Alexander, Baer & More Set For POPART: The Musical At NYMF

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), in association with Extra-Ordinary Productions, present the new musical POPart: The Musical with Book & Lyrics by Daryl Lisa Fazio, and Music by Aaron McAllister, directed by Chad Larabee with music direction by Andrew Smithson and choreography by DJ Gray.

POPart: The Musical boasts a cast of fifteen that includes Adinah Alexander as Mother, Cyrilla Baer as Doctor Bore, Zachary Clause as Toni-O, Jillian Louis as Kitty, Marla Mindelle as Miss St. Helen, Josh Powell as Mr. Manne, Neva Rae Powers as Ms. Hamme, Jason Michael Snow as Edward and Timothy Warmen as Father. The ensemble includes Justin Bowen, Rachel Cantor, Amanda Conlon, Holly Hylton, Jose Luaces and JamaAl Wilson.

The limited, 6-performance engagement begins Thursday, September 30, 2010 and will continue through Monday, October 11, 2010 at the American Theatre of Actors (Chernuchin) (314 West 54th Street, 2nd Floor).

POPart: The Musical follows 18-year old, klutzy outcast, Kitty Katz, as she leaves her suburban gated community for the Ghetto Art School and finds art's underbelly to be both seamy and spectacular. With her new friends - an ultra-cool street artist and a kind-hearted boy-genius - Kitty forges through the school's cutthroat and preposterous melée, yearning to be a true artist. Will she find fame? The ghost of Willem De Kooning? Or something real?

The creative team includes Ken Goldstein (Sets), David Zyla (Costumes), Cory Pattak (Lights) and Daniel Heffernan (Video). The General Manager is Gretchen Margaroli and Production Stage Manager is Kat West.

POPart: The Musical will play the following performance schedule: Thursday September 30th at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, October 2nd at 5:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m., Wednesday, October 6th at 8:00 p.m., Sunday, October 10th at 4:30 p.m. and Monday, October 11th at 9:00 p.m.

Now in its seventh year, the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is the largest annual musical theatre event in America and is widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery. NYMF provides a launching pad for the next generation of musicals and their creators to ensure the continued vitality of one of America's greatest art forms. Hailed as the "Sundance of Musical Theatre," NYMF discovers, nurtures, and promotes promising musical theatre artists and producers at all stages of development, and inspires a diverse audience through vibrant, accessible, powerful new work.

NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2010 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group and TheaterMania.com, and is supported by AP-Red.com, Back Stage, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Broadway.TV, Clear Channel Spectacolor, DFD-TV, Frank & Camille's Fine Pianos, King Displays, NASDAQ OMX, New World Stages, Next Magazine, PMD Promotions, Queerty.com, Reuters, TheMenEvent.com, Times Square Squared, and Yelp. Major supporters include The ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The Broadway League, The BWF Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jamie Ariel Phinney, The Charlie & Jane Fink Charitable Fund, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Theater League. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

NYMF Memberships, which combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages and perks like early seating, and tickets to individual events are currently available for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or www.nymf.org. Single tickets for Festival events will go on sale September 1.

Adinah Alexander (Mother) TV: Mrs. Dzubenko in Nurse Jackie, Judge Schaft on Law and Order, and Dr. A. J. Waxman in Lights Out. Broadway: Original cast member of Wicked, Wedding Singer, Parade, and Urban Cowboy. Off-Broadway: Recent credits include the critically acclaimed Adding Machine, Two Rooms by Lee Blessing, Janis Joplin in Love Janis. Regional: Jack's Mother in Into the Woods and Miss Hannigan in Annie at CMT, Golde in Fiddler at The Fulton Opera House, Mme. Thenardier in Les Misérables at the Pioneer Theatre, Mama Rose in Gypsy at Sundance, and Rosalie in Carnival at NSMT. Plays include Dirty Blonde, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe by Lily Tomlin, Eleemosynary, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, and All in the Timing.

