Moonlight Presents to Welcome Susan Egan in January

A number of firsts are occurring as the City of Vista's Moonlight Amphitheatre raises the curtain on a new era beginning in January. The Amphitheatre's new performing arts program, Moonlight Presents, offers its first series, Moonlight Cabaret, and at the same time inaugurates its new performance space: ClubM. For one night only, on Friday, Jan. 15 at 8 pm, Moonlight Presents offers a sold-out performance of Susan Egan: The Real Housewife of Broadway.

With the popularity of Glee, American Idol and Hollywood's Musical Blockbusters, Broadway has entered a new Golden Era, and Susan Egan brings it all together into one concert. Tony-nominated as the original "Belle" in Beauty and the Beast, critically-acclaimed as "Sally Bowles" in Cabaret, and NY's latest Thoroughly Modern Millie, Susan is one of Broadway's most celebrated contemporary performers. Come see why the NY Post calls her "electrifying" as she highlights classic tunes by Gershwin, Porter, and Arlen, modern standards by Kander and Ebb, Alan Menken, and Stephen Schwartz and music from NY's hottest new writers. Critics have dubbed her voice the "perfect Broadway instrument," and her show as a riotous "all-night conversation with your best friend."

ClubM is the Moonlight's new performance space being created for the Moonlight Cabaret series, which continues Feb. 11 and 12 with two sold-out shows of That's Life: A Toast to Sinatra, and Laura Ellis: In a Jazz Mood March 11 (a few tickets remain available). ClubM is housed on the completely enclosed Amphitheatre stage creating an intimate concert venue. Pre-concert dinner service will be offered from the Artisan Café with each concert having its own menu. Bar service will be available before and during concerts.

"The Moonlight Cabaret concert format is being created as a total experience from the ground-up," noted Moonlight Presents Producer Daniel Kays. "ClubM offers a complete experience from the moment you arrive until the lights have gone down at the end of each show. We've designed ClubM to be an intimate experience for both the audience and the artists performing."

Moonlight Presents is the City of Vista's new performing arts program offering ten performances in 2016 through three series. The other series, Moonlight Live! and Moonlight Variety, will go on sale January 23. Discount packages and single tickets will be available. For the complete Moonlight Presents line-up, visit moonlightpresents.com.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Susan Egan has made powerful impressions in theatre, film, television and music. She headlined on Broadway as Thoroughly Modern Millie, won critical acclaim as "Sally Bowles" in Cabaret, starred in Triumph of Love and State Fair, and received Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations for "Best Actress" as the original "Belle" in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Regionally, Egan starred alongside Carol Burnett in Putting It Together and Tommy Tune in the national tour of Bye, Bye Birdie, and developed works at Yale Repertory, Baltimore Center Stage, South Coast Repertory, and the Mark Taper Forum. Her film credits include 13 Going on 30, Gotta Kick It Up for the Disney Channel, and many award-winning indies seen at Seattle Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, Slamdance, the HBO Comedy Festival and beyond. Susan has voiced leading characters in the animated features Hercules (Meg), Spirited Away (Lin), Porco Rosso (Gina), Lady and the Tramp II (Angel), Achmed Saves America (Ginny), and is currently on Cartoon Network's Steven Universe (Rose Quartz). On television, she spent two seasons on the WB's Nikki, and guest-starred on HOUSE, NUMB3RS, NYPD Blue, Arli$$, Drew Carey, Great Performances, and countless others. Susan has headlined with more than 50 symphony orchestras worldwide, including concerts at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Hollywood Bowl, and has over 40 recording credits including her solo CDs: All That and More, So Far, Winter Tracks, CoffeeHouse (Best Vocalist 2004), Susan Egan LIVE, The Secret of Happiness, and 2015's Softly. She is an accomplished master teacher in music performance, obsessive gardener, happy wife, and leader to her daughters' two Girl Scout troops.

Stephen Cook (Musical Director/Pianist) received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of South Carolina where he studied composition with Dr. Samuel Douglas and piano performance and pedagogy with Dr. Max Camp. Additional studies were with Edith Oppens at the Aspen School of Music and with Dr. Manuel Alvarez at the Conductors Institute, University of South Carolina. While completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California, Dr. Cook served as an assistant lecturer in the Keyboard Studies Department under the direction of Stewart Gordon. From 1996-2012 he served on the faculty of the Colburn School of Performing Arts and from 1996-2004 was the Director of the Pianist Program at the Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana, California, a nationally recognized pre-professional arts conservatory. He serves on the Executive Board of the California Association of Professional Music Teachers, is a former Research Program Specialist with the Music Intelligence Neural Development Institute at the University of California, Irvine, and currently holds faculty appointments with the Pasadena Conservatory of Music and Whittier College. Past activities included adjudication of the Pro-Romania International Piano Competition in Bucharest, Romania, performance and master classes in Tokyo, Japan, Carnegie Hall, New York and numerous concert appearances with Broadway talent Susan Egan. Musical Director/Arranger/Composer for: Into the Woods, Urinetown: The Musical, Kiss Me Kate, Man of La Mancha, Cabaret, Beowulf, The Crucible, Romeo & Juliet, Rent and others.

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