A new musical inspired by historical events is set to receive a world premiere production in Los Angeles. Featuring a crowd-pleasing Europop score by Tony Spinosa, who will also direct, with book and lyrics by Spinosa and James Bearhart, Singing Revolution: The Musical will open on Saturday, January 15 at the Broadwater Theatre on Hollywood's Theater Row, with performances continuing through Feb. 20.
Singing Revolution is a tale of star-crossed lovers against the beautiful, moving and timeless true story of Estonia's 1987 song-filled, peaceful uprising against the Soviet Union.
"As a passionate theater professional for over 30 years, I have always been on the lookout for the inspiration for an original musical," says Spinosa. "When I first learned about Estonia's 'Singing Revolution,' a light bulb went off in my head: people using the power of peaceful resistance, literally singing as a shield against Soviet attacks, is a story that I knew needed to be told."
"Singing Revolution" is a commonly used name for the nonviolent movement that led to the 1991 restoration of independence of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from the Soviet Union. Starting in 1987, Estonians engaged in a series of mass demonstrations, including spontaneous singing of national songs which were banned during the Soviet occupation. Raising the banned Estonian flag while gathering en masse and singing banned patriotic songs, the movement eventually gained the support of the republic's ruling Communist Party in defying Moscow, faced down Soviet tanks, and successfully declared Estonian independence
Tony Spinosa is a producer, stage director, choreographer, writer, arts leader and performer. He has directed over 50 theatrical productions across the United States. At a very early age, Tony was mentored by theater legend
Michael Bennett, and he made his Broadway debut in Peter Pan with
Cathy Rigby. Tony became the resident director of the Tony Award-winning, Broadway revival of La Cage aux Folles in 2010. He has produced numerous events for Broadway Cares, TDF and The Actors Fund, including the recent mega-hits Thoroughly Modern Millie, Bombshell in Concert, [title of show] in Concert and They're Playing Our Song in Concert. As a director/choreographer, Tony's award-winning work include: Newsies, West Side Story and Cats. Select regional productions include: Hairspray, Fame: The Musical, The Music Man, Oliver, Kiss Me, Kate, Fiddler on the Roof and La Cage Aux Folles.
For more information about Singing Revolution: The Musical, visit
singingrevolutionthemusical.com.
Comments
To post a comment, you must
register and
login.
