MMD and ANMT Hold IN THE MIND OF OLYMPIANS Concert, 2/14

London: the birthplace of so many great musicals, and the host of the 2012 Olympics. Now, put those two ideas together, and you get a new musical revue about the Olympics. It's called In the Mind of Olympians, and it's being co-written by writers in London as well as Los Angeles, through Mercury Musical Developments in London and the Academy for New Musical Theatre in Los Angeles.

You can get a behind-the-scenes look at this revue, before the general public sees it this summer, in a special concert at the Colony Theatre, at 7:30pm on February 14th.

The athletes featured in the 1948 portions of the revue are based on real men and women who competed in London, right after World War II ended; the athletes in 2012 are composites of contemporary athletes.

'Comparing 1948 London to NOW gives us a sobering and exhilarating perspective,' says Scott Guy, one of the three book writers of the revue, 'seeing how much the world has changed since London last hosted the Olympics: there were so many athletes back then competing out of patriotism, and now Olympians are selling their citizenship to the highest bidder. Or, did you know that women weren't allowed to run the marathon until the 1970's? The longest distance they were allowed to run in 1948 was 800 meters. Writing this revue allows us to shine spotlights on real people with real issues, comparing them to our own issues...what's changed? What's frighteningly the same?'

There are three bookwriters on the project, and twelve different songwriting teams. Two bookwriters are British, one is American, and the song writing teams are from both sides of the Pond as well.

'It is thrilling working again with London musical theatre writers,' says Elise Dewsberry, the Academy's Artistic Director, 'We developed four shows with Mercury Musicals back around 2005, when it made economic sense to mail a crate full of VHS tapes to London. Now, of course, we're streamcasting live rehearsals, and uploading videos and mp3's and Skyping, and so we're working even more closely with the writers. We're hoping to workshop the whole show this summer, and then inspire a series of productions all across the country in 2012.'

British writers of the show include: Craig Adams, Mark Allcorn, Michael Dresser, Richard Free, and Peter Shrubshall. American writers include: Jake Anthony, Richard Castle, Scott Guy, Carl Johnson, Larry Todd Johnson, Matthew Levine, Robin Share, Chana Wise, and Clay Zambo.

The concert is directed by: Lindsey Hendrickson, David Holmes, Todd Nielsen, Luke Yankee, and Peter Welkin. Music Direction is by Ross Källing. Stage Management is by Kevin Meoak.

The cast includes: Noel Britton, Elise Dewsberry, Randy Guiaya, Scott Guy, David Holmes, Mike Irizarry, Evan Laffer, Christiana Moffa, Minta Mullins, Sari Rose Poll, Andrea Press, Sara J. Stuckey, Tedd Szeto, Christina Valo, and Peter Welkin.

The concert on February 14th presents seven sections of the revue; the second half of the evening features another musical in development, Windjammers, telling the dramatic stories of the men and women of the Great Lakes' shipping industry in the 19th century.

Admission is $10 at the door, or make reservations at the Academy's website: www.anmt.org.

 

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