WELCOME TO MY WORLD, Starring Sami Staitman, Premieres Tonight in Burbank

Welcome to My World, starring Sami Staitman, is the first ever one-girl musical written for and about a fourteen-year-old. The musical will have its world premiere tonight, September 10, and continue through September 27, 2015 at the Grove Theatre in Burbank, CA. The official Press and Gala opening will be September 12th at 8pm.

The Disney Channel's Corey Fogelmanis ("Farkel" on Girl Meets World), who appears as a Special Guest on the show's upcoming Kritzerland Records' CD Cast recording, will be on hand opening weekend for a private Meet & Greet with fans who have donated to the production.

With Book, Music and Lyrics by Grammy nominated Producer/Director/Writer/Composer Bruce Kimmel, Welcome to My World takes you into the world of a bright, funny, irreverent and iconoclastic young girl named Molly, who has her own very unique way of looking at things and life. Through a series of monologues and songs, we learn all about what makes her tick, what her views are on any number of topics, and how she navigates herself through the sometimes tortuous territory that is teen life.

Kimmel and Staitman have worked together in his productions of his World-Premiere Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse musical revue, Pure Imagination (at the Pacific Resident Theatre); his critically acclaimed production of Li'l Abner; in his hit web series Outside The Box (seen exclusively on BroadwayWorld.com); and in Kimmel's highly popular, longtime Kritzerland composer tribute series at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal.

ABOUT SAMI STAITMAN - Sami, a millennium child, has been performing on stage since she was 4, where it was love a first footlight! Sami's first professional gig was at the age of 8 and she hasn't stopped since. She adores musical theatre and has over 30 credits on stage. She is equally at home in front of the camera or in a recording studio singing and recording voice-over. Sami has performed on stages all across the country from Los Angeles to New York. She is part of a very active cabaret scene performing in Los Angeles and in NYC alongside some of the great talents in musical theatre and cabaret today. Sami earned her Equity card at the age of 11 for the title role of Annie at the Pioneer Theatre Company. Sami balances school with a professional acting and singing schedule performing in cabarets around the country and also taking part in musical theatre productions, readings and workshops, TV/Film & Voiceover. All this and she competes on the Comedy Sportz LA High School Team. She's fortunate that she has a school that is supportive of her career and a loving family that is by her side. At school, as a part of her core curriculum she takes American Sign Language as her foreign language requirement and she's a natural. In January, 2015, Sami was nominated for three Robby Awards, from Los Angeles critic Rob Stevens who recognizes the best of theatre in Southern California. www.samistaitman.com

ABOUT COREY FOGELMANIS' INVOLVEMENT - Corey Fogelmanis, "Farkle" on the Disney Channel's mega-hit TV show Girl Meets World, has been involved with theatre from a very young age; and this year was honored to receive an Arts Advocate Award for his dedication to community theatre. Staitman and Fogelmanis have been close, longtime friends and, together, have performed in numerous stage shows and on TV and in films. Because of their shared passion for musical theatre, Corey lent his support to Welcome to My World by not only agreeing to be a part of the musical's upcoming Kritzerland Records' CD Cast recording by singing a special bonus track titled "Everything Is Gonna Be Alright", and will appear opening weekend at a private Meet & Greet event for fans who donated to the production. For more information about the CD, visit www.GetTheCD.com.

CREATIVE TEAM MEMBERS: Producers are One Girl Entertainment and Kritzerland Entertainment. Written and directed by Bruce Kimmel. Musical Direction: Alby Potts. Lighting Design by Shelly Callahan. Sets by Rei Yamamoto. Costumes by Natalie Shahinyan. Stage Manager: Victoria Chediak. Publicity and Public Relations is by Michael Sterling.

BRUCE KIMMEL (Director/Composer/Writer) - wrote, directed and starred in the cult movie hit, The First Nudie Musical (available on a Special Edition Blu-ray). He also co-created (with David Wechter) the story for the hit film, The Faculty, directed by Robert Rodriguez. As an actor, Mr. Kimmel guest-starred on most of the long-running television shows of the 1970s, including The Partridge Family (recurring), Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, MASH, Alice, and many others, including leading roles in several pilots for all three of the major networks. Mr. Kimmel is a legendary Grammy-nominated producer of theatre music on CD, having produced over 180 albums. He has produced solo albums for Petula Clark, Helen Reddy, Jason Graae, Liz Callaway, Christiane Noll, Rebecca Luker, Brent Barrett, Sally Mayes, Judy Kaye, Judy Kuhn, and many others. In addition to the albums he has personally produced, Kimmel has also released over four hundred classic cast albums and soundtracks, including his acclaimed remix of the original cast albums of Follies; Promises, Promises and Sugar. His label, Kritzerland, issues a new CD every two weeks. For nearly five years he has been producing and hosting a series of live entertainment tributes based on albums he's produced. The series takes place at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal in North Hollywood and features top regional singers and special guest stars. He is also the creator, writer, and director of the popular web series, Outside the Box. Most recently he directed a critically acclaimed production of Li'l Abner; and took a sampling of his Kritzerland shows to New York. He also directed the hit Los Angeles musical revival of Inside Out, and One Starry Night: From Broadway to Hollywood, a benefit for ALS at the Pasadena Playhouse which starred Renee Zellweger, Petula Clark, Melissa Manchester, and Ed Asner, among others.

ALBY POTTS (Musical Director). Credits include Singin In The Rain (Ovation Award winner) and Miss Saigon (Ovation nomination), Chicago musical directing credits include Into The Woods and Brigadoon (Jeff Award nominations). Alby has played keyboards for national tours of Book Of Mormon, Wizard of Oz, Evita, Wicked, Addams Family, West Side Story, White Christmas, Spamalot among others, and many LA area productions. Also a composer, his CD Dreaming For Real charted number one on independent radio stations. Film scores include Dance, Season of Change, and Frozen in Fear. Alby graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University. He most recently served as Musical Director for the LA hit revival of Inside Out.

IF YOU GO:

WELCOME TO MY WORLD

Previews: Thursday, September 10 at 8pm; Friday, September 11, at 8pm

Runs: Saturday, September 12 - Sunday, September 27. Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 2pm

Tickets: Gala Opening Night September 12. $27 Fri, Sat: $25 Sunday Matinee. Telephone Ticket Reservations: Plays 411 - (323) 960-7787 or reserve online at www.plays411.com/world

Running time: 85 minutes. There will be no intermission.

Theatre: Grove Theatre Center - Burbank, 1111-B West Olive Ave, Burbank, CA 91506

Ample Street Parking

The GCT is located in the center of George Izay Park - across from the baseball field. Parking is located off 1100 W Clark Ave. and along Olive Ave. Wheelchair accessible. On-site concessions.

To post a comment, you must register and login.