Cast & Creative Team Set for THE JERUSALEM SYNDROME World Premiere at The York Theatre Company

The York Theatre Company has revealed the cast and creative team for the World Premiere of The Jerusalem Syndrome, a cRaZy new musical with book & lyrics by Laurence Holzman and Felicia Needleman and music by Kyle Rosen. Directed by Don Stephenson with music direction by Miles Plant and choreography by Alex Sanchez, performances are set to begin Tuesday, November 21, 2023 at 7:30 PM for a limited engagement through Sunday afternoon, December 31, 2023 at The Theatre at St. Jean’s (entrance on 150 East 76th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue. For elevator, enter on Lexington between 76th and 75th, to the right of St. Jean’s.) Opening Night is set for Thursday, November 30, 2023 at 7:00PM.

The Jerusalem Syndrome is an original musical comedy that explores a real-life psychological malady that causes tourists in Israel—over 200 every year!—to suffer mental breakdowns and suddenly come to believe that they are characters from the Bible. Meet an inept tour guide who turns into Moses, a professor in a troubled marriage who thinks she’s Abraham’s wife Sarah, and a resort tycoon with daddy issues who might be Jesus…not to mention multiple Virgin Marys and the Lord Herself. The Jerusalem Syndrome is an outrageous romp, but it is also a story of hope in which the characters come to see that today, just like in the times of their biblical alter egos, miracles are happening all around us. The Jerusalem Syndrome is the winner of the Kleban Prize and The Theatre for the American Musical Award.

The cast of 18 includes: Farah Alvin (It Shoulda Been You, York’s Enter Laughing), Dana Costello(Finding Neverland, York’s Enter Laughing), Scott Cote (The Play That Goes Wrong), Andrea Fleming, James D. Gish (Wicked), Alan H. Green (Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, York’s Lord Tom), Danielle Lee James (The Lightning Thief), John Jellison (Come From Away), Josh Lamon (The Prom), Garrett Long (The Music Man, York’s Is There Life After High School?), Karen Murphy (The Visit, York’s My Vaudeville Man), Jeffrey Schecter (Fiddler on the Roof), Jennifer Smith (Anastasia, York’s Darling of The Day), Chandler Sinks, Pablo Torres(¡Americano!), Curtis Wiley (Ain’t Too Proud, York’s Rothschild and Sons), Lenny Wolpe (The Drowsy Chaperone, York’s Dear World), and Laura Woyasz (Wicked).

The creative team is James Morgan (Scenic Design), Rob Denton (Lighting Design), Fan Zhang(Costume Design), Meghan O’Beirne (Assistant Costume Design), Josh Liebert (Sound Design), Caite Hevner (Projection Design), Amanda Joshi (Associate Director), Alexa Racioppi (Associate Choreographer), and Vincent Gunn (Associate Scenic Design). Casting is by Geoff Josselson.

“This is a very funny new musical comedy and we’ve nurtured it along for a number of years. That the authors are all longtime friends of ours is particularly wonderful. We look forward to presenting it in Felicia Needleman’s memory,” said James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director. “Come and celebrate the holidays with us at this outrageous romp filled with hummable tunes, belly laughs and a surprising dose of hope.”

The Jerusalem Syndrome will play the following performance schedule: Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with 2:30pm performances Saturday & Sunday. PLEASE NOTE: There are no performances on Thanksgiving Day, November 23 and Christmas Day, December 25.

Tickets for The Jerusalem Syndrome are now available and are priced at $65 - $95 (plus $4 convenience fee). York Members receive Priority Seating and Discounted Tickets. Tickets may be purchased by visiting OvationTix at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1177881 or by calling the Box Office at (212) 935-5820, Tuesday – Friday 12:00PM – 5:00PM, or via email at boxoffice@yorktheatre.org.

Senior and Student Rush tickets are available in-person beginning one hour prior to performances for $20, subject to availability (one student ticket per valid student ID). The York Theatre also offers $30 tickets for patrons aged 35 years and under through the Gen York program.

COVID NOTE: For the safety of all, COVID policies established by the CDC and WHO will be strictly enforced. Full COVID policies can be found on the York Theatre Company website.

