INSPIRED 5: A Benefit Concert for Animal Haven & The Second Chance Rescue Set for Tonight at Laurie Beechman Theatre

Adam Gwon, Julianne Wick Davis, Bobby Cronin, Sam Willmott, Ewalt & Walker, and Andre Catrini star in INSPIRED 5: A Benefit Concert for Animal Haven & The Second Chance Rescue, tonight, October 18 at 7pm at The Laurie Beechman Theatre.

Produced, created and hosted by Bobby Cronin, INSPIRED is a benefit concert series for animal rescue organizations across the country that plays every two to three months, with a rotating line-up of some of today's exciting musical theatre writers in a casual and intimate setting as they sit behind the piano and, unlike traditional concerts of their material, perform songs by other writers that have inspired their work. The INSPIRED series hopes to spread the word about the 2.7 million adoptable animals that are euthanized each year in America. Jessica Kahkoska serves as associate producer.

INSPIRED 5 will benefit two brave, bold, and commendable NYC rescue organizations: ANIMAL HAVEN & THE SECOND CHANCE RESCUE.

Animal Haven is a nonprofit organization that finds homes for abandoned cats and dogs throughout the Tri-State area, and provides behavior intervention when needed to improve chances of adoption. Founded in 1967, we operate an animal shelter in Manhattan. We also provide programs that enhance the bond between animals and people. www.AnimalHavenShelter.org

Second Chance Rescue was formed in 2009 on the firm belief that all animals deserve to be loved and cared for, and no animal should ever be abused, neglected or homeless. Our mission is to facilitate the adoption/rehoming of animals that have been abandoned, or given up by their former owners, and to place them in new loving homes. We are 100% not for profit and to date have relied solely on donations from the public. We rescue dogs and cats from the streets, as well as from "death row" at municipal shelters (predominantly NYC Animal Care & Control) around New York City. Before coming to us, most of the animals that we rescue have been abandoned or abused/neglected; a large number have serious medical issues and require immediate, emergency veterinary care. We protect and ensure the long-term well-being of these rescued animals by placing them in foster homes or private boarding facilities, where they are rehabilitated and cared for until a permanent home can be found. We do not have a 'physical' shelter and we rely on private individuals and volunteers to take the animals into their homes and give them the essential care and proper socialization that are needed to make them adoptable family pets. We are very passionate about our work; loving and caring for these animals unconditionally. All animals are transported to private veterinarians for proper medical treatment prior to adoption. All of our rescued animals are spayed/neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and heartworm tested before they are placed into new loving homes. Additionally, we work to generate awareness in the community about the prevention of animal abuse and neglect, as well as adoption of homeless animals and the importance of spay/neuter services, acting as a liaison between the public and organizations that provide low-cost spay/neuter programs around the New York City area. www.secondchancerescue.org

The line up for the October 18th 7pm concert & conversation features a wide array of artists including:

Andre Catrini is a composer/lyricist and musical director currently living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He is a member of the BMI-Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop, an alumnus of the ASCAP Johnny Mercer Songwriter's Workshop (plus a proud ASCAP member) and a graduate of the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati (CCM). In New York, Andre recently presented a concert of his material, All Because Of You, was part of the York Theatre's NEO 7 (New, Emerging, Outstanding) Concert, composed original pieces for Broadway Charity Songs in 2013 and 2014, Muse Match 2 (54 Below) and can be heard throughout many cabaret venues in the city. Andre is the founder and current member of the writing group THE CIRCLE SONGBOOK, comprised of twelve diverse contemporary musical theatre writers. Circle Songbook concerts are held twice a year in NYC (visit www.circlesongbook.com for more information). Andre is presently at work developing a new musical for which he is writing the Music & Lyrics. Previous writing credits include: Timmy the Wizard, Other Women, BLOCKED, Whisper, Love (for which a cast album is available) and concert presentations of All Because Of You, Songs From the Trunk, Exercises: Songs From Unwritten Musicals and A Little Self Indulgent Music. Sheet music can be obtained on request by writing: CatriniMusic@gmail.com. ??To hear more of Andre's work, visit his website at: ?www.andrecatrini.com

Bobby Cronin is an award-winning composer/writer whose current projects include: Sunset City with bookwriter Wade Dooley (2013 Running Deer Theatre Lab, 2014 Goodspeed Mercer Project, 2014 The Pitch at Finger Lakes Theatre); The Concrete Jungle with co-bookwriter Crystal Skillman, which was commissioned in 2012 for London's esteemed ArtsEd School (President: Andrew Lloyd Webber) and opened in London June 2012. Welcome To My Life (W2ML) currently under a Broadway option; ''Til Death Do Us Part (2012 Alec Baldwin Fellowship Winner, UK's S&S Award Finalist). Daybreak which won the 2011 New Jersey Playwrights Contest and premiered in Wayne, NJ & London's Tristan Bates Theatre June 2012. Currently writing Mary & Max with Crystal Skillman and Stafford Arima, Alone In The US, commissioned by CAP21 with Terry Berliner which was also seen at Marymount Manhattan College where it won "Best Musical" - it will also be produced in 2015 at New York Film Academy this January and The University of Cumbria in February. He wrote the score to the short musical film "Walk the Walk" for NYFA, where he is also on faculty and currently writing a techno-rock-opera film noir. He wrote the score for the webseries "Settling Up" which just finished filming in NYC. Other: York NEO 10 Fellow, 54 Below, Lincoln Center New Songbook Series, Birdland, Symphony Space, London's The Players Theatre & St. James Theatre, and more. "Reach The Sky: Live at The Beechman" and "The Concrete Jungle International Studio Cast Recording" both on iTunes. Yale graduate, Member of ASCAP, Dramatists Guild, and MMD (UK). @bobbycronin or www.bobbycronin.com

