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New York, New York (September 30, 2008)—POZ is pleased to announce the premier performance of Bacharach to the Future, a fund-raiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Director, Bruce Kimmel (The First Nudie Musical and The Brain From Planet X) and Musical Director, Alex Rybeck (Grand Hotel, Damn Yankees) have taken the reins of this production, which honors music legend Burt Bacharach, the composer of “That’s What Friends Are For,” the pioneering recording that benefited The Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) in 1985. Promises, Promises, Mr. Bacharach’s award winning musical, opened on Broadway forty years ago December 1, 1968. Special guests scheduled to appear include host and associate producer, Kevin Spirtas (The Boy From OZ), Emmy winner Liz Callaway (Miss Saigon), (All My Children), Billy Porter (Angels in America, Jesus Christ Superstar), Linda Purl (Tom Sawyer), Julie Reiber (Wicked, Rent), Katie Adams (Wicked) and Matt Walton (Hair, Burn After Reading), with other talented New York performers to be announced.
This show launches a partnership between POZ and BC/EFA. It continues a solid history of POZ fund-raising for AIDS Walk New York and Los Angeles these last two years. Bacharach to the Future is POZ’s tribute to the industry that has been in the forefront in helping to fight this disease.
Where: New World Stages, 340 W. 50th St, New York, NY
When: Monday, December 1, 2008, 7:30PM  
BethAnn Bonner was in the final three of Soapnet's I Wanna Be a Soap Star 3. While she didn't win, in 2006 she was offered the contract role of police officer Talia Sahid on the ABC Daytime’s One Life to Live, debuting in December of that year.
[wikipedia] "BethAnn Bonner's Talia is a breath of fresh air. There is something unique and intriguing about this character … BethAnn is creating layers in Talia and compels me to want to learn more about the character. She is neither cookie-cutter nor easily forgettable…" [Denise] Website: BethAnn Bonner  
John Bolton recently completed a run of over 500 performances as the villainous drama critic in Kander and Ebb’s Curtains where he also played the starring role of Lt. Frank Cioffi during David Hyde Pierce’s vacation. Also on Broadway: original cast of the Tony Award-winning musicals Spamalot (often performing the role of King Arthur), Contact and Titanic, and in the hit revivals of Damn Yankees and How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (as Finch opposite Sarah Jessica Parker). He was featured in the acclaimed New York benefit concerts of Chess, Funny Girl, Busker Alley and the Grammy-nominated Dreamgirls. He recently sang for 104-year-old Zeigfeld Girl Doris Eaton Travis on stage at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre. He starred Off-Broadway in Five Course Love at the Minetta Lane and in John Bucchino’s It’s Only Life directed by Daisy Prince. He played Rooster in the 20th Anniversary Production of Annie (with Nell Carter) and Will Parker in the European Tour of Oklahoma! He currently plays District Attorney John Summerhill on ABC’s All My Children and many Broadway-related appearances on all of the major network talk and morning shows. Mister Bolton has a BA in Journalism, but he left writing for the theatre because he wanted something steady. While that may not exactly describe the state of acting jobs, it was a great choice for this talented in that it keeps him in view. He has now joined Bacharach to the Future and those in attendance will get to appreciate the talent that is John Bolton.  
Terry Burrell has appeared on Broadway in The Three Penny Opera, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Into the Woods, Eubie and Dreamgirls. She was nominated for the Helen Hayes award for best actress in the musical Queenie Pie.(BroadwayWorld)On her role as Mrs. Meers in Thoroughly Modern Millie, "… I got such satisfaction playing a character that nobody thought I could do. Also, many people had no idea that I wasn't Asian." (Backstage). Burrell defies age and race as she defines talent and continues to inspire. Look for on December 1, 2008 at New World Stages helping raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Figths AIDS.  
Tony nominee and Emmy Award winner Liz Callaway is one of the top singer-actresses appearing on Broadway today. Audiences have seen her on Broadway in Merrily We Roll Along, Baby, Miss Saigon, The Three Musketeers, The Look of Love, and Cats, where she played the role of Grizabella for five years. She has also starred in numerous off-Broadway shows,as well as the internationally acclaimed Sibling Revelry with her sister, Ann Hampton Callaway.Her numerous film and television credits include the singing voice of Anastasia in the award-winning animated film, Princess Jasmine, Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Liz is also an accomplished studio singer, and can be heard on more than 35 recordings, including her three solo albums. Her extensive concert career includes appearances at New York ’s Carnegie Hall, in London, China, France, Iceland, Estonia, and just about every major city in the United States. Visit the Liz Callaway Website. Bacharach to the Future enjoys the extremely good fortune of having her with us on World AIDS Day.  