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The York Theatre Company offers a York Plus! Membership Program for $150 with additional perks, including complimentary tickets to Mainstage productions and invitations to several VIP-only presentations throughout the season. The York also offers a York! Membership Program, an exclusive membership package for as low as $75.00—with benefits that include up to 35% off tickets to York Theatre Productions, in addition to special Member-only receptions. York Memberships can be purchased online at www.yorktheatre.org/membership.

York Theatre Company Gift Cards are available for any production during the 2023-2024 season by calling the Box Office at (212) 935-5820, Tuesday – Friday 12:00PM – 5:00PM, or via email at boxoffice@yorktheatre.org.

SAVE THE DATE: The York Theatre Company will honor musical theater legend Patti LuPone(Tony Awards: Evita, Gypsy, and Company) with the 2023 Oscar Hammerstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theater and producer Jamie deRoy with The York Theatre Company Founders’ Award at the 31st Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala on Monday evening, November 13, 2023 at The Edison Rooftop (223 West 46th Street). Scheduled to headline the evening are Laura Benanti, Charles Busch, Christine Ebersole, Bridget Everett, Katrina Lenk, Norm Lewis, Andrew Rannells, and more. Tickets are now on sale by visiting our website at yorktheatre.org. For further information, including sponsorship opportunities, please email Marie Grace LaFerrara at mlaferrara@yorktheatre.org.

For additional information, please visit www.yorktheatre.org.

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Laurence Holzman & Felicia Needleman (Book & Lyrics) won the prestigious Kleban Award for Most Promising Musical Theatre Librettists, as well as ASCAP’s Sammy Cahn Award for Outstanding Lyricists. The New York Musical Theatre Festival production of The Jerusalem Syndrome earned them the Theatre for the American Musical Prize for Most Promising Book Musical. Laurence and Felicia collaborated on the book & lyrics of musicals for many years, up to the time of Felicia's untimely death from breast cancer earlier this year. The duo first met in a Modern Drama class at Columbia and wrote together in the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, where they met Jerusalem Syndrome composer Kyle Rosen. Laurence and Felicia's other works include Wallenberg (music by Benjamin Rosenbluth; White Plains Performing Arts Center, NYMF, and Equity Lab directed by Martin Charnin), That Time of the Year (music by Kyle Rosen and six other composers; Off-Broadway premiere at the York Theatre Company; Original Cast Recording on JAY Records; currently licensed by Theatrical Rights Worldwide), Suddenly Hope (music by Morris Bernstein & Kyle Rosen; Stamford Center for the Arts, Garfield Theatre in La Jolla, and Denver Civic Theatre) and I Married a Witch (music by Larry Applewhite; ASCAP Workshop), as well as the children’s musicals The Hudson River, We All Are America, and All the Same with composer George Swietlicki. Projects in development include the original musicals One Night (music by David Shenton), Making Ends Meet (music by Ian Brandon), and The Window(music by Benjamin Rosenbluth), as well as Suddenly a Song, a collection of their cabaret material. Laurence and Felicia are both members of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild. In addition to his work with Felicia, Laurence is the co-author (with Marc Goldsmith) of the original play and screenplay The Queen is in the Parlour and the original screenplay Fella. As a principal of Bard Theatricals, Laurence's producing credits include The Play That Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jagged Little Pill, Stranger Sings!, Fiddler on the Roof, China Doll, The Scottsboro Boys, Looped, The Anarchist, and the Latin American premiere of El Chico de Oz, as well as the Museum of Broadway. Laurence is also a graduate of Columbia Law School. Felicia toured in 42nd Street as a member of Actor’s Equity and was a featured performer with the A & G Dance Company. For several years, she was on the faculty of Broadway Dance Center, where she taught tap. Her popular blog, UnwrittenRecipes.com, offered easy, delicious, family-friendly recipes. Felicia's many talents will be sorely missed and this production of The Jerusalem Syndrome is dedicated to her memory.

