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| America’s Greatest Composers, Irving Berlin & Scott Joplin, Meet at Maltz |
provider writes, "The Tin Pan Alley Rag Opens January 17 and runs through February 5.
The Maltz Jupiter Theatre debuts its 2006 lineup with the musical The Tin Pan Alley Rag. In 1915, New York City’s 28th Street was also known as “Tin Pan Alley” - the bustling music publishing capital of the world where the King of Ragtime, Scott Joplin, meets the young, upstart songwriter, Irving Berlin. Shows begin with previews on Tuesday, January 17 and run through Sunday, February 5. Showtimes are 7:30 pm Tuesday through Friday; 8:00 pm on Saturday and Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday’s at 2 pm."
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This bracingly original piece contrasts the ironic similarities and differences between the men. Joplin, the musical prodigy son of a slave, was educated in a conservatory. Berlin, the Russian immigrant who couldn’t read music, had his first international hit at the age of 23. This new musical features their most enduring songs from Berlin’s “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” to Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag.” It also features the choreography of George Faison, who earned a Tony for “The Wiz” and is directed by Jiri Ziska, the artistic director of Philadelphia’s Wilma Theatre.
Author Mark Saltzman received five Los Angeles Ovation Award nominations, including Best Musical, when the play first opened at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1997. Broadway producer and Jupiter resident Rodger Hess is invested in this production with hopes of taking it to Broadway.
Prices for The Tin Pan Alley Rag start at only $25 for the Tuesday preview show and all matinees; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening orchestra seating is $40 and mezzanine is $32.50; Friday and Saturday evening orchestra seating is $45 and mezzanine is $37.50.
Tickets can be purchased at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre Box Office, online at www.jupitertheatre.org or by phone 561-575-2223 or 800-445-1666. The Maltz Jupiter Theatre is located at 1001 Indiantown Road and A1A in Jupiter and is a member of the prestigious League of Resident Theatres.
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Cast Bios
Fred Berman (Irving Berlin) After playing the role of Irving Berlin in Cleveland and New York, Fred is thrilled to be returning to the Tin Pan Alley, this time in warmer weather. Off Broadway: Theda Bara and The Frontier Rabbi (York Theatre); The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde (Theatre at St. Clements - NYMF); Shockheaded Peter (The Little Shubert); The Normal Heart (The Public Theatre); The Vocal Lords (Theatre at St. Clements); Hollywood Nurses (Chashama); A Midsummer Night's Dream & Twelfth Night (NY Classical Theatre). Regional: Of Thee I Sing (Papermill Playhouse); Biloxi Blues (Geva Theatre); The Tin Pan Alley Rag (Cleveland Playhouse); The Buddy Holly Story (Ordway & Nat'l Tour); The Mystery of Irma Vep (New Repertory); season at Texas Shakespeare Festival. Film: Four Letter Words; Goin' Down; Argentino in NY; Him!; Directing Eddie.
Alton Fitzgerald White (Scott Joplin) Broadway: The Lion King (Mufasa); Ragtime (Coalhouse Walker Jr.); Miss Saigon (John) original cast, The Who’s Tommy (Hawker); Smokey Joe’s Café (Ken). West End: Smokey Joe’s Café (Ken), original cast. National tours: Ragtime (Coalhouse Walker Jr.), Dreamgirls (Curtis Taylor Jr.). Numerous theatre roles around the country and many concert dates around the world.
Greg Roderick (Mooney Mulligan, Jimmy, Thaddeus, Hopeful, etc.) is making his Maltz Jupiter Theater debut. Recently Greg completed a short off-Broadway run of “Is There Life After High School?” at the York Theater Company. Other credits include the Broadway national tour of Parade directed by Harold Prince; the national tour of The Sound of Music (Herr Zeller); The Paper Mill Playhouse: Of Thee I Sing, Ragtime (Henry Ford); Goodspeed Opera House: A Little Night Music, Brigadoon, King of Hearts; also productions at The Pittsburgh Public Theater, Houston’s Theater Under the Stars, Atlanta’s Theater of the Stars, West Virginia Public Theater, Gateway Playhouse, and Seaside Music Theater in Daytona Beach. Greg was also a backup singer/dancer for country music legend Mel Tillis in Branson, Missouri in the early 1990’s.
