Hanke, Foldesi, Reinders and Litzsinger Sing Lippa Songs May 12-13

By Andrew Gans
May 12, 2008

Welcome to the World — two concerts celebrating the music and lyrics of theatre composer Andrew Lippa — will be presented May 12 and 13 at Off-Broadway's Players Theatre.

Presented by the new theatre company 3S Theatre Collective, the evenings feature the talents of Sharone Sayegh, Louise Stewart, Valerie Issembert and Andrew Cristi. Special guests for the May 12 concert are Christopher J. Hanke and Julie Foldesi; May 13 will boast special guests Kate Reinders and Sarah Litzsinger. Show time each night is 8 PM.

Concertgoers can expect expect to hear tunes from Lippa's The Wild Party, john & jen and Asphalt Beach as well as the songs he contributed to the Broadway production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Marc Eardley directs the evenings with musical direction by Andrew Wheeler Long.

A talkback session with Lippa will follow the May 12 performance.

Andrew Lippa has written the scores for the Off-Broadway productions of The Wild Party and john & jen. He also contributed songs to the Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Lippa's most recent projects include A Little Princess, Asphalt Beach and Jerry Christmas. The composer is the recipient of a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Grammy nomination.

3S Theatre Collective is a new tri-state-based non-profit production company that has three goals: 3STC is "committed to bridging the gap between the current generation and the next generation of theatre artists by fostering new talent from all aspects of the art. . . to bring spectacular entertainment to the areas surrounding Manhattan. . . [and] to not doing anything 'by the book.' [The company] intends to do everything [it] can to make a splash, turn heads and raise eyebrows."

Future plans for 3STC include the mounting of an original musical in Connecticut; a full-scale production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch in Jersey City; and three large-scale benefits (in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and 3STC.

The Players Theatre is located in Manhattan at 115 MacDougal Street. For tickets, priced $20, $35 and $70 (VIP seats), call (212) 352-3101 or visit www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/47611. (For $17.50 tickets, mention the code WTWHalf.)

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3S Theatre Collective is headed by Marc Eardley (producing artistic director), Troy Miller (associate artistic director) and Kevin R. Free (director of educational outreach).