The YORK THEATRE COMPANY (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director) and Melanie Herman, who produced The Musical Of Musicals (The Musical!) announces the Off-Broadway Premiere of My Vaudeville Man!, a new musical based on the life of legendary eccentric tap star Jack Donahue. My Vaudeville Man! had its world premiere at last year's NY Musical Theatre Festival under the title Mud Donahue and Son. Performances will be at The Theatre at Saint Peter's (54th Street just east of Lexington Avenue). Karen Murphy and Shonn Wiley star.
The show officially opens tonight, Monday November 17th.
My Vaudeville Man! has a book by
Jeff Hochhauser, music by
Bob Johnston, and lyrics by Johnston and Hochhauser, based on
Jack Donahue's Letters of a Hoofer to his Ma.
Lynne Taylor-Corbett will direct and choreograph with
Shonn Wiley serving as co-choreographer.
My Vaudeville Man! will have scenic design by
James Morgan, costume design by
David Toser, and lighting design by
Mary Jo Dondlinger. Douglas Oberhamer will serve as Musical Director.
My Vaudeville Man! is the story of a boy born to dance and the mother who fought to keep him home!
Karen Murphy (most recently featured in the new musical 9 to 5 in LA) and
Shonn Wiley (recently seen in No No Nanette at Encores!) star in a musical based on the life of legendary eccentric tap dancer
Jack Donahue (played by
Ray Bolger on film) and his mother—who fights to keep her son off the wicked vaudeville stage. This "Pitch Perfect Musical" (NYTheatre.com) was first seen in York's Developmental Reading Series. As Mud Donahue & Son, it was the break-out hit of last season's NY Musical Theater Festival, tap-dancing its way into the hearts of audiences and critics alike. York and producer
Melanie Herman—the team behind The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) — reunite to bring you what Talkin' Broadway proclaimed "a tour de force."
Karen Murphy makes a dynamic impact in every avenue of entertainment she performs: on Broadway (All Shook Up, the Tony-Award winning 42nd Street and Titanic, A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden, King David at the opening of the New Amsterdam Theatre), Off-Broadway (Zombie Prom - in which she won both Dramalogue and Encore Awards,
Jerry Herman's Showtune, Forbidden Broadway, L'Amour, the Merrier! and Hysterial Blindness), or her favorite - cabaret (The Rainbow Room with
Steve Ross), Dramalogue award-winning Torch Goddess, and her Bistro-Award winning show for her NY debut.
Shonn Wiley's recent credits include No, No, Nanette (Tom, Encores!); Hot N' Cole (Westport Playhouse); Candide (New York City Opera). Broadway: Dracula (Jack Seward); 42nd Street (Revival); Never Gonna Dance (Workshop). Off-Broadway: Saved (Playwrights Horizon); Stairway To Paradise (Encores!); Thrill Me (York); The View From Here (cast album); All Singing, All Dancing I ("The Inappropriate Medley" with wife,
Meredith Patterson). Regional credits include Ragtime; Secret Garden; Little Night Music; Big River; I Love A Piano; Forever Plaid; Camille Claudel; Brigadoon; Crazy For You; Footloose. TV & film appearances include "The Guiding Light" and the upcoming feature films Tiny Dancer, Red Hook, and Confessions Of A Shopoholic.
Bob Johnston and
Jeff Hochhauser's credits include Anne & Gilbert, written with Nancy White, based on the novels by LM Montgomery, which just completed its third summer on Prince Edward Island as well as in Ontario at the Thousand Islands Playhouse; Theda Bara & The Frontier Rabbi, which was produced at the York. It has also had productions Off-Broadway, in Chicago, Hollywood, FL and at the Cohoes Music Hall in Cohoes NY.
