NEWER SUNDAYS RETURNS TO THE DUPLEX

The Storefront is pleased to announce the continuation of it's celebrated NEWER SUNDAYS series for composers, this time in collaboration with the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF). NEWER SUNDAYS will run Sundays in September and October 3 at 7:00 pm at THE DUPLEX CABARET THEATRE (61 Christopher Street, NYC - 1-212-255-5438 - http://www.theduplex.com/ ). There is a $12 cover charge, as well as a 2-drink minimum.

Scheduled to appear:

Sunday, September 5th: Brett Kristofferson
Sunday, September 12th: Todd Almond
Sunday, September 19th: Maria Gentile
Sunday, September 26th: Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sunday, October 3rd: Steven Lutvak

NEWER SUNDAYS was formed as an off-shoot of The Storefront's critically-acclaimed and award-winning NEW MONDAYS series, which presents new work from three composers nightly. Past New Mondays participants have included Stephen Schwartz, Jason Robert Brown, Andrew Lippa, Michael John LaChuisa, Carol Hall, Frank Wildhorn, William Finn and many others. NEWER SUNDAYS presents a full hour of new material from some of the most intriguing new composers in New York. Past guest composers and performers have included Lawrence O'Keefe, Ricky Ian Gordon, Billy Porter, Christiane Noll, Gavin Creel, Jessica Molaskey, Andrea Burns, Devon May and many others.

THE STOREFRONT was founded in 2000 and has gone on to produce many celebrated theatre pieces. Most recently, The Storefront produced the critically-acclaimed revival of AR Gurney's Love Letters, featuring an all-star, rotating cast, including Stephen Bogardus, Matt Bogart, Charles Busch, Jim Dale, Jerry Dixon, Daisy Eagan, Randy Graff, Mary Cleere Haran, Andrew Lippa, Tonya Pinkins, Lonnie Price and Rex Reed. Previously, The Storefront debuted a new version of the Schwartz/Strouse/Stein musical, Rags, starring Anne Runolfsson and Leslie Kritzer, amongst other successful projects. For their New Mondays series, the company was awarded both the MAC (Manhattan Association of Clubs and Cabarets) Award, as well as the Nightlife Award from the collected New York nightlife critics. New Mondays culminated in an acclaimed evening at New York's Lucille Lortel Theatre, hosted by Karen Mason, Anne Runolfsson and Alison Fraser.

TODD ALMOND's musical, People Like Us, a collaboration with director Gus Kaikkonen, was named "Best New Play" at the New Hampshire theatre awards. He composed songs and music for Dhammashok, a new play by Ruben Polendo and Theater Mitu (Sundance Theatre Lab and The Mark Taper Forum/RMT) and most recently for Mr. Polendo/Mitu's Happy Accident # 1, and The Odyssey, which premiered at The Juilliard School. Recently, Todd wrote music for the play About Time, starring James Whitmore, and for the new Brian Sloan film WTC View. Recordings: A Wind Has Blown the Rain Away, featured on NPR's "All Things Considered;" Deep North Woods; Try to Hear, Try to Say; and This is the Day with indie rock great Ruby Vileos. As an actor, Todd has played Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (CEA "Best Actor"), Edward in the world premiere of Tony-Award-winner Warren Leight's James and Annie, Louis in Angels in America, as well as other roles at Paper Mill Playhouse, Berkshire Theater Festival, the Peterborough Players and the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati (where this year, he will appear in I Am My Own Wife).

MARIA GENTILE has just completed her second CD of original songs, entitled That... Which is Real. "Kindness Makes Me Cry", one of the songs on the new CD, was recently awarded the MAC (Manhattan Association of Clubs and Cabarets) Award for Song of the Year. Another composition, "If I Was a Boy" (co-written with Caren Cole), was nominated for 2003 MAC Song of the Year. In January of 2000, Maria released her debut CD, So Many Pieces of Me, which features twelve original compositions. Three of the songs from that CD can be heard in the independent feature film In Passing, written and directed by Kate Fitzgerald. Maria has worked with Simply Elementary since 1998, performing for schools all over the tri-state area. Also at the Duplex, Maria and co-writer Susan Campanaro had very successful runs with the original shows The B is Broke, and its sequel The B Don't Come Here Anymore.

JEFF BLUMENKRANTZ received a 2003 Tony Award nomination for the songs he contributed to the score of Urban Cowboy, The Musical. Most recently, he was commissioned by Carnegie Hall to contribute a song to The Seven Deadly Sins, a song cycle premiered by Audra MacDonald at Zankel Hall in June of 2004. Jeff is currently working with playwright Tina Howe on an original musical, Hush. Jeff, along with his collaborators Annie Kessler and Libby Saines, are very proud to have their song, I WonÇt Mind, included on Audra MacDonald's CD, How Glory Goes, as well as on her PBS concert, Audra MacDonald: Live at the Donmar. Jeff's composition, Lament, is included on Megan Mullally's recording, Big as a Berry.

STEVEN LUTVAK has performed to sold-out audiences across the country, beginning with Seems To Me It's Time, an evening of original songs which was part of Steve McGraw's Equity Fights AIDS Cabaret Series. This was followed by sold-out runs at such prestigious New York venues as the Russian Tea Room and The Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room, and the Rose Garden and Gardenia clubs in Los Angeles. In 1998, Steven made his debut at Carnegie Recital Hall, and in November 1999, debuted at Carnegie Hall, performing with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops. In 1994, he headlined with Broadway's Dee Hoty at New York's Rainbow and Stars. Lutvak has performed in four of the Annual Cabaret Conventions at Town Hall; in 1994, their songwritersÇ night was named after his My View Of You From the Piano, which he performed with Linda Lavin. In 1997, he sang at the annual New Year's Eve Concert at St. John the Divine before an audience of over 5,000. He opened ASCAP's new Songwriter Series at the Firebird Cafe, playing, once again, to sold-out houses, and he recently enjoyed an extended run at Arci's Place in New York. Steven sold out his October 2002 concerts at Joe's Pub, as well as four follow-up evenings in March 2003, to celebrate the release of his spectacularly reviewed CD, The Time It Takes. As a composer/lyricist for the theatre, Lutvak was commissioned to adapt A.R. Gurney's The Wayside Motor Inn, for which project he was named Artist-in-Residence at the Eugene OÇNeill Opera Music/Theater Conference. Steven has worked as musical consultant on Tim RobbinsÇ hit film The Cradle Will Rock, and served as the original musical director and orchestrator for Noel and Gertie, starring Twiggy, at the Bay Street Theatre. He also served as both vocal coach and vocal arranger for Laurie Anderson's Moby Dick. Steven is also known as one of New York City's most sought-after vocal coaches. His clients include many of the top names on Broadway, including Jane Krakowski, Ron Rifkin, Linda Lavin, Debra Monk, Donna Murphy, Michael York and Marisa Tomei, as well as many of the current singers and dancers working in Broadway shows.

 

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