Terace Jones - A native of Washington, DC, studied at The Duke Ellington School of the Arts and The School of American Ballet. Jones has danced principle roles with such notable companies as The Washington Ballet, Maurice Bejart Ballet Lausanne, and The Joffrey Ballet. He was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for his tour-de-force performance in the Tony-winning musical, Fosse. Other Broadway credits include Dance of the Vampires, starring Michael Crawford, and Golden Boy Encores!. Film Credits: The Producers; Movie Musical and the upcoming Julie Taymor film, Across The Universe.
Lanette Costas began training at the Bronx Dance Theatre. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts at SUNY Purchase. Her professional credits include Donald Byrd/The Group, Ailey II, Fred Benjamin Dance Company, Earl Mosley’s diversity of Dance, and the NJ Nets Power N’ Motion Dance Team. She was a featured dancer with the first National Tour of The Lion King and has performed internationally with the Linda Twine Spiritual Ensemble. Lanette is a current company member with Elisa Monte Dance. She is also an assistant to choreographer/director George Faison in a new show, If This Hat Could Talk.
Andre’ Garner (Gitlo/Payton/dancer/ascast) is thrilled to be a part of this production of “The Tin Pan Alley Rag”. A native Virginian, he is a proud graduate of Virginia Tech
University (B.S. Business Management). Broadway: The Music Man (J.C. Squires), Marie Christine (Joachim), Grease (Teen Angel), Encores! Broadway Bash 2003. Off-Broadway: Little Ham (Little Ham) Audelco Award nomination, From My Hometown (Detroit) Audelco Award nomination. National tours: Abyssinia (Minister),
Dreamgirls (C.C. White), Joseph….Dreamcoat (Judah), Miss Saigon, A Chorus Line (International)(Richie). Regional: Children of Eden (Ford’s Theater), Smokey Joe’s Café (Lyric Theater of Oklahoma), Songs For A New World (Apple Tree Theater) Jefferson Award Nomination. He has also performed in numerous workshops/readings. Original Cast Recordings: Little Ham, Dreamgirls In Concert, The Music Man, Marie Christine. Other: Lucky Day (Bright Ideas Label).
Bonita Hyman (Monisha/ascast)
Mezzo-soprano Bonita Hyman, a native New Yorker, has been a featured artist on numerous stages both in the United States and Europe, among them Lyric Opera of Chicago, Deutshe Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf), Oper Leipzig, Opera Bonn, Städtische Bühnen Nürnberg, National Reisopera (Netherlands), Opera Orchestra of New York, Stadtheater Giessen and Opera Ebony. Roles in her repertoire include Azucena in Il Trovatore, Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera, Erda in Der Ring Des Nibelungen, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Bradamante in Alcina, Ursule in Béatrice et Bénédict, Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress and Geneviéve in Pelléas et Mélisande.
Other recent premiere productions in which Ms. Hyman appeared include a concert version of the new opera Doxology by Wendell Logan and Paul Carter Harris with Chicago’s Black Music Repertory Ensemble at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, singing the role of Mother Song; (’00-’01), and the first fully staged production of Vinko Globokar’s L’Amonia Drammatica at Bühnen der Stadt Bielefeld (’01-’02), in which she appeared as the Alto Soloist.
Dirk Lumbard (Snyder/Ernst/Stark) was last seen in the Broadway production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He won the Joseph Jefferson Award for his portrayal of The Tin Man in the National Tour of The Wizard of Oz. Other Broadway credits include Nora Ephron’s Imaginary Friends, The Music Man (Stand By Harold Hill), On Your Toes (Junior), Barnum (Sherwood Stratton), and Sugar Babies. Off-Broadway credits include Flora, the Red Menace (Kenny); Dames at Sea (Lucky); and She Loves Me (Kodaly). National credits include Grand Hotel (Erik), and Crazy for You (Bobby Child). At Canada’s Stratford Festival Theatre he played Harold Hill in The Music Man (Stage Door Award), Kiss Me, Kate (Bill Calhoun), Titus Andronicus (Alarbus/Messenger), Comedy of Errors (Balthazar). He is a recipient of The Statford Festival’s Tyrone Gutherie Award. Television credits: Deadlline (NBC), Home Improvement (ABC), Alice in Wonderland (PBS), and Hometown (CBS).
