METROPOLITA(I)N Begins At The Laurie Beechman Theatre Next Weekend

Metropolita(i)n, the bilingual, socio-political musical revue with songs & sketches that explore the similarities and differences between New York City /Paris and their people begins Friday, November 19th through Monday, November 22nd at 7pm at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, 407 West 42nd Street.

Written by Parisian Christophe Mirambeau and New Yorkers Ken Bloom and Barry Kleinbort, the show features an international cast from Broadway and Paris. Paul Greenwood is the musical director. It is directed by the authors and produced by David Conte. $25 & $15 food/drink minimum. Reservations (212) 695-6909.

Metropolita(i)n asks important questions like: Is it polite to kiss a French woman on one cheek, two cheeks, three or more? If a Frenchman uses an ipod, eats at McDonalds and loves Star Trek, does that make him an American? Is cheese better sliced and wrapped in plastic or wrapped in vine leaves? Is Mamaroneck a suburb of New York City or the latest creation by Christian Dior? Coca-Cola versus wine as the greatest national drink. Obama and Sarkozy, the flanneur and the tourist, the Apple Store and the local fromagerie, Wall Street and the Bourse, kissing and hugging, all are explored with laughs and even tears. The peoples of France and USA do not agree on everything, but all agree on two things: Metropolita(i)n is the greatest bilingual, socio-political musical revue ever presented on stage and Metropolita(i)n is the only bilingual, socio-political musical revue ever presented on stage. It enjoyed sold-out performances as part of the Diva Festival in Paris performing at the historic Opera Paniche Theatre.

Ken Bloom, a leading authority on American popular song and musical theatre, who's books AMERICAN SONG, HOLLYWOOD SONG, and TIN PAN ALLEY are seminal works on stage, film and popular songs, documenting over 300,000 songs. His BROADWAY: AN ENCYCLOPEDIC GUIDE TO THE HISTORY, PEOPLE AND PLACES OF TIMES SQUARE was followed by Jerry Herman: THE LYRICS: A CELEBRATION and BROADWAY MUSICALS: THE 101 GREATEST SHOWS OF ALL TIME, written with Frank Vlastnik. Some other books are AMERICAN SONGBOOK: THE SINGERS, THE SONGWRITERS, AND THE SONGS; REMEMBER THAT I LOVE YOU, written with Jerry & Elaine Orbach and his newest is HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS: THE 101 GREATEST SONG AND DANCE FILMS OF ALL TIME. Ken hosted a weekly musical theatre show on Sirius and was a programmer for United Airlines' inflight entertainment. For 15 years was the co-host of Musical Theatre Today (WKCR-FM). He has produced and directed benefits with Patti LuPone, Carol Burnett, Marc Antony, Paul Anka, Wynona Judd, Jerry Orbach, and Duncan Sheik. As President of the 26-year-old Harbinger Records, he has produced more than twenty albums including some by Peggy Lee, Maxine Sullivan, and Geraldine Fitzgerald. As a consultant, he has worked with Angel Records, Decca Broadway, Sony, Universal Music, Museum of the City of New York, Smithsonian Institution, Goodspeed Opera House, Prentice Hall, and the National Endowment for the Arts Theatre, New Plays, Musical Theatre and Expansion Arts programs as well as for the Library of Congress' on the papers of Burton Lane, Jerry Herman, Howard Dietz, Florence Klotz, Peter Stone, and others. He is on the board of the Library of the Musical Theatre (Goodspeed Opera House) and is Executive Producer of Michael Feinstein'S AMERICAN SONGBOOK (PBS).

Barry Kleinbort has worked as a director, composer, lyricist, and librettist over the last twenty five years, earning these Awards: Edward Kleban Foundation (Lyric Writing); Gilman-Gonzalez Musical Theatre Commendation ('02, ‘03); ASCAP Foundation Jamie deRoy; two Back Stage Bistros, ten Manhattan Association of Cabarets (MAC), and two Cable "Telly". Throughout the country and Europe, he has directed and/or written material for such show biz luminaries as Kaye Ballard, Regis Philbin, Marcia Lewis, John Barrowman, Mary Cleere Haran, Penny Fuller, Brent Barrett, Sylvia McNair, Anita Gillette, Rodney Gilfry, Karen Mason, Rita Gardner, Harolyn Blackwell, Heather MacRae, and many others. Besides the countless cabaret shows, Mr. Kleinbort has conceived and directed topical revues and intimate Theater Productions as well as lavish special event evenings for New York City Opera and the Brooklyn Academy Of Music. He recently adapted and directed the NYC premiere of Bob Merrill's musical "The Prince of Grand Street" starring Mike Burstyn and John Epperson's autobiographical evening SHOW TRASH. For PBS, he provided the continuity for "A Washington Opera Celebration" and DIE FLEDERMAUS. Over the past few seasons, he has performed similar writing duties for six PBS broadcasts of Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops and, currently, Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops. He has been a teacher at the O'Neill Theater Conference and at Perry-Mansfield. This past year, he added Columbia University and Rutgers University to his teaching roster. He created the enthusiastically acclaimed evening of his theater songs, BIG CITY RHYTHM.

David M. Conte has worn a number of theatrical hats over the past thirty-something years. He is the manager of the Schoenfeld Theatre on Broadway. Prior positions have been company manager of touring musicals (A Chorus Line, Annie) and general manager of The Joffrey Ballet and the general manager for the U.S. tours of The Kirov Ballet, Bolshoi Opera and Bolshoi Ballet. He has owned and operated a children's theatre company and is the co-author of "Theatre Management: Producing and Managing the Performing Arts," considered the bible of arts administration texts.

 

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