Franc D'Ambrosio is best known for his role in the stage version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. For this role he earned the title, "The World's Longest Running Phantom", having completed over 3000 performances, including the national tour and the San Francisco run of over 5 years. Attending the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT, He had the opportunity to study at the famed Vocal Academy of Lucca in Italy. While there, he was personally invited to study with legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti at his home in Pesaro.Franc made his Broadway debut in the first revival of Sweeney Todd. It was while he was in this production that Francis Ford Coppola discovered D'Ambrosio. Paramount Pictures had been conducting an international talent search (for well over a year) to fill the part of Anthony Corleone - the opera-singing son of Al Pacino & Diane Keaton in The Godfather III. Their search was finally over. It was immediately following that Franc was cast in the title role of The Phantom Of The Opera. He had actually been auditioning for Miss Saigon but the producers were so impressed with his performance that they immediately offered him the role in Phantom. Bacharach to the Future is now blessed with Franc's talent. Visit his official site.  
Anyone who grew up on a surf board and turned professional at the tender age of 16 is worthy of attention. There are more than enough reasons to pay attention to this fine young gentleman who turned to theatre after an ankle injury. It was Ted Detwiler’s and Del Shores’ mutual good fortune that they both were working on the situation comedy Ned & Stacy where they met. Their friendship and collaboration has led to our good fortune in enjoyable art with both Sordid Lives and Southern Baptist Sissies. He has starred in numerous musicals and plays. TV credits include Crossing Jordan, Sliders and Hyperion Bay. His film credits include: Must Love Dogs, The Ring 2, After Sunset, Chasers and Blood Money.
 
Kevin Earley has a recording entitled Earley Standards featuring classics from such composers as Cole Porter, Duke Ellington and George and Ira Gershwin. Now a New York audience will have the opportunity to hear the star of A Tale of Two Cities to sing the grand music of Burt Bacharach. Critics have hailed Kevin as "peerless, a brilliant singer and actor."Earley's Broadway credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie and Les Miserables and he has made frequent guest appearances with the California Philharmonic and at the Hollywood Bowl. [source: CD Baby] Kevin is a devoted member of Musical Theater Guild, dedicated to performing new and rediscovered musicals. He also takes part in benefits, including (BC/EFA’s) Easter Bonnet and Gypsy of the Year, (Los Angeles) Salon at the Taper, Actors Fund and William Holden Wildlife Foundation. While in Chicago he received a Joseph Jefferson Award for the Balladeer in Assassins at The Appletree Theater. Other awards include the B. Iden Payen Award for Curly in Oklahoma and three coveted Robby Awards. [source: www.kevinearley.com] This unique and much heralded talent will grace New World Stages once again helping Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in POZ’s Bacharach to the Future. Learn more about him here, yet another website dedicated to him.   
A proud member of the Broadway Inspirational Voices Mandy Gonzalez made her Broadway in the Elton John musical Aida. She appeared in the musical Lennon, based on the life of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and she also starred opposite Michael Crawford as Sarah in Dance of the Vampires. Mandy was best known for her OBIE Award-winning performance in the Off-Broadway production of Eli's Comin', the musical based on the lyrics and music of songwriter Laura Nyro until now.
 
Kansas City born Natalie Hiatt is a singer, writer living in New York City. She is currently involved in a Children’s musical Theatre program Star Kidz that teaching the fundamentals of singing, acting and dance. She was a recipient of the Kathleen Turner scholarship while attending Missouri State University. She has been part of Ken Ludwig’s premiere of Leading Ladies at the New Theatre in Kansas City, and various other productions including Swing!, Funny Girl, Grease, Anything Goes, and Eating Raoul.“Hiatt is extraordinary. She's so talented and charismatic that you understand what the producers of Best Musical Tony winner Thoroughly Modern Millie felt upon discovering chorus girl Sutton Foster... Hiatt has the appeal and formidable lung power of some blessed mutant who is equal parts Bernadette Peters and Jennifer Tilly but entirely her own creation.” [source: Steve Walker, The Pitch Kansas City]It's unanimous among those who know her: Classic beauty with a classic voice. This year it is one more opportunity to know this young woman. She will be joining Bacharach to the Future.  