Autumn Dornfeld (Dorothy/Sophie/Saloon Singer) most recently appeared as Rose of Sharon in The Grapes of Wrath (Intiman Theater.) Prior to that, she performed on Broadway and in the National Tour of The Graduate. Other New York stage credits
include: Old Money (Lincoln Center), Homebody/Kabul (New York Theater Workshop), The Parrot: A Musical (The Flea), Perfect Harmony (Shubert Theater at NYU), Endpapers (Variety Arts), Aunt Pieces (Cherry Lane), The Sibling Plays (Manhattan Theater Source), A Woman of No Importance (The Independent Theater), The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Drums in the Night (NY Fringe/The Drama League). She was awarded a CitySearch award for her professional debut as Anne in A Little Night Music at PlayMakers Repertory. Other regional work includes: Ruby Sunrise, Fabulation?! (Sundance Theater Lab), The ThreePenny Opera, and The Nutcracker (PlayMakers Repertory), A Home Without (Henlopen Theater). Film work includes Trading Women for PBS and The Undeserved (upcoming.)
Carmen Barika (Hattie Mae/Female Dancer#1)
Georgia born, New Orleans bred singer-actress Carmen BARIKA has portrayed “Clorinda” in the Opera Theatre of Lucca’s La Cenerentola in Italy, appeared as a soloist with the Louisiana Philharmonic, as featured singer with Allen Toussaint in the New Orleans’ Jazz Fest, and as opening act for the Brothers Johnson at the Essence Festival. Since arriving to New York, she has portrayed “Zola Taylor” in the Broadway workshop of Tina Andrews’ Why Do Fools Fall in Love, appeared as “Lilli” in 2004 revival of Melvin Van Peebles’ Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death at the Classical Theatre of Harlem, portrayed queen “Cesonia” in Caligula starring Andre de Shields, and starred as the recalcitrant little “Ella” in last winter’s Making Books Sing musical production Band of Angels. She has also recently completed a recording with Christian Holder for his new musical “Verse of Fortune” with music by Noa Ain. She is extremely thrilled to be making her debut at the Jupiter Theatre in this delightful production.
Idara Victor (Treemonisha/Freddie) was most recently seen performing in the new Richard Maltby, Jr. directed musical, The Sixties Project. Other favorite roles include: Regional: Aida in Aida (Gateway Playhouse), Charlaine in Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Bristol Riverside Theatre), Lutiebelle in Purlie (Cagle & Co.), Sarah in Ragtime (Cultural Arts Playhouse). New York: Sybil Vane in Dorian Gray (NYMF), Beth / Brown / Harris in Shirtwaist (Flying Fig Theatre Co.), Jezzie in In Search of A Better Life with Elvis (The Drove Theatre Co.). Film/TV: Starved (FX Network). She attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and graduated with a BS from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Infinite love and appreciation to the beautiful Victor family, Nicky B, and friends. Thanks for being here.
Daria Hardeman- (Miss Lee) is so pleased to a part of this fantastic production & this VERY talented cast. Daria's credits include: Broadway: "The Full Monty"; Off Broadway: "Bat Boy The Musical" original cast; "Little Ham"; "They Wrote That" original cast. Regional: "Urban Cowboy" world premiere, "HAIR"; "Little Shop of Horrors". Television: Recurring role on NBC's "Third Watch"; "Law & Order", Co-host of the new video magazine "The Infamous Times" & several National Commercials.
Film: "Marci X" and John Turturro's, soon to be released, "Romance & Cigarettes" with Susan Sarandon & James Gandolfini.
