Choreographer Donna McKechnie danced her way into theatre history with her trailblazing performance as Sheila in the original A CHORUS LINE on Broadway, for which she received the Tony Award. Her long list of Broadway credits include: HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS...., A FUNNY THING HAPPENED..., ON THE TOWN, PROMISES-PROMISES and COMPANY.
NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2009 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group and TheaterMania.com, and is supported by Back Stage, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Broadway.TV, Clear Channel Spectacolor, DFD-TV, Frank & Camille's Fine Pianos, King Displays, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, New World Stages, NASDAQ OMX, Next Magazine, Queerty.com, Reuters, Sweet Caroline's, Tekserve, TheMenEvent.com, The Tank, and Times Square Squared. Major supporters include The ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jamie Mayer, The Charlie & Jane Fink Charitable Fund, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Theater League. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
Performances of CROSS THAT RIVER will run Monday, October 12th at 8:00pm; Tuesday, October 13th at 1:00pm; Wednesday, October 14th at 4:30pm; Friday, October 16th at 8:00pm; Saturday, October 17th at 1:00pm; and Sunday, October 18th at 4:30pm at the TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street - 3rd Floor).
Tickets to individual festival events are now on sale to NYMF Members and will go on sale to the general public on September 1. NYMF Memberships, which combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages and perks like early seating, are currently available for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or www.nymf.org.
For additional information on CROSS THAT RIVER, visit www.nymf.org.
Whitney Bashor's (Courtney) national tour credits include: Happy Days (Joanie Cunningham), Whistle Down the Wind (Swallow). Off Broadway The Fantasticks (Luisa). New York Theatre Workshops: Picnic at Hanging Rock (Lincoln Center), Disney's High School Musical 2 (Sharpay), Sleeping Beauty Wakes (McCarter Infest). Regional: Broadway Three Generations (Kennedy Center) Hot n' Cole (Westport Country Playhouse) To The Lighthouse (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Edges (Capital Repertory Theatre). TV: Love Monkey, All My Children. Film: Off The Black (Starring Nick Nolte). Concerts: Gavin Creel's "Prom King" (Second Stage). Whitney is a graduate of The University of Michigan.
Brandon Gill (Boy Blue) is a native New Yorker who attended LaGuardia HS for the Performing Arts and recently graduated from The Juilliard School Drama Division where he played the roles of Orlando in As You Like It, Stephen in Farragut North, Oronte in The Misanthrope and had the pleasure of working with Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Bill Irwin, Harris Yulin, and many other inspiring artists. Brandon's most recent TV/Film Credits include "Fringe", "Law and Order", "Sorcerers Apprentice" with Nicholas Cage and "Violet Tendancies" with Mindy Cohn. When Brandon isn't performing he enjoys being a teaching artist. Brandon would like to thank all those involved in giving him his first theatre job outside of school and would also like to say a big thank you to 38 and to his family for their support and guidance.
Wendy Lynette Fox (Annie Hutchinson) was recently in Johannesburg, South Africa at the world renowned Market Street Theatre where she was part of the ensemble cast of Sheila's Day. Other theatre credits include: Rent (National Tour), We Will Rock You (Las Vegas), Grind (The York Theatre Company), IDAHO! (NYMF), Little Shop of Horrors, and Smokey Joe's Cafe (Tropicana Hotel, Atlantic City).
Joseph Melendez (Diamond Jimmy) a native New Yorker has performed professionally for over 20 years. Beginning as the front man for the rock and roll band "Tyranny" touring all over the world and then, in making the transition to stage, film and television roles, Joseph found his true calling in acting. On the stage Joseph has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway and regionally throughout the US and Europe. In front of the camera Joseph has been seen in Neil Jordan's "The Brave One" (2007) NBC's "Third Watch," and ABC's "Second Noah," as well as on the daytime series "All My Children," "One Life to Live" and a multitude of Television Commercials Having just completed a recurring role on Season 3 of Fox's "Prison Break," he returns to the NYMF stage, after appearing in Magpie (2006) for which he received an Audelco Award nomination.
