Carla Bianco And Lenora Nemetz Headline MTAP's Incubator Reading Of KALEIDOSCOPE

Musical Theatre Artists of Pittsburgh announces the Incubator reading of Kaleidoscope featuring Carla Bianco and Lenora Nemetz on Monday, December 11, 2017, at 7:00 pm at the City Theatre Rehearsal Space inside the Charles Morris Building, 1300 Bingham Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15203. The show is free and open to the public; MTAP encourages online reservations at: https://www.artful.ly/store/events/13772.

Carla Bianco's semi-autobiographical musical, Kaleidoscope, was previously selected for the prestigious ASCAP/Disney musical theater workshop in L.A., directed by Craig Carnelia/Stephen Schwartz. Carla originally developed the work on her own, but through MTAP involvement, Steve Cuden joined the project as co-writer of the book, working alongside Carla to reconceive and write a new vision of her personal story.

Steve was drawn to the piece because "Carla's music is incomparably beautiful, poignant, and full of passion and pathos. Her songs make Kaleidoscope memorable from start to finish, and her powerhouse singing is brilliant and unforgettable. It's a great privilege and joy for me to work with the massively talented Carla Bianco. And to have Lenora Nemetz join us in the reading is a dream come true."

Carla, an award-winning songwriter and Broadway performer, looks forward to presenting this new vision of her original work to a Pittsburgh audience toward mounting a full production. "Kaleidoscope's first spark of inspiration was about twenty years ago and it's been quite a journey getting to this point. I'm grateful to have the support and expert, storytelling skills of Steve Cuden who has been key in finding the best way to tell Kaleidoscope's story. I am thrilled to have the amazing Lenora Nemetz share the stage with me."

Pittsburgh theatre legend and Broadway veteran, Lenora Nemetz, joins Carla in the reading as psychotherapist, Dr. Adrian Joden.

Rounding out the reading is Gary Kalinosky on guitar - a long-time collaborator with Carla, and MichaelAngelo Turner - who has been actively involved in Alumni Theater Company (ATC) - will read stage directions. Jesse Soracco is the sound engineer on hand to mix vocals, piano, guitar and voice. Sophia Marshall is stage manager and Drake Ma is producing assistant. MTAP's Stephanie Riso is co-producing this project with Carla Bianco and Steve Cuden.

About Kaleidoscope

The bold new musical, Kaleidoscope, is the story of one young woman's struggle to overcome the emotional and physical abuse she endured in her youth at the hands of her father so that she can fulfill her lifelong dream of great success in the music business. Brilliant singer/songwriter Maria Botticelli has fought for years to make her music and her story heard with only limited success. Despite long odds and numerous setbacks, she has carried on. At the point of giving up on her dreams, Maria (who has a rare condition called Synesthesia that enables her to hear music in colors) has sought help from psychotherapist, Dr. Adrian Joden, who specializes in Expressive Color Art Therapy. Adrian uses color and music to open up Maria so that she might finally confront her own story. This enables Maria to move forward and bring the light, inspiration, and color of her new musical to the world. Kaleidoscope is unusual for a musical in that it takes place entirely in one setting, Dr. Joden's office, and features only two characters. Kaleidoscope is filled with passionate and heartfelt songs written by Broadway and pop performer Carla Bianco. The musical's book is written by Carla Bianco & Steve Cuden (co-creator of the Broadway hit, Jekyll & Hyde, The Musical).

About The Cast

Carla Bianco (original conception/co-writer/music/lyrics and Maria), is an award-wining songwriter who has also worked on and off Broadway. She attended New York University where she landed a publishing deal with Jellybean Benitez and had her first song, "Not This Time", released on Atlantic Records. She is most known for her starring role in the Broadway show Rent and for composing the #1 Billboard song, "The Lover That You Are", which won her an ASCAP award. Her follow up single, "Music Takes Ya", went top ten on Billboard. She has worked on several workshops in Pittsburgh and New York and originated the role of Wendla in Spring Awakening. Devoted to giving back to the community, Carla returned to her hometown outside of Pittsburgh to help found the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center and Charter School. Continuing her recording work with the release of her first record, 'All This Time', and starting her own label, Ivory Note Records distributed by BFD/Sony RED, she has earned respect in the indie music scene. Carla has performed with national and international acts such as Kenny Loggins, Gino Vannelli, Rusted Root and Seth Glier, has toured the East Coast with a cabaret show, has done film, and works as a nation-wide spokesperson appearing in numerous commercials.