Warren B. Griffin, III – (Bink) Raised on the mean streets of Camden, New Jersey, Warren sought salvation across the Delaware River at a little known dance studio founded by Stephan Love named The Next Generation. Mr. Love would serve as Warren’s first mentor and choreographer, setting Warren on the path to self-discovery through dance. Warren’s showmanship, charisma and knack for learning complex pieces quickly advanced him to principal dancer. Over the years, Warren performed in countless productions including Mr. Love’s final and most powerful production, Slaves To The Rhythm.
Warren, having found his calling, went on to attend the Philadelphia Dance School of the Arts, and The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA.
Warren performed with the Philadanco Professional Company for five seasons. He also performed with Philadance II and Eleone Dance Theater.
Warren has worked with numerous accomplished choreographers. In 1999, Warren was a principal dancer for the musical “Tin Pan Alley Rag” choreographed by George Faison and performed at the Wilma Theatre of Philadelphia, PA.
Production Staff Bios
Jiri Zizka (director) was born in Prague and graduated from the Charles IV University. He became the co-Artistic Director of The Wilma Theater in 1981, where he produced over 120 productions and directed over 60, including Orwell's Animal Farm, Camus' The Stranger, Brecht's Mother Courage, Weiss' Marat/Sade, his own adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Brecht/Weill's Happy End, Orwell's 1984 (which transferred to Kennedy Center and Off-Broadway), Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist, and the US Premiere of Vaclav Havel's Temptation, a co-production with Joseph Papp's The Public Theater in NY. Mr. Zizka has also directed a feature film of Havel's Largo Desolato, adapted by Tom Stoppard, starring F. Murray Abraham for PBS's Great Performances. He wrote and directed Inquest of Love, nominated for an Emmy Award. His theater credits also include Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan, David Gow's Cherry Docs (with David Strathairn), Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, On the Razzle, The Real Inspector Hound and Indian Ink; Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy, Stephen Sondheim's Passion, Christopher Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues, and Charles L. Mee's Big Love and Wintertime. Also, a co-production between the Wilma and The Philadelphia Orchestra of Tom Stoppard's and André Previn's Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, a play for actors and a philharmonic orchestra, at The Kimmel Center. Most recently, he directed Tom Stoppard's Night and Day, Itamar Moses' Outrage, and Ken Ludwig's Shakespeare in Hollywood. Tonight’s staging of Mark Saltzman’s The Tin Pan Alley Rag is based on the production Mr. Zizka directed at The Wilma Theater.
George W. Faison - (Choreographer) won a Tony® and Drama Desk Award for “The Wiz” and was nominated for another Tony® for “Porgy and Bess” at Radio City Music Hall. He also received an Emmy Nomination for “The Josephine Baker Story”, starring Lynn Whitfield. He also has staged and directed concerts and videos for such greats as Ashford & Simpson, Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Betty Carter and Miles Davis, to name a few. Current theatrical projects also include “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” starring Angela Bofill, November2005, and “Tin Pan Alley Rag” December, 2005. Born in Washington, DC, Faison studied Dentistry at Howard University, but soon was drawn to the theater. After stints with the American Light Opera Company and the Capitol Ballet he studied with Prof. Owen Dodson at Howard University, when his mentor, Louis Johnson invited him to come to New York City, where he soon joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 1989 he wrote, staged and co-produced the NBC TV special “Cosby Salutes Ailey”, staged and co-wrote the recent PBS TV special “Cook, Dixon & Young” previously known as “Three Mo’ Tenors”. Other film and TV projects included the “Cotton Club” movie, the ABC TV series “City Kids”, segments of the “Cosby” show, “Amen” and the “Oprah Winfrey” show in addition to some groundbreaking videos, “It’s Raining Men” for the Weather Girls, “Oasis” for Roberta Flack, “Boogie Wonderland” for Earth, Wind & Fire and “Sounds” for Betty Carter, parts of which were adapted by the Burrell Agency as a Coca Cola commercial featuring Bill Cosby and Betty Carter. He has directed and choreographed plays and musicals at numerous LORT Theaters and also directed several urban shows. He wrote or co-authored “Apollo It Was Just like Magic…”, “Sing, Mahalia, Sing!”, “Heaven And The Homeboy”, “Tilt”, “Standing At The Crossroads” and “Awakening”. He is the co-founder and artistic producing director at the Faison Firehouse Theater, where he will begin the inaugural season in November and where he developed one of the most successful urban youth programs, “The Respect Project”®.
