UnsungMusicalsCo. Presents BLESS YOU ALL!, Now thru 10/5

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC) will launch its fifth anniversary celebration with a new Off-Broadway production of the 1950 musical revue Bless You All! with sketches by Emmy Award winner Arnold Auerbach ("The Phil Silvers Show," Call Me Mister) and a score by acclaimed songwriter Harold Rome (Fanny, Destry Rides Again). Directed by UMC artistic director Ben West (The Fig Leaves Are Falling, At Home Abroad), the limited three-week engagement will run today, Sep 19 - Oct 5 at The Connelly Theatre (220 East 4th Street), officially opening September 22.

Brimming with jazz-infused melodies, song-and-dance specialties and classic comedy numbers, Bless You All! is a cheerful celebration of the Golden Age of the Broadway revue. Delicious send-ups of such cultural icons as the 21 Club and the roaring '20s line the landscape of this glittering entertainment!

UMC's newly adapted production of Bless You All! is the first time the musical has been performed in over 60 years. UMC has gathered the original manuscript material from various archival collections and has used it to create a fresh take on the classic revue, which features the addition of a never-before-seen comedy sketch written circa 1940 by Mr. Auerbach and Pulitzer Prize winner Herman Wouk (The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial)!

The Bless You All! creative team includes choreographer Ryan Kasprzak ("Smash" assistant choreographer, Billy Elliot), musical director and arranger Fran Minarik (At Home Abroad, Make Mine Manhattan), lighting designer Brian Tovar (Travis,Beautiful Disaster) and costume designer Heather J. Carey (The Fig Leaves Are Falling). The casting director is Geoff Josselson.

Tickets, priced at $20, are now available online via www.SmartTix.com or by calling 212-868-4444.

Founded in 2009, UMC's fifth anniversary celebration continues on Monday, November 18 at Symphony Space with a concert of Caesar's Wife featuring the world premiere of an original score written circa 1969 by Tony Award nominee Carolyn Leigh (Peter Pan, Little Me, Gatsby) and Grammy Award nominee Lee Pockriss (Gatsby, Ernest in Love).

Conceived by UMC artistic director Ben West, Caesar's Wife is a behind-the-scenes look at the development of the original, unfinished musical of the same name. Although a full score was written for the work circa 1969, the book was never completed. Blending live performances with audio clips of the songwriters' original demo recording as well as original author correspondence, production outlines and authors' notes, this world premiere concert of Caesar's Wife is a unique exploration inside the artistic process of two legendary authors!

Cast and creative team will be announced soon.

Bless You All! replaces UMC's previously announced production of Lend an Ear.

UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. (Ben West, Artistic Director) is a not-for-profit Production Company dedicated to the preservation of musical theatre through the restoration and presentation of obscure but artistically sound works. Focusing primarily on overlooked projects from the Golden Age of musical theatre, which UMC more broadly defines as the 40 years between Mr. Florenz Ziegfeld and Mr. Stephen Sondheim's respective Follies (1931-1971), UMC treats each property as a new musical, thereby providing a unique collaboration between the artists of today and those of the past. Recent UMC projects include acclaimed productions of The Fig Leaves Are Falling and Make Mine Manhattan, a starry concert presentation of At Home Abroad, world premiere concerts of Gatsby and Nothing is Forever and New York International Fringe Festival productions of Platinum and How Now, Dow Jones.

UMC is also devoted to researching, assembling and restoring the material from unpublished and out-of-print musical shows. To further the mission of preserving these historic works for future generations, UMC's material is receiving its own collection in the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. For more information, visit www.UnsungMusicals.org.

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