Joe Kinosian & Ian Lowe to Reprise MURDER FOR TWO Roles in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh CLO is proud to announce the cast for the Pittsburgh premiere of original comedy sensation Murder For Two, which will run October 22 through January 18 at the CLO Cabaret. Tickets start at $34.75 and are available at CLOCabaret.com, by calling 412-456-6666 or visiting the Box Office at Theater Square.

Joe Kinosian (The Suspects/Book and Music October 22-November 23) is the co-recipient of Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Award recognizing Murder For Two as Best New Musical following its record-breaking run at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Joe was also nominated for Best Actor as The Suspects. Murder For Two had its off-Broadway premiere at Second Stage Uptown, going on to a year-long run at New World Stages. Joe's work with Kellen Blair has been showcased at The Kennedy Center, The York Theater, and on Broadway at the Theatre World Awards. Joe received the ASCAP Foundation Mary Rodgers/Lorenz Hart Award and the Harrington Award from the BMI Workshop. Joe also appeared in Dirty Blonde with Emily Skinner (Hangar Theater) and the NYC premiere of Dear Edwina off-Broadway.

Ian Lowe (Marcus October 22-November 23) is making his Pittsburgh CLO debut. Off-Broadway: Murder for Two (New World Stages), Nikolai & the Others (Lincoln Center Theatre), Bayonets of Angst (NYMF/Signature Center), Feste in Twelfth Night (Sonnet Rep). Regional: Fingers in Fingers & Toes (Merry Go Round Playhouse, Regional Premiere), Heartbreaker starring Christine Andreas (Adirondack Theatre Festival, Regional Premiere); plays and musicals at Capital Rep, Riverside Theater, Charleston Stage, Dorset Theater Festival, Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, Ivoryton Playhouse and others. Readings and workshops at The York, EST, MTC, APAC, BMI, etc. 2014 Lotte Lenya Competition Semi-Finalist. BA, Yale University.

Brandon Lambert (Marcus November 28-January 18) is a graduate of Point Park University returning to the CLO Cabaret after last appearing in Plaid Tidings as Jinx. Other Pittsburgh credits include Born Yesterday (Pittsburgh Public Theater) and Legally Blonde (Pittsburgh Musical Theatre). NYC credits include Natoma (Victor Herbert Renaissance Project) and the Wall-to-Wall Cabaret (Symphony Space).

Eric Longo (Understudy November 28-January 18) last appeared on the CLO Cabaret stage as the loveable character Sparky from Plaid Tidings. Additional credits include Chicago the Musical on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas and South Pacific at Delaware Theatre Company. Other companies include Quantum Theatre, Attack Theatre and Media Theatre. He earned a BFA from Carnegie Mellon and Master of Music from Rice University.

John Wascavage (The Suspects November 28-January 18) returns to the CLO Cabaret after appearing in A Grand Night For Singing and 'S Wonderful: The New Gershwin Musical. NYC Credits: James Monroe in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Piper Theatre), George in The Wedding Singer (Secret Theatre), Ensemble in SuperSoldier by Jim Rado (Fundamental Theatre Project), Ensemble in For Goodness Sake (Musicals Tonight), Rock Henderson in FABULOUS (Richmond Shepard Theatre). Regional Credits: Candide in Candide (Quantum Theatre), Posner in The History Boys (Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre). Trained at Point Park University.

Scott Schwartz (Director) directed Murder for Two in its run at New World Stages and Second Stage Uptown. On Broadway, he directed Golda's Balcony and Jane Eyre (co-directed with John Caird). His Off-Broadway work includes Bat Boy: The Musical (Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Awards, Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical; Drama Desk Award nomination, Outstanding Director of a Musical), tick, tick...BOOM! (Outer Critics Circle, Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical; Drama Desk nomination, Outstanding Director of a Musical); Rooms: A Rock Romance; The Foreigner starring Matthew Broderick (Roundabout Theatre Company), Kafka's The Castle (Outer Critics Circle nomination, Outstanding Director of a Play), and No Way to Treat a Lady. He also directed Golda's Balcony on tour, in London, in Los Angeles at the Wadsworth Theatre and in San Francisco at American Conservatory Theater. He directed the world premiere of Séance on a Wet Afternoon at Opera Santa Barbara and subsequently at New York City Opera. Schwartz's other recent credits include the world premiere of Secondhand Lions (5th Avenue Theatre), the world premiere of Theresa Rebeck's What We're Up Against (Alley Theatre), Arsenic and Old Lace starring Tovah Feldshuh and Betty Buckley (Dallas Theater Center), Othello and Much Ado About Nothing (Alley Theatre), A Room With A View (Old Globe), and a re-envisioning of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Paper Mill Playhouse, Theatre Under The Stars, Theatre on the Square and North Shore Music Theatre; 2008 IRNE Award, Outstanding Director of a Musical). He is the Artistic Director of Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, NY and is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an Associate Artist at the Alley Theatre, and a graduate of Harvard University.

Murder For Two is the creation of the talented writing team of Joe Kinosian (music and book) and Kellen Blair (lyrics and book), who first met in the BMI Musical Theatre Writing Workshop, where they're currently Advanced Members. Kinosian and Blair's song "If He Knew Me" recently had its Broadway debut at the 2013 Theatre World Awards. They're proud members of ASCAP and recipients of the 2013 ASCAP Foundation Mary Rodgers / Lorenz Hart Award. Their work has also been showcased at the York Theater's 2012 NEO concert, Adirondack Theater Festival's Second Act Cabaret, The Kennedy Center's "Broadway Today and Tomorrow" series, the Kauffman Center's "Bound for Broadway" concert, and a November 2012 New York Theatre Barn Concert. Their past work includes Pirates Don't Change Diapers for TheatreWorks USA and two Christmas songs for the 2009 and 2010 Lincoln Center Annual Holiday Songbooks. They also took part in the 2010 Johnny Mercer Songwriting Project, where their song, "You're Mine Until," was selected to be part of a gala concert honoring Stephen Schwartz. They received a 2011 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Musical for Murder For Two. Currently, Kinosian and Blair are in development on several new musicals, including The More Things Change, a backstage musical comedy about two middle-aged actors battling to set the record straight about their shaky romantic past.

Murder For Two is the perfect blend of music, mayhem and murder! In this witty and winking homage to old-fashioned murder mysteries, two performers play 13 roles - not to mention the piano! The New York Times calls this hilarious 90-minute whodunit "INGENIOUS! A snazzy double-act that spins out a comic mystery animated by funny, deftly turned songs." You won't want to miss this killer musical comedy!

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