Terezin, Musical Capturing the Echoes of a Concentration Camp, Gets NYC Concerts
By Kenneth Jones
09 Feb 2006
Melting Pot Theatre Company's "Preludes: New Musicals in Concert" will present three Manhattan performances of Terezin, a musical drama about artists and intellectuals in a concentration camp, Feb. 23-25.
Presented in association with Snap-Two Productions Inc., the show, set in Czechoslovakia 1939-1945, has a book by Peter Ullian, music by Joel Derfner and lyrics by Len Schiff.
The cast will include Danny Gurwin (Little Women), Zac Halley (Six of One), David Hibbard (A Class Act), Carolann Page (Menopause the Musical), Donna Vivino (Hairspray), Kathy Voytko (The Frogs, Nine), Blake Whyte (Big River), Stuart Zagnit (Seussical) and more.
Musical direction is by Andrew Wilder. Jeremy Dobrish directs.
According to MPTC, "Terezin is a new musical drama about prisoners in the Czech concentration camp. Many were artists and intellectuals from Prague. The Nazis used the camp as a 'model city' to deceive the Red Cross. The show follows the lives of several residents and the art they created in an effort to survive."
"We are honored to bring this powerful, engaging new musical to New York," Melting Pot artistic director Larry Hirchhorn said in a statement. "We've watched the progress of this show for a few years, and it's now ready to be seen by the general public and the theatre industry. Some may be nervous about a musical set during the Holocaust, but Terezin is about very specific characters and their struggle against incredible obstacles. It's handled with tastefulness and sensitivity."
Peter Ullian's credits include Flight of the Lawnchair Man and Elliott Ness in Cleveland; composer Joel Derfner penned the musical Blood Drive; lyricist Len Schiff penned books and lyrics to the developing musicals Aethernity and Zach in Progress. Director Jeremy Dobrish is artistic director of adobe theatre company.
Tickets are $25. The performances will be Feb. 23 at 8 PM, Feb. 24 at 8 PM and Feb. 25 at 8 PM at Peter Norton Symphony Space - Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre, 2537 Broadway at W. 95th St. in Manhattan. For more information, call (212) 864-5400 or visit www.SymphonySpace.org.
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Terezin was commissioned by producer Virginia Criste of Snap-Two Productions Inc.
Preludes: New Musicals in Concert launched in spring 2004. It's billed as "is a unique series of public concerts of new musicals that reflects MPTC's ongoing mission to develop and produce new American work."
Past Preludes include Vanishing Point by Rob Hartmann and Liv Cummins, starring Alison Fraser, Emily Skinner and Barbara Walsh; and Striking 12 by Brendan Milburn, Rachel Sheinkin, and Valerie Vigoda, starring the pop-rock trio, GrooveLily. Striking 12 was recorded live and the cast album is now available at PS Classics.com.
For more information, visit www.MeltingPotTheatre.com.
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