Featuring a Gala Benefit Concert of ROMANCE IN HARD TIMES Music and Lyrics by William Finn Starring LILLIAS WHITE, J. Bernard Calloway, Victor Trent Cooke, Carmen Ruby Floyd, Robert Fowler, André Garner, Beth Glover, Tim Jerome, Alix Korey, Michael Mandell, Patricia Noonan, and Destan Owens.
Music Director Matt Castle
Directed by Michael Bush
New York: Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Producing Artistic Director), will celebrate the Centennial Year of its late founder Rosetta LeNoire at a Gala evening on Monday, April 4th, featuring a special “Blast from the Past†concert of William Finn’s songs from the celebrated Romance in Hard Times, starring Tony-Winner Lillias White and a veteran cast of Broadway professionals. The event takes place at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, East 25th Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenues, at 7pm.
The Amas Benefit Event honors the award-winning director, writer and producer George C. Wolfe with the “Rosie Awardâ€, named for Amas’s founder. The Rosie Award “is bestowed on those individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary accomplishment and dedication in bringing our world more closely together through the performing arts.†Previous honorees include Ossie Davis and Rubie Dee, Geoffrey Holder and Carmen deLavallade, Leslie Uggams, Maurice Hines, Phylicia Rashad, Woodie King, Jr., and Dionne Warwick.
Donna Trinkoff, Amas’s Producing Artistic Director said, “George C. Wolfe epitomizes the artistic generosity, vision and inclusiveness that our Rosie Award recognizes. His work challenges us to embrace a higher standard of humanity. And, so do the brilliant songs of Romance in Hard Times. Many of them were thought to be lost, and we’re so grateful to William Finn for helping us assemble these gems once again. Lillias White leads the perfect ensemble of star-studded talent to bring us all together at this centennial birthday party.â€
George C. Wolfe’s directing credits for the theatre include Angels in America – Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk, Jelly’s Last Jam. The Wild Party, Caroline or Change, and A Free Man of Color, among others. He directed the film “Nights in “Rodanthe†and “Lackawanna Blues†for HBO. He is the writer of the award-winning play The Colored Museum and created Harlem Song for the Apollo Theatre. Awards include two Tony Awards, four Obie Awards, Actors Equity Paul Robeson Award, the NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Lambda Liberty Award, among many others. From 1993-2005 he was the Producer of The Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival and serves on the President’s Committee for the Arts and The Humanities.
Romance in Hard Times received its first and only production at the Public Theatre in 1989-90. It was never recorded or published. The storied show’s original cast includes several who will appear in the Amas concert, including Lillias White (Fela, The Life, etc.), Victor Trent Cook (Smokey Joe’s Café Three Mo’ Tenors), Alix Korey (All Shook Up, Chicago, etc.), Tim Jerome (Grand Hotel, Man of La Mancha, etc.), and Michael Mandell (Elf – The Musical). Other cast members include Bernard J. Calloway (Memphis), Carmen Ruby Floyd (Lion King, Little Ham at Amas), Beth Glover (Nat’l. tours All Shook Up, Dirty Blond, etc.), Robert Fowler (The Producers, Beauty and the Beast, etc.), and Destan Owens (Rent, Chicago, etc.).
William Finn is well known for his trilogy of short musical shows In Trousers, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland. Falsettos, the combination of March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, won Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Book, the latter shared with James Lapine. Finn and Lapine’s other collaborations include Little Miss Sunshine, the Tony Award-winning The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and A New Brain, which won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical.
Direction is by Amas Artistic Associate Michael Bush (Stormy Weather, Cactus Flower), with music direction by Matt Castle (Musical of Musicals). Stage and screen star Vanessa Williams serves as Honorary Benefit Chair.
There will also be special performances by members of the Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy and the Maria Torres Emerging Artists Ensemble. The evening’s performance will conclude with the presentation of the seventh annual Rosetta LeNoire Scholarship, which is given to a deserving college-bound student attending the Amas Academy.
Event Sponsors include Rhoda Herrick, PwC, Sharleen Cooper Cohen, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly and The Culinary Institute of America.
Amas Musical Theatre is an award-winning pioneer in diversity and multi-ethnic casting in the performing arts since it was founded in 1968 by the late actress and producer Rosetta LeNoire. Amas (“you love†in Latin) is devoted to the creation, development and professional production of new American musicals through the celebration of diversity and minority perspectives, the emergence of new artistic talent, and the training and encouragement of under-served young people in the New York area.
In recent years, under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Donna Trinkoff, Amas has emerged as an important laboratory for the development of new musicals, many of which have moved to expanded touring, regional, commercial, and licensed productions after their Amas appearances. Shows include Signs of Life, Wanda’s World, Stormy Weather … Imagining Lena Horne, SHOUT! The Mod Musical, Lone Star Love, Zanna Don’t, From My Hometown, 4 Guys Named Jose … and Una Mujer Named Maria, and Langston Hughes’s Little Ham.
Celebrated Amas education programs span all grade levels and include in-school, after school, and weekend programming. The Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy is a pre-professional training program for teenagers. Each graduating class presents a full Off-Off-Broadway showcase production. The Immigration Experience is Amas’ artists-in-school program for public middle and high school students to research their personal and communities’ immigration histories and create performance pieces for their school and community. Lens on Live Theatre brings Amas Teaching Artists into the schools to explore theatre skills and themes related to Amas Mainstage shows.
The Amas Benefit is an annual event held to raise funds in support of Amas Musical Theatre’s ongoing theatre and arts education programs.
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