Pasek & Paul of A CHRISTMAS STORY Win Songwriter's Fellowship Award

The producers of A Christmas Story, The Musical! congratulate their composer/lyricist team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul on receiving the 2011 Songwriter's Fellowship Award.

Now overseen by ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), the award was initiated by songwriter and Tony Award nominee Ann Hampton Callaway. In acknowledgement of support she received from another acclaimed songwriter, Amanda McBroom, earlier in her career, Calloway decided "pay it forward" and award the first Songwriter's Fellowship Award to celebrated songwriter John Bucchino. This year, Bucchino has passed the honor along to Pasek and Paul, who's score for A Christmas Story, The Musical! will be heard in a National Tour playing cities around the U.S. starting this November.

"This is really an extraordinary fellowship," says Michael Kerker, Director of Musical Theatre at ASCAP. "The award recognizes excellence, celebrates and offers support to emerging talent. The award represents artists saluting and mentoring their fellow artists and allows new talent to grow and flourish. Pasek and Paul are an extraordinary team in the tradition of the great songwriters of the American Musical Theatre. This team makes for a wonderful addition to the Fellowship's chain."

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are a musical theatre writing team living in New York City. Their first show, Edges, has been produced throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe and is licensed by Music Theatre International. Current projects include the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl's James And The Giant Peach and Dogfight, a new musical commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater. They are the youngest winners of the Jonathan Larson Award and served as songwriters for Disney Channel's four-time Emmy-nominated series "Johnny and The Sprites." They contributed to If You Give A Pig A Pancake and Duck For President for Theatreworks USA and were listed as part of the "50 to Watch" up-and-coming writers by The Dramatist Magazine. They were interviewed on National Public Radio, selected as 2007-2008 Dramatist Guild Fellows, and their music has been broadcast on Sirius XM's Live On Broadway channel. The duo has played sold-out concerts across America at venues including The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Joe's Pub in New York City and the Falcon Theater in Los Angeles, and will soon perform in Australia's Adelaide Cabaret Festival in June of 2010. They wrote Dr. Williams for Orchard Project's 24-Hour Musicals benefit and will be featured in the upcoming documentary Overnight Musicals about the process by Incubation Films. They are proud graduates of The University of Michigan

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul's score for A Christmas Story, The Musical! can be heard in a five-city National Tour for the 2011 holiday season with engagements in Hershey, PA (Hershey Theatre, Nov. 8 - 13); Detroit, MI (Fisher Theatre, Nov. 15 - 27); Raleigh, NC (Memorial Auditorium, Nov. 29 - Dec. 4); Tampa, FL, (Straz Center, Dec. 6 -11); and Chicago, IL (Chicago Theatre, Dec. 14 - 30).

For more information, visit www.AChristmasStoryTheMusical.com.

This holiday season, America's #1 Christmas movie comes to life on stage as a hilarious holiday musical, A Christmas Story, The Musical! features a bright holiday score by composer/lyricist team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Joseph Robinette based on the writings of radio humorist Jean Shepherd and the 1983 holiday film favorite. Tony Award winner John Rando (Urinetown, The Wedding Singer) will direct the production with Warren Carlyle (Finian's Rainbow, Follies, An Evening With Hugh Jackman) choreographing. Peter Billingsley, who starred as Ralphie in the original 1983 film, serves as a producer for the holiday tour.

A Christmas Story, The Musical! features John Bolton (Spamalot, Contact, Titanic) as The Old Man, Gene Weygandt (Wicked, Big) as Jean Shepherd, Clarke Hallum as Ralphie and and Rachel Bay Jones (Women on The Verge..., Hair) as The Mother. Broadway favorite Karen Mason (Wonderland, Mamma Mia!, Sunset Boulevard) will play school teacher Miss Shields in an ensemble that includes John Francis Babbo, Jonathan Burke, Andrew Cristi, Sally Elting, Nick Gaswirth, Nicholas Gonzales, Casey Gorab, Drea Gordon, Leslie Henstock, Carl Kimbrough, Sean McKnight, Mara Newbery, Lyn Philistine, Charlie Plummer, Alex Puette, Johnny Rabe, Kayla Rea, Emily Rudolph, Jake Bennett Siegfried, Marguerite Willbanks, George Andrew Wolff, Kirsten Wyatt and Adam Pelty (The Scarlet Pimpernel, Steel Pier) as Santa.

After acclaimed, sold-out, record-breaking runs at Kansas City Rep in 2009 and Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre in 2010, A Christmas Story, The Musical! will launch a five-city National Tour for the 2011 holiday season with engagements in Hershey, PA (Hershey Theatre, Nov. 8 - 13); Detroit, MI (Fisher Theatre, Nov. 15 - 27); Raleigh, NC (Memorial Auditorium, Nov. 29 - Dec. 4); Tampa, FL, (Straz Center, Dec. 6 - Dec. 11); and Chicago, IL (Chicago Theatre, Dec. 14 - 30).

The story from a cherished movie classic that's enchanted millions is now a musical spectacular. In 1940's Indiana, a bespectacled boy named Ralphie has a big imagination and one wish for Christmas-a Red Ryder BB Gun. A kooky leg lamp, outrageous pink bunny pajamas, a cranky department store Santa, and a triple-dog-dare to lick a freezing flagpole are just a few of the obstacles that stand between Ralphie and his Christmas dream. Produced by the film's original Ralphie, Peter Billingsley, A Christmas Story, The Musical! is a holiday entertainment that captures a simpler time in America with delicious wit and a heart of gold.

A Christmas Story, The Musical! features scenic design by Walt Spangler (Desire Under the Elms); costume design by Elizabeth Hope Clancy (Passing Strange, The Goat or Who Is Sylvia?); lighting design by Tony Award winner Howell Binkley (Jersey Boys, Memphis); orchestrations by 2011 Tony nominee Larry Blank (Catch Me If You Can); musical supervision by Ian Eisendrath (5th Avenue Theatre's Sunday In The Park With George, West Side Story); dance arrangements by Glen Kelly (The Book of Mormon, Scottsboro Boys), and casting by Stephanie Klapper (Dividing the Estate, The Tempermentals). Peter Billingsley joins commercial producers Gerald Goehring (Frankenstein: The Musical), Roy Miller (West Side Story revival, The Drowsy Chaperone), Michael Mitri (Frankenstein: The Musical), Pat Addiss (Promises, Promises; Spring Awakening), Mariano Tolentino, Louise Beard, Michael Filerman, Scott Hart, Tim Laczynski, Bartner/Jenkins Entertainment, Angela Milonas, Bradford W. Smith.

A CHRISTMAS STORY, THE MUSICAL! - 2011 HOLIDAY SEASON TOUR
November 8 - 13
Hershey, PA
Hershey Theatre
www.hersheytheatre.com
November 15 - 27
Detroit, MI
Fisher Theatre
www.broadwayindetroit.com
November 29 - December 4
Raleigh, NC
Memorial Auditorium
www.progressenergycenter.com
December 6 -11
Tampa, FL
Straz Center
www.strazcenter.org
December 14 - 30
Chicago IL
Chicago Theatre
www.thechicagotheatre.com

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