Premiere And Celebration Of '7th & SCHWARTZ' 12/13-12/14

On December 13th and 14th a special celebration will be taking place to honor beloved musical theater composer Stephen Schwartz, whose current musical WICKED is the most successful of all time. The Festival of New American Musicals with co-directors and producers, Debi and Asher Lewis, will premiere a new and original musical revue, 7TH & SCHWARTZ, highlighting songs from many Stephen Schwartz shows including Wicked, Pippin, Godspell, Children of Eden and more. The show's cast is comprised of professional adult actors and local performing arts students from our neighborhood schools, and will take place at the Thousand Oaks High School Performing Arts Center.

On Saturday evening, December 13th, celebrity host Michael Arden who will star in the new revival of Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum, will be a featured performer, and Joel Grey has promised to make an appearance. There will be a silent auction beginning at 6pm featuring signed musical theater memorabilia and more, followed by the show which begins at 8pm. On Sunday afternoon, December 14th, the 2:00pm show will be followed by a question and answer session hosted by the author of Wicked the Musical, Winnie Holtzman.

7TH & SCHWARTZ will be the first preview event introducing the Festival's second year which will take place in the spring and summer of '09 throughout Southern California. The Festival of New American Musicals is a non profit organization dedicated to celebrating the return of musical theater to the center of our popular culture and showcasing the extraordinary creative and performing talents of Southern California. Among the impressive honorary chairs, sit musical theater legends, Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Jerry Herman, Jason Alexander and Angela Lansbury.

For tickets go to www.lafestival.org and click on 7th & Schwartz.