Max Von Essen to Lead Industry Readings of GAY BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

Noted Entertainment attorney, Eric S. Goldman, will present two industry readings of Billy Butler's GAY BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, on Monday, February 4th at 6pm & Tuesday, February 5th at 11am at the 45th Street Theatre, in preparation for a future Off-Broadway run. The readings are produced in association with aka Studio Productions, Louis Hobson and Seattle's Balagan Theatre. The production is directed by award winning director Rachel Klein "the Mistress of the Macabre" (FlavorPill Magazine). Aaron Grant serves as Executive Producer with Kelvin Productions as General Manager.

Heading the cast will be Broadway star Max von Essen (Evita, Les Miserables, Dance of the Vampires & the internet sensation Submissions Only). He is joined by fellow Broadway stars Jason Gotay (Bring it On - Broadway & National Tour), Ashley Kate Adams (La Cage - Broadway & National Tour) & Billy Tighe (Wicked - National Tour, La Cage - National Tour). The ensemble is rounded out with Wade Elkins (Blue Man Group - Chicago), Megan Kane & Maggie Politi. Composer Billy Butler & his band The Monster Makers will lead the cast with a live rock set.

Written by Dane E. Leeman (book) & Billy Butler (book, music & lyrics), GAY BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is a rock n'roll fairy tale that follows the exploits of four college friends on one fateful Halloween night at a very unconventional Monsters Ball. This ensemble driven horror-tinged musical is a universal tale about coming of age, coming out of the closet & coming back from the dead.

Originally produced as a workshop at The Players' Ring in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, GAY BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN'S journey includes a developmental production as part of the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival & the inaugural iStar Theatre Lab, July 16 through August 5, 2012, in New York City, which was also directed by Rachel Klein. As with the 2009 NYMF production, these upcoming industry readings are cast by Daryl Eisenberg.

Billy Butler (Book, Music & Lyrics) is an award winning actor & director who was honored for "Excellence in American Theatre" by the New England Theatre Council, along with his colleagues, Gary Garrison (President of The Dramatists Guild) & Oscar-winning screen writer Ernest Thompson. He is a founding member of New Theatre Works & produced the GAY BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN original workshop cast recording.

Rachel Klein is a theatre director, choreographer & costume designer. Recent credits include the Mondo Cane Dance Commission from Dixon Place to create her dance & circus nightmare-scape, Symphony of Shadows & the critically acclaimed morbid fantasia, The Tragedy of Maria Macabre. Miss Klein received nominations from the Innovative Theater Awards for Outstanding Director of a Play & for Outstanding Choreography/Movement for the aerial musical spectacular, Circus of Circus at the House of Yes in Brooklyn. Previous artistic residencies include a monthly event at Bowery Poetry Club & an Emerging Artist's Residency to build new work through the Field & the Tides Foundation. Miss Klein's work with her company, the Rachel Klein Theater Ensemble, has been presented all over NYC including The Kitchen, La MaMa, Theater For The New City, DUMBO Dance Festival, Night of 1000 Stevies, HOWL Festival, Off-Broadway at 45 Bleecker Street & many others.

Producer Eric S. Goldman has more than twenty years of experience as an entertainment attorney & has counseled many Tony Award winners as both production counsel & artists' representative. In addition to Broadway & Off-Broadway projects, he has repped producers & artists internationally in London, Sydney, Tokyo & China & acted as counsels for non-profits Northlight Theatre in Chicago, Blank Theatre in LA & New York's Classical Theatre of Harlem.