Milwaukee Rep Presents I LEFT MY HEART: A SALUTE TO THE MUSIC OF TONY BENNETT, 8/23

Called "the greatest singer in the world" by Frank Sinatra, the always charming, classy and debonair Tony Bennett crooned his way into the heart of America. In this sexy musical revue, three superb male singers perform an anthology of Bennett's best work - from "Rags to Riches" to "Put On a Happy Face" to the title track and many more - celebrating more than six decades of remarkable music in this swingin' walk down memory lane. David Grapes and Todd Olson are co-creators for the production; Todd Olson will also be directing The Rep's production. Original piano and vocal arrangements for I Left My Heart are by Vince di Mura. The cast features singers Eric Jon Mahlum, Andrew McMath and Rob Tucker, all making their Rep debuts, and Richard Carsey, well-known to Milwaukee audiences from his years with Skylight Music Theatre, will accompany them on piano. Carsey is also the Music Director for the production. I Left My Heart: A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett runs in the Stackner Cabaret from August 23 - October 20 and opens Sunday, August 25.

"Tony Bennett is one of those extraordinary artists who is constantly being rediscovered by new generations - and a terrific testament to the fact that wonderful songs sung by wonderful artists truly do stand the test of time," says Artistic Director Mark Clements. "I Left My Heart is a fantastic vehicle to experience the fun and intimacy of the Stackner Cabaret for those who already love Tony Bennett, and for those who will come to love him!"

"Just a short time ago Tony Bennett turned 87 and he's still performing concerts coast to coast," added Director Todd Olson. "Which means multiple generations have had a cultural relationship with this man, and there just are not many artists around any more about whom that can be said. And he's lasted so long for two reasons: he sings good songs, and he has a musical instrument that is as rare as anything in popular music. I Left My Heart is a journey through Mr. Bennett's songbook, driven by the same elements found in every Bennett concert - the breathtaking singing of songs we know and love."

I Left My Heart: A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett features nearly 40 songs recorded by one of America's greatest musicians. Other popular songs that will be featured in the show include "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails," "Best is Yet to Come," "That Old Black Magic" "Fly Me to the Moon," "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "I Wanna be Around" and "The Good Life." The production debuted at American Stage Theatre Company in St. Petersburg, FL in February 2005. Since 2005, the musical revue has been performed in theaters across the country including Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury, CT; Phoenix Theatre in Phoenix, AZ; Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Auburn, NY and Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, CA.

THE CAST

Eric Jon Mahlum, (Tenor #3), will be making his Milwaukee Rep. A native of LaCrosse, WI, Mahlum has appeared on Broadway in the production Wicked. Off-Broadway credits: Plane Crazy and The Yard. National Tours: Young Frankenstein, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and The Wizard of Oz. Regional credits include: Goodspeed Opera House, Paper Mill Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO, Kansas City Starlight Theatre and Arden Theatre Company, to name a few. Eric holds both a Bachelor's Degree and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance.

Andrew McMath, (Tenor #1), also making his Rep debut, is from Scituate, MA. He is a recent graduate of the Hartt School of Music (CT) class of 2013 with a BFA in Musical Theatre. Previous credits include: Nine Wives (Goodspeed Musical Festival of New Artists); A Christmas Carol(Hartford Stage); Featured Soloist (Hartford Symphony Orchestra); Fantasticks, La Cage Aux Folles and Brigadoon (The Mac-Haydn Theatre);Hello Dolly and Hairspray (New London Barn Playhouse) and Dames at Sea, Man of La Mancha and Imaginary Invalid (The Monomoy Theatre).

Rob Tucker, (Tenor #2), is also making his debut at Milwaukee Repertory Theater with this production. He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of the Arts (Philadelphia, PA) and an MA in Classical Acting from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (London, UK). Favorite roles include: Nero (Britannicus); Time (A Winter's Tale); Othello (Othello); Charley Kringas (Merrily We Roll Along); Ensemble/Beadle (Sweeney Todd); Man 1 (Songs for a New World); Nick (Baby); Schroeder (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown); Observer/Priest/Kanagawa Girl (Pacific Overtures) and Martin/Cookie/ Ensemble (Anyone Can Whistle). Offstage, Rob works as a musical director, pianist and educator.