[source: Tom Nondorf, Playbill] Christopher Jackson calls himself a 'small-town boy who found himself in the city, trying to scratch out a place for himself.' This is not unlike his character, Benny, in In the Heights, who is the outsider trying to find his niche in upper Manhattan's Washington Heights. The small-town Jackson hails from is Cairo, IL, where he notes fewer people live than can be found wandering on 42nd Street in a given five-minute period. Like Benny, Jackson grew up without a father around, but his music teacher mother got him singing and a schoolteacher helped push him towards acting. ... "I grew up in the church, listening to hip-hop and singing gospel and R&B and country music from the South — whatever I happened to be listening to at the time. I have a real passion for a lot of different stuff. .. I've been singing in public since I was three... Right out of high school, I came to New York, and I attended American Musical and Dramatic Academy and studied musical theatre there for two years and just kind of jumped into it. I got an Off-Broadway show about two months after I graduated, and I was cast in the original company of The Lion King, moved on to play Simba there for several years, and I've done some regional things, but I love being on stage. I love the audience. I love the culture that is found on Broadway. It's a great family to be a part of. I love collaborative types of art. Theatre is the ultimate collaboration. [In the Heights] tells the story about regular people trying to do extraordinary things — like scratch out a living in a city that is not kind to people at large." Christopher Jackson walks the walk and he is once again giving back by joining POZ's Bacharach to the Future. While the city may not be kind to people at large, Mr. Jackson proves that he can be, making the urban experience a bit more livable.  
Lauren Kennedy hails from Raleigh, North Carolina. She is an exceptional actress and singer who is known for Monty Python’s Spamalot, Les Misérables, Sunset Boulevard with Glenn Close, Side Show on Broadway and Cinderella with New York City Opera. London knows her for South Pacific at the National Theatre. Therefore, she is not only exceptional but also accomplished.Whether she is Nellie Forbush or Lady of the Lake, Lauren aims to please. “… a truly fantastic performer … It just seemed like she was having a lot of fun on stage … Lauren Kennedy is fantastic. She is probably the most talented musical theatre actress that I have had the pleasure of seeing on stage” [source: Coloured Lights] "Lauren Kennedy has a pretty voice and a lean and spiky physical allure that recalls the young Madeline Kahn's." (source: New York Times] That being said, she can be seen and heard giving voice to the Bacharach songbook on World AIDS Day at New World Stages. This is our good fortune along with Broadway Cares’. Visit her website.  
Ilene Kristen a New Yorker through and through has lived in just about everywhere there. She found herself living on the Upper West Side for some of her formative years. As many an urban child, especially of that era, she and her sister were given directives regarding which streets could be traveled.
One street that had 100% permission for her young adventures was Broadway, which served as inspiration for the luminous and joyous noise she gave forth in a duet of Boogaloo Down Broadway after her show one evening at the Triad where she often performs. Ilene's shows are full of reminiscences in which she relates to her audience as if they were in her living room. She herself says so. Nonetheless her music is sultry, smooth and funky at one and the same time. Still this smoothness wraps itself around complex and sensitive lyrics in her original material. As fortune would have it, one of her songs "Flesh & Blood" is found on the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Recording One Life Many Voices that she and her co-stars from One Life to Live have put together. "Hold on to the earth with your own two hands and never say goodbye" are the lyrics she wrote in response to The World Trade Center tragedy and the loss of her good friend Nancy Addison from Ryan's Hope. Speaking of inspiration, Ilene Kristen's fans would do her and themselves a great service in encouraging her to record more of her moving and intelligent sounds in a project all her own. She has lost many friends to AIDS and is very much impacted by the disease which has now ravaged the world for over twenty five years. It's no wonder that this vibrant, diminutive powerhouse was the very first to commit to our fundraiser. To know her is to love her. Website: The Official Ilene Kristen Website  
"The tale of how Sherri has come to a place in her life where she can help women living with HIV seems one part VH1: Behind the Music, another part Ripley's Believe It or Not! From her California home, she shares her many-layered saga, hoping that it will inspire—and protect." (Kellee Terrell)
Read about her story here: HIV: Behind the Music It was only natural for Sherri to join us and she readily accepted when asked. She is the host of the pod cast, Straight Girl in A Queer World and is an inspiration as an AIDS Activist in Hollywood having come up from the trenches. She is the kind of person that shows that getting and staying well is what this struggle is all about. She has moved forward by virtue of living a life that looks back only to help learn what the future is all about. Website: Straight Girl in a Queer World  
We have been blessed with the unique and rich voice of Jill O’Hara, with whom New York City has always been in love. [source: New York Times] Jill O'Hara grew up in Warren, Pa. and arrived in Manhattan right after high school, singing in Greenwich Village coffeehouses. Her first professional theater work was Hang Down Your Head and Die, a satirical Off Broadway revue about capital punishment, produced by Marion Javits. The show lasted only one night, but it had the distinction of being the vehicle that brought together Jerome Ragni and James Rado, the creators of Hair. She portrayed in rapid succession the female lead in the original Public Theater production of Hair, co-starred with Joel Grey in the hit musical George M! and played opposite Jerry Orbach in the Burt Bacharach, Hal David and Neil Simon musical Promises, Promises. Barely 21 years old, she was a big star.She's going to recreate her Tony nominated performance with the lush “Whoever You Are, I Love You.” She will be joined by Tony Roberts for “I'll Never Fall In Love Again.”  
