Celebrate Shakespeare's Birthday with ILLYRIA

Prospect Theater Company (Cara Reichel, Producing Artistic Director / Melissa Huber, Managing Director) will present a new actor-musician workshop staging of Illyria on Saturday, April 22, 2017 at 4pm and Sunday, April 23, 2017 at 7pm. Illyria features book, music, and lyrics by Peter Mills and is adapted from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night by Mills and Reichel.

The Illyria workshop features an ensemble of ten actor-musicians: George Abud (The Band's Visit, The Visit), DeMone (Miss Saigon, Ragtime), Daniel Emond (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 at A.R.T), Kevin Haden (The Rockae), James David Larson (Fiasco's Into the Woods), Megan Loomis (War Horse, Allegro), Sydney Shepherd (First Date, Jasper in Deadland), Adrienne Tang (The King and I, Lyric Opera of Chicago), Louis Tucci (Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story), and Tony Vo (SeaWife).

Shipwrecked and alone on the shores of a land where 'clarity's a rarity, and madness rules,' Viola disguises herself as her twin brother. Entering the service of Duke Orsino, she is quickly drawn in to a tangle of unrequited love with her new master and the mournful Lady Olivia. Meanwhile, Olivia's ne'er-do-well uncle and maid do their best to bring mirth back to the household. Cakes and ale abound and mistaken identity reigns in this gender-bending adventure.

"This high-spirited, utterly engaging musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is an intergenerational winner that deserves an unequivocal thumbs-up. Peter Mills and Cara Reichel, who adapted the show, have managed to do the near impossible. They have taken Shakespeare's comic masterpiece, kept its Elizabethan spirit, voice and wit, yet created a new, accessible work that brashly and, at times, poignantly speaks to contemporary musical theater." -The New York Times

Illyria is directed by Cara Reichel. Music direction is by Peter Mills. Musical arrangements are adapted from orchestrations by Daniel Feyer. Taylor Thomson is the stage manager. Julia Bardinon is the production assistant.

Illyria will be presented at the West End Theatre (263 West 86th St, 2nd floor) in the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew.

For tickets (general admission $15) visit www.ProspectTheater.org or call 212-352-3101.

About Prospect Theater Company

Prospect Theater Company (founded in 1998) is dedicated to fostering and showcasing today's new voices shaping tomorrow's musicals. Since 2000, the company has fully produced more than 30 premiere musicals in New York City, in addition to new plays and numerous re-inventions of classic works. Reflecting its investment in the future of the field, Prospect leads a variety of developmental initiatives, including an annual Musical Theater Lab for emerging writers, and the IGNITE Series of concerts at the TimesCenter. In recognition of its enterprising and risk-taking new musical theater, the company received a 2016 OBIE Award grant. Their work as a community anchor for emerging artists that strengthens the quality, diversity, and dynamism of American theater was also honored with a 2013 National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing.

Notable productions include: the Drama Desk Award-winning Working (2012), Death for Five Voices (2016), Long Story Short (2015), Jasper in Deadland (2014), the Drama-Desk nominated Tamar of the River (2013), Unlock'd (2013), Iron Curtain (2006, 2011), Myths and Hymns (2012), With Glee (2010), The Blue Flower (2008), Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge (2009), The Hidden Sky (2010), Illyria (2002, 2008), and the Drama-Desk nominated The Pursuit of Persephone (2005).