INSPIRED 4 Benefit Concert with Bobby Cronin, Kerrigan and Lowerdmilk & More Set for 3/31

By: Mar. 06, 2014
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Produced, created and hosted by Bobby Cronin, INSPIRED is a benefit concert series for animal rescue organizations across the country that will play every other month, with a rotating line-up of some of today's exciting musical theatre writers in a casual and intimate setting as they sit behind the piano and, unlike traditional concerts of their material, perform songs by other writers that have inspired their work. The INSPIRED series hopes to spread the word about the 2.7 million adoptable animals that are euthanized each year in America. Jessica Kahkoska serves as associate producer.

INSPIRED 4 will benefit two brave, bold, and commendable rescue organizations: ELEVENTH HOUR RESCUE OF NJ & THE LOW COST VET MOBILE NYC.

ELEVENTH HOUR RESCUE OF NJ is made up of dedicated individuals who believe that innocent pets deserve love and a place to live where they are honored and cared for. No dog or cat deserves to die simply because it does not have a home. We rescue dogs and cats at their Eleventh Hour--when they are scheduled to be put to death by shelters that can no longer care for them. We give them all the medical attention they require, a place to live, and through our adoption services, a second chance at a happy and fulfilled life. We are affiliated with many like-minded animal groups throughout the United States. We are in the midst of "Building Hope" which is to create a new, comfortable haven and a place of hope. Cold concrete and chain link enclosures are a thing of the past. Specifically designed with our dogs in mind, the modern state of the art facility will be a healthier environment both physically and mentally. Equipped with heated floors for comfort and ease of cleaning, solid enclosures and sound proofing to reduce stress, sound, and airborne illness, free access to the outdoors for fresh air, to relieve themselves, or just to lay and feel the sun warm their fur. Other than a small staff of kennel caretakers, as well as a small staff to run our Mt Olive Adoption Center, Eleventh Hour Rescue is run completely by our caring, overachieving, amazing volunteers, even our officers do not get paid. We get paid in kisses, purrs and tail wags. We cannot stop. We will not stop, until all of the cages are empty. To donate to Eleventh Hour Rescue, visit: http://www.ehrdogs.org/info/donate or to donate to the "Building Hope" initiative, visit:http://www.ehrdogs.org/info/display?PageID=12272

THE LOW COST VET MOBILE is the first and only state-of-the-art low cost, mobile, high volume, full service veterinary MASH unit in the nation, and probably the world. It has been featured in news reports on CBS News, NY Daily News, NY 1 News, Happy Tails magazine, Dogster.com, Bestfriends.org, and even a half hour documentary special aired in Moscow. The low cost veterinary service has caused NY City to reduce dog and cat surrenders to NYC animal control by 30% in just three years since its launch, a historic reduction. Being a referral service, the Vet Mobile does no traditional advertising as it seeks to service only pet parents with low/limited income, or who have rescued an animal, or adopted from a kill shelter. Clients are referred from 311, the ASPCA, NYC Animal Control, traditional and emergency veterinary hospitals whose clients cannot afford standard market prices, and by word of mouth. The team of seven veterinarians and support staff of 11 provide virtually all standard and specialized surgeries, hospitalization, digital x-rays, bloodwork, echocardiograms, ultrasounds, and all other services at one third to a half of market rates. http://www.companionanimalnetworktv.org/Donation.html

The line up for the MARCH 31st 7pm concert & conversation features a wide array of artists including:

BOBBY CRONIN is an award-winning composer/writer whose current projects include: Sunset City with bookwriter Wade Dooley & co-lyricist Brett Teresa (2013 Running Deer Theatre Lab, 2014 Goodspeed Mercer Project, 2014 the Pitch); The Concrete Jungle with co-bookwriter Crystal Skillman, which goes into workshop April 2014 and was commissioned in 2012 for London's esteemed ArtsEd School (President: Andrew Lloyd Webber) opened in London June 2012. Welcome To My Life(W2ML) currently under a Broadway option; 'Til Death Do Us Part with Harrington winning bookwriter Allen Mogol (2012 Alec Baldwin Fellowship Winner, UK's S&S Award Finalist). Daybreak (add'l material by Brett Teresa) which won the 2011 New Jersey Playwrights Contest and premiered in Wayne, NJ & London's Tristan Bates Theatre June 2012. Currently writingMary & Max with Crystal Skillman and Stafford Arima, Alone In The US, commissioned by CAP21 with Terry Berliner (reading at Marymount in April), and the short musical film "Walk the Walk" for NYFA, where he is also on faculty. Other: 54 Below, Lincoln Center Songbook Series, Birdland, Symphony Space, London's The Players Theatre & St. James Theatre, and more. "Reach The Sky: Live at The Beechman" and "The Concrete Jungle International Studio Cast Recording" both on iTunes. Yale graduate, Member of ASCAP, Dramatists Guild, and MMD (UK). @bobbycronin or www.bobbycronin.com