[source: Rock's back pages] This small ensemble, which Bacharach is rehearsing for a tour that will jet around the globe in the next few months, leaves the early hits medley for one of his most current gems, "God Give Me Strength," a six-minute mini-symphony co-written by Elvis Costello ("He's one of the greatest songwriters in the world," Burt says) for the film, Grace Of My Heart. As vocalist John Pagano scales the stately, elegant staircase of the emotional ballad, Bacharach seems lost in his own private cosmos. It's that place where he sees the sparkling vistas, the shadowy valleys and the breathtaking peaks, "the long line," as he calls it, of his rangy melodies. As Pagano nails the climactic line of the bridge--"I want him... to hurt"--Bacharach's head snaps around, then he waves the surrounding players into a breathtaking instrumental passage. As the song simmers into the last verse, he stands up at the piano and feathers the air with one hand, while chording with the other. This has long been his style, playing pianist and conductor simultaneously, the commander-in-chief, the Captain Kirk of the musical stage... John Pagano's only been on board for a month. It turns out that Burt remembered him from six years ago, when Pagano made a solo record for MCA. John had asked Burt to write something for the album, and even though Burt didn't have time, he was so impressed by the young singer's capabilities that he kept his name on file for future reference. Pagano has only praise for his employer: "He has such vision as a composer. What he sees in his head in terms of melody and arrangement is amazing. What a learning experience this has been so far!" Rest of article is here. John Pagano's musical journey is evolutionary and with good fortune he has evolved into one of the finer interpreters of Mr. Bacharach's music. His presence on December 1 is a blessing.  
Before embarking on a career as a mainstream pop vocalist, Billy Porter built a substantial reputation as a theatrical singer in Broadway productions such as Grease and Smokey Joe's Cafe. He made his initial impact by placing "Love Is On The Way" on the soundtrack to the film First Wives' Club, in 1996. His debut album, Untitled, was firmly anchored in traditional R&B territory, with several key ballads.According to L. Michael Gipson: "His voice is one for the ages and it soon found a home back on Broadway starring in everything from a revival of Grease to a landmark recording of Dreamgirls: In Concert. No less than Rosie O’Donnell fell in love with Billy’s talent and had him appear on her show innumerable times." This multi-faceted performer, well known to New York City audiences, has now brought his shining talents to the World AIDS Day event to help POZ benefit Broadway Cares/Equity fights AIDS.  
Barbara Porteus is the quintessential cabaret performer who can give you precisely what you came for from Stephen Sondheim to Johnny Mercer. She has performed in such shows as The Sound of Music with Marie Osmond, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying with Donald O'Connor and Side by Side by Sondheim. She has opened for Sid Caesar, Ben Vereen, Petula Clark and many others. Her extensive and impressive resume includes performing and touring with Eddy Arnold and Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings. She comes to us via her collaboration with the ubiquitous Ken Lundie and her presence brings to us a performer of the highest calibre.
