Tags
Alan Jay Lerner, Alan Menken, Alix Paige, Arthur Laurents, Black Box Booking, Boca Raton Theatre, Frederick Loewe, George Gershwin, Harvey Fierstein, Howard Ashman, Hy Juter, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jeffrey Bruce, Jerry Herman, Jodie Langel, Jule Styne, Leonoard Bernstein, Lorenz Hart, Mark Sanders, Musical Theatre, Oscar Hammerstein, Paul Reekie, Richard Rodgers, Shari Upbin, Sheldon Harnick, Stephen Sondheim, Wayne LeGette, Willow Theatre at Sugar Sand Park
Black Box Booking & Hy Juter
Present
To Life: Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers to The Golden Age of Broadway
January 18 – February 3, 2019
“Musicals are plays, but the last collaborator is your audience, so you’ve got to wait ’til the last collaborator comes in before you can complete the collaboration.”
~ Stephen Sondheim
“I think it is just as important to sing about beautiful mornings as it is to talk about slums. I just couldn’t write anything without hope in it.”
~ Oscar Hammerstein”
For Immediate Release
Contact: Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244
December 27, 2018
BOCA RATON, FL: From Irving Berlin to Leonard Bernstein, and from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim, not to mention Fanny Brice, Zero Mostel, Jerry Orbach, and Barbra Streisand, Jewish composers and artists have contributed tremendously to Broadway. Black Box Booking and Hy Juter will present To Life: Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers to The Golden Age of Broadway at the Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park from January 18th through February 3rd.
To Life: Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers to The Golden Age of Broadway is chock full of fascinating narrative and charming anecdotes about some of the greatest Broadway artists of the 20th and 21st century. The production features five of South Florida’s top actor singers: Jeffrey Bruce, Broadway’s Jodie Langel, two-time Carbonell Award-winner Wayne LeGette, Alix Paige, and Carbonell Award-winner Mark Sanders.
Producers Jerry Seltzer of Black Box Booking and Hy Juter have tapped Shari Upbin to direct the show, and Paul Reekie to handle To Life’s musical direction.
“Jewish contribution to the Broadway musical has been phenomenal,” Upbin says. “In fact, Jewish composers and lyricists created the Broadway musical. Children of immigrants, called outsiders – people who struggled for acceptance in mainstream society – created the greatest American shows in history. Show Boat, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, Gypsy… and scores (pun intended!) more!
“Growing up in a household where my mother was a singer and my dad a writer for Jack Benny, I learned musical theatre songs early, and created dances for my parents to enjoy,” she continues. “I was encouraged by their enthusiasm for a good song, a good joke. Yes, my parents spoke Yiddish when they did not want me to understand what they were saying… but I always felt the warmth of the light in their eyes. I dedicate all the Jewish one-liners and the amazing songs heard in this show to my parents and grandparents. Immigrants who found their place in America urging me to continue their legacy. Tradition!”
To Life: Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers to The Golden Age of Broadway was created and written by Scott Siegel. Siegel is a well-known pop culture critic who covers film, theatre, and cabaret with his wife, Barbara, writing “The Siegel Column” for TheatreMania.com, and “The Two of Clubs” column for Talkin’Broadway.com. He has created more than 300 major concerts that have been performed worldwide, he has written/produced/directed concerts for Michael Feinstein, and has created scores of nightclub acts that have played at major clubs around the globe. However, he is perhaps best known as the creator/writer/director/host of New York City’s Town Hall Theatre’s signature series, Broadway by the Year® and Broadway Unplugged.
Nicole Stav is the production’s Stage Manager, and Jason Pierre will serve as Assistant Stage Manager. Technical crew includes Laura Fulton (Lighting) and Andrés Alessandro Beuses Casasanta (Sound).
To Life will run from January 18 through February 3 at the Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park. Tickets are $35; group rates (6 or more tickets purchased in one transaction) are $30. Tickets can be purchased on line at www.willowtheatre.org or by phone at 561-347-3948. The Willow Theatre is located at 300 South Military Trail, in Boca Raton’s Sugar Sand Park (33486).
For more information about To Life: Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers to The Golden Age of Broadway please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244. To learn more about Black Box Booking please visit www.blackboxbooking.com, and for more information about Hy Juter please contact jupitertheater@yahoo.com.
To Life: Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers to The Golden Age of Broadway
January 18 – February 3, 2019
Created and Written by Scott Siegel
Directed by Shari Upbin
Tickets: $35 / $30 for groups of 6 or more
For tickets: 561-347-3948 or www.willowtheatre.org
Showtimes:
Friday & Saturday at 8 pm
Wednesday, Saturday, & Sunday at 2 pm
All performances take place at
The Willow Theatre at Sugar Sand Park
300 South Military Trail,
Boca Raton, FL 33486
www.willowtheatre.org
About The Willow Theatre:
The Willow Theatre, opened in 1998, is a beautiful 155-seat proscenium theater, located inside Sugar Sand Park Community Center and allows for a unique experience for theatre patrons. Before or after a show, you may wander the nature trails, visit the Children’s Science Explorium, look at the art exhibit on display, or picnic at one of our pavilions.
Carol Kassie 