Libby, Bundonis, Gregg Lead Astoria PAC's THE HUMAN COMEDY

ASTORIA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER is pleased to announce the upcoming production of Galt MacDermot's (HAIR) musical, THE HUMAN COMEDY, with libretto by William Dumaresq based on the story by William Saroyan. The production will be directed by APAC Artistic Director Tom Wojtunik, choreographed by Christine O'Grady and music directed by Jeffrey Campos. THE HUMAN COMEDY will play a limited engagement at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church (30-44 Crescent St, Astoria, NY 11102. Entrance on 30th Road.) Performances begin Thursday, May 5 and continue through Saturday, May 21. Opening Night is Saturday, May 7 (8 p.m.).

The coming-of-age tale focuses on young Homer Macauley, a telegram messenger who is exposed to the sorrows and joys experienced by his family and the residents of his small California town during World War II. Homer's mother Kate is struggling to support her children following the death of her husband, his older brother Marcus is in the Army, his teenaged sister Bess daydreams about romance, and his younger brother Ulysses divides his attention between the passing trains and an unrequited desire to know why his father had to die. An ode to "home," The Human Comedy is one of the most enjoyable and moving musicals to have fallen into relative obscurity.

The production stars Aaron J. Libby* (Nat'l Tour: (Henry and Mudge) as Homer, Victoria Bundonis* (Nat'l Tour: Grease, The Music Man) as Kate, Jonathan Gregg* (APAC: Children of Eden, Ragtime) as Spangler, Deidre Haren* (Hairspray, Paper Mill Playhouse) as Bess, Stephen Trafton* (B'WAY: Les Miserables, original revival cast) as Marcus, D. William Hughes* (APAC: Ragtime) as Tobey, Rachel Rhodes-Devey (APAC: Children of Eden) as Mary, Richard Vernon* (APAC: Ragtime, Proof) as Grogan, Rayna Hickman* (Open Stage Rep, AMT San Jose) as Diana, Anthony Pierini (APAC: The Pillowman, TV: Bluebloods) as Ulysses, Marcie Henderson* (APAC: Ragtime; Luna Stage, York Theatre Company) as Beautiful Music, Douglas Lyons* (Nat'l Tour: Dreamgirls) as Trainman, Michael Jones as Felix, Philip Deyesso* (APAC: Children of Eden, Triumph of Love) as Thief, Tauren Hagans (The Gallery Players) as Mexican Woman, Jan-Peter Pedross* (The Gallery Players) as Matthew, Nicole Mangi* (B'WAY: Gypsy w/ Patti LuPone) as Helen, and Jean Liuzzi* (Nat'l Tour: The Music Man) as Mrs. Hicks. The soldiers include Chris Causer, Andrew Leggieri (John W. Engeman Theatre) and Tim Shelton* and the ensemble is Nathan Brisby (APAC: The Pillowman, Ragtime), Jennifer Margulis, Amie Bermowitz*, and Allyson Pace (APAC: Children of Eden).

The production features the reunion of their award-winning Children of Eden team with IT Award Recipient Michael P. Kramer as set designer, Hunter Kaczorowski as costume designer and casting by wojcik|seay casting. Dan Jobbins is the lighting designer, David A. Thomas is the sound designer, Ashlee Springer is the props designer, Sara Anne Simmons is the dramaturg, Olivia O'Brien* is the production stage manager.

THE HUMAN COMEDY plays the following regular schedule through Saturday, November 13:

Thursdays at 8 p.m.
Fridays at 8 p.m.
Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Tickets are $18, available online at www.apacny.org or by calling 866-811-4111. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the Theatre Box Office, 30 minutes prior to the performance.

Directions to the theatre: Take the N or Q Subway to 30th Avenue. Walk down 30th Ave. to Crescent St. (Mount Sinai Hospital is on the corner.) Walk one block South to 30th Road.

Running time: 135 minutes (including intermission)

BIOGRAPHIES

William Dumaresq (Libretto) Born in Vancouver, Canada in 1930, Dumaresq original set out to be an English teacher. In 1962 he moved to England to attend the University of London, where he was sidetracked when he met Galt MacDermot, another Canadian ex-pat with whom he began writing and producing songs. Together they wrote the screenplay and music for Duffer (1971), a film based on Dumaresq's yet-to-be-published novel of the same title. Their final collaboration was an adaptation of The Human Comedy, based on a story by William Saroyan, for which Dumaresq contributed the libretto. The two also collaborated on a British musical, Isabel's a Jezebel, loosely based on a Grimm's fairy tale, it premiered on London's West End in 1970. After suffering a non-fatal stroke at the door of his workplace in 1992, Dumaresq was diagnosed with cancer. He died in England in 1998.

