HOW NOW, DOW JONES Now Avaliable For Licensing Through Samuel French, Inc

Following its critically acclaimed developmental production as part of the 2009 NY International Fringe Festival, the revised version of How Now, Dow Jones (www.HowNowDowJones.com) is now available for licensing through Samuel French, Inc. With book by Max Shulman, music by Academy Award winner Elmer Bernstein and lyrics by Tony Award nominee Carolyn Leigh, the new version has revisions by Ben West (Old Acquaintance).

UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. (Ben West, Artistic Director) is currently at work on a future Off-Broadway engagement of the musical. Sign-up to receive announcements and updates on all future productions via the new official website: www.HowNowDowJones.com which also includes new production photos from the FringeNYC run, reviews and more.

The newly revised How Now, Dow Jones features a cast of eight and three new songs: "Don't Let a Good Thing Get Away", "Where You Are" and "Touch and Go", all cut from the original Broadway production. The Samuel French licensing package will also include new musical arrangements by Fran Minarik (The J.A.P. Show).

How Now, Dow Jones is a zany 1968 musical comedy that follows Kate, the voice of Dow Jones, whose fiancé won't marry her until the Dow Jones Averages hit 1,000! Bribery, adultery and neurotic Republicans abound in this madcap and timely tale set in the heart of Wall Street.

The FringeNYC developmental production was directed by Ben West (Old Acquaintance) and choreographed by Rommy Sandhu (Encores! Applause, Mary Poppins) with music direction by Fran Minarik (The J.A.P. Show). It starred Cristen Paige (Pop!, Spelling Bee, The Visit), Colin Hanlon (Rent, I Love You Because) and FrEd Berman (The Normal Heart, Room Service) with Shane Bland (Bombay Dreams), Jim Middleton (Goodspeed's 1776), Dennis O'Bannion (White Christmas), Elon Rutberg (The Black Monk) and Cori Silberman (Movie Geek). The musical played the Minetta Lane Theatre and received a 2009 FringeNYC Excellence Award for Outstanding Direction.

The original Broadway production of How Now, Dow Jones opened on December 7, 1967 starring Tony Roberts, Marlyn Mason and Brenda Vaccaro. The David Merrick production was directed by George Abbott with choreography by Gillian Lynne (and an uncredited Michael Bennett). It played 220 performances and was nominated for six Tony Awards including Best Musical, winning one for co-star Hiram Sherman. The musical, originally presented with a cast of over 40 actors, has been rarely performed since.

Max Shulman (Book) is a novelist, playwright and humorist whose many books include Barefoot Boy With Cheek, The Feather Merchants, The Zebra Derby, Sleep Till Noon, Anyone Got a Match?, Potatoes Are Cheaper and Rally Round the Flag, Boys!, which was made into a film starring Paul Newman and JoAnne Woodward. In 1945, he began writing Dobie Gillis stories for humor magazines. They would later be published collectively as The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which was followed by a hit television series of the same name and the Dobie Gillis novel I Was a Teenage Dwarf. His Broadway credits include the play The Tender Trap and the musical adaptation of his novel Barefoot Boy With Cheek.

Elmer Bernstein (Music) composed over 200 major film and television scores and received Tony Award nominations for his two stage musicals, How Now, Dow Jones and Merlin. His numerous film credits include Far From Heaven, The Age of Innocence, Airplane!, The Ten Commandments, The Man with the Golden Arm, The Great Escape, To Kill and Mockingbird, Ghostbusters, My Left Foot, National Lampoon's Animal House, Sweet Smell of Success, Hawaii and Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which he won an Academy Award. Mr. Bernstein has received an Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, five Grammy Award nominations and 14 Academy Award nominations. In 1996, he was honored with a star on Hollywood Boulevard.

Carolyn Leigh (Lyrics, Original Concept) received Tony Award nominations for her work on How Now, Dow Jones and Little Me. Her other stage productions include Peter Pan and Wildcat. Ms. Leigh's song catalog boasts some of the biggest pop standards of the mid-20th century including "The Best is Yet To Come", "Young at Heart", "Witchcraft", "The Rules of the Road", "Firefly", "On Second Thought", "Come Summer", "I'm Flying", "I Gotta Crow", "How Little We Know", "I Walk a Little Faster", "You Fascinate Me So", "Hey, Look Me Over!", "It Amazes Me", "I've Got Your Number", "Here's to Us", "Real Live Girl", "Westport", "Spring in Maine", "Pass Me By" and "When In Rome". She also contributed to the film scores of The Cardinal and Father Goose. Ms. Leigh was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985.

Ben West (Director, Revisions). NY Int'l Fringe Festival: How Now, Dow Jones, Minetta Lane Theatre (FringeNYC Excellence Award). Off-Broadway: Love, Linda, Triad Theatre. Broadway: Old Acquaintance, assistant director and dramaturg; August: Osage County and The Homecoming, assistant producer. Other assistant directing credits include the Ravinia Festival production of Gypsy starring Patti LuPone, Gunmetal Blues starring Alison Fraser and the premieres of David Grimm's Chick: The Great Osram, Neil Sedaka's Breaking Up is Hard to Do and Mary Pat Gleason's Stopping Traffic.

UNSUNGMUSICALSCO. INC. (Ben West, Artistic Director) is a non-profit Production Company dedicated to the preservation of musical theatre through the presentation of infrequently performed works. UMC does not seek to present these shows simply as they existed but rather to present them anew, treating each property as a new musical thereby providing a unique collaboration between the artists of today and those of the past. Current projects include new productions of Platinum, Lend an Ear and the critically acclaimed How Now, Dow Jones, which is available for licensing through Samuel French, Inc.

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