Today, IDEAL ENTERTAINMENT, INC. will present two staged presentation of WRAPPED as part of New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYFM) Reading Series.
WRAPPED is the winner of this year's coveted NATIONAL MUSIC THEATRE NETWORK DIRECTOR'S CHOICE AWARD.
WRAPPED is written by the father/son team of Dennis and Craig Nehaman. (Book by Dennis Nehaman. Music & Lyrics by Craig Nehaman).
The presentation will be directed by Gregory Cicchino with Musical Direction by Chris Brown.
The cast includes
James Alexander as Jimbo and Angel Face, J Cameron Alexander as Craig and Ty, Daryl Brown as Benny, Julyza Commodore as Shana, Dennis Johnson as Dion, Jonathan David Marballi as Marlon, Squash and Emanuel, Jen Ryan as Georgia and Trudie, Sophia Sharp as Tess, Sasha Sload as Cookie,
Lawrence Stallings as Garland, Leonard E Sullivan as Owen and Chow and DeWanda Wise as Jewel. The cast was assembled by Scott Wojcik and Gayle Seay of ROSEN & WOJCIK CASTING.
WRAPPED tells the story of Benny (Daryl Brown), a 33-year-old performer, who is broken when record executives cancel a contract he believes to be his ticket to fame. He hurts for his own loss, but even more for his passionate dedication to his family. Benny realizes his dream to provide them a better life may never materialize. So, he devises a plan to get them everything he is convinced they want and need, all the fortune he can't provide, and completely sacrifices his own happiness to do so. Benny drives his wife and children away,
into the arms of the "perfect" man. Unfortunately, soon afterwards he comes face-to-face with an unexpected reality -- nobody is happy. Our devoted protagonist must now fight to win back his family and give them what has become the most critical missing piece of their lives--his love. The journey is not completely for loss, though. Benny uses his misfortune to learn what it is that has kept his career from taking off, and the story culminates climactically, in triumph.
WRAPPED will be staged managed by John M Crotty and will feature a band consisting of Chris Brown (Keyboard), Alex Hernandez (Guitar),
Willard Dyson (Drums) and Vita Tanga (Guitar).
CRAIG NEHAMAN graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in '05 with a marketing major. In his final year of school, after selling hip-hop tracks to artists in the St. Louis area, he decided to head for the arts instead of the office. He flew home, and along with my father, a late-budding screenwriter, wrote WRAPPED. He is now working with a composer on some other exciting new projects.
DENNIS NEHAMAN is a psychologist, licensed to practice in California He has written three movie screenplays and three musical theatre books.
GREGORY CICCHINO is a graduate of Syracuse University. Previous credits include: The Unusual Suspects (NY Fringe '07), Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco with Beyond The Wall Productions, The Dare Project, Dara Frasier's Passing, as well as numerous staged readings.
ROSEN & WOJCIK CASTING combines over 50 years of industry experience to align the perfect talent to any project. The company was founded in 1988 by
Charles Rosen. Scott Wojcik joined the company in 1997 and became a partner in 2005. Gayle Seay joined the office in 2007 after casting on both coasts since 2001. Theatre clients include American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Stages St. Louis, The Arvada Center in Colorado and both
Florida Stage and Riverside Theatre in Florida. R&W has also cast for Crossroads Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, NY State Theatre Institute, Gable Stage and Bard College. NYC clients include the Astoria Performing Arts Center, Emerging Artists and Gallery Players as well as numerous new works, readings and showcases of productions in development. R&W is currently casting the developmental readings of the Broadway bound musical production of Invisible Life. Other theatrical projects include consulting on the off Broadway production of Revolution, the theatrical spectacle: Falco-A Cyber Show for Austria, Saint Heaven and Delilah for the York Theatre, the international dance industrial Rhythm Rox, the West Coast premiere of One Way Ticket To Hell, the PBS televised special and subsequent national tour of The Presidents starring
Rich Little and A Holiday for Hope, an original family holiday musical. Past clients include the inaugural NYMF Festival, Pittsburg Civic Light Opera, Cherry County Playhouse, North Shore Music Theatre, City Theatre on the South Side and Meadowbrook Theatre as well as the Off Broadway production of the Drama Desk nominee Newsical and the Obie award winning The Last Session.
IDEAL ENTERTAINMENT, INC. is the management company and representative to high profile musical artists including THE
Duke Ellington ORCHESTRA and Motown legend MARTHA REEVES and the VANDELLAS. As a talent broker, the company books artists for major television shows, corporate events, and fund-raising galas. Ideal Entertainment Inc. has worked with international superstars including,
Diana Ross,
Duran Duran, GLORIA GAYNOR,
James Brown, LIONEL RICHIE,
Kim Carnes and
Freda Payne. As a theatrical producer, Ideal Entertainment Inc. produced the national tour of Spider-Man Live: a live action show that toured the country and culminated in a two-week engagement at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. They also produced the hit Off-Broadway run of The Marijuana-Logues and the successful national tour featuring the legendary TOMMY CHONG.
WRAPPED will premiere at 37 ARTS - THEATRE C located at 450 W. 37th Street at 1:00 PM with an encore performance at 5:00 PM.
Tickets are available online at
www.nymf.org/Show-945.html or at
www.wrappedthemusical.com.
