Amas Musical Theatre To Present THE ALGONQUIN KID In One-Night Only Special Event

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer) in celebration of its 50th season, will present The Algonquin Kid, a musical revue about growing up in the Algonquin Hotel, written by Michael Colby. This one-night only special benefit event, part of the "Dare to Be Different" series, will take place on Saturday, November 17 at 8:00 pm at A.R.T./New York Theatres (502 West 53rd Street - 10th Avenue & 53rd Street).

For reservations, please email boxoffice@amasmusical.org or call 212-563-2565.

 

Directed by Charles Repole with musical direction by Michael Lavine, the cast will feature multiple award-winning concert, recording and cabaret artist Natalie Douglas, with Broadway performers Donna English (Nice Work if You Can Get It, Lend Me a Tenor), Eddie Korbich (Singin' in The Rain, Sweeney Todd) and T. Oliver Reid (Once on This Island, Chicago), singing songs associated with denizens of the hotel, including Noel Coward, Lerner & Loewe, Rodgers & Hart and George Gershwin, among others. Mr. Colby will be the host of the evening.

 

"Michael Colby had the unparalleled experience to grow up in the fabled Algonquin Hotel, the storied home to the Algonquin Table and the legendary artists who stayed there", says Amas Artistic Producer Donna Trinkoff. "The hotel was owned by his grandparents, the Bodnes, and he spent many days and nights there roaming the halls and listening and learning from its occupants. The Algonquin Kid offers a unique perspective of a time gone by.

 

For 50 years, Amas has been a pioneer in multi-ethnic casting and has been devoted to the creation, development and professional production of new American musicals through the celebration of diversity and minority perspectives, and the emergence of new artistic talent," "We want to continue to present this series featuring new musicals and special one-night events that explore the stories of people who dare to be different and to give our audiences the chance to get in at the ground floor in the development process of our talented artists in an intimate and up-close and personal setting."

 

Tickets for The Algonquin Kid are priced at $25 (Amas member) and $40 (non-member) and may be purchased online at www.amasmusical.org, or by phone at (212) 563-2565. Tickets will also be available at the A.R.T./New York Theatres Box Office (502 West 53rd Street @ 10th Ave. & 53 St.) one (1) hour before curtain. Tickets are tax-deductible.

 

For information about upcoming events part of the Amas 50thAnniversary Celebration, please visit amasmusical.org.

Michael Colby (Author) is the librettist/lyricist of the musicals Charlotte Sweet (Drama Desk Award nomination), Tales of Tinseltown, North Atlantic (Show Business Award), Slay It with Music (Off-Broadway and London), Mrs. McThing, They Chose Me!, and Ludlow Ladd. He was chief writer for the Drama Desk Award-winning New Amsterdam Theatre Company and has been a writer for the New York Festival of Song and Theatre by the Blind. He is the author of the well-received autobiographical book "The Algonquin Kid: Adventures Growing Up at New York's Legendary Hotel." Jay Records has released CDs of Tales of Tinseltown, Charlotte Sweet), and Ludlow Ladd. Dangerous, a musical he co-wrote, has recently been optioned for Broadway. He wrote continuity for two benefits at the 92nd Street Y: Standing Ovations, starring Carol Channing, Nell Carter, Elaine Stritch, Leslie Uggams, and other great ladies of the theatre, and The Longest Running Show on Broadway, a tribute to Maurice Levine, hosted by Angela Lansbury. He also wrote Stephen Schwartz, A Musical Celebration, a benefit for The Directors Company, starring Betty Buckley, Paul Shaffer, Kathy Najimi, and others. He created special material for Animal Crackers (Papermill Playhouse/Goodspeed), lyrics for Meester Amerika (Garage Theatre, NJ) and The Human Heart (Marymount Manhattan College), and the narration for The Mayor Musicals, a benefit for Musicals in Concert hosted by Sheldon Harnick. Among the personalities for whom Mr. Colby has written material are Linda Lavin, Tony Randall, Tovah Feldshuh, Heather MacRae, Robert Cuccioli, Savion Glover, Dina Merrill, Susan Stroman, Michael Feinstein, Jack Gilford, Andrea Marcovicci, Kristin Chenoweth, Bruce Adler, Cliff Robertson, Lainie Kazan, Jane Powell, Julie Wilson, Alison Fraser, Mary Cleere Haran, Donna McKechnie, and Cicely Tyson. Movie credits include writing the title song for the film Heart of the Beholder. A member of BMI and the Dramatists Guild, he lives in Metuchen, NJ with his wife Andrea.

