The musical, getting a Manhattan reading March 3-4 by Plain Language Productions, is based on the picture book, "The Trip," by Caledecott Award-winner Ezra Jack Keats. Anthony Stein adapted the book for the stage. A version of the show was seen at the Kennedy Center's Imagination Celebration in 1984; this latest private reading reflects an expanded show.
The reading takes place 4 PM March 3-4 at the ASCAP Living Room, broadway at 63rd Street, 7th Floor.
Schwartz is the Academy Award-winning songwriter whose work is heard in the movies "Prince of Egypt," "Pocahontas" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." His stage shows include Rags (with Charles Strouse), The Magic Show, Working, The Baker's Wife, Children of Eden, Godspell, Pippin and the upcoming Broadway musical, Wicked, based on the best selling book inspired by the "Oz" books.
The Captain Louie reading is directed by Meridee Stein, with musical direction by Jason Debord.
Captain Louie "is the story of a young boy on Halloween night who escapes into his own imagination as a means of coping with the loneliness he feels when he moves to a new neighborhood," according to production notes. Of its initial production, The New York Times said Captain Louie captures "the sound and rhythm of music that runs through childhood fantasies with a book that conveys the communicative magic of the original story." Schwartz is the recipient of three Academy Awards, three Grammy Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. He also wrote songs for the television musical, "Geppetto." His songs include "Lion Tamer," "Meadowlark," "Magic to Do," "Day by Day," "Colors of the Wind" and more.
Director Stein is the associate producer of the upcoming Off-Broadway revue, Jerry Herman's Showtune. For almost two decades, Stein has produced and directed family entertainment including new works by Charles Strouse, Richard Peaslee, Elizabeth Swados and Stephen Schwartz. Her productions have been performed nationally at such venues as the NYSF/Public Theater, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center , The Annenberg Center and The O'Neill Theater Center, and internationally in China, Japan, India, Sri Lanka and the Middle East.
For more information or reservations, call Plain Language Productions at (212) 996-8055.