Steve Cuden (Director/Co-Writer) recently directed the 2nd edition of MTAP Hot Metal Musicals in July 2017. Steve co-created and co-wrote lyrics for the Broadway and international stage hit, Jekyll & Hyde, The Musical, and also co-conceived the musical Rudolf, Affaire Mayerling with Frank Wildhorn. As a screenwriter, Steve is credited on ninety teleplays for series including : X-Men, The Batman, Extreme Ghostbusters, Gargoyles, The Mask, Pink Panther, Iron Man and many others. He directed and co-produced the multi-award-winning indie cult hit horror-comedy feature, Lucky. Steve teaches screenwriting at Point Park University and recently began a podcast at StoryBeat.net, StoryBeat: Storytellers on Storytelling where he interviews writers and artists about how they create their work. Learn more at stevecuden.com, and about his two books at beatinghollywood.com and beatingbroadway.com.

Lenora Nemetz (Adrian) left her native Pittsburgh as a teenager to work on Broadway. She performed her way across the country for the last five decades, starting with her Broadway debut in Cabaret. A protégé of Bob Fosse, Lenora first came to the attention of New York critics when she replaced Chita Rivera as Velma Kelly in Fosse's production of Chicago. She went on to create the role of Delores Dante in the Broadway production of Working, winning a Drama Desk Award nomination. She co-starred with Peter Allen in his one-man show Up in One both on Broadway and in Los Angeles. She then co-starred with Chita Rivera as Angel in The Rink filling in for Liza Minnelli. She made her New York City opera debut in the role of Gladys in the revival of The Pajama Game. In 2008 Lenora starred in The Patti LuPone revival of Gypsy on Broadway playing Mazeppa and Miss Kratchitt and standby Miss Lupone as Rose. National tours include Sweet Charity, Bye Bye Birdie, Cabaret and Some Like it Hot. Lenora is a prominent actress in Pittsburgh theatre, having appeared in productions at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Pittsburgh Musical Theater, City Theater, and Pittsburgh Public Theater. She is currently with the cast of Gotta Dance now titled Halftime slated for a 2018 run at Paper Mill Playhouse.

MichaelAngelo Turner is a director, actor, musician and a proud member of the ATC Artist Collective and graduate of Alumni Theater Company. He studied theatre arts with a focus in acting and directing at Point Park University. MichaelAngelo has worked in different theater companies in the city and is eager to break into the film industry. He is humbly grateful to his mentors Hallie Donner (and ATC), Bill Nunn, Sheila McKenna, John Amplas, his mom and his brother.

Gary Kalinosky is a regular guitarist with Carla Bianco and has played with her on many occasions over the years. Outside of his love of music, Gary is the co-Founder, Creative Director and Brand Strategist at Acrobatique Creative. He is the creative anchor and handles all of the creative imagery and brand vision for Acrobatique's clients. He is pleased to be joining Carla and the MTAP group for this reading of the next phase of Kaleidoscope.

The rest of the team for this reading includes Producing Assistant Drake Ma, Stage Manager Sophia Marshall and Sound Engineer Jesse Soracco. MTAP is grateful to the Pittsburgh CLO and
Pittsburgh CLO Academy for their ongoing support of MTAP and new musical theatre development in Pittsburgh.

About MTAP

MTAP's focus is new musicals, and it seeks to foster collaboration between musical theatre artists in the region and create opportunities for the development, presentation, and production of new musical theatre. MTAP is an inclusive organization, and prospective members, whether writers, composers, musicians, performers, managers or producers, are always welcome at meetings, which are held monthly at the Wightman School Community Building in Squirrel Hill. Visit http://mtap.weebly.com/ for more information, including dates of meetings and bios of some of MTAP's active members. MTAP-Musical Theatre Artists of Pittsburgh is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit service organization.

MTAP gratefully acknowledges the support of the Heinz Endowment's Small Arts Initiative, whose support makes this reading possible. The Heinz Endowments is devoted to the mission of helping our region prosper as a vibrant center of creativity, learning, and social, economic and environmental sustainability. Core to its work is the vision of a just community where all are included and where everyone who calls southwestern Pennsylvania home has a real and meaningful opportunity to thrive. MTAP also gratefully thanks the tremendous cooperation and support of the Pittsburgh CLO.

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