 

Charles Repole (Director) directed the highly acclaimed concert versions of, Du Barry Was A Lady, starring Faith Prince and Robert Morse and Call Me Madam, starring Tyne Daly for City Center Encores! Other Broadway directing credits include the revival of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (originated at Goodspeed Opera House), several Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation Benefits at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops, conducted by Skitch Henderson, and for seven years Mr. Repole conceived and directed the annual fundraising gala for the 92nd Street "Y," including the Lyrics and Lyricists 25th Year Celebration hosted by Angela Lansbury and starring Joel Grey, Bebe Neuwirth, Stephen Schwartz and Sheldon Harnick. Most recently, Mr. Repole received the 2018 Bistro Award for Outstanding Achievement for the tribute show Thank You for Your Love, which also garnered a 2018 MAC Award nomination. Other directing projects include: a stage version of WPIX-TV's "The Magic Garden", starring Carol Demas and Paula Janis, a European production of Phantom of the Opera, Where's Charley!, for the Kennedy Center's concert series, a concert version of Of Thee I Sing, for the Chicago Humanities Festival at Symphony Hall, celebrating the 100th Birthday of George Gershwin and over 50 musical productions for regional theatres. For his production of A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, Mr. Repole was nominated for Chicago's prestigious Joseph Jefferson Award. Mr. Repole is also an accomplished on-stage performer. He has appeared before Broadway audiences starring in Doubles, Whoopee! (Drama Desk nomination) and Very Good Eddie (Tony nomination and Theatre World Award). Off-Broadway credits include Olympus on My Mind and the concert version of Magdalena. He was also "glimpsed briefly" in the sit-com Encore! Encore! Mr. Repole recently retired from the drama, theatre and dance department at Queens College, which included eight years as the chairman. He is happy to back collaborating with Michael Colby, the actual, "Algonquin Kid."

 

Michael Lavine (Music Director) has worked as a musical director, pianist, vocal coach and singer all over the world. He gives master classes on auditioning in New York, Los Angeles, Moscow, Bangkok, Australia, Singapore, Manila, Martha's Vineyard, and other locations. Michael musically directed productions of Rent, Sweeney Todd, and Thoroughly Modern Millieat the Shanghai Theatre Academy. He has accompanied Broadway and television star Bryan Batt in New Orleans, San Francisco, Australia, Hollywood, at 54 Below, Feinstein's, and the Metropolitan Room in New York. Michael conducted The Little Mermaid,starring Emily Skinner at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. He also regularly plays for the Outer Critic's Circle Awards in New York and musically directed the Broadway Cares Teddy Bear Auction for its entire 15-year run. Michael has conducted orchestras in a number of cities around the country, he worked with Adolph Green and Betty Comden while musically directing their musical Billion Dollar Baby at the York Theatre starring Kristin Chenoweth, Marc Kudisch and Debbie Gravitte. Michael worked with Burton Lane musically directing his musical Carmelina, also at the York. He shared the stage with Mimi Hines and Peter Howard (his mentor) at the Kennedy Center in a Rodgers and Hart revue This Funny World. For the past several years, Michael has been producing a series of CD's called "Lost Broadway and More," recording songs from Broadway shows that have never been recorded before, available at www.cdbaby.com. A graduate of Columbia University, Michael owns one of the larger privately held sheet music collections in the world. More details can be found at Michael's website, www.michaellavine.net. He can be reached at Broadwaymhl@aol.com.

