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MNM Theatre Company Announces the Cast of A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM

09 Tuesday Jul 2019

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MNM Theatre Company
Announces the Cast of
A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum

November 22 – December 8

“This brazenly retro Broadway musical, inspired by Plautus, is
almost as timeless as comedy itself.”
Vincent Canby, The New York Times

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

July 9, 2019

WEST PALM BEACH, FL:  The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and MNM Theatre Company are pleased to announce that casting is complete for their upcoming co-production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which will run from November 22 –  December 8 in the Kravis’ Rinker Playhouse.

“Forum is such a fun show,” MNM’s Executive Producer/Artistic Director Marcie Gorman said recently. “And we’re incredibly lucky to have found a cast who can sing and dance and deliver the comedy – and what comedy! The script is hilarious and clever, and often extremely politically incorrect… and of course the music is Sondheim’s…we can’t wait to share it all with our audiences!  Once again, our entire cast is local and we’re very proud of that.”

Dom Ruggiero, who directed I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, and My Way-A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra for MNM last season, will helm A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Ruggiero has cast Johnbarry Green as Pseudolus, Michael Scott Ross* as Hysterium, Aaron Bower as Domina, Terry Hardcastle* as Marcus Lycus, Troy Stanley as Senex, Sean William Davis as Miles Gloriosus, Paul Thompson as Erronius, and Meg Frost as Philia.  Other cast members include Victoria Joleen Anderson, Lauren Cluett, Alexandra Dow, Stephen Eisenwasser, Frank Francisco, Joshua Graham, Meredith Pughe, Ashley Rubin, and Alexandra Van Hasselt.

Paul Reekie will serve as Forum’s Musical Director, and Laura Plyler will provide additional choreography.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum will run from November 22 – December 8. The production will take place in the Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center.   Tickets are $39 – $55 and are on sale now.  For tickets and information call 561-832-7469; online: www.kravis.org or mnmtheatre.org.  For group rates and sales call 561-651-4438.

MNM Theatre Company attained not-for-profit 501(c)(3) status in 2018. They are an award- winning theatre company based in the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.

For more information about MNM Theatre Company and/or Marcie Gorman, please visit mnmtheatre.org or contact Carol Kassie at Carol@CarolKassie.com / 561-445-9244.

Photos, graphics, and additional head shots and bios available on request.

*Appearing through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

~

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
November 22 – December 8
Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performances:
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday at 7:30 pm (no Thanksgiving night performance)
Saturday & Sunday at 1:30 pm
Tickets:  $39 – $55
All performances in
Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
701 Okeechobee Blvd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
mnmtheatre.org
Like Us on Facebook!
~

Johnbarry Green (Pseudolus) appeared as King Arthur in MNM’s production of Monty Python’s Spamalot.  Other credits include Rock of Ages with Slow Burn Theatre Company as Dennis, Spitfire Grille at Palm Beach Dramaworks as Caleb, and West Side Story at Maltz Jupiter Theatre as Officer Krupke.  Occasionally you’ll find him hamming it up on the streets at various ren faires or giving walking tours in Massachusetts when he isn’t in a show.

Michael Scott Ross* (Hysterium) has appeared in several previous MNM productions including Monty Python’s Spamalot, The World Goes ‘Round, Avenue Q, and I Love You, You’r perfect, Now Change.  He has also performed throughout South Florida at Zoetic Stage, The Adrienne Arsht Center, The Wick Theatre, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Island City Stage, The Alhamba Theatre and Dining, The Winter Park Playhouse, TheatreZone, and most recently the Gulf Coast Symphony.  Michael can be seen portraying Dick Van Dyke in The Music of Julie Andrews, as well as in his cabaret show My Broadway: The Roles I Could Play.  Proud member of AEA, Wagner College Alum, and native New Yorker!

