Tony Nominee Andrew Lippa Coming to Millikin University for New Musicals Workshop

Millikin University's Department of Theatre and Dance welcomes Tony and Grammy Award-nominated composer Andrew Lippa as this year's guest artist for Millikin's New Musicals Workshop Jan. 16-18, 2015.

Millikin's New Musicals Workshop offers students and faculty Performance Learning opportunities to collaborate with professional writers as they develop new musicals intended for commercial production. The collaboration provides Millikin students with a valuable first-hand look into the process of developing and rehearsing a new musical from the ground up, while providing the writers with a laboratory environment where they may access Millikin's student talent pool, facilities and departmental resources.

Throughout the workshop, Lippa will work with students on a variety of his own musical compositions. The workshop will culminate with a Cabaret Performance and an audience Q&A on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. The performance will be held at 7 p.m. in Kaeuper Hall, Perkinson Music Center, on Millikin's campus.

Andrew Lippa originated the role of Harvey Milk in June 2013 for the piece's world premiere with the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus and Tony winner Laura Benanti. He will reprise the role this July at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles with over 500 men from choruses around the country. He wrote the Drama Desk Award-nominated music and lyrics for the musical "Big Fish" which recently played Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre. "Life of the Party," an evening celebrating his words and music, premieres at London's award-winning Menier Chocolate Factory this summer, with Lippa leading the cast.

Lippa wrote the Tony Award-nominated music and lyrics for the Broadway musical "The Addams Family." "The Addams Family" has appeared on tour in the U.S. and is an international success with productions in Sao Paulo, Lima, Sweden, Tokyo, Sydney, Buenos Aires and soon to be in Mexico City, Seoul, Germany, the UK and many more. He also wrote the music for the Broadway production of Aaron Sorkin's play "The Farnsworth Invention." Other musicals include the Drama Desk Award-winning musical "The Wild Party" (book/music/lyrics), "A Little Princess" (music), "john & jen" (music/book), "Asphalt Beach" (music/lyrics) and "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" (additional music/lyrics and new arrangements). He is currently working on a musical adaptation of Jules Feiffer's book "The Man In The Ceiling," in which he will also perform.

His songs have been recorded by such esteemed artists as Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Nathan Lane, Norbert Leo Butz, Julia Murney and Peter Cincotti. Lippa served as music director and conductor for Kristin Chenoweth's sold-out shows at the Metropolitan Opera House, Carnegie Hall (2004) and the Donmar Warehouse in London as well as with the San Francisco, Chicago, and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras.

Lippa's accolades include Tony and Grammy Award nominations, the Gilman/Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation Award, ASCAP's Richard Rodgers/New Horizons Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Andrew Lippa serves on the council of The Dramatists Guild and is a graduate of the University of Michigan.

For more information on Andrew Lippa, visit andrewlippa.com.

"The New Musicals Workshop personifies Performance Learning by offering students the unique opportunity to develop professional relationships while collaborating in the artistic process of creating a new work," said Sean Morrissey, Millikin interim chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance. "It is a professional collaboration with, in some cases, award-winning artists which produces quantifiable professional outcomes. Andrew Lippa ranks among the best of the best in musical theatre writing and we are thrilled he has accepted Millikin's invitation to be this year's visiting artist."

Andrew Lippa's appearance is made possible by a Millikin University Performance Learning Enhancement Grant (PLEG). Performance Learning Enhancement Grants were initiated by Millikin University during the 2012-2013 academic year as a means of supporting new initiatives to identify and enhance Performance Learning within academic programs.

Millikin boasts one of the oldest and most respected undergraduate theatre programs in the country. Nationwide, Millikin's respected alumni are routinely hired for projects in television, film and live theatre, including top Broadway shows. For more information on Millikin's Department of Theatre and Dance and the New Musicals Workshop, visit millikin.edu/theatre.

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