 

Natalie Douglas is an actress and a multiple award-winning concert, recording and cabaret artist who also happens to hold a Masters Degree in Psych and Theater from UCLA. Her highly regarded concert appearances have earned standing ovations in esteemed U.S. venues including Carnegie Hall, Birdland, Café Carlyle, the Herbst Theatre, Thalian Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center's Appel Room, as well as international venues in Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Greece, Corsica, Turkey, Monaco, Argentina and Mexico. Her tributes to artists such as Cher, Nina Simone, Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr., Stevie Nicks and Stevie Wonder, Dame Shirley Bassey, Barbra Streisand and Dolly Parton are legendary. Ms. Douglas is the recipient of the Mabel Mercer Foundation Donald F. Smith Award, the Mabel Mercer Foundation Margaret Whiting Award, 10 MAC Awards for Outstanding Vocalist, Major Artist (2x), Jazz Vocalist, Show of the Year, and Major Recording "Human Heart" with 15 nominations, Nightlife Award Winner for Outstanding Piano Bar Entertainer, Back Stage Bistro Award Winner for Outstanding Female Vocalist, and Back Stage Bistro Award Winner for Outstanding Recording "Human Heart."

 

Donna English Credits: Broadway: Living on Love, Nice Work if You Can Get It, Lend Me A Tenor, Broadway. Off Broadway: Taking A Chance on Love, Forbidden Broadway, Ruthless! (Drama Desk nomination). NYMF Outstanding Performance Award for Madame X. Regional: On the Twentieth Century (Lily), Victor/Victoria (Victoria), The King and I (Anna).

 

Eddie Korbich made his Broadway debut in Singin' in the Rain at the Gershwin Theatre, and followed that with the Sweeney Todd revival in 1989 at the Circle in the Square Theatre, playing Tobias Ragg. Since then he has made many memorable appearances on the boards, including as Guiseppe Zangara in the 1990 Off-Broadway production of Assassins at Playwrights Horizons, the 1994 production of Carousel, the original cast of The Drowsy Chaperone, for which he earned a Drama Desk Award nomination, the Broadway production of Breakfast at Tiffany's and the original cast of a the Tony Award-winning A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. Mr. Korbich earned an Obie Award for his role in the York Theatre's 2000 production of Taking A Chance on Love. He just finished playing Richard Wagner in My Parsifal Conductor Off-Broadway at the Marjorie Deane Little Theatre.

 

T. Oliver Reid has been singing and dancing since he was four years old. Since making his way to New York City he has appeared in numerous Broadway shows. His credits include Once On this Island, Chicago, Kiss Me Kate, Follies, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Never Gonna Dance, La Cage Aux Folles, The Wedding Singer, Mary Poppins, Damn Yankees and the 25th Anniversary concert of Dreamgirls. He has created several critically lauded nightclub acts, including Drop me Off In Harlem and the current Distingué...The Saloon Singer and His Songs: A Tribute to Bobby Short. Mr. Reid is the winner of the 2013 Bistro Award for Outstanding Theme Show, the 2013 MAC Award for Male Vocalist, the 2012 Mac Award for Male-debut Artist, and the 2011 Julie Wilson Award Winner from the Mabel Mercer Foundation.

 

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer) now in its 50th year of continuous operation is New York City's award-winning pioneer in diversity and multi-ethnic casting in the performing arts since 1968. Amas ("you love" in Latin) is devoted to the creation, development and professional production of new American musicals through the celebration of diversity and minority perspectives, the emergence of new artistic talent, and the training and encouragement of underserved young people in the New York area. In recent years, Amas has emerged as a leading not-for-profit laboratory for new musicals, the most recent being Broadway and the Bard, starring Len Cariou and Red Eye of Love, which was awarded the Joseph A. Callaway Award for Outstanding Choreography. Its production of The Other Josh Cohen received six 2013 Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Musical, a 2013 Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Musical, and a 2013 Off-Broadway Alliance nomination for Best New Musical. Other shows that Amas has developed include A Taste of Chocolate, Triassic Parq, The Countess of Storyville, Distant Thunder, Marry Harry, Me and Miss Monroe, Aesop & Company, Signs of Life, Wanda's World, Shout! The Mod Musical, Lone Star Love, From My Hometown, Zanna, Don't!, 4 Guys Named Jose and Stormy Weather: Reimagining Lena Horne. Amas education programs include the Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy, Lens on Live Theatre and in-school theatre arts residencies designed in partnership with elementary, middle, and high schools.

www.amasmusical.org

 

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