Lynne Taylor-Corbett is known for her work in theatre, dance and film. She was nominated for two Tony® Awards and a Drama Desk for direction and choreography of Broadway's Swing! and for two American Theatre Wing Star Awards for its National Tour. She also choreographed Broadway's Chess and Titanic. Off Broadway, she directed Theda Bara and the Frontier Rabbi, Marie Jones's Women on the Verge… at Irish Arts,
Darlene Love: Portrait of a Singer at the Bottom Line, 20th Century Pop at the Rainbow and Stars, and was the original director of the Korean import, Cookin' at The Minetta Lane. She also directed Your Simone at The
Culture Project and Boxes and Asking For It at the New York International Fringe Festival. Regional shows include Tintypes (Hartford Stage and The Old Globe), Opal (
George Street Playhouse and The Lyric Theatre), Flight of the Lawnchair Man (
Goodspeed Opera House), Hats in Chicago, and Girl's Room starring
Donna McKechnie and
Carol Lawrence soon to open Los Angeles. She has been commissioned to create dance pieces for New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre,
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Pacific Northwest Ballet and numerous companies throughout the world. She is the resident guest choreographer of The Carolina Ballet. Broadcasts of her work have been seen on "Live From Lincoln Center", "Live from the San Francisco Opera House" and on UNCTV. Her films include Footloose, My Blue Heaven, Vanilla Sky and Bewitched. Most recently she and her work, "Chiaroscuro" were featured in Water Flowing Together, a documentary on
Jock Soto of the New York City Ballet shown on PBS. In the summer of 2005, she directed a multi-million dollar project for Disney in China, currently playing in the largest indoor theatre in Asia. Upcoming projects include Wanda's World Off Broadway and Tarzan for Theatre of the Stars. Ms. Taylor-Corbett has staged benefits for The Hunger Project, worked with Rosie's Broadway Kids, been honored for her work for the A-T Project and is a mentor to a young playwright living in Tanzania through Nile Roger's "We Are Family" Foundation. She is a proud member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and even prouder to be the mom of actor
Shaun Taylor-Corbett.
Melanie Herman began her producing career in the 1970's as founder and artistic director of The Bank – a groundbreaking off-Broadway and innovative multimedia company in Brooklyn Heights. Among her many early credits, she served as associate producer Off-Broadway of Candaules Commissioner, which launched her commercial producing career. During her early years as an emerging producer, Ms. Herman was cited by renowned journalist Vincent Canby on the front page of the Arts and Leisure section of The New York Times, exclaiming "…Brooklyn banners waived high for the youngest producer emerging in the Broadway and off-Broadway scene!" It was at the York Theater where Ms. Herman first discovered a new, original musical comedy The Musical Of Musicals (The Musical!). After a sold-out run at The York, she re-opened it at the prestigious New World Stages, garnering unanimous critical acclaim and ran for a total of almost 2 years. Since then, it has had numerous productions across the country, with 25 additional productions slated for the near future. Most recently, Melanie successfully co-produced the West End premiere of The Musical Of Musicals (The Musical!) to unanimous raves, as well as the recent acclaimed London revival of Side By Side By Sondheim.
The York Theatre Company (winner of a special Drama Desk Award for developing and producing new musical theatre) is the only theater in New York City—and one of very few in the world—dedicated to developing and fully producing new musicals, as well as preserving gems from the past. For more than three decades, York's intimate, imaginative style of producing both original and rarely seen classic musicals has resulted in critical acclaim and recognition from artists and audiences alike. Under the guidance of Artistic Director
James Morgan since 1997, the York has focused exclusively on new musicals in its Mainstage Series--most of them world, American, or New York premieres—by some of the field's most esteemed creators, and has also helped launch the careers of many talented new writers. Over 30 cast recordings from York Theatre Company productions are now available on CD, and commercial transfers of such York productions as The Musical of Musicals –The Musical!, Souvenir, Captain Louie, Jolson & Company, and acclaimed revivals of Sweeney Todd and Pacific Overtures have all showcased the importance of the York and its programs. York's
Musicals in Mufti Series, which offers rarely seen works from the past, has presented more shows than any other musical theatre concert series in the world, and is the first series to present works from on Broadway and Off-, as well as from London's West End. The York's Developmental Reading Series, which presents over 40 free readings of new musicals every year, was the incubator for the Tony Award-winning Broadway hit
Avenue Q, among many other significant shows.
The York Theatre Company is located at Saint Peter's in Citigroup Center on Lexington Avenue just east of 54th Street. Tickets are available now, by calling 212-935-5820. For more information, check out
www.yorktheatre.org. For Group Sales, contact MATCH-TIX at 212/354-2220.
Photo credit: Genevieve Rafter Keddy
