ATTACK OF THE ELVIS IMPERSONATORS Debuts Off-Broadway Tonight at Theatre Row

By: Jun. 01, 2017
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Performances begin TONIGHT for the New York premiere of Attack of the Elvis Impersonators, the zany new musical that will leave you howling for more, with book, music and lyrics by Lory Lazarus, at The Lion Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th & 10th Avenues). Opening Night is Thursday, June 15, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.

From Lory Lazarus, the writer of "Courage, the Cowardly Dog," Attack of the Elvis Impersonators is a rollicking and irreverent new musical comedy featuring an original score, swooning fangirls, an antichrist, world peace, a social media star, the spirit of Elvis ... and of course, a hero!

When Drac Frenzie, a burnt-out world famous heavy metal icon decides to save himself from self-destruction by impersonating Elvis, a miracle occurs -- which leads him to not only saving himself, but also the world.

This show satirizes everything from topics of self-identity, society, organized religion and the state of humanity all in an insanely riotous way! Attack of the Elvis Impersonators will make you howl as it converts you to Hound Dog: the new religion of peace.

The show is directed by Broadway veteran Don Stephenson, with choreography by Melissa Zaremba, and music direction, arrangements and orchestrations by Benjamin Rauhala. The Producer is Lawrence Rosner. Ryan Conway serves as Executive Producer.

The cast features Eric Sciotto (Something Rotten, The Mystery of Edwin Drood) as Drac Frenzie, and Curtis Wiley as Matt Shadow (The Total Bent, Diner), with Michael Biren (Crazy for You, Billy Elliot), Jim Borstelmann (Chicago, Damn Yankees), Jesse Carrey-Beaver (To Dance, Dirty Dancing), Badia Farha (Sistas, Little Shop of Horrors) Warren Kelley ("Birdman", "The Blacklist"), Jeff Kready (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Sunday in the Park with George), Whit K. Lee (Junie B. Jones Essential Survival Guide, Evergreen), Emily JeAnne Phillips (Elf The Musical, The Producers), Catherine Walker (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Mary Poppins), and Jayme Wappel (West Side Story, Guys & Dolls).

Ashley Spencer had been previously announced in the role of Prissy Bordeaux, but has departed for personal reasons. Laura Woyasz will step into the role for the duration of the run and Alexandra Palkovic (Smokey Joe's Café, 9 to 5) joins the company.

The creative team includes Paul Tate DePoo III (set), Tracy Christensen (costumes), Travis McHale (lights), Josh Liebert (sound) and Shawn Duan (projections). The music team includes Jeremy Yaddow, Steve Marks, Mark McCarron. The Production Stage Manager is Jaimie Van Dyke. General Management is Rachel Esman of DTE Management.

Attack of the Elvis Impersonators plays the following performance schedule: Thursdays at 8:00 p.m., Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m., Sundays at 3:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m., and Mondays at 8:00 p.m. (There are no Tuesday or Wednesday performances.)

Tickets for Attack of the Elvis Impersonators are priced at $79 with Premium Seats available at $99. Tickets may be purchased at Telecharge.com /212-239-6200.

Bios


Eric Sciotto (Drac Frenzie). Most recently, Eric could be seen wearing leather and flipping his hair around as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten. Also on Broadway, Eric has performed in Annie Get Your Gun, Aida, Sweet Smell of Success, Sweet Charity, 42nd Street, Cry-Baby, A Chorus Line, Pal Joey, Rock of Ages (with the hilarious Don Stephenson), Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and is featured on 6 Original Cast Recordings. Eric toured as Paul in A Chorus Line, Tommy Keeler in Annie Get Your Gun and Frank in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Regional: A Chorus Line (Zach), Footloose (Ren), Pirates of Penzance (Frederic), & Aida (Radames). When he's not performing, Eric is also a Director/Choreographer and a Husband/Father! Love to David, Samson, and Olympia! Follow him on the Twitter: @E_DaddySciotto

Laura Woyasz (Prissy Bordeaux). Broadway: Wicked (Glinda standby). Off-Broadway: The Marvelous Wonderettes, My Life with Albertine, Come Blow Your Horn. Tours: Wicked, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Cheers Live on Stage and a lot more cool plays, musicals and stuff! www.laura-woyasz.com


Curtis Wiley (Matt Shadow) was last seen in The Total Bent at The Public (Stew + Heidi). Other NYC highlights: Pageant: The Musical (Off Broadway Revival); Rothschild & Sons (York Theatre Co.); The Artist & The Scientist (Cap 21); Straight Faced Lies (Fringe NYC); The Great Society (York Shakespeare Co.); TUT (NYMF); King Lear (EPBB). Big musical credits include: Jersey Boys; The Lion King; and a really cool gig with Motown: The Musical. Regional highlights include: DOT (Detroit Public Theatre); DINER: The Musical (Deleware Theatre Co.); Sister Act (Stages St. Louis). Curtis is also an alumni of the Sundance Theatre Institute, Wig Out (playwright Tarell McCraney). Twitter/Instagram: @Curtis_Wiley

Lory Lazarus (Book/ Music/Lyrics). Writing credits include the first original song ever written for Barney the Dinosaur, ("Friends Are Forever" sung by Sandy Duncan) plus 23 other songs for Barney and Friends on PBS written with his pal, Stephen Bates. (Don't tell Barney, but Lory and Stephen also contributed an original song to the Chicago production of Naked Boys Singing!). Also staff writer for Cartoon Network's Courage, the Cowardly Dog; head writer/creator of Bodyman and The Bikey Tegron Show, two animated shows in development; songwriter for The Randi Robics Kids Club and New York's Children's Theatre Company, whose kids sang his song "One World" three times at the United Nations - including an event honoring Nelson Mandela. Besides Attack of the Elvis Impersonators he's the author of ten other plays and musicals and numerous comedy sketches. He's a member of the Dramatists Guild, AFTRA, and is a writer and publisher member of ASCAP.

Don Stephenson (Director) directed Titanic at Lincoln Center; Of Mice and Manhattan at the Kennedy Center; A Comedy of Tenors, The Producers, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and Lend Me A