'4@15' Runs This Weekend at The Playroom Theater

4@15: Four New Fifteen-Minute Musicals, performed in conjunction with University of California, Irvine, will commence performances Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18, for three performances only at the Playroom Theater featuring new works by By Sujin Kim and Daphny Maman, David Christensen and Michael Shapiro, Ryan Korell and Jonathan Keebler, and Minjoung Hwang and Brandon Michael Lowden. Tammy Holder serves as Music Director; Brian Blythe directs.

4@15 commissions musical theatre writing teams to write mini-musicals for musical theatre actors from UCI's New York Satellite Program (Dr. Myrona DeLaney, Director). The writers are given two weeks to write the new musicals tailored specifically for the talents of the actors, culminating in a staged concert performance. Now in its ninth year, this cycle represents the 61st, 62nd, 63rd and 64th show in the 4@15 catalog.

Performances are Friday, April 17, at 11 AM and 3 PM; and Saturday, April 18 at 11 AM and 4 PM. Tickets: $10 (general admission) available online at: 4at15uci2015.eventbrite.com. Performances at The Playroom Theater, 151 W 46th Street, 8th Floor.

The four new musicals include:

A DEADLY SINGER MYSTERY

By Sujin Kim & Daphny Maman

Manhattan, 1945. Lily Fleming, the famous Broadway star, was poisoned to death at a jazz club. Detectives White and Harris arrive at the crimes scene to solve the mystery behind her murder.

With Elora Casados, Troy Dailey, Jessica Mason, Shayanne Ortiz, Kaitlyn Summers, Bryce Vaewsorn, Adam Williams

CAN YOU HEAR ME BETTY WHITE?

Book, Music, & Lyrics by David Christensen & Michael Shapiro

Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, and Bea Arthur can't ascend into heaven without Betty White, so they do what any normal ghost would do: they attempt to murder her.

With Robert Born, Audrey Eytchison, Jazzmine Farol, Rebecca Frechette, Sarah McGuire, Amanda Melhuish, Kaley Milligan, Nickolas Powers

WORLDS APART

Music by Ryan Korell

Book & Lyrics by Jonathan Keebler

A group of old high school friends reunite after their first semester of college. Will it be like old times or can nothing ever be the same?

With Elise Borgfeldt, Sara Hopp, Claudia Lynch, Tariq Malik, Sergio Salinas, Abigail Schwartz, Michael Stancliff

LET HER KICK

Music by Minjoung Hwang

Book & Lyrics by Brandon Michael Lowden

Gaby kicks for the Barnesville High football team. But can a GIRL play in the championship?! Female athletes of the 1990s navigate this courtroom drama.

With Joseph Abrego, Max Black, Shelby Eser, Jamie Espiritu, Jessica Merghart, Amanda Minano, Andrew Mondello, Amanda Tannenbaum

More info on the writers:

DAVID CHRISTENSEN and MICHAEL SHAPIRO were born on the border of Florida and Connecticut. They finally met in their freshman year at the Boston Conservatory and from that point on, they knew each other. Michael thought that David was pretty cool, and David had no opinion of Michael whatsoever, in fact, for a while, he thought Michael was a Centaur but realized his mistake upon discovering that Michael was Jewish; American centaurs are rarely Jewish. After two years as classmates and another year where they were attempting to murder each other because of an argument about who really deserved to win the 2007 National Dog Show Presented by Purina, they realized that it was their destiny to build the greatest henge the world has ever seen! That failed, so now they write musicals. In addition to graduating from the Boston Conservatory with their BFAs in musical theatre, they are also proud members of the BMI Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Writers Workshop where they began developing several shows, including their musical Cookies which has had multiple readings in NYC and beyond. Most recently they were seen at 54 Below with a night of original songs and/or Dutch fisherman's tales, depending on whom you ask. Both David and Michael have been sorted into Ravenclaw.

MINJOUNG HWANG is originally from Seoul, Korea, and received her BA in Music Composition from Chugye University and MFA from NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, where she was also a recipient of the Tisch Achievement Scholarship. She wrote the music for The Fantastic Musical Adventure of Kira Starcloud with Brandon Michael Lowden, Three Ninjas with Anita Reyes, and Self-Portrait, Six Month Club, and Mom Mom with Andrew Lim. She is currently working as a composer and music director for Meta Artists Troupe.

JONATHAN KEEBLER is a lyricist and book writer originally from Delray Beach, Florida. He holds an MFA in musical theatre writing from NYU Tisch and a BA in theatre arts from Rollins College. Previous works include Gay Card with Ryan Korell, The Good Child with Insoo Oh, and The Sophomores with Jamie Lee Jacobs. Upcoming projects include a short movie musical, A Most Average Musical, screenplay and directed by Talia Berger, music by Bob Kelly, and a retelling of Lucifer's fall from grace with Ryan Korell.

SUJIN KIM is a musical theatre/jazz composer living in New York City. She graduated from Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU in May, 2013. She also graduated from Berklee College of Music in jazz composition (May, 2011) and from Yonsei University in classical composition (May 2001). Sujin has written music for TV drama and incidental music for websites and ringtones at Soundpolis in Korea in 2005. Her musical, Wait!, words by Daphny Maman, was read by equity actors at NYU in May 2013. Recently, Sujin was the musical director for, Sunday in the Park With George at Burning Cole Theatre in Raleigh, North Carolina in November, 2013. She also music directs concerts for Enob which is a non-profit organization in New York City. Currently, Sujin teaches piano and musical theatre to young children.

RYAN KORELL started writing musicals at age 12 in Chicago suburb, Naperville, IL. Now age 24 and living in Queens, he writes better musicals, thanks to a music degree from Vanderbilt University and a master's from the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Ryan wrote his thesis masterpiece, Gay Card, with Jonathan Keebler while simultaneously serving as the music assistant for the Broadway production of The Bridges of Madison County. His work has since been seen at the likes of 54 Below, Form Theatricals, and the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony. Ryan is a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild.

BRANDON MICHAEL LOWDEN is a Pittsburgh-raised, NYC-based writer of musicals, plays, kids' shows, novelty songs, album-oriented rock, underground rap, etc. Sample work: The Fantastic Musical Adventure of Kira Starcloud (w/ Minjoung Hwang), Strange Faces (w/ Andrea Grody), That Time We Found a Sasquatch in the Woods (w/ Nichole Jackson & Scotty Arnold). Education: Princeton University (where the Triangle Club still performs his songs annually), NYU Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing. Other proud associations: Dramatists Guild, Contemporary Theater Co. (RI), Musical Theatre Factory. Website (he never updates this): www.BookMusicLyrics.com. Twitter (he updates this way too much): @BookMusicLyrics. Love to HLS.

DAPHNY MAMAN is a screenwriter, playwright and lyricist, living and working in New York City. Daphny has more than nine years of experience as a professional writer for Television in various roles - from a Dialogue Writer, through Script Editor and Head Writer to being the Creator and Head Writer of sitcoms and dramas for the Israeli TV, as well as two musical comedy shows. Together with her collaborator Sujin Kim, she recently wrote a full length musical comedy titled Wait!. Her work has been performed at 54Below and the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Daphny is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Israeli Screenwriters Association. She holds an MFA from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in May, 2013, and a B.A in Film from Tel Aviv University. www.daphnymaman.com

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