 
Born in Connecticut and raised in Japan, Linda became the only foreigner to train at the Toho Geino Academy. Linda returned to the States to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse, Lee Strasberg Institute and later with Robert Lewis, an original member of The Group Theatre and co-founder of The Actor's Studio. Her stage credits include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; Hallelujah, Hallelujah! the original production of the Pulitzer Prize winning play Dinner With Friends, The Road To Mecca (with Miss Julie Harris), Nora (with Michael York), The Three Penny Opera (with Betty Buckley), Grease, On a Clear Day, ; Oliver, The King and I, Love Letters with both Stacey Keach and Desi Arnaz, Jr.; Tusitala (with Miss Julie Harris), Hippolytos as Phaedra in the inaugural production Getty Classical Theatre. Linda is recipient of six Dramalogue Best Actress Awards and two Dramalogue Awards as Best Producer. She has received two Robby Awards for Best Actress and is a three time nominee of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Award for Best Actress and is the recipient of the Connecticut Critics' Award for Outstanding Performance in a Play for her work in The Baby Dance.Linda has performed her cabaret act at The Rose Tattoo, The Cinegrill, The Gardenia, The Jazz Bakery as well as performed in concert at the Luchman Hall, Los Angeles; White Barn Theatre, Westport, Ct; Toho Imperial Theatre, Tokyo; Pike's Peak Center, Colorado Springs; Town Hall, NYC. She is an Associate Artist of the American National Theatre, co-founder and served as Founding Executive Director of the Colorado Festival for World Theatre and is Festival Director of the Rubicon International Theatre Festival. If all that isn't enough to insure a memorable performance for World AIDs Day from this very generous woman all one need do is listen to her moving performance of "A House Is Not A Home" on the recording produced by director, Bruce Kimmel, The Burt Bacharach Album.  
The wicked talent of Julie Reiber comes forth from Bellingham, Washington and it has blessed both coasts of the United States. From the original Los Angeles company of Wicked to that of Broadway. she has been part of many a production, All Shook Up, Rent, Brooklyn, Jekyll & Hyde. Her official website resides here. This is one busy woman! Since arriving in the Big Appple, Julie has already offered her time and talent to BC/EFA for Friends with Benefits last May, not to mention Tales From the Bad Years, Monday Nights, New Voices, Broadway Sings for Africa Concert, Reach the Sky, and Broadway for Obama in addition to being on hand for Wicked. This is the kind of person to write home about and we're glad she's on our side.
 
Tony Roberts received Tony Award nominations for his performances in Play It Again Sam and How Now, Dow Jones. His other theatrical credits include Victor/Victoria, Barefoot in the Park, Don't Drink the Water, Sugar, Absurd Person Singular, Arsenic and Old Lace, They're Playing Our Song, Jerome Robbins' Broadway and The Sisters Rosensweig. He won the London's Critics Poll Award for his performance in the West End mounting of Promises, Promises, and his many screen credits include Annie Hall, Play It Again, Sam and Serpico. Mr. Roberts is currently having a great time in Xanadu. It is an honour to have him with us for Bacharach to the Future, the very same man who introduced the musical Promises, Promises to London audiences. The man is the quintessence of acting with innumerable credits. He is a New York City legend.
  
Merriam-Webster defines mitzvah as “a meritorious or charitable act.” It seems, however, in common usage that it is a term that goes beyond that. One good Jewish friend said that part of its meaning was blessing. If it is thought of as meritorious or charitable deeds, they are deeds that bring blessing back to the perpetrator of those deeds.Mitzvah is one of those words that fits regarding Kevin Spirtas who is that kind of experience unto himself. A native of the “Show Me State” Kevin gives evidence to that kind of panache. The truth of it is that Kevin is the one doing all the showing. He is a multi-talented actor most recently showcased on One Life to Live. Many remember him as the scoundrel Dr. Craig Wesley on Days of Our Lives, a character that moonlighted opposite Joey on Friends. Many are familiar with him as Hugh Jackman’s stand by in The Boy from Oz. Getting back to mitzvah and all that jazz, it is to Kevin’s credit—a blessing, if you will—that he has made himself available to POZ magazine’s fund-raising efforts. Mr. Spirtas is a godsend. He is a major part of Bacharach to the Future , POZ's World AIDS Day fund raiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. This is something quite special that Kevin himself has worked diligently to get together. We are proud to have him host the evening. It needs to be said as well that spending time with him is more than pleasant and satisfying, because he shows you that it’s not all about him. It’s mitzvah. It is spending time with a man who knows what he is about.  
Many people got to see Matt Walton in his incarnation as the intrinsically evil Terry McDermott on All My Children and now know that he is much more than that. He is simply a hard working guy , one of those actors who keep you watching whether it's in television, on film or on stage. One of his recent endeavours Montclair saw him as part of a very talented ensemble as well as an Associate Producer for a very creative and unique independent film project. He has most recently been seen in the Coen Brothers' espionage film Burn After Reading and Law & Order: Criminal Intent in a recurring role. He's made such an impression in his work as the "Optimum guy," someone wants to start a fan club for him. He is definitely one of the good guys with a strong creative streak. He makes it a point to support us in all our efforts. Yes, he can sing!