Julianne Wick Davis, composer/lyricist; Music for Southern Comfort with Dan Collins (book & lyrics), 2012 Jonathan Larson Award; Barrington Stage Company 2013; NAMT 2012; CAP21 2011; GLAAD Award 2011. Music and Lyrics for When We Met, Collins (book), 2012 O'Neill Musical Theatre Conference; developmental readings at Tri-Arts Playhouse, Williams College Summer Theatre Lab, Two River Theatre, York NEO Developmental Series 2013; developmental production at CAP21 2014; Bound for Broadway Concert 2014. Music for Trevor, Collins (book & lyrics) in development with URock Productions. Music & Lyrics, The Willard Asylum Suitcases: A Song Cycle. York NEO 9 Fellow; 2011 Dramatist Guild Fellow. MFA, Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.

Together, Ewalt & Walker are currently at work on two commissions; one from Broadway Across America about the American Lottery system, and Pumped, a fashionable new musical about the world of designer shoes from the producers of The Drowsy Chaperone. Their show, Bromance: The Dudesical was most recently performed in a sold-out concert version at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater starring Adam Chanler-Berat (Peter and The Starcatcher, Next to Normal), Jenn Colella (If/Then, Chaplin), Jason Tam (If/Then, Chorus Line), and Andrew Kober (Les Miz, Hair). Bromance has also been performed in concert at Caroline's on Broadway and 92Y Tribeca, and has been developed by GroundUp Productions. Other shows include Separate: Battle Songs of Youth, selected by Ars Nova for ANTFEST 2010, and The Making of Madeline Moore (The Merc NYC 2009). Their work has been seen in Michigan, Toronto, and London, and in New York at Playwrights Horizons, Joe's Pub, 54 Below, Theater Row, Galapagos Art Space, and as part of the We Are the Song Benefits for the After the Storm Foundation. They are also the curating producers of the new musical theater series, Behind the Music-al at 92YTribeca, which has featured songwriters including Duncan Sheik, Adam Guettel, Stephen Flaherty, Larry O'Keefe, Lisa Lambert, Ryan Scott Oliver, Kerrigan & Lowdermilk, Joe Iconis, Bobby Cronin, and Adam Gwon, amongst many others. www.ewaltandwalker.com

ADAM GWON is a composer/lyricist whose musicals Ordinary Days, Cloudlands, and The Boy Detective Fails have been produced at Roundabout Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory, Signature Theatre, and around the globe, including in London's West End. His songs have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and more, by such luminaries as Audra McDonald, Kelli O'Hara, and Brian d'Arcy James. Adam's honors include the Kleban, Ebb, and Loewe Awards for excellence in musical theater songwriting, the Second Stage Theatre Donna Perret Rosen Award, the Weston Playhouse New Musical Award, the ASCAP Harold Adamson Award, and the MAC John Wallowitch Award, as well as commissions from Roundabout, Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre, South Coast Rep, and Broadway Across America. Recordings include: Ordinary Days cast album (Ghostlight Records), Audra McDonald's Go Back Home (Nonesuch), Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project (Entertainment One). www.adamgwon.com

SAM WILLMOTT is a New York City-based composer/lyricist, and the recipient of the 2013 ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Award for Lyrics, the 2012 Fred Ebb Award, the 2012 John Wallowitch Award, and the 2009 Kennedy Center ACTF Musical Theater Award. Sam's written work includes Standardized Testing - The Musical!!!!; Yo, Vikings! (with lyricist Marcus Stevens); and the mini-musicals Scarlet Takes a Tumble and Shotgun Wedding (with Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew, part of The Exchange's 2013 24-Hour Musicals). Sam has been Composer-in-Residence at Goodspeed Musicals (2013, 2014) and the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center National Music Theater Conference (2013), and was also the first musical theatre writer to be recognized with the Exploring the Metropolis / ConEdison Musicians' Residency (2013). Sam's work as a music director, arranger, orchestrator and pianist has taken him from Radio City Music Hall to Key West to Abu Dhabi, UAE, with collaborators as diverse as five-time Tony-nominee Elizabeth Swados, Dan Goggin (Nunsense), and singer/songwriter Shaina Taub. In May 2012, he made his Broadway debut on the Key II book of Sister Act. Sam has spearheaded workshops, master classes and courses at such storied institutions as Interlochen Arts Camp, Emerson College and Harlem School of the Arts. He has also worked extensively at inner city schools throughout New York, most recently in conjunction with the Lincoln Center Songwriting in Schools Program. He is a proud contributing writer to the Korean children's language program, English Egg. Sam's additional accolades include a 2014/2015 NEO residency at the York Theatre (NYC); a 2013/2014 Dramatists Guild Fellowship; the 2013 ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop, led by panelists Stephen Schwartz (Wicked), Peter Schneider (Disney Animation) and Bob Alwine (Associate Producer at Goodspeed Musicals); a Tisch School of the Arts Trustee Scholarship; Interlochen Center for the Arts' prestigious Maddy Summer Artist Award; and two National Capital Area Cappie Awards. He is an alumnus of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, New York University and the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, and a member of the Dramatists Guild and the BMI Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop.

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