American Monarch Theatre Company to Open Inaugural Season with THE LAST FIVE YEARS

Easton's American Monarch Theatre Company (AMTC) will open its 2016-2017 inaugural season with the musical, The Last Five Years. Performances are October 15th at 8 p.m. and October 16th at 3 p.m. in the Gold Room of the Grand Eastonian Hotel in Easton, PA. Tickets are $20.

The Last Five Years was written and composed by Jason Robert Brown, and originally produced for the New York Stage by Arielle Tepper and Marty Bell. The show was first produced by the Northlight Theatre in Chicago, IL, and is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.

The musical recounts the five-year love life of a New York couple told from very different perspectives by each character. Cathy's story begins at the moment of breakup while Jamie's story begins with the couple's first meeting.

AMTC's production will feature the talents of the company's artistic director Colette Boudreaux as Cathy and New York stage and screen actor Max King as Jamie. It will likely be the only opportunity showgoers will have to see AMTC's artistic director in a company production,John Andreadis, the company's executive director, said.

"Ms. Boudreaux is a currently working professional performer, and we're lucky to have her," he noted. "She is generous enough to offer her services at no cost to the company, because she understands the importance of using AMTC's limited start-up funding in ways that will provide our audience not only the best show we can afford, but the best show, period."

Andreadis said because Boudreaux is taking no salary, the company was able to afford to audition in New York for the role of Jamie, and to hire Broadway music director Charity Wicks, and exceptional musicians, who will do justice to the score.

"Ms. Boudreaux has set aside other opportunities to support the company in the best way she knows how, but will do so just this once," Andreadis says. "The company was started to provide our community the opportunity to see and work with professionals they might otherwise not have the chance to, and we want to foster that vision."

Colette Boudreaux began her performing career as a child actor, and went on to make her Carnegie Hall debut with Opera Orchestra New York. In addition to appearances as concert soloist with the Missouri Symphony, the Astoria Symphony and the Hendersonville Symphony, credits include Kim in Eric Salzman's opera, Big Jim & the Small-Time Investors for New York City's Center for Contemporary Opera; Anybodys in St. Petersburg Opera's production of West Side Story where according to Broadway World.com she sang Somewhere "for all it's worth" (and for which she was nominated as best featured actress in a musical and served as dance captain); and Molly in the world-premiere production of The Boston Tea Party Opera at the NY International Fringe Festival. Ms. Boudreaux was also chosen to perform under the direction of Tony and Emmy Award-winner George Faison at the Inaugural Gala of New York's Faison Firehouse Theatre for guest-of-honor, poet Maya Angelou. For a complete list of credits go to www.coletteboudreaux.com. Boudreaux holds a BM in vocal performance from Oberlin Conservatory and an MM in vocal performance from the Manhattan School of Music.

Max King is a New York actor whose stage credits include Gideon in a national tour of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; Scott in Lin Manuel Miranda's production of Vestments of the Gods for the NY International Fringe Festival; and Joey in New Dawn at the Midtown Theatre Festival, for which he won the festival's prize for outstanding leading actor in a musical. Other credits include: Emmett in Legally Blonde; Henry in Next To Normal; Ren in Footloose; and Phillip in Jesus Christ Superstar. Screen credits include the short film, The Clay of Indigo, among others. For a complete list of credits go to www.maxking.nyc. King graduated cum laude from Wagner College in NYC.

Charity Wicks is a pianist and music director who is as highly lauded for her versatility, as she is at ease with a wide range of repertory, from classical solo works and chamber music, to contemporary opera and musical theater. Broadway credits include Big Fish, Wicked, Violet, Nice Work If You Can Get It, In the Heights, and Spring Awakening. National Tours include Billy Elliot and Spring Awakening. She works regularly on the development of new musicals, and has done so at the Goodspeed Opera House, Weston Playhouse, CAP21, at NYMF and through NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. She stays equally involved in the development of new opera, and has worked frequently with Brooklyn-based American Opera Projects on such works as The Golden Gate by Conrad Cummings, Semmelweis by Ray Lustig, and she was most recently the associate conductor of the world premiere of The Summer King, a new opera by Daniel Sonenberg.

Ms. Wicks also was involved in the workshops of Stephen Schwartz's opera Séance on a Wet Afternoon, for which she was the associate conductor for the world premiere in Santa Barbara, CA. She holds a BM and MM from Temple University, and a DMA from The Manhattan School of Music.

AMTC was established in August 2015 by Easton residents (and husband and wife) John Andreadis and Colette Boudreaux. They wanted to provide Easton and the Lehigh Valley with professional stage productions and theatrical events, as well as theatre education programs that would include lectures, master classes and lessons taught by currently performing professionals.

AMTC's mission is not only to promote the performing arts and enrich the culture of Easton and the Lehigh Valley, but to do so in an innovative fashion. The theatre company seeks to bridge the gap between community and professional theatre by bringing in professional talent from around the country to work with local performers in a collaborative way. Through the resulting work and relationships formed, Lehigh VAlley Theatre enthusiasts and students will have the chance to elevate their skills and further develop their performing arts experience.

AMTC is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. For more information or to buy tickets or register for workshops, go to www.americanmonarchtheatre.org.