Soara-Joye Ross (Mama Lila) is a native New Yorker and a graduate of The American Musical and Dramatic Academy and The J. Beckson Studio studying The Meissner Technique. BROADWAY: the revival of Les Miserables, Dance of the Vampires. OFF-BROADWAY: Tin Pan Alley Rag (Roundabout), Dessa Rose at Lincoln Center (Original Cast Recording), Single Black Female (Playwrights Horizons). NATIONAL/EUROPEAN TOURS: Smokey Joe's Cafe with Gladys Knight, Ain't Misbehavin' . WORKSHOPS: Dessa Rose (Graciela Daniele, Dir.), Ball (Charles Randolph Wright, Dir.). REGIONAL: Aida (The Arvada Center, Colorado Theatre Guild: Outstanding Leading Actress Nominee), Tick, Tick, BOOM! (The Alliance Theater), Ragtime (Gateway & Weston Playhouse), Once On This Island (Sacramento Music Circus, Bay Street & Mill Mountain Theater), Ain't Misbehavin' (The Huntington Theatre Co.). FILM: "Garden State" with Natalie Portman & Zach Braff.
Charles Wallace (Mule Skinner) recently performed in, and assisted the Choreographer on, the world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Weber's Jesus Christ Superstar Gospel, an adaptation of that classical musical, at the ALLIANCE THEATRE in Atlanta, Ga. MR. Wallace's Broadway credits include: Miss Saigon (John), Smokey Joe's Cafe and Jekyll & Hyde. Off-Broadway credits include Dinah Was (Boss/Chase), George Wolfe's Harlem Song at the Apollo Theatre and Angel Levine (Mr. Taylor). Charles' regional credits include Play On (The Duke) at the Goodman and Settle Repertory Theatres; A Soldier's Play (Davenport) at Arkansas Rep.; Jesus Hopped the "A" Train (Lucius), Spunk (Joe/Slang Talk Man), Blues in the Night (The Man) and Ain't Misbehavin'. MR. Wallace performed in the German production of Starlight Express and is the current Associate Artistic Director at New Professional Theater in NYC.
Tony Perry (Dat Dere Preacher) has been seen on the New York stage in the US premiere of Murray Schisgal's 74 Georgia Ave., which was performed in English and Yiddish, A Shelter In Our Car; Repo: The Genetic Opera; The Elf, The Bunny and the Big Xmas Blowup; and the workshop of Hell's Kitchen: The Musical. Among his favorite roles are Big Moe in Five Guys Named Moe, Ken in Ain't Misbehavin, Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Show, Parchester in Me and My Girl, and Jim in Big River. He had a featured role in the film "Mickey." As a singer-songwriter, he has performed across the Northeast, and has three CDs available.
Allan Harris (Music/Lyrics/Original Concept) is a jazz vocalist, producer, composer, guitarist, song-writer, actor, educator and three time winner of the New York Nightlife Award for "Outstanding Jazz Vocalist," he has made his mark as an apostle of the American Songbook. A natural entertainer, his dynamic stage presence has made him a main-stay in concert halls, theaters, jazz clubs and jazz festivals around the world. Tony Bennett calls him "my favorite singer." He has been a guest performer with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall, the Algonquin's Oak Room, with Country Music Star Vince Gill and with Stevie Wonder. He has performed for President Clinton, Jessye Norman, and Sophia Loren. Memories of his early career playing guitar and singing with country rock bands inspired Allan to create his 2006 song-cycle "Cross That River," a stunning portrait of the American West. Cross That River, the musical, debuted at the famEd O'Neill Theater in July 2008 and was the recipient of the Chamber Music America ResidenCy Grant. The children's version of Cross That River was recently featured on the Kennedy Center's Distance Learning program and broadcast to schools throughout the country. The Aspen Writer's Foundation inviTed Allan to debut their first musical program "Lyrically Speaking," during their summer festival devoted to Western writers. Allan has also been featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" and CBS News.
Andrew Carl Wilk (Book/Director) has a rich and varied award-winning career having directed last season's highly successful production of Marcus Hummon's American Duet at The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center. He collaborated with Allan Harris as writer and director for Cross That River at both The O'Neill and The Kennedy Center prior to its debut this fall as a complete book musical for NYMF. Mr. Wilk is a twelve-time nominee and a four-time Emmy Award winning television producer, director and writer. Wilk's directorial credits include George C. Wolfe's The Colored Museum for PBS Great Performances. Other PBS specials include Going Home: Alvin Ailey Remembered (Emmy Nomination), An American Tribute to Vaclav Havel, Meeting With Mandela, The Boston Pops, Broadway Originals. For NBC, CBS, FOX and NGC he executive produced and or directed National Geographic Explorer, Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack, Inside Air Force One, Inside The Pentagon, SuperCroc, Bug Attack, The Savage Garden, Inside The Great Pyramid Live, and the Emmy Award winning CBS series, Really Wild Animals, among over 1,000 hours of network and cable television series and specials. Mr. Wilk has directed such diverse talents as James Taylor, Paul Simon, Beverly Sills, Zubin Mehta, Peter Ustinov, Leslie Nielsen, Dudley Moore, Robert Urich, Bill Moyers, Tom Brokaw, and The Muppets, to name just a few. As a media executive, Mr. Wilk was Executive Vice President of Programming and Production for the National Geographic Channel for twelve years where his productions and commissions earned a combined 120 Emmy Awards. He most recently served as Chief Creative Officer of Sony BMG Music Entertainment and all 22 record label groups including Columbia, Epic and RCA. Mr. Wilk is also well known as a musical director having conducted countless musicals and symphony concerts at The Paper Mill Playhouse for director/choreographer Susan Stroman, and others. He was named music director and conductor of The Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and has also conducted The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra with Grammy Award Winning vocalist, Art Garfunkel. Mr. Wilk received his BFA from New York University School of the Arts.