Richard Carsey, (Music Director/Pianist) is a conductor, arranger, pianist and actor. In 2012, he served as Music Director for the first national tour of the Broadway revival of La Cage aux Folles. On Broadway in 2011 he provided music coaching for House of Blue Leaves and was music supervisor for Joshua Schmidt's world premiere musical A Minister's Wife at Lincoln Center Theater. In 2010 he was Music Director for the first national tour of Little House on the Prairie. For eight seasons he was Artistic Director of Skylight Opera Theatre, and has conducted over 70 productions there, most recently Porgy and Bess. Other music direction: Syracuse Opera; Florida State Opera; Marriott Lincolnshire Theater; Writers' Theatre and First Stage Milwaukee. As an actor, he has appeared in 2 Pianos, 4 Hands at Milwaukee Rep (2003/04 Season); Actors Theatre of Louisville; Dallas Theater Center; The Laguna Playhouse; Hartford Stage (Connecticut Critics Circle Award) and the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. He also appeared onstage in Souvenir (Skylight Music Theatre), Dirty Blonde (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre) and Old Wicked Songs (In Tandem Theatre). Upcoming: Music Director/Conductor for the national tour of Phantom of the Opera.

CREATIVE TEAM

The creative team for I Left My Heart: A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett includes: Todd Olson (Co-Creator/Director) (see bio below); Megan Truscott (Scenic Designer); Katherine McLaughlin (Costume Designer); Craig Gottschalk (Lighting Designer), Erin Paige (Music Director/Sound Designer), Sandy Ernst (Casting Director), JC Clementz (Casting Director), Ashlee Wasmund (Additional Movement) andMelissa van Swol (Stage Manager).

Megan Truscott (Scenic Designer) returns to The Rep after designing last season's productions of Blues in the Night and Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash. A Chicago-based scenic designer, Truscott's work has been seen at Bailiwick Chicago, Pennsylvania Youth Theatre, TheatreSquared and Young Actors Guild of Arkansas. Recent and current projects include Our Town (DePaul University), Harry and the Spy(Pavement Group) and the upcoming Forever Plaid at The Rep. She is a graduate of DePaul University.

Katherine McLaughlin (Costume Designer), making her debut as a Costume Designer, returns to The Rep after nine and a half seasons in The Rep's Costume Shop as the Costume Crafts Supervisor. She is the owner of the The Brass Rooster, a men's hat store in Bay View. Credits for designing costumes for film and television include: the internationally award-winning film The Wheel; The Protestant Reformation (The History Channel); Secret America (The Discovery Channel) and the 2008 series of When Weather Changed History (The Weather Channel). Kate is also actively involved with the Milwaukee independent film community and has enjoyed teaching high school students through the Milwaukee Film projects.

Craig Gottschalk (Lighting Designer) is The Rep's Lighting & Sound Director. Previous Milwaukee Rep lighting design credits include Blues in the Night, Always . . . Patsy Cline, The Bomb-itty of Errors, Nobody Lonesome for Me and Route 66. Other lighting credits include: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; Ivey award-winning Kiss of the Spiderwoman; 'Best in Twin Cities' award-winning Jerry Springer - The Opera for Minneapolis Musical Theatre; King Lear for Minnesota Shakespeare Project; Into the Woods and Wizard of Oz for Minnetonka Center for the Arts and 1940'sRadio Hour for 8-Ball TheatrE. Craig holds an MFA in Lighting and Sound Design from the University of Minnesota.

Erin Paige (Sound Designer) comes to Milwaukee from five seasons of engineering at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Favorite shows there includeHamlet, She Loves Me and Death and the King's Horseman. She has designed for New Works Festival at Looking Glass Theatre in New York andThe Tale of Jemima Canard at Annex Theatre in Seattle, in addition to several shows at Southern Oregon University, where she earned a BFA in Sound Design. Mostly recently her music was heard in King Lear at The Alchemist Theatre in Bay View.

Sandy Ernst (Casting Director), previously The Rep's Associate Artistic Director, was with Milwaukee Rep for 18 seasons. During her tenure, she held many positions including: Director of the Artistic Intern Program, Cabaret Director, Casting Director, Stage Manager and Director. She is now the Assistant Producing Artistic Director at the University of Delaware Resident Ensemble Players.

