AMTP News Brief

MICHAEL GREIF TO DIRECT BOY IN THE BUBBLE

NU Alumn Michael Greif will stage AMTP's fourth new musical, In the Bubble, opening July 27, 2007. Greif directed the award-winning musical Rent and is currently represented on Broadway with Grey Gardens, which is destined to capture several Tony nominations The musical's book is by Rinne Groff, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, Joe Popp, and Rinne Groff.

AMTP ANNOUNCES FACULTY FOR JOHNNY MERCER WORKSHOPS

AMTP has announced the faculty for its third annual Johnny Mercer Songwriters Proejct. Returning to campus for the second time will be Craig Carnelia, Andrew Lippa and Lari White. Mr. Carnelia has written four Broadway musicals, including contributions to Studs Terkel's Working and Sweet Smell of Success, for which he garnered Drama Desk and Tony nominations. He has won a number of songwriting awards, including the Johnny Mercer Award. He currently serves as a teacher and mentor for songwriters across the nation, including as artistic director of the Chicago ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop. Mr. Lippa wrote the book, music and lyrics for The Wild Party which won the Outer Critics Circle Award for best Off-Broadway musical of the 2000 season and the Drama Desk Award for best music. Lippa has written music for the Broadway stage and in fall of 2006 his musical, Asphalt Beach, premiered as the production of the American Music Theatre Project. Lari White who made her critically acclaimed Broadway debut in the spring of 2006 in Ring of Fire. She received rave reviews for her performance in the Marilyn and Alan Bergman Tribute at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. As a recording artist, White has earned three Grammys and made music history as the first female producer of a male superstar by producing Toby Keith’s platinum album. Her last studio album, Green Eyed Soul was hailed by the London Times as “...the best soul album of the year.”

PARADISE LOST GETS SECOND READING IN PASEDENA

Eric Whitacre's Paradise Lost will be produced in Pasedena, California. Last year, AMTP collaborated with the School of Music to produce a two-performance workshop of this innovative new "opera electronica." Its new production, directed by Michael Michetti, will run from July through September at Pasedena's Theatre at Boston Court.

BOYS ARE COMING HOME NAMED IN SUN-TIMES TOP 10 FOR 2006

Hedy Weiss, critic for the Sun-Times, named AMTP's The Boys are Coming Home as one of her top-ten picks for the 2006 theatre season. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune also named it as one of his top choices.

NU'S JENNY POWERS RETURNS TO CAMPUS FOR DANGEROUS BEAUTY

NU Music Theatre graduate Jenny Powers will return in May to play Veronica in AMTP's workshop of Dangerous Beauty. Ms. Powers has been seen in two previous readings of the work. A regular on Northwestern stages, Ms. Powers was featured in Frank Galati's A Long Gay Book, the new musical which premiered at Northwestern with music by Broadway's Stephen Flaherty. She was again featured when the work transferred to the Museum of Contemporary art and became Loving Repeating. On Broadway, Ms. Powers played Meg in the musical adaptation of Little Women and is currently cast in a new musical by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, The Noble Ones, premiering in Pittsburg.

BOYS ARE COMING HOME PRESENTED AT NAMT FESTIVAL

The Boys are Coming Home authors Leslie Arden, Berni Stapleton, and Timothy French were recently showcased at the Festival of New Works, sponsored by the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) in New York City. Eight new works were selected from 114 submissions. AMTP Artistic Director Stuart Oken served as co-producer for the New York presentation which featured a Broadway cast including Mark Kudish, Kerry Butler, NU alum Gregg Edelman, and Merle Dandridge. The NAMT festival is dedicated to bringing together professional theatres, producing organizations and educational institutions who promote the development of new musicals. Among the many musicals launched by NAMT's annual Festival of New Works are Thoroughly Modern Millie, Children of Eden, and this year's mult-Tony-Award winning musical The Drowsy Chaperone. The two NAMT performances reunited Leslie Arden with director David Petrarca who staged her House of Martin Guerre at the Goodman Theatre. According to Oken, "It's an incredible honor to have on of our AMTP writers selected for NAMT's Festival, considering it's only our second year as a member."