Jerry Beaver (Casting Director) has cast for FILM, TV, Theatre and Commercials for over 22 years. Based in New York, his projects have been produced in New York, Los Angeles and most major regional cities in America as well as Europe. Theatrically, in N.Y. he cast for The Signature Theatre Company for eleven years representing Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, Horton Foote, John Guare, Sam Shepard, Landford Wilson, Romulus Linney, Lee Blessing, Adrienne Kennedy and Marie Irene Fornes, the Manhattan Theatre Club, the American Place Theatre and Century Theatre. Regionally, he has cast for The Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia for ten years representing Tom Stoppard, Doug Wright, Peter Barnes, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, Brecht and Weill, Polly Pen and Laurence Klavan, Amy Freed, George Walker Martin McDonagh, Ken Ludwig, Itamar Moses, Dael Orlandersmith and the world-premiere of The Tin Pan Alley Rag by Mark Saltzman, Irving Berlin and Scott Joplin as well as The Guthrie, The Alley and The Actors Theatre of Louisville. His TV and commercial projects have been directed by Spike Lee, Stephen Frears, Michael Apted, Ridley Scott and he is the Founding President of the Black Bear Film Festival in Milford, Pa.
Jerold R. Forsyth (Lighting Designer) has designed over 200 productions to date. East coast credits include: Kennedy Center, New York Shakespeare Festival, Lincoln Center, York Theatre, Village Theatre and Opera Ebony--New York. Philadelphia area credits: The Wilma Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Arden Theatre Co., Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, Villanova Theatre, A.M.T.F., People's Light & Theatre, Venture Theatre, Philadelphia Festival Theatre, and the Philadelphia Drama Guild.Awards include the 1995 and 2002 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Lighting Design.
David P. Gordon (Set Design) has designed over 250 productions and worked extensively both on and Off-Broadway and for regional theatres and opera companies both in this country and abroad. Recent credits include: New York: Happy Days; The Two Noble Kinsmen; String Fever; Cheat; Princess Turandot; and Hotel Universe. Regional: Night and Day and The Tin Pan Alley Rag (Wilma Theater); Amour (Goodspeed); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Long Wharf); The Blue Demon (2003 Elliot Norton Award) and What the Butler Saw (Huntington); David Copperfield (Westport Country Playhouse); Portia Coughlan (McCarter); Moving Picture and The Skin of Our Teeth (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Sweeney Todd (Arden) and several productions at The Walnut Street Theatre. Opera: The Magic Flute (Opera Theatre of St. Louis); The Consul (Arizona Opera); and 21 productions for Sarasota Opera including this season’s La boheme. Mr. Gordon has received three Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Scenic Design, and is on the faculty of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Brad Ellis (Music Direction, Original Music, Arrangements, and Orchestrations) has conducted over 6,000 performances of 400 different shows and concert programs. He just finished orchestrating and conducting an album for the L.A. Philharmonic on Warner Bros. featuring Jeremy Irons, Scarlett Johannson, and Ewan McGregor. Quick-eyed viewers will have noticed him playing piano on-screen in the most recent two seasons of The Gilmore Girls. At home in L.A. he works as a composer, and two of his original songs were heard at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre in December's Plaid Tidings.
Justin Scribner (Stage Manager) – Broadway credits include Lennon, Pacific Overtures, Jumpers, Little Shop of Horrors, Nine, and On The Twentieth Century. Off-Broadway, Justin has worked on Valhalla (NYTW), Polish Joke (MTC), The Butter and Egg Man (Atlantic), Class Mothers ’68, and Zanna Don’t. Regionally, he has been a stage manager for Theatre VA, North Carolina Theatre, and the Kennedy Center. In addition, Justin has participated in the workshops of The Alchemist, Pamela’s First Musical, and the upcoming Broadway musical, A Tale of Two Cities.
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Posted on Jan 07, 2006 11:31am.
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