Kyle Rosen (Music) composed music for That Time of the Year, the Holzman & Needleman revue of original Christmas and Hanukkah songs, which had its off-Broadway premiere in December 2006 at The York. Previously, he collaborated with them on Suddenly Hope, an original musical comedy, which played at the Stamford Center for the Arts, the Garfield Theatre in La Jolla, and the Denver Civic Theatre. Trained as a classical pianist, he has performed and composed music for numerous theatre, television and film projects. While attending Princeton University, he was president of the Princeton Triangle Club, composing and conducting many musical productions for them. Kyle is the recipient of the Milton Lyon Award for Songwriting. He is also an alumnus of the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. When he is not writing music, Kyle is an investment manager who specializes in the options market. Kyle lives in New York City with his wife, Layne, and three children.

Don Stephenson (Director) Credits: Titanic (Lincoln Center), Broadway Classics (Carnegie Hall), Of Mice and Manhattan (Kennedy Center), The Other Place (Alley), A Comedy of Tenors, The Producers, Lend Me a Tenor, and Vanya, Sonia, Masha, and Spike (Paper Mill), The Will Rogers Follies, The Roar of the Greasepaint… and Guys and Dolls (Goodspeed), Buyer and Cellar and Noises Off (Pittsburgh Public), How to Succeed in Business… and Sister Act (Marriott), The Cottage (Theatre Aspen), I’ll Eat You Last (TheaterWorks Hartford), Lend Me a Tenor (Bay Street), Titanic (The Muny), Struck (NJ Rep), Deathtrap and The 39 Steps (Flat Rock). NY: Attack of the Elvis Impersonators (Theatre Row), A Charles Dickens Christmas (Urban Stages) and The Great Unknown (NY Theatre Festival).

Alex Sanchez (Choreographer) is a New York City-based director/choreographer of Puerto Rican heritage. He spent his childhood in both his native Chicago and Puerto Rico. Alex spent four seasons with Ballet Chicago while moonlighting performing in musicals, which led to his first Broadway show, The Red Shoes. He was in the original Broadway companies of Carousel (Lincoln Center), Big, Fosse, Follies (Roundabout), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Chita Rivera: A Dancer’s Life. He was a replacement in Once Upon a Mattress, Wonderful Town and Love! Valor! Compassion! His other credits include Strike Up the Band (Goodspeed), Mambo Mouth (Penguin Rep), The Tempest (Dallas Shakespeare), and The New Moon (City Center Encores!). Alex’s diverse career in both acting and dancing has given him an in-depth understanding of theatrical storytelling and how to break down the intention of a play’s text.

The York Theatre Company, “Where Musicals Come to Life,” is the only theatre in New York City—and one of very few in the world—dedicated to developing and fully producing new musicals and preserving notable shows from the past. For over five decades, York’s intimate, imaginative style of producing both original and classic musicals has resulted in critical acclaim and recognition from artists and audiences alike. Under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director James Morgan since 1997, The York has focused on new musicals in its Mainstage Series—most of them world, American, or New York premieres—by some of the field’s most esteemed creators and has also helped launch the careers of many talented new writers. Well over 40 cast recordings from York Theatre Company productions are now available on CD, including its acclaimed revival of Closer Than Ever (2013 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Revival); commercial transfers of such York premieres as The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), Souvenir (Tony Award Nomination for actress Judy Kaye), and Jolson & Company, and revivals of Pacific Overtures and Sweeney Todd (four Tony Nominations including Best Revival) have all showcased the importance of The York and its programs.

Recent York productions have included Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust Road, Vanities - The Musical, Penelope: or How the Odyssey Was Really Written, Cheek to Cheek: Irving Berlin in Hollywood, A Taste of Things to Come, Marry Harry, and Rothschild & Sons. The critically acclaimed musical Yank! received its Off-Broadway debut at The York, and subsequently to rave reviews in London—as did York’s Rothschild & Sons. The hit musical Cagney received its York premiere in 2015, transferring to The Westside Theatre for over 15 months. In 2017, Desperate Measures received a total of 15 award nominations (and three wins) that included Best Musical from the Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Off-Broadway Alliance and subsequently transferred across town to New World Stages. The York is the recipient of a special Drama Desk Award for “Developing and Producing New Musicals,” a special Outer Critics Circle Award for “50 Years of Producing New and Classic Musicals.” Due to a flood in their home of 30 years at Saint Peter’s Church in January 2021, The York is currently producing at The Theatre at St. Jean’s at 76th Street and Lexington Avenue.

www.yorktheatre.org 

 

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