The event sponsored the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center's "Broadway at the Center" program by will be hosted by Scott Nevins, May 23 at 6:30 PM.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee was recently nominated for six 2005 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Composer-lyricist Finn, known for his gay themed musical Falsettos "continues to explore LGBT themes in his work with one of the young contestants in Spelling Bee who sings of the neuroses caused by trying to live up to her two gay fathers’ very high expectations," according to materials.
The new musical pits 10 contestants (six actors, four audience members) against each other in a battle for the championship of the local spelling competition. The cast includes Deborah S. Craig, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sarah Saltzberg, Dan Fogler, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jose Llana, Derrick Baskin, Lisa Howard and Jay Reiss.
David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo, Barrington Stage Company and Second Stage Theater present the work on Broadway by composer William Finn (Falsettos), librettist Rachel Sheinkin (Striking 12) on a concept by Rebecca Feldman.
The mission of Broadway at the Center is to celebrate "current plays and musicals which explore LGBT themes and are relevant to the LGBT community by inviting guest speakers, including performers, authors, directors and producers to discuss the experience of creating and producing theatre today," according to the website. To purchase tickets ($15, members $10) to "A New Generation of Broadway Composers" at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center is located at 208 West 13th Street (off Seventh Ave.) in New York, call (212) 620-7310, ext. 274 or visit www.gaycenter.org.
