  The musical is based on true events and follows the journey of Maureen (Mo) Gubbins, a London postal worker and Ivy Hennessy, a mill worker from Leeds in their fight to be reunited with their husbands," describe press materials.

The cast for Back Home will include Raissa Katona Bennett (The Phantom of the Opera), Jeff Scot Carey (Dorian Gray at NYMF), Joe Danbusky (Sound of Music), Jenn Zarine Habeck (Show Choir! The Musical at FringeNYC), Adam J. MacDonald (Talk of the Town), Kristin Maloney (The Streets of New York), Vanessa June Marshall (The Book of the Dun Cow), Christina Morrell (New Girl in Town), Danielle Erin Rhodes (Grease) and Steve Sterner (Morning Star).  The design team includes Maruti Evans (sets and lighting) and David Gilliam (costumes).

Frank Evans (Lyricist) received the Jerry Bock Award for the musical version of the Kaufman-Ferber classic Dinner at Eight. Ron Sproat (Book Writer) has numerous credits beginning with The US Steel Hour, General Motors Presents, and Kraft Television Theatre.  Christopher Berg (Composer) has composed cantatas, songs and vocal ensembles for the Mirror Visions Ensemble, often for performances in Paris.

Back Home will begin performances on Monday, September 24th and will continue through Sunday, September 30th.  The schedule will be as follows:
Monday, September 24 at 8PM
Tuesday, September 25 at 1PM
Wednesday, September 26 at 4:30PM
Friday, September 28 at 1PM
Saturday, September 29 at 8PM
Sunday, September 30 at 1PM & 4:30PM

Tickets are $20 and may be purchased by calling Theatermania at 212-352-3101, or online at www.nymf.org.

Now in its 4th year, The New York Musical Theatre Festival is the largest musical theatre event in America.  NYMF premiered 99 new musicals during its first three seasons, with more than a dozen of these shows transferring to successful off-Broadway and regional productions.  NYMF is widely regarded as the premier source for new material and talent discovery.