Bay Area Musicals' 2018 Fundraiser To Feature Tony Nominee Carmen Cusack

Bay Area Musicals (Matthew McCoy, Founder & Artistic Director, and AeJay Mitchell, Managing Director) announced today that the theatre company's 2018 gala fundraiser, A Twist of Limelight, will star Tony Award-nominated actress Carmen Cusack (Bright Star, Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables) in a special performance. All proceeds of the evening will support upcoming productions by Bay Area Musicals! The gala will be held at San Francisco's Alcazar Theatre on Saturday, May 19, 2018 from 6:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. Tickets to this one-night-only event range from $45.00 - $175.00 and are available now at www.bamsf.org/twist-of-limelight.

"I can't believe we are already at our third annual fundraiser" said Bay Area Musicals Founder & Artistic Director Matthew McCoy. "As a non-profit, it is so important to raise funds so we can continue to grow, flourish, and fulfill our mission. This year we are thrilled to have the support of three official sponsors for the event, over fifty vendors donating to the silent auction, and the generous participation of Tony-nominee Carmen Cusack. I had the pleasure of coming across Bright Star while it was in out of town tryouts at The Old Globe and immediately fell in love with Carmen's voice, energy and talent. Each year we try to host a performer at our fundraiser who sparks the same wonderful feeling our audiences receive when they see a Bay Area Musicals production. Carmen is sure to deliver that feeling as she sings songs from some of her amazing past roles: Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime, Les Miserables and of course Bright Star - a role that Carmen recently reprised at San Francisco's own Curran Theatre. A Twist of Limelight will truly be a night to remember, in support of BAM to ensure that we can continue to serve the magnificent Bay Area audiences."

A Twist of Limelight will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception. During this time, guests will be given a chance to win raffle prizes, as well as participate in the silent auction. Immediately after, Matthew McCoy - Bay Area Musicals' Founder and Artistic Director - will be announcing their third season with the help of local performers. There will also be a live auction featuring one-of-a-kind items including remote vacation destinations, dinner & theater packages, and a luxury cruise. Act two will consist of a concert by Carmen Cusack. A Twist of Limelight is generously supported by corporate sponsors HGG Hugh Groman Group, Fort Point Beer Co. and Tito's Handmade Vodka.

Carmen Cusack is best known for her critically acclaimed and Tony-nominated star turn in Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's Broadway musical Bright Star. It was her first Broadway role. She was featured in the 2016 City Center production of Sunday in the Park with George, and she starred last year in the one woman show Do This at the Gulfshore Playhouse. She starred as 'Lynn Gardner' in Carrie at MCC, 'Nellie Forbush' in Lincoln Center's national tour of South Pacific (for which she received a Helen Hayes nomination), and as 'Elphaba' in the first US tour and Australia productions of Wicked. Her West End credits include 'Eva Cassidy' in Over the Rainbow, 'Fantine' in Les Miserables, 'Rose' in The Secret Garden, 'Kim' in Personals, and 'Christine' in The Phantom of the Opera. She studied opera at the University of North Texas, which just presented her with its first honorary baccalaureate degree this March. More information on Ms. Cusack is available on her website, www.carmencusack.com.

MATTHEW MCCOY, Bay Area Musicals' Founder & Artistic Director, is proud to now call San Francisco home. Before moving here in 2012 Matthew has performed, directed, choreographed, and produced plays, musicals, cabarets, and magic production shows nationally and Internationally. He has worked professionally in the regional theatre circuit as well as in Las Vegas, New York, Florida, New Hampshire, Ohio, Paris, London, and Shanghai, China.

Matthew brings an extensive knowledge of Musical Theatre having received his undergraduate degree from Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. Prior to starting Bay Area Musicals, Matthew broke into the Bay Area scene serving as the Casting Director and Associate Artistic Director at Berkeley Playhouse until the summer of 2014---where he still works as a guest director, choreographer, and teaching artist.

Professional Credits Include: Cinderella (Director & Choreographer), The Music Man (Director & Choreographer), Dracula (Director), Little Shop of Horrors (Director), Into the Woods (Choreographer), Timeless Starring Las Vegas Magician Jason Andrews (Director & Choreographer), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Director & Choreographer), Bye Bye Birdie (Choreographer), Champions of Magic LIVE! (Director & Producer), Shrek the Musical (Director & Choreographer), Addams Family the Musical (Director & Choreographer), Mary Poppins (Co-Director & Co-Choreographer), and Fiddler on the Roof (Choreographer), Nunsense (Choreographer), Peter Pan (Choreographer), Ring of Fire (Director & Choreographer) and Grease (Director & Choreographer). Bay Area Musicals first season: How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (Director), Hair (Choreographer), and La Cage Aux Folles (Director & Choreographer).

Bay Area Musicals (BAM!) is a professional, non-profit theatre organization dedicated to presenting the highest-caliber of musical theatre in San Francisco. Founded in 2014, the company strives to stimulate and inspire the San Francisco Bay Area community through high-caliber musical theater ranging from familiar classics to challenging new works; to produce professional musical theater at accessible ticket rates; and to engage the community through performance, outreach, and educational opportunities.

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