TUT's VOTE! A New Musical Featured On Original Cast Recording

Theatre Under The Stars' Humphreys School of Musical Theatre is pleased to announce their debut in to the music recording industry with the production and release of their first album, VOTE! A New Musical, The Original Cast Recording. The new album, which coincides with TUTS' Southwest regional premiere of VOTE! A New Musical, features the extraordinary talent of 35 local-area high school students. This 13-track recording will be available for purchase on iTunes in early September, in the TUTS' Encore Boutique and at performances of VOTE! A New Musical at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, September 16 - 17, 2011.

Written by two Rice University alumni, Ryann Ferguson (book and lyrics) and Steven Jamail (music and lyrics), VOTE! A New Musical tells the classic high school story of young adults coming into their own in an effort to be true to themselves - even if, at times, they fail. The development of VOTE! with the Humphreys School went beyond the stage and into the recording booth at Sunrise Sound Studio with veteran sound engineer, Buzz Smith. The creation of the new cast album allows the Humphreys School to retain their status as the best musical theatre training in Houston by providing their students with the knowledge and skills needed to work in the entertainment business. "The unique opportunity to have the full cast of VOTE! in a professional recording studio allows our students a rich educational experience much like the first time a young performer steps into the spotlight on stage. The Humphrey School of Musical Theatre strives to push our students beyond their comfort zone - to offer new entertainment industry opportunities that will shape them into well rounded performers, and superior individuals." said Bob Lawson, TUTS' Director of Education.

The all-teen cast, made entirely of students from the award-winning Humphreys School, spent their summer vacation rehearsing and recording all the vocal tracks that appear on the new cast album. The following students and cast members are featured in the eagerly-anticipated recording: Carley Nunn (Muffin Pasquinelli), Grant Brown (Mark Boyd), Kristen DelBosque (Nikki Murphy), Melissa Beaird (Trish Yoder), Drew Jones (Nathan), Max Bailey (Brody Cox), Ryan Kennedy (Mike Downing), Brittany Ardoin (Ms. Verona Fowler), Austin Arizpe, Maci Bass, Meredith Bechtel, Monica Brown, Drew Carr, Rebecca Eckert, Natalie Flores, Mia Gerachis, Roderick Green, Sean Hardin, Matt Hawes, Haylee Hoelscher, Brooke Humphrey, Keenan Hurley, Liam Johnson, Connor Jones, Megan McGuff, McCall Montz, Madie Plum, Ragan Richardson, Lindsay Sloan, Mason Smajstrla, Matthew Smith, Corwin Stoddard, Robert Terry, Sandy Valles, Christian Warner and Andrew Wesley.

John L. Cornelius II serves as the Music Director for VOTE! A New Musical and worked closely with the show's composer, Steven Jamail, to prepare the vocal arrangements for the production and cast recording. Cornelius has been the music director/arranger/composer for a number of theatres including The Great Caruso, The Ensemble Theatre, Main Street Theatre, as well as Theatre Under The Stars. His previous work with the Humphreys School includes music directing for The Who's Tommy and 13, and co-creating the The Stephen Schwartz Project.

In addition to the show's existing ten tracks, the creators of VOTE! A New Musical were commissioned to create three new songs specifically for the production with Theatre Under The Stars. The album will include all 13 tracks.

VOTE! A New Musical Track Listing:

1. Everyone Has a Dream

2. Hands of a Surgeon

3. Ambition

4. D Gates

5. Be Aggressive

6. Time Doesn't Solve Problems

7. I Sell You What

8. Diva President

9. Vote - Part 1

10. Paper Planes

11. Villain's Girl

12. Mr. President

13. Vote - Part 2

Tickets for VOTE! A New Musical are available on-line at www.tuts.com, by phone at (713) 558-8887, outside the Houston area at (888) 558-3882, or in person at the Theatre Under The Stars Box Office, (800 Bagby at Walker, Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat-Sun 11am-4pm). A student matinee performance for school and home-schooled groups is available and may be purchased by calling TUTS' Group Sales at (713) 558-8888 or via email at groupsales@tuts.com. Tickets are available for September 16 at 7:30 p.m. and September 17 at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Founded in 1968, Theatre Under The Stars is Houston's acclaimed non-profit musical theatre company under the direction of President and CEO John C. Breckenridge. TUTS was the first theatrical organization in Houston to perform free to the public in 1968 at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park, and is the only Houston arts organization that has performed there free to the public every year since the building opened. Since its founding by Frank M. Young, TUTS has produced more than 300 musicals including many local, national and world premieres such as Kopit and Yeston's Phantom, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Jekyll & Hyde, and Irving Berlin's White Christmas as well as critically acclaimed re-inventions of classics Cabaret and Les Miserables. Through its membership in the Independent Presenters Network, TUTS has helped bring Bombay Dreams, 9 to 5, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Spamalot, Legally Blonde, Ragtime, Curtains and The Color Purple to Broadway.

As a way to continue the tradition of musical theatre, TUTS Education provides instruction and stage experience for more than 21,000 students annually, allowing students to flourish in a year-round schedule of classes. With a common goal - to expand arts access to children of all abilities - The River Performing and Visual Arts Center (The River) merged with Theatre Under The Stars in 2010, creating a unique, barrier free, arts education model for non-profit musical theatre performing arts organizations. With the merger, TUTS Education now provides extended on-site programming as well as off-site programming for children in schools, hospitals and other community-based sites. Housed in the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, TUTS also annually presents the Tommy Tune Awards, honoring the best and brightest in Houston's high school musical theatre programs.

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