Donna McKechnie (Choreographer) the Tony Award-winning star of A Chorus Line, is regarded internationally as one of Broadway's foremost dancing and singing leading ladies. Some of Ms. McKechnie's Broadway credits include: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, (National Tour) The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N, Sondheim - A Musical Tribute (which she also choreographed), On the Town, Promises-Promises, Company and State Fair, for which she received the Fred Astaire Award for Best Female Dancer for the 1996 season. She has starred in numerous productions in London's West End including Promises-Promises, Company, No Way to Treat a Lady (which she also choreographed), Cole Porter's Can-Can and Steven Sondheim's Follies. Bob Fosse invited Ms. McKechnie to play the lead in his last production, a National tour of Sweet Charity, for which she was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. Her regional credits include Irma La Douce, Cabaret, The Imaginary Invalid, The Goodbye Girl, Follies, A Little Night Music, Mack and Mabel, Gypsy, I Do-I Do!, Misalliance, Come Back Little Sheba, The Glass Menagerie, Stepping Out, Girl's Room and In-Side the Music (her one woman musical with text by Christopher Durang). Donna has performed extensively on the concert stage, in cabaret and with symphony orchestras. In 2005 the New York Times review of her cabaret show, "Gypsy in my Soul, equaled her to legends Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon as a brass-knuckled trouper a heart of gold in a breezy, happy to be here celebration." Her previous cabaret show, My Musical Comedy Life, received unanimous raves from the New York theatre critics, and won the Backstage Bistro Award for Outstanding Major Engagement. She made her Opera debut in 1996, guest starring in the San Francisco Opera's production of DIE FLEDERMAUS. Donna has appeared as a guest star in numerous television musical specials and dramatic series including FAME, CHEERS, FAMILY TIES, HULLABALOO, TWIRL, and DARK SHADOWS. She also portrayed The Rose in the film THE LITTLE PRINCE. Her recently released memoir, TIME STEPS, My Musical Comedy Life, was published by Simon and Schuster.
David John Madore (Musical Director) recently returned from Gettysburg, where he musical directEd Battlecry: the Musical, by Paul Bogaev and Granville Burgess, and directed by Gabriel Barre. He musical directed Cross That River at the Kennedy Center and at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center. He has worked on many musical premieres, including The Game (Barrington Stage) and Battleship Potemkin (York Theatre), as well as Perfect 36, by Mel Marvin. Other music department credits include: Seussical (Broadway); Man of La Mancha (Nat'l Tour w/ Jack Jones); Dear World (w/Jerry Herman); Red, Hot & Blue; On the Twentieth Century (Goodspeed); Sweet Charity (Barrington Stage); Man of La Mancha; The Sound of Music; Smokey Joe's Café (Music Circus). David co-wrote Take Your Turn! (Neighborhood Playhouse) and his songs and arrangements have been performed around the country, including the International Scott Joplin Festival, and his most recent commission, for New York City's Cornell-Weill Medical College.
