Billy Porter, Michael Dexter, et al. to Lead Creative Team for GIANT STEPS Workshop, 6/29

The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with Texas State University-San Marcos, is offering the inaugural Texas Musical Theatre Workshop. This unique program brings New York's Broadway talent to Texas, serving as an incubator for the development of new musicals by professional artists. The creative team of Giant Steps: An Urbean Musical has been invited to include their new musical as part of the workshop this year.

Directed by critically acclaimed Broadway star Billy Porter, the Giant Steps cast is composed of university students, alumni and community artists. A staged reading of the musical will be free and open to the public at the B Iden Payne Theatre at The University of Texas at Austin on Friday, June 29th at 7pm.

With music and lyrics by newcomer Michael Dexter and book by Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Award nominated Eric H. Weinberger, Giant Steps: An Urbean Musical is a contemporary twist on the classic fairytale "Jack and the Beanstalk" that will delight young and old, alike. Set in the inner city of a major American metropolis, Giant Steps follows the story of J Johnson, a 15-year-old boy, who lives with his widowed mother in a miserable tenement basement apartment. J escapes the dreariness and sadness of his reality through comic books and fantasizes about becoming a superhero. A chance encounter with a street vendor leaves J with magical beans that will forever change his fate. With music that ranges from gospel to calypso, Giant Steps will climb off the vine and into your heart.

The seed was planted for Giant Steps few years ago when Dexter and fellow University of Miami alum Stefany Allongo (producer/business manager) envisioned a musical based on the tale of "Jack and the Beanstalk". Thanks to Weinberger and the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, Giant Steps planted its roots with a presentation of selected songs last May. This month Giant Steps took a leap forward with a three-week workshop that will culminate in the first staged reading of the piece this Friday, June 29.

"Texas Musical Theatre Workshop is another expression of the partnerships developed by our department." said Brant Pope, chairman of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin. "Over the last two years we have crafted working relationships with ZACH, Teatro Vívo, Austin Lyric Opera, and an extraordinary new link with the famed Seattle Children's Theatre. These partnerships will be evident in the 2012-13 season, and all of them communicate our desire to be a vital member of the arts community."

For more information on Giant Steps: An Urbean Musical, please visit
giantstepsthemusical.com

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