Galt MacDermot (Composer) A Grammy and Tony-award winning composer, MacDermot is best known for the music he wrote for the Broadway scores of HAIR and Two Gentlemen of Verona. His work spans the gamut of performing arts: musicals, ballet scores, film scores, chamber music, the Anglican liturgy, orchestral, poetry, drama accompaniments, band repertory and opera. Film scores include Rhinoceros, Cotton Comes to Harlem, Mistress and HAIR. He draws inspiration from a wealth of musical styles, crossing the boundaries of jazz, folk, funk, gospel, reggae, and classical styles. Galt was inducted into the 2009 Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

William Saroyan (Original Story) Aug. 31, 1908 - May 1981. A U.S. writer, Saroyan was the largely self-educated son of an Armenian immigrant. He made his initial impact during the Depression with brash, original, and irreverent stories celebrating the joy of living in spite of poverty, hunger, and insecurity. Much of his fiction is based on his childhood and family. His story collections include The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934), Inhale and Exhale (1936), and My Name is Aram (1940). His other works include the play The Time of Your Life (1939, Pulitzer Prize) and The Human Comedy (1943), a sentimental novel of life in a small California town.

Jeffrey Campos (Music Director) APAC: Triumph of Love, A New Brain, Forever Plaid, Proof (incidental music). National Tours: Oklahoma! (MD), Annie (AMD), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Regional: Sunset Boulevard (Ogunquit, AMD), Mame (Cohoes Music Hall, MD). New York musical directing: NYC Mayor's Awards for Arts and Culture, Jack Perry is Alive (and Dating) (Ars Nova), Show Choir (NYC Fringe), A New Generation of Song (NYMF), Violet, The Wild Party, Like You Like It, City of Angels (The Gallery Players), Jesus Christ Superstar (Producer's Club), Bat Boy, Seussical, How to Succeed... Orch/arr. for Broadway Backwards. Served as the resident musical director of the Astoria Performing Arts Center and currently musical director of The Steinway Reform Church in Queens.

CHISTINE O'GRADY (Choreographer) APAC: Children of Eden and Senior Stars 2010. Broadway: HAIR (Associate Choreographer), Legally Blonde (SSDC Observership with Jerry Mitchell). Recent NY: Signs of Life (Amas), Uncle Pirate (Vital), Inside Broadway's tour of Smokey Joe's Café, and Tommy (Gallery Players). NY Premieres: Illyria, Iron Curtain, and The Tutor (Prospect Theater Company); Sympathy Jones (NYMF), and Shakedown Street (Fringe). Regionally: Into The Woods, High School Musical (I and II), Seussical (Barrington Stage Company); I Do! I Do! (Berkshire Theatre Festival); Oliver! (Cardinal Stage); several seasons at New London Barn Playhouse. She has an MFA in Theatre (Directing Concentration) from Arizona State University and is a member of SDC. Upcoming: Once Upon a Time in New Jersey (Prospect Theater Company) and the 1st National Tour of HAIR.
Tom Wojtunik (Director) has been in New York City since 1997, and in Astoria for the last eight years. For APAC he has directed Children of Eden (NY IT Winner Outstanding Musical), The Pillowman, Ragtime (NY IT Nominee, Outstanding Musical), and Proof. NY directing credits include: Bright Lights, Big City (MMC); The Who's Tommy (NY IT Nominee, Outstanding Musical), Man of La Mancha, Six Degrees of Separation, Urinetown (NY IT Award, Outstanding Musical), Take Me Out (The Gallery Players); The Play About the Naked Guy and Edenville (NY IT Nominee - Best Director, Emerging Artists Theatre); The Miss Education of Jenna Bush (FringeNYC, Best Solo Show & Audience Favorite); Rum and Vodka and The Good Thief (Prospect St. Productions); I'm in Love with Your Wife (Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival); and workshops of David's Play and Bella Via (Ensemble Studio Theatre). Tom served as a 2007/2008 Resident Director at Ensemble Studio Theatre, where he was an Associate Producer on the 2008 Marathon of One-Act Plays. He was an Associate Casting Director at Charles Rosen Casting, produced the 2002 Festival of New Musicals for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, and served as Artistic Director of NeoPack, a theatre company focused on new work, from 2001-2004. BFA: Marymount Manhattan College. Member: SDC, LCT Directors' Lab, Emerging Artists Theatre.

THE ASTORIA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, INC. (APAC), a not-for-profit organization, was founded in 2001 by actress Susan Scannell ("Dynasty"). Our mission is to bring high quality theatre and entertainment to Astoria/Long Island City and to support local youth and senior citizens. We are a professional theatre company that complements a full season of award-winning mainstage programming with dedicated community programming.

Each year, APAC brings extended networks of artists, technicians, and volunteers together to produce musical revivals and modern plays. Our mainstage productions have been recognized for their quality and exceptional production values. We have received fourteen New York Innovative Theatre Award nominations and four wins (Children Of Eden, 2010, Ragtime, 2009), and an Off-Off Broadway Theatre Review Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical (Is There Life After High School?, 2004). We are invested in bringing visibility to new voices in American theatre, and through our series The 15/20s: Staged Readings of New Works, we present new plays by emerging playwrights.
Our commitment to local youth and senior citizens is reflected in our annual community programming. Examples include a free annual musical theatre performance program for children ages 8-13 (Summer Stars - 8 years running) and an after school playwriting program for middle school students (Astoria Playmaking Program - 6 years running). In 2005, we launched Senior Stars, a performance program for Queens residents over the age of sixty.
We are committed to keeping our work accessible: the programming is varied in order to reach a broad audience, produced regularly each season and affordable, so that theater-going can be habit - not a rare treat for the people who see APAC's shows.

 

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