Aaron Bower (Domina) was recently seen as Irene in Crazy for You and Grace in
Annie at the Wick Theatre.  She received a 2018 Carbonell nomination for her portrayal of Murial in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at Stage door Theatre.  Other credits in Florida include Frau Kost in Cabaret at Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street at The Wick, Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls at The Wick, and Tess in Crazy for You at the Maltz.  She has traveled the world in three national tours and one European Tour.

Terry Hardcastle* (Marcus Lycus) is a three-time Carbonell Award-winner. His regional theatre credits include Actors’ Playhouse: Beauty and the Beast, Doubt: A Parable.  Zoetic Stage: Sweeney Todd.  Palm Beach Dramaworks: Side by Side by Sondheim, Sweeney Todd.  Florida Stage: End Days, Sisters of Swing. Mosaic Theatre: In a Dark, Dark House, True West.  Cumberland Theatre: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.  As a Professor of Theatre, he’s taught Acting and Public Speaking at Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Pittsburgh, New World School of the Arts, and Broward College.

Troy Stanley (Senex) played Eduoard Dindon in MNM’s production of La Cage aux Folles.  Other credits include West Side Story (Doc) and Disney’s Newsies (Mr. Jacobi/Mayor) at Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1776 (McKean/Hewes) at Palm Beach Dramaworks, Big River (Pap Finn) and Titanic (Isador Straus) for Slow Burn Theatre Company, Who Killed Joan Crawford? (Harvey) and Perfect Arrangement (Theodore Sunderson) for Island City Stage, Victor/Victoria (Squash) and The Rothschilds (William/Metternich) for Broward Stage Door, and eleven shows at the Wick Theatre including Funny Girl (Tom Keeney/Mr. Rinaldi), Annie with Sally Struthers (Drake), Brigadoon (Andrew MacLaren), Beauty and the Beast (Maurice), Oklahoma (Andrew Carnes) and Man of La Mancha (The Governor) among others.

MNM Theatre Company Announces the Cast of MAN OF LA MANCHA – Tickets on Sale June 21st

13 Thursday Jun 2019

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MNM Theatre Company
Announces the Cast of
Man of La Mancha
Tickets on Sale June 21st

 

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

June 13, 2019

WEST PALM BEACH, FL:  MNM Theatre Company is pleased to announce that casting has been completed for their upcoming production of the award-winning musical Man of La Mancha, which will run from September 13 – September 29 in the Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.

“We are absolutely thrilled with this cast, and this crew,” MNM’s Executive Producer/Artistic Director Marcie Gorman said recently. “We at MNM are committed to hiring locally – there is such a depth of talent and ability in South Florida – and our La Mancha actors, musicians, and entire creative team are proof of that.”

Bruce Linser, winner of the 2018 Carbonell Award for Best Direction of a Musical for his work on Woody Guthrie’s American Song, will direct Man of La Mancha:
“As an actor myself, I love working with actors during the audition and rehearsal process,” Linser says.  “They’re so hungry to get inside these characters and this story, and it’s exciting to help them personalize their work, and to watch them come alive within it.   I always look for an essence of the character within the actor at auditions, and I think this is going to be a particularly powerful retelling of this beautiful story with this particular cast of actors.”

Linser has cast Michael McKenzie* as Don Quixote, 2018 Carbonell Award-winner Anna Lise Jensen* as Aldonza, and Mark Kirschenbaum* as Sancho. (Brief biographies can be found below) Other cast members include Matthew Korinko, Johnbarry Green, Gaby Tortoledo, Ellie Pattison, Rebecca Diaz, Joey Swift, Manny Zaldivar, Jonathan Eisele, Frank Francisco, Joshua Graham, Milton Mendez, Shanna Woods, Rio Peterson, and Ben Prayz.

Paul Reekie will serve as Man of La Mancha’s Musical Director, and Christine Kellogg will choreograph the production.