LEANNA RENEE HIEBER (Actress, playwright and author) is the award-winning, bestselling author of Gothic Victorian Fantasy novels for adults and teens. Her Strangely Beautiful saga won 3 Prism awards for excellence in the genre of Fantasy Romance, hit Barnes and Noble's and Borders bestseller lists and garnered numerous regional genre awards. This out of print series will reissue in new, revised editions from Tor/Forge by 2015. The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker is being adapted into a musical theatre production (Kenny Seymour and Nicholas Roman Lewis; lyrics and music, L. R. Hieber; book). Her recent Magic Most Foul saga began with DARKER STILL, an Indie Next List and a Scholastic Book Club "Highly Recommended" title. Her new Gaslamp Fantasy saga, The ETERNA FILES begins 2014 from Tor/Forge. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies, including QUEEN VICTORIA'S BOOK OF SPELLS (Tor), and WILLFUL IMPROPRIETY (Running Press). A proud member of performers unions Actors Equity and SAG-AFTRA, she works often in film and television on shows like Boardwalk Empire. A perky Goth girl with more corsets than is reasonable, Leanna enjoys ghost stories, long walks through graveyards in full Victorian regalia, playing Malfoy and visiting Family in Salem. She lives in New York City with her husband and their beloved rescued lab rabbit. http://leannareneehieber.com - http://twitter.com/leannarenee -http://facebook.com/lrhieber

TIMOTHY HUANG (Composer, lyricist, Asian dude). One acts include the award winning The View From Here (cast album available on iTunes/Amazon), A Relative Relationship (Best Musical, Sound Bites Festival 2013) Missing Karma (Prospect) and the song cycle LINES. Timothy is the creator of the full lengths Costs of Living (2013 Jerry Harrington Award, 2013 BMI Master Class with Stephen Sondheim, 2012 ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop), Death and Lucky (MacDowell Fellowship)And the Earth Moved (CAP21) and Peter and the Wall (Rhinebeck). His song "Everything I Do You Do" with co-lyricist Sara Wordsworth was recorded by Sutton Foster for the benefit album Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project.www.timothyhuang.net

KAIT KERRIGAN (words) & BRIAN LOWDERMILK (music) made their off-Broadway debut in 2006 with their adaptation of Henry and Mudge. Other musicals include The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown, Tales From The Bad Years, The Woman Upstairs, Wrong Number, The Freshman Experiment, Republic and Flash of Time. Their musicals have been developed at the Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre, Theatreworks Silicon Valley, La Jolla Playhouse, Perry-Mansfield New Works Festival, ASCAP/Disney Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, York Theatre, the Lark Playwrights Development Center, CAP21, and Primary Stages. Their first album, Our First Mistake, charted at #1 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart; their new album, Kerrigan-Lowdermilk Live, documents a concert tour that resulted from their breakout $35K kickstarter. Among them, they have received the 2009 Kleban Award, 2006 Larson Award, 2005 Richard Rodgers Award, and 2004-2005 Dramatists Guild Fellowship. www.kerrigan-lowdermilk.com.

LYONS AND PAKCHAR are a contemporary composing team bringing their own mix of pop/r&b into the theatre. Lyons, who handles lyrics and music, is a Broadway actor who currently appears in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and has performed Rent, Pageant and Dreamgirls. Pakchar, a guitarist and composer who has played for the Broadway productions of Wicked, Book of Mormon and Newsies, provides orchestration and additional music. The two met while on tour with The Book of Mormon. In December 2013 the duo released their debut album "#LOVE (Live)", which explores the good, bad and awkward roller coasters in human relationships. Currently the duo have two new musicals in development entitled '79 and Five Points.

AMANDA TARASKA holds a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from The Steinhardt school at NYU. She has performed in numerous regional and national tour productions, including Henry and Mudge (TheatreworksUSA) by Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk. Amanda started playing guitar and writing songs in July 2011 and produced her own solo concerts in 2012 and 2013. You can currently see her on TV in a Verizon commercial, and in an upcoming video for @GuitarMashNYC. Thanks to Bobby for including her in this evening, and Leenya Rideout, who taught her how to play guitar! Amanda is also a freelance photographer. Check out www.amandataraskaphotography.com.

WILLIAM DEMANIOW loves dividing his time as actor, singer, composer, music director, and vocal coach. He's been Bobby Cronin's personal MD for the last 4 yrs. He and Cronin have worked on 6 projects and numerous concerts together including 54 Below. William just music directed the workshop production of Drew Overcash's Boys vs. Girls. As a writer, William's work could last be seen in his autobiographical musical play Aimless at Theatre Row, and in the form of underscore for The Laramie Project and Props both with Small Pond Entertainment. He's currently developing a new musical version of Twelth Night with producer Mark Perry. As an actor, you can see William in the upcoming pilot Department of Death. His vocal coaching clients have appeared in over 45 Broadway productions. Please contact William at willydwillyd@hotmail.com



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