Anne Patterson (Set and Costume Designer) is a visual artist and designer based in New York City. Her work has been seen in New York at Brooklyn Academy Of Music, Avery Fisher Hall, AlIce Tully Hall, The Juilliard School, WPA, NY Theater Workshop, EST, The Joyce, Atlantic Theater Co, St. Mark's Dance Space, and HERE. She has designed for The Alliance Theater, Arena Stage, The Fisher Center at Bard College, Pacific Northwest Ballet; Ballet West; Houston Ballet; The Kennedy Center; The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia; Wolftrap; Scottish Ballet; and The National Theatre, London. She has created installations for The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, and RED {an orchestra}. Ms. Patterson has designed 14 operas at the Aspen Opera Theater Center including the national premieres of Ligea (Augusta ReEd Thomas), King of Hearts (Michael Torke), Powder Her Face and Belladonna (Bernard Rands). Ms. Patterson's production design work has been seen on PBS and the BBC. Anne C. Patterson has collaborated with some wonderful artists including performer Michael Moschen, choreographer Lila York, directors Molly Smith, Edward Berkeley, Jiri and Blanka Zizka, Kate Saxon, and Chris Ashley, playwrights Terrence McNally, Wendy Wasserstein, Doug Wright, and Nilo Cruz, composers Philip Glass, Michael Torke, Augusta ReEd Thomas, Thomas Ades, and Bernard Rands. Anne's sculptures and paintings have been exhibited at Wallspace and The Marmara Gallery in NYC and included in the arts festival, "Sevilla Entre Culturas" in Spain. She received the prestigious Creative Capital grant from the Warhol Foundation to create Mercury Soul - a performance event that showcases Anne's installation art within a performance of classical and electronic music.
Matt Frey's (Lighting Designer) recent work includes Freefall with Corn Exchange, Dublin; That Pretty Pretty; or The Rape Play directed by Kip Fagan at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre; The Importance of Being Earnest, Paper Mill Playhouse; Happy Now? at Yale Repertory Theatre and at Primary Stages in Jan 2010. Also upcoming is Melissa James Gibson's This at Playwright's Horizons and Heidi Shreck's Creature with New Georges/P73. Other work includes Dublin By Lamplight and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Corn Exchange, David Lang's opera The Difficulty of Crossing a Field with Ridge Theater, and Steve Reich and Beryl Korot's The Cave at The Barbican, London, and Citè de la Musique, Paris; Mr. Frey's work has been seen at Playwright's Horizons, New Group, Manhattan Class Company, New York Theatre Workshop, Theatre For A New Audience, and regional theaters around the US and theaters abroad.
Timmothy Brannigan (Sound Designer) is a New York composer, recordist, musical performer and audio engineer. His talents as a multi-instrumentalist propelled him from a career as a singer, drummer and guitarist into the technical side of sound production. On Broadway, Tim has worked as Front Of House or Deck Audio Engineer for Angels In America, Ragtime, Master Class, Miss Saigon, The Boy From Oz, La Boheme and several other Broadway hits. Currently, he is working on both Jersey Boys and Avenue Q as part of the sound production team. Outside of Broadway, at venues like Jazz at Lincoln Center, Nokia Theatre, Hard Rock Café and World Wrestling Entertainment. Tim has mixed for artists Wynton Marsalis, Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, James Taylor, Prince, Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver. In Broadcast Television and Radio Tim has engineered for acts such as Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, Rihanna, Brittany Spears, 50 Cent, Ludacris and Kenny Chesney. Brannigan composed produced and performed commercials on Radio and Television for RCA, Lubriderm, VISA, Seamans and others. Tim wrote Blind Faith for the award winning independent film Bury the Evidence. As a songwriter and record producer he has written, produced and performed on CD's for Japan, Spain, Germany, and the UK as well as here in the US. Recently transplanted from Manhattan to Westchester County, NY Tim currently resides in Croton-on-Hudson where he owns and operates his private recording studio.
Michael Clark (Projection Designer) designs film and video for events. Credits include Jersey Boys (Broadway and La Jolla Playhouse); 700 Sundays (Broadway and La Jolla); Dracula The Musical (Broadway and La Jolla); The Elephant Man (Broadway); Manon Lescaut (Washington Opera), Allegro, One Red Flower and Hedwig (Signature Theatre); The Last Five Years (Philadelphia Theatre Company); Company, Sunday in the Park With George and Merrily We Roll Along (Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration); Spider-Man Live (national tour); Music From a Sparkling Planet (Drama Dept); Aeros (national tour); and Dinner With Friends (ACT).
Patricia Harris (Producer) has been directing the careers of jazz artists since 1994 with a roster that contains vocalist and composer Allan Harris, pianist/composer Eric Reed and bassist Richie Goods. She has produced numerous CDs as well as several music series for institutions like Sotheby's with artists such as Tommy Flanagan, Cyrus Chestnut, Carla Cook, Eric Comstock and Allan Harris as well as concerts at BB Kings, Joe's Pub, Birdland, the Blue Note, and a lecture/concert series entitled Lush Life, the works of Billy Strayhorn with Allan Harris and David Hajdu, author of the biography Lush Life. She is the co-writer and producer of Cross That River, the musical.
