Theatre Artists to Present New Works at Weston Playhouse Event, 5/3

The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company will introduce the creative teams behind four new musicals during a Salon Reception at its Playhouse on the Village Green, Saturday, May 3rd from 4 to 6 pm. The culmination of Weston's seventh annual Artists Retreat week, the salon reception is free and open to the public with no reservations necessary.

Producing Artistic Director Steve Stettler will introduce and interview the visiting artists onstage, with each team sharing some of its recent work. Attendees will participate in a lively question and answer session and will have a chance to chat personally over refreshments following the presentation.

"We're proud to have served 50 writers, composers and directors over the course of seven retreats," commented Stettler. "This year we're hosting 10 artists, twice the number from our first retreat in 2007." The 2014 participants range from Broadway veterans to emerging talent and include two Tony nominees, a NAMT Festival winner, and a team whose musical is already slated for a major Off-Broadway premiere.

The roster of artists and projects includes Cara Reichel and Peter Mills (Soldier's Heart); Jason Grote, Marisa Michelson and director Erin Ortman (Scheherezade); Hunter Bell, Eli Bolin and Lee Overtree (Found); and Glenn Slater and Wendy Leigh Wilf (Beatsville).

The Weston Artists Retreat provides individual and collaborating artists an all-expense paid week at Weston's rural village campus, including round trip travel, private lodging and work space, keyboards and pianos, meals, and staff support. Past retreats contributed to the development of the Broadway musical (title of show), Obie winner Dael Orlandersmith's Stoop Stories (which the actor/writer will perform at Weston this summer), and The Civilians' The Great Immensity, currently playing at the Public Theater in New York.

Funding for the Weston Artists Retreat comes from the Anton Family Foundation, the Frederick Loewe Foundation, the Shen Family Foundation and generous individual donors. Additional support comes from Andrew Levine/York Theatre, Eva Price, Victoria Lang and Benjamin Salka.

The free event will be held at the Weston Playhouse, 12 Park Street, just off Route 100 S in Weston, Vermont. There is ample parking around the Village Green and in the adjacent Weston Mill Yard. For more information, call 802-824-8167 x101.

The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company is an award-winning nonprofit theatre nationally known for its multi-stage summer season, education and new works programs. A $10 million capital campaign is currently underway, with plans to build a year-round cultural center for Southern Vermont - a theatre arts incubator with expanded retreats, workshops and a new studio theatre at Weston's Walker Farm. For more information visit westonplayhouse.org.

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