Cyrilla Baer (Doctor Bore) Off Broadway: "Mrs. Zero", Adding Machine, A Musical, Minetta Lane; "Nanny", Uncle Vanya, Classic Stage Company; "Agatha Makin", The Hatpin, NYMF; "Mistress Schermerhorn", Knickerbocker Holiday, York; "Annie", Ripper, NAMT. Regional: Falsettos, Ruthless, The House Of Blue Leaves, Morning's At Seven, The Most Happy Fella. Co-star of the NY Independent Film Festival multiple award winner Raging Hormones. Featured with Atlanta Symphony and Florida Philharmonic. Appearances in the upcoming "Onion News Network" series on IFC. www.CyrillaBaer.com

Zachary Clause (Toni-O) Previous NYMF: Hurricane (2009). Recent credits include Sweeney Todd (Toby) at Barrington Stage Company, Dancing With Abandon (NY Fringe Festival). World premiers of The Traveling Companion and Chalky White Substance (Tennessee Williams Festivals; Mississippi, Massachusetts, Dublin). Favorite roles include Alan Strang in Equus, Woof in Hair, Tommy (Perseverance Theatre). Off-Broadway: Naked Boys Singing.

Jillian Louis (Kitty) is delighted to be a part of POPart. Off-Broadway: Shlomo (Ruth); NY/ Regional: Laughter on the 23rd (Helen) and I Hate Hamlet (Dierdre-Northern Stage); Showboat (Magnolia-Gateway Playhouse), Gemini (Judith- Prince Music Theatre), Irene (Irene- Musicals Tonight), The Wizard of Oz (North Shore MT); Iolanthe (NYGASP). Upcoming: The Glass Menagerie (Laura - Walnut St. Theatre).

Marla Mindelle (Miss St. Helen) Broadway: South Pacific. National Tour: The Drowsy Chaperone (Kitty, First national). New York Theatre: Mrs. Sharp (Playwrights Horizons), The Breakup Notebook (Vineyard Theatre), The Hudsucker Proxy (Manhattan Theatre Club), It Shoulda Been You, Piece (NAMT). Regional: The Wild Party (Queenie, New Repertory Theatre), Cole Porter's, The Pirate (Prince Music Theatre), Songs For A New World (Princeton Opera). Excited to be Pop Rock Jammin' it in POPart! www.marlamindelle.com.

Josh Powell (Mr. Manne) joins Popart straight from starring in the critically acclaimed Cradle Will Rock at Manhattan's Theater Ten Ten. Recently, he's been seen regionally in Phantom (Phantom), Carousel (Billy), Twelfth Night (Orsino), Camelot (Arthur), and as Bob in the International Touring Production of Menotti's classic opera The Telephone. Josh has also won both The Dramalogue Award and The San Francisco Theater Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Neva Rae Powers (Ms. Hamme) Since returning to USA in 2005 credits include: Little Women (1st national), Glorious (Fulton Theatre, Phoenix Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Syracuse Stage), Grey Gardens (Cincinnati Ensemble) Souvenir (Cincinnati Ensemble, Northlight Theatre, St. Louis Repertory, Santa Barbara Ensemble, American Stage Theatre, TheaterWorks Hartford, Vienna's English Theatre (European premiere), The Clandestine Marriage (Centenary Stage), Other People's Money (John Engeman Theatre). Recent awards include Kevin Kline, CEA, and Acclaim Award for Souvenir and CEA for Grey Gardens.

Jason Michael Snow (Edward) Broadway: South Pacific (Yeoman Herbert Quale, u/s Professor), National Tour: Xanadu (Thalia, u/s Sonny), Off-Broadway: Saved (Playwrights Horizons), Regional: Pirates! (Goodspeed), Reality (Cape Cod Theatre Project). Workshops/Festivals: The Man in the Ceiling (Disney), Wood (NYMF ‘08), Glory Days (Signature Theatre/Joe's Pub), Mrs. Sharp (Disney/ASCAP), Original Music Composition: Hey, You Know What Movie Would Make A Good Musical? (Zipper Factory, The Julia Miles Theatre). In his 2nd year of The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. BFA from The Boston Conservatory.

