de Haas, Alers, Dixon & More Lead The O'Neill 's Music Theater Conference 6/26-7/16

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, recently awarded the 2010 Regional Theater Tony Award, has announced cast members for this summer's National Music Theater Conference.
 
The Conference, under the leadership of Artistic Director Paulette Haupt, runs from June 26 through July 16 at the O'Neill's Waterford, Connecticut campus and will develop three music theater pieces. 
 
In announcing this year's NMTC actors, Ms. Haupt remarked, "Casts at the National Music Theater Conference play a vital role in the development of a new work.  Their willingness to go out on a limb each day to bring their characters to life enables the authors and composers to learn what is on the page and what still remains to be written to tell the story they want to tell.  We are fortunate indeed for the superb actors who join us this summer."
 
Buddy's Tavern:  Kim Oler, Composer; Alison Hubbard, Lyricist; Raymond De Felitta, Librettist; with public staged readings on June 26, 27, 30, and July 2, will feature cast members Allison Briner, Darius de Haas, Jordan Gelber, Michaela Koerner, Jodie Langel, William Parry, Steve Routman, and Lindsey Van Winkle.
 
Clear:  Paul Oakley Stovall, Book, Lyrics and Music (additional music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, additional music also by Irv Johnson and Stephen Goers); with public readings on July 3, 4, 7, and 9, will feature Yasmin Alers, Ken Barnett, Clifton Duncan, George Farmer, Ryan Link, Leenya Rideout, Brad Simmons, and Paul Oakley Stovall.
 
Eden:  Mel Marvin, Composer; Jonathan Levi, Librettist/Lyricist; with public readings on July 10, 11, 14, and 16, will feature Angel Desai, Jerry Dixon, Celisse Henderson, Janine LaMana, Matthew Scott, and Bob Stillman.
 
Tickets are now on sale for this year's summer conferences, including along with the National Music Theater Conference:   National Puppetry Conference 20th Anniversary performances on June 18 and 19; National Playwrights Conference public staged readings July 9 - 31, and Cabaret & Performance Conference presentations August 4 - 14. Tickets may be ordered online at www.theoneill.org or through the box office at 860.443.1238. Discounted tickets are available to O'Neill Members; for information, email Membership@theoneill.org or call 860-443-5378 x211.
 
The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964 in honor of Eugene O'Neill, four-time Pulitzer Prize Winner and America's only playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, is the country's preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the American theater.  The O'Neill has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full production at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, Off-Broadway and major regional theaters.
 
O'Neill programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Critics Institute, National Puppetry Conference, the Cabaret & Performance Conference, and National Theater Institute, which conducts semester-long, fully intensive theater training programs and Theatermakers, a six-week summer program.
 
In addition, the O'Neill owns and operates Monte Cristo Cottage as a museum open to the public. Childhood summer home of Eugene O'Neill, the Cottage is a National Historic Landmark.
 
The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center received the 2010 Tony Award for Regional Theater, a special Tony Award for Theatrical Excellence in 1979, the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theatre Excellence, and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. For more information, visit www.theoneill.org or email theaterlives@theoneill.org