Man of La Mancha will run from September 13 – September 29. The production will take place in the Raymond Kravis Center for the Performing Arts’ Rinker Playhouse.   Tickets are $65 and will be on sale on June 21st.  For tickets and information 561-832-7469; on line: www.kravis.org or mnmtheatre.org.  For group rates and sales call 561-651-4438.

MNM Theatre Company attained not-for-profit 501(c)(3) status in 2018. They are an award- winning theatre company based in the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. Donations can be sent to MNM Theatre Company, 318 S. Lake Drive, Lantana, FL 3362.  For more information, please visit mnmtheatre.org.

For more information about MNM Theatre Company and/or Marcie Gorman, please visit mnmtheatre.org or contact Carol Kassie at Carol@CarolKassie.com / 561-445-9244.

*Appearing through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

~

Man of La Mancha
September 13 – 29
Written by Dale Wasserman
Music by Mitch Leigh
Lyrics by Joe Darion
For tickets: www.kravis.org / 561-832-7469
Tickets:  $65
Performances:
Thursday, Friday, & Saturday at 7:30 pm
Saturday & Sunday at 1:30 pm
All performances at
The Rinker Playhouse at
The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
701 Okeechobee Blvd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
mnmtheatre.org
Like us on Facebook!

Michael McKenzie (Cervantes/Don Quixote) lives in both NYC and Boynton Beach and has appeared locally in Sweeney Todd (Palm Beach Dramaworks), We Will Not Be Silent (Theatre Lab at FAU), Dangerous, Déjà Vu (Caldwell Theatre), and Dinner With Friends (Cuillo Centre). On Broadway he appeared in Waiting in the Wings, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and Eastern Standard. His Off-Broadway credits include Kari Floren’s If Wishes Were Horses, A Late Supper, and Voices of Swords. Michael has toured nationally in Much Ado about Nothing, As You Like It, Orchards (John Houseman’s The Acting Company), and regionally (Baltimore Center Stage, Denver Center, Pittsburgh Public, Pioneer Theatre, Triad Stage, Capital Rep, Arkansas Rep, and many others). Some of his television and film credits include House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Younger, Blacklist, Law & Order, All My Children, and many episodes of Babylon 5.

Anna Lise Jensen (Aldonza) received a Silver Palm Award for her performance in MNM Theatre Company’s 2018 production of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. She received both a Silver Palm Award and a ‘Best Actress in a Musical’ Carbonell Award for her performance in Slow Burn Theatre Company’s The Bridges of Madison County. Anna Lise has also received Silver Palm Awards for her work as Reza in Once (Actors’ Playhouse) and Alison in Fun Home (Zoetic Stage). Other South Florida theatre credits include Indecent (Palm Beach Dramaworks), Finding Mona Lisa, (Actors’ Playhouse), Sunday in the Park With George, and Passion (Zoetic Stage). Next season she will appear in the Florida premiere of Villainous Company (Primal Forces) and as Mother in Ragtime (Slow Burn Theatre Company).

Mark Kirschenbaum (Manservant/Sancho) is making his MNM Theatre Company debut with Man of La Mancha. He has been seen all over the world as an actor, educator, and director.  Some of Mark’s recent credits include Sam Posner in Crossing Delancey, Mal Beineke in Addams Family: The Musical, Peter in Company, Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol, and Man 1 in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.  He had the opportunity to join the Brooklyn cast of Man of La Mancha in 2007, where his portrayal of the Padre received critical acclaim from the New York Times.

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MNM THEATRE COMPANY to present Two Iconic Musicals in 2019

11 Monday Mar 2019

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MNM Theatre Company
Will Present Two Iconic Musicals in 2019

Man of La Mancha
and
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

March 8, 2019

WEST PALM BEACH, FL:  The award-winning MNM Theatre Company, under the direction of Executive Producer and Artistic Director Marcie Gorman, will mount two of Broadway’s most beloved and successful musicals in 2019.  Man of La Mancha will run from September 13th through September 29th, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum will run from November 22nd through December 8th.  Both shows will be performed in the Raymond F. Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse, and Forum will be a co-presentation with the Kravis Center.

