Justin Guarini and Leslie Uggams Set for Bucks County Playhouse Tonight

Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) has announced the launch of a 2014 winter concert series, kicking off with the World Premiere of Justin Guarini LOVESICK, a new show from Justin Guarini and directed by Gordon Greenberg.

LOVESICK is Guarani's tribute to all the crazy places love has taken him - from a Catholic School closet in Doylestown, PA to American Idol in Hollywood and ultimately, to Broadway and back home to Bucks County. With a nine-piece band and music from Burt Bacharach to Beck to Ben Folds, LOVESICK promises to be an evening of raucous and revealing storytelling.

Justin Guarini LOVESICK debuts over two performances Valentine's Day Weekend as part of Bucks County Playhouse's new winter concert series. Performances: Tonight Friday, February 14 at 8pm and tomorrow, February 15 at 8pm.

Making her debut at the Bucks County Playhouse is Tony and Emmy Award-winning Leslie Uggams, whose career has spanned Broadway, Hollywood and concert stages around the world. From the age of six, when she opened for artists from Louis Armstrong to Ella Fitzgerald at the famed Apollo Theatre, to her star-making appearances on "Sing along with Mitch" and "Roots", to scores of Broadway appearances (Hallelujah Baby, Thoroughly Modern Millie, On Golden Pond and Anything Goes), Ms. Uggams has captivated audiences with her vocal virtuosity. In AN EVENING WITH Leslie Uggams directed by Michael Bush, Leslie will perform a variety of her classic, signature songs all in one evening audiences won't forget. One performance only: Saturday, February 22nd at 8pm.

For full details, and to purchase tickets, visit bcptheater.org or call 215-862-2121.

The Bucks County Playhouse, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, is committed to providing the finest in theatrical entertainment for visitors and residents of New Hope and the Bucks County area. The mission of the Bucks County Playhouse is to present first class professional entertainment and regain The Playhouse's historic place in the national theatrical landscape; and to stimulate, support, inspire and celebrate the performing arts in New Hope and Bucks County via our involvement with community programs, partnerships and arts education.

Located 90 minutes from New York City, the Bucks County Playhouse opened in 1939 on the site of a gristmill dating from the late eighteenth century. Ironically, the structure was at that time in danger of demolition; however playwright Moss Hart and the local community rallied to save the building and re-opened it as a theatrical venue, which quickly became one of the country's most famous regional theaters, with a veritable who's who of American theatrical royalty including Helen Hayes, Kitty Carlisle, Colleen Dewhurst, Shirley Booth, Lillian Gish, Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Bert Lahr, Leslie Nielsen, Walter Matthau, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Rob Reiner, Alan Alda, Tyne Daly, Mike Nichols, Liza Minnelli and Audra McDonald and remained in continuous operation until December 2010.

Terrence McNally's Mothers and Sons, starring Tyne Daly, received its world premiere at the Bucks County Playhouse and will make the leap to Broadway this spring, returning The Playhouse to its roots as an incubator for Broadway (starting with 1951′s The Fourposter starring Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn, Neil Simon's first play Come Blow Your Horn, and Barefoot in the Park starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley).

Thanks to the Bridge Street Foundation, the nonprofit family foundation of Kevin and Sherri Daugherty, this beloved theatrical landmark was re-opened and celebrated on July 2, 2012, exactly 73 years and a day from when it originally opened in 1939. The Bucks County Playhouse is located at 70 South Main Street in New Hope, PA.

Justin Guarini, Broadway: Romeo and Juliet (Paris) American Idiot (Will), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Carlos, original cast). Solo albums: Justin Guarini RCA Records: Stranger Things Have Happened. Theater: Ghost Brothers of Darkland County (Drake); Rent (Roger); Chicago (Mr. Flynn); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ( Joseph): Once on This Island (Daniel), The Little Prince (Prince). Film: Fast Girl (Darryl), From Justin to Kelly (Justin). TV: "American Idol" season 1 runner-up (Fox), "Run of the House" (Fox), "Film Fakers" (AMC), "Gone Country" (CMT season 3), TV Guide Network, host/correspondent; "Live With Regis & Kelly" (guest host, ABC). Other: Disney World's The American Idol Experience, virtual host. Justin is currently involved with the ETM-LA (Education Through Music Los Angeles) that funds music programs in disadvantaged schools.

Leslie Uggams is a Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer whose career has brought her from Harlem to Broadway, the big screen (Skyjacked) to television (The Leslie Uggams Show). Perhaps best known for her stirring portrayal of Kizzy in the landmark TV mini-series Alex Haley's Roots (Critics Choice Award, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations), Ms. Uggams has performed to critical and popular acclaim ever since her first professional appearances at the age of nine at the famed Apollo Theater.

Currently Ms. Uggams has been touring nationally, performing to sold-out audiences, with her autobiographical one-woman musical Uptown/Downtown (LA Drama Critics Circle Award, NAACP Theatre Award, IRNE Award, Broadway World People's Choice Award), which chronicles her extraordinary career in stories and song. Ms. Uggams also recently starred in the Broadway-bound world premiere of Stormy Weather: The Lena Horne Story (Ovation nomination) at the Pasadena Playhouse in California, breaking that theater's all-time house attendance record.

On Broadway Ms. Uggams made her stunning musical theater debut starring in Hallelujah, Baby! earning both Tony and Theater World awards. Since then she has starred on Broadway in Blues in the Night, Her First Roman with Richard Kiley, Jerry's Girls, Anything Goes at the Lincoln Center Theatre (also the first national tour), King Headley II with Brian Stokes Mitchell (Tony Award nomination), Thoroughly Modern Millie, and most recently On Golden Pond opposite James Earl Jones.

Ms. Uggams' still vibrant television career, which began at the age of six portraying Ethel Waters' niece on the TV series Beulah, spans decades. As a regular on Sing Along with Mitch Leslie was the first African American performer to be featured on a weekly national primetime television series. Other guest appearances include The Muppets and Sesame Street, The Good Wife, Memphis Beat and NYC 22.

In concert Ms. Uggams has toured with Peter Nero and Mel Torme; performed at the Hollywood Bowl in Jerry Herman's Broadway, an all-star tribute to the legendary composer; and appeared as a guest soloist with numerous symphony orchestras across the country, including The Cincinnati Pops, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, The Washington Symphony Orchestra and The Rhode Island Symphony.

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