Timothy Warmen (Father) has been in the original companies of several Broadway shows: The Who's Tommy, Steel Pier, Sideshow, Dance of The Vampires. Other Broadway credits include Jesus Christ Superstar, Jekyll and Hyde, Wonderful Town (Lincoln Center). Regionally; Jean ValJean in Les Miserables, Zoser in Aida, Captain von Trapp in The Sound Of Music, Duke in Big River, Chet's father in Burnt Part Boys, and countless others. Film/TV credits include April's father(Kate Winslet)Revolutionary Road, "Law and Order: Criminal Intent," and many soaps. Last year at the NYMF 2009 played Old Sam Eye in Cross That River.

Daryl Lisa Fazio (Book and Lyrics) stage credits include Greyhounds (American Theatre of Actors, Theatre Row, Truman State University), Georgia Out of My Mind (Minnesota Fringe Festival), Split in Three (Eudora Welty New Plays Series winner, New Stage Theatre), and three musicals written with Aaron McAllister: POPart: The Musical (workshop @ Coastal Carolina University, staged reading @ York Theatre, NYC), lift (staged reading, York Theatre, NYC) and Blackout. They are currently working on their fourth musical, a 4-person comedy called Tie the Knot. Daryl holds degrees in Theatre (Northwestern University) and Graphic Design and is an online educator in graphic design and a freelance print and web designer.

Aaron McAllister (Music) lists among his recent musical director credits: The Sound of Music, Company, Evita, George M, Sweet Charity, Crazy For You, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Forever Plaid, Urinetown, The Thing About Men, The Boyfriend, The Cradle Will Rock, The Boys From Syracuse, A Chorus Line, Guys and Dolls, Pippin, and CATS, among others. Aaron is a highly sought after vocal coach/performance clinician among professional actors on the east coast and has composed, arranged, and orchestrated numerous cabaret, solo, and showcase performances. Together with collaborator/playwright, Daryl Lisa Fazio, he has composed the score to original musicals lift, POPart: The Musical and Blackout. POPart received its premiere workshop at Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, SC where he taught and coordinated the fastest growing musical theatre program in the southeast. He is a graduate of Geneseo State University (B.A. in music, vocal performance and conducting) and the University of Maryland (M.M. in conducting).

Chad Larabee (Director) recently directed the revival of Garson Kanin's Dreyfus in Rehearsal Off Broadway, and the London premiere of Ain't We Got Fun. Other recent directing credits include Singin' in the Rain (Seaside Music Theatre), The Secret of Blue (Iowa New Play Festival), and Hard Times (Endstation Theatre Company). Upcoming productions include Good Good Trouble on Bad Bad Island as part of New York Fringe Festival and Lori McKelvey's new musical Camila. Other credits include Band Geeks! (Goodspeed)- Assistant Director, Drood (one-act workshop)- Associate Director, Moby Dick, The Musical (Seaside)- Associate Director. He is a graduate of The University of Iowa, and Florida State University where he received his MFA in Directing. Chad is a member of SDC. For more information please visit: www.chadlarabee.com

Andrew Smithson (Music Director/Orchestrator) is thrilled to be a part of POPart!Off-Broadway: Flanagan's Wake. Tours: Gypsy, Aida (China), and Jesus Christ Superstar (starring Ted Nealy). Regional: Ain't Misbehavin', The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrel's, Swing!, and The Producer's. In addition to music direction, Andrew is a composer, arranger, pianist, and vocal coach. He was an instructor at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and is currently a staff vocal coach and pianist at PACE University in Manhattan.

DJ Gray (Choreographer) Broadway credits include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Associate choreographer, On and Off-Broadway, National Tour), Xanadu, (Broadway and National Tour), Sondheim on Sondheim (assistant staging). DJ has performed on Broadway in The Producers. Regional credits: Barrington Stage, North Shore, McCoy and Rigby, Northern Stage, (...Spelling Bee), Musical Theater West (Little Shop Of Horrors), Moonlight Stage (Phantom ). Television credits include "The New Electric Company" (PBS), "Stephan Colbert's Christmas Special" (Comedy Central) and "Instant Beauty Pageant" (Style Network). www.djgraychoreography.com

Extra-Ordinary Productions (Producer) Founded by Daryl Lisa Fazio and Aaron McAllister, the company was created to foster the creation of new works. Extra-Ordinary has presented the original staged readings of POPart: The Musical, Blackout, lift and, currently, a "work in progress," the new musical comedy, Tie the Knot.

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