Jeremiah Maestas (Associate Producer/Assistant Director) is an actor of the stage and screen, a theatre technician, an educator and an aspiring director and producer. He has worked with theatre companies from coast to coast including: The Old Globe Theatre, The San Diego Rep, The Sledgehammer, The Diversionary, Aspen Theatre in the Park, TheatreWorks CT, The Warner Theatre, The Wings Theatre Co. NYC, The Artful Conspirators NY, and many others. He was awarded the "Irving for Excellence in Theatre Arts" from the University of San Diego, and has received two "KPBS Patté Awards" for excellence in performance in the San Diego community. For the past 7 years Jeremiah has served as personal assistant to Jack O'Brien (The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Coast of Utopia, Hairspray etc.), functioning in a variety of capacities both artistic and managerial. Jeremiah earned his B.A. in Interdisciplinary Humanities, with a concentration in Theatre Arts from the University of San Diego.
Heather Meisner Wilk (Casting Director) has worked on many varied projects from musicals to television news, specials and documentaries, to feature films and daytime dramas. She was responsible for the casting and hiring of all on-air talent for the National Geographic Channel including news anchors for National Geographic Today and specials. Heather was responsible for bringing Lisa Ling to National Geographic Explorer, the first female host in the series history where she remains today. Ms. Wilk also consulted on the booking of all talent for the series "Worlds Apart" and "Explorer's Journal" both for NGC US and UK, as well as for the FOX co-branded special, "Into the Great Pyramid." Wilk was the casting assistant for Warner Brothers "The WIlliam Mony Killings." She and her co-casting director, Elias Tray, worked together casting "All My Children" for ABC Television. For musical theatre, Ms. Wilk was the consulting casting director for Marcus Hummon's AMERICAN DUET at The O'Neill Theatre Conference.
Elias Tray (Casting Director) has worked as a casting director in theatre, television and commercials since 1989. He was the Associate Casting Direcor at "All My Children" from 1991 until 2002. During that time, the show won three Emmys for Best Daytime Drama and Best Daytime Casting. Eli was also featured in TV Guide during his tenure at ABC as one of the two best casting directors in daytime television. Along with "All My Children," Eli worked on projects as the East Coast casting director for a number of West-Coast Series such as "Biography" for AMC, "Passions" on NBC and "General Hospital" on ABC. Eli was the New York Casting Director for the 2000 Season of the Encore Series at the Shubert Theatre in Chicago, where he is most remembered for casting Alice Ripley -- prior to her Tony win -- in BABES IN ARMS.
Geoff Cohen (General Manager) Current projects include a play titled Admit One by Wendy Yondorf; a series of productions and concerts with RGA Productions in Ontario, Canada and for tours across North America; The Velveteen Rabbit with the Enchantment Theatre Company on a National Tour; and his own production titled Universal Feather (being developed with Martha Redbone, Larry Yazzi, and Honor The Earth). Other recent work includes L'Histoire de Soldat with Hopeful Monsters at the Boston Symphony; Gemini the Musical (Acorn Theatre); Production Managing and Speech Writing for the 2007 Honors Awards for the New York office of the GRAMMY'S. Geoff co-founded and Executive Produced the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2004 and 2005, and also co-produced the Unzipped Concert Series in 2005. He has worked as a Vice President for Radio City Entertainment, where he produced and general managed the Menken/Ahrens/Ockrent production of A Christmas Carol and general managed The Wizard of OZ in New York and on tour. He was also an Associate Producer for Minnelli on Minnelli on Broadway and for the cast albums of The Wizard of Oz (GRAMMY-nominated) and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Prior to joining Radio City Entertainment, Geoff was General Manager of the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ; General Manager of the George Street Playhouse for Producer Eric Krebs; and worked for three years at Yale Rep. Geoff earned a degree in Theatre Administration from the Yale School of Drama where he was honored to have studied with Ben Mordecai and Lloyd Richards.
Robert Bennett (Stage Manager) is a graduate of the University of Michigan. He has helmed numerous productions on Broadway, off Broadway, national tours and at regional theatres. Among the titles for which Mr. Bennett has been production stage manager are Desire Under the Elms, American Buffalo, The Coast of Utopia, Awake and Sing!, Dancing at Lughnasa, Evita, La Cage Aux Folles, Grease, Bent, I Love My Wife, Nicholas Nickelby, Shenandoah, Peter Brook's The Cherry Orchard and Coward in Two Keys. He served at Goodspeed Opera House, The Berkshire Theater Festival and The O'Neill Musical Theater Conference. He was General Manager for The Brooklyn Academy Of Music before moving to Radio City Music Hall as Vice President for Stage Operations.
For additional information on CROSS THAT RIVER, visit www.nymf.org.