JC Clementz (Casting Director) returns to Milwaukee Repertory Theater for his third season. At The Rep, he has assistant directed Othello, To Kill A Mockingbird, A Christmas Carol and Yellowman. As a stage manager, JC has traveled throughout Europe as the Assistant Stage Manager for New York Harlem Productions' international tour of Porgy and Bess (director Baayork Lee). Prior to his arrival in Milwaukee, he spent a season at Philadelphia's Walnut Street Theatre working in the casting and literary office. JC holds an MFA in Directing from Western Illinois University. He will be directing Forever Plaid in the Stackner Cabaret later this season.

Melissa van Swol (Stage Manager) has recently stage managed with Alabama Shakespeare Festival and Skylight Opera Theatre. Van Swol is a graduate of the University of Alabama/Alabama Shakespeare Festival Stage Management program. She earned her BA at the University of Wisconsin - Parkside. Other credits include Huron Playhouse and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

KEY BIOGRAPHIES

David Grapes, Co-Creator

David Grapes is currently a Professor of Theatre and the Director of the School of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Prior to joining the faculty at UNC, David served for six years as the Producing Artistic Director at Tennessee Repertory Theatre located in Nashville, TN. There he produced 36 productions, and was the recipient of eight "Tennie Awards" for Best Direction. Born and raised in Parkersburg, WV, David is a graduate of the MFA Theatre Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. During his 29-year career in the theater, David has produced over 800 major productions. His work as a director (150+ productions) has been seen from coast to coast. David is the creator/co-author (with Todd Olson) of four musical revues: My Way - A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra, Christmas My Way - A Sinatra Holiday Bash, Moon River - Johnny Mercer's American Songbook and I Left My Heart: A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett, which have

been performed at over 200 theaters world wide.

Todd Olson, Co-Creator/Director

Todd Olson is currently the Producing Artistic Director for American Stage Theatre Company in St. Petersburg, FL, prior to that he spent three seasons as the Associate Artistic Director at Tennessee Repertory Theatre in Nashville. While at the Rep, he directed critically-acclaimed productions of Wit, An Ideal Husband, The Miracle Worker, The Beauty Queen of Leenane and many more, winning a dozen annual Nashville "Tennie" Awards for "Best Production" and "Best Director." He received his MFA from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and is a graduate from the Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard where he took classes with David Mamet, Peter Sellars, Andrei Serban, Robert Scanlan, RoBert Woodruff, Anna Deveare Smith and Robert Brustein, among others. He has taught theater at Harvard, Vanderbilt and Boston University, among others. Mr. Olson has directed over 100 plays, musicals and operas.

Vince di Mura, Pianist/Composer/Arranger

Vince di Mura is a veteran jazz musician and musical director. He has conducted Musical Theatre seasons for a long list of theaters. In 2008, Vince rewrote the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, The Pirates of Penzance. This new version was commissioned by American Stage Theatre Company in St. Petersburg, FL and its musical styles ran from Iron Maiden to the Allmann Brothers. He is best known for his arrangements of My Way: A Sinatra Cabaret, (with over 250 productions nationally). In 2005, Vince created full arrangements for American Stage's production of I Left My Heart: A Tribute to the Music of Tony Bennett, licensed by Summerwind Productions; and musical directed the premiere production at American Stage in St. Petersburg, FL. There have been 13 productions of I Left My Heart: A Tribute to the Music of Tony Bennett since its premier in 2005, including successful runs at the Welk Resort Theatre in San Diego and Phoenix Theatre in Arizona.

TICKETS

Tickets for I Left My Heart: A Tribute to the Music of Tony Bennett begin at $40.00. Single Tickets for all of Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2013/14 productions are now on sale and can be purchased online 24/7 at www.MilwaukeeRep.com, through The Rep's Ticket Office by calling414-224-9490 or in person at 108 E. Wells Street. Group tickets are also available for purchase by calling Group Sales Manager Stacy Mills at414-290-5340.

To learn more about The Rep or its productions, please visit www.MilwaukeeRep.com.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

· Audio-Description Performance - On Sunday, September 1 at 7:00 p.m. there will be an Audio-Described Performance for patrons who are blind or have low vision.