A wine and cheese reception with the artists will be take place following the performance. Tickets are $50 per person. The Burgdorff Center is located at 10 Durand Road, Maplewood, NJ. For reservations call 973 763-4029 or go to the website www.TheTheaterProject.org.
"One of the leading voices in contemporary American Musical Theater, Stephen Sondheim has been a driving force on Broadway for nearly six decades - his work being performed in theaters around the globe," says the event's producer and director, Thom Christopher Warren. Mr. Warren - of Broadway's The Lion King, who has assembled an ensemble of Broadway talent that will give voice to Sondheim's works. Musically directed and arranged by Mark Weissman, of Maplewood and choreographed by Kenny Ingram, also of The Lion King, the evening will be hosted by Richard Kline, best known for his comic turn on TV's Three's Company and boasts the talents of Rose Pedone (It's A Wonderful Life), Alice Evans (original Broadway companies of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Sweet Charity), Nicolette Hart (The Wedding Singer, Legally Blonde, Rent), Corey Skaggs (Mary Poppins), Matt Densky (The Grinch, The Little Mermaid), Lauren Sprague (The Producers), L. Steven Taylor (The Lion King, Scottsboro Boys), Wyatt Manobla, Sara Masterson, Justin Friesen, and Sean Patrick Gibbons and will include tunes from Sondheim's vast catalogue of work: including West Side Story, Gypsy, Company, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Into the Woods, Passion, and Sunday in the Park With George. When asked what is his connection to The Theater Project, Warren says "I have friends on the creative board and felt that we, as artists who live in the area, have a responsibility to help foster the Arts in our community in any and every way we can. I simply reached out to my friends and explained that we have a local, professional theater company in our backyard that needs our help, and because they are my friends, they jumped on board with open hearts and ready to sing. Not to mention that Sondheim helped to change the emotional and intellectual landscape of the American Musical, and his work is a joy and a challenge for any actor to sink his teeth into."
ABOUT THE THEATER PROJECT
The Theater Project founded in 1994 (previously performing at Union County College) is joining forces with the What Exit? Theater Company, one of the state's leading comedy platforms. Under the banner The Theater Project, the new organization will produce main stage productions along with a host of other programming out of the Burgdorff Center for the Performing Arts in Maplewood. The Theater Project's Mark Spina will remain Artistic Director, and What Exit? Founder and Artistic Director Bev Sheehan will take on the roles of Casting Director and Special Events Coordinator.
The Theater Project has recently received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the New Jersey State Council for the Arts. More information is available at www.TheTheaterProject.org.