 
Pearce Wegener is making his Broadway debut as Yonkers in Gypsy starring Patti LuPone. This young man, a graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, already had Pippin, Bye Bye Birdie, Show Boat and Wonderful Town under his belt. He will bring all his youthful energy to the stage for Bacharach to the Future. His reponse was immediate and unequivocal: “I am overwhelmed by all the good Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS does. I am honored to be able to help POZ support such a wonderful cause.”
 
There was no hesitation on Bruce Kimmel’s part to become part of POZ magazine’s World AIDS Day event, Bacharach to the Future. Since 1993, Mr. Kimmel has been one of the leading producers of theatre music on CD, having produced over 160 albums and as such he is a purveyor of many things Bacharach, in particular The Burt Bacharach Album: Broadway Sings the Best of Bacharach. He was nominated for a Grammy for producing the revival cast album of Hello, Dolly! and his album with jazz pianist Fred Hersch, I Never Told You, was also nominated for a Grammy. He is also one of the more delightful people one might run into. He is endowed with a big heart.Bruce Kimmel wrote, directed and starred in the cult movie hit, The First Nudie Musical (available on a Special Edition DVD). He also co-created (with David Wechter) the story for the hit film, The Faculty, directed by Robert Rodriguez. His musical, The Brain From Planet X (written with David Wechter) has been seen in Los Angeles, New York, and the United Kingdom. He is currently at work on bringing The First Nudie Musical to the stage for 2009. He’s also recently directed concert acts for Kevin Spirtas, Linda Purl, Joan Ryan, and a new two-person show for Mr. Spirtas and Sean McDermott. As an actor, Mr. Kimmel guest-starred on most of the long-running television shows of the 1970s and he is the author of seven novels – his acclaimed Benjamin Kritzer trilogy (Benjamin Kritzer, Kritzerland, and Kritzer Time), his four mysteries, Writer’s Block, Rewind, his two Adriana Hofstetter mysteries, Murder At Hollywood High and Murder At The Grove, as well as his collection of short fiction, How To Write A Dirty Book and Other Stories. He is a Renaissance Man. He has come on board as the director for Bacharach to the Future working with his good friend Kevin Spirtas, among other good friends of his who have agreed to be part of this because of their respect for Mr. Kimmel. He will also be on hand for the AIDS Walk Los Angeles fund-raiser at East/West Lounge in West Hollywood. Come shake his hand.  
Alex Rybeck is a pianist, arranger, composer, and musical director, well-known for his work in theater, cabaret, and on recordings. Broadway credits include Merrily We Roll Along (directed by Hal Prince) and Grand Hotel (directed by Tommy Tune). He also conducted the New York workshop and San Diego world premiere of What the World Needs now, winning personal praise from Burt Bacharach.Off-Broadway shows include Wings (Public Theater) and Really Rosie (directed by Patricia Birch). Winner of the 2005 Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) Award, he has worked in Manhattan’s premiere concert halls and cabaret venues, including Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Algonquin’s Oak Room, Feinstein’s, the Carlyle, and The Russian Tea Room, to mention a few. He has toured nationally and internationally as well, and has appeared on PBS several times (including Great Performances). Among the many stars of Broadway and cabaret he has worked with are Tommy Tune, Eartha Kitt, The McGuire Sisters, Michael Feinstein, Faith Prince, Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway, Donna McKechnie, Debbie Gravitte, Karen Mason, Lee Roy Reams, Tovah Feldshuh, Amanda McBroom, Marni Nixon (”The Voice of Hollywood”), Jason Graae, Jeff Harnar, Australia’s David Campbell, Craig Rubano, Anna Bergman, Rita Gardner, Metropolitan Opera diva Roberta Peters, and the legendary Kitty Carlisle Hart. Among numerous CD’s: Sibling Revelry (Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway); three solo albums by Liz Callaway; five solo albums by Jeff Harnar; Leap of Faith (Faith Prince); Try to Remember (Rita Gardner); Change Partners and Finishing the Act (Craig Rubano); Leading Men Don’t Dance (Ron Raines and others); and a soon-to-be-released album by Victoria Clark (Tony-winner for The Light in the Piazza). Original songs include “What a Funny Boy He Is”, recorded by Nancy LaMott. A graduate of Oberlin College and NYU, he was taught and mentored by Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, and Comden & Green. He is a member of ASCAP and The Dramatists Guild. He has taken the musical reins of Bacharach to the Future, which makes the production that much more valued. Magic Moments indeed. | |