Marcie Gorman

“We chose these two shows after much deliberation,” Gorman explains. “And it was a truly collaborative decision.  Our team sat down together right after Grease closed and looked at every aspect of our season.  We were thrilled with the audience response to our shows – two sell-outs in one season! (Grease and Avenue Q).  And since our patrons were so supportive, we decided to include them in the process – Grease audiences were surveyed as to what they would like to see for our next season.  Man of La Mancha was the top pick by far, with Forum coming in a strong second.  We’re thrilled, since these two shows are both Broadway classics, but totally different from one another.

“We pride ourselves on the fact that MNM uses local talent almost exclusively in our productions,” Gorman continues, “and these two shows will allow us to continue to showcase the incredible abilities of our own community.”

Dominick Ruggiero will direct the witty, irreverent, and deliberately and hilariously politically incorrect A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Bruce Linser will helm Man of La Mancha.

Bruce Linser & Paul Reekie

Linser is a 2018 Carbonell nominee for his recent direction of Palm Beach Dramaworks production of Woody Guthrie’s American Song: “Man of La Mancha has been on my bucket list for years,” Linser said recently.  “Set in a Seville prison during the Spanish Inquisition, the musical theatricalizes the adventures of epic literary character, Don Quixote, as performed through the eyes of his creator, author Miguel de Cervantes. It is one of the most beloved musicals of all time, and is a testament to the power of art, hope, and love to enrich and transform our lives.”

Paul Reekie, who has worked with MNM since their first production (A Chorus Line, 2014) will serve as the musical director for both Man of La Mancha and A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum: “While both shows are “period pieces” (in their own ways), the orchestration in Forum has a contemporary yet classical musical theatre sound, while La Mancha strives for an organic, natural tone (no piano!),” he says.  “Both shows were written within five years of each other, and both have a trumpet in them, but contrast a “musical theatre” trumpet sound from the modern age (Forum) with a renaissance trumpet sound (La Mancha), and there you will hear the vastly different effect one instrument can have on the mood of the show.”

Man of La Mancha will run from September 13 – September 29, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum will run from November 22 – December 8.  Both productions will take place in the Raymond Kravis Center for the Performing Arts’ Rinker Playhouse.   Ticket prices and details will be coming soon.

MNM Theatre Company attained not-for-profit 501(c)(3) status in 2018. They are an award- winning theatre company that performs at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in the Rinker Playhouse. Donations can be sent to MNM Theatre Company, 318 S. Lake Drive, Lantana, FL 33462.  For more information, please visit mnmtheatre.org.

For more information about MNM Theatre Company and/or Marcie Gorman, please visit mnmtheatre.org or contact Carol Kassie at Carol@CarolKassie.com / 561-445-9244.

Photo credit: Jacek Photo

~

Man of La Mancha
September 13 – 29
Written by Dale Wasserman
Music by Mitch Leigh
Lyrics by Joe Darion
Performances:
Thursday, Friday, & Saturday at 7:30 pm
Saturday & Sunday at 1:30 pm
All performances at
The Rinker Playhouse at
The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
701 Okeechobee Blvd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
mnmtheatre.org
Like Us on Facebook!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
November 22 – December 8
Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performances:
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday at 7:30 pm (no Thanksgiving night performance)
Saturday & Sunday at 1:30 pm
All performances in
The Rinker Playhouse at
The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
701 Okeechobee Blvd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
mnmtheatre.org
Like Us on Facebook!

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TO LIFE: STORIES & MUSIC CELEBRATING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF JEWISH COMPOSERS TO THE GOLDEN AGE OF BROADWAY – Jan 18 – Feb at the Willow Theatre

27 Thursday Dec 2018

Posted by in Black Box Booking & Hy Juter, Clients

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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.

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