Kaufman Center Press Releases
Merkin Concert Hall presents Broadway Playhouse: Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty (April 5, 2009)
Now in its third year, Kaufman Center’s critically-acclaimed hit series continues with a celebration of the musicals of Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty, the most dynamic and versatile team writing for Broadway today on April 5, 2009. Their string of artistic and commercial successes includes Ragtime, Once on this Island and Seussical. Find out what makes these elegant and joyful writers so versatile, and so beloved. (The concert will feature an interview with the writers.)
Broadway Playhouse’s family-friendly concerts celebrate the best of American musical theater with sing-alongs, interactive games, fun facts, musical medleys and a mini-musical featuring the delightfully zany Broadway Playhouse Players. They’re hosted by Sean Hartley and feature a cast that includes Kathryn Markey, Jason Robinson, Erica Schroeder, Steve Pacek and musical director Jihwan Kim. These kid-friendly concerts are adult-friendly, too! A special Monday morning performance for school groups is scheduled for April 6. For details, please call Faye Menken Schneier at 212 501 3357.
Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty won the Tony Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards and received two Grammy nominations for their score of the Broadway musical Ragtime. They also garnered two Academy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations for the songs and score of Twentieth Century Fox's animated feature film Anastasia (Gold Record and Number One Song). They are co-creators of the Broadway musicals Once On This Island (eight Tony Award nominations, London’s Olivier Award for Best Musical) and Seussical (Grammy and Drama Desk nominations), one of the most frequently performed show in America. Other Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include My Favorite Year, A Man of No Importance (Outer Critics Circle Award, Best Musical), Dessa Rose (winner, 2005 Audelco Award for Best Musical, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations), Lucky Stiff (Helen Hayes Award, Best Musical), Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life and The Glorious Ones (five Drama Desk nominations including Best Musical). Individually, Ms. Ahrens’ credits include: co-book and lyrics for A Christmas Carol (10 years at Madison Square Garden), teleplay adaptation of A Christmas Carol (NBC/Hallmark Entertainment Special) and mainstay songwriter/singer for Schoolhouse Rock and many other network shows. The credits of Mr. Flaherty, recipient of an Emmy Award and four Emmy nominations, include: concert premieres at the Hollywood Bowl and Boston's Symphony Hall; commissions from the Guggenheim Museum, Carnegie Hall and Symphony Space; incidental music for Neil Simon's Proposals on Broadway; musical score for Loving Repeating: A Musical Of Gertrude Stein (Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Musical). Ahrens and Flaherty are members of the Dramatists Guild of America, ASCAP, NARAS, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They co-chair the Dramatists Guild Fellows program for emerging writers.
Broadway Playhouse presentations are made possible, in part, by The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Edith Meiser Foundation, and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation. Additional support for Merkin Hall presentations is provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, the Edward T. Cone Foundation, the Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, The Herman Goldman Foundation, Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc., and Steffens 21st Century Foundation II.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency.
Special thanks to an anonymous donor, Andrea Brown, Janis and Alan Menken, Roy Niederhoffer and Kara Unterberg, and David Shaw and Beth Kobliner Shaw.
Listings Information:
Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center presents
BROADWAY PLAYHOUSE:
LYNN AHRENS & STEPHEN FLAHERTY
Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 11:00am
129 West 67th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam)
Tickets at 212 501 3330 or http://www.kaufman-center.org
Single tickets: $20
EDITORS: Please refer to the series by its name, BROADWAY PLAYHOUSE…
and its location, Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center
Press Only: Hi-res photos for download at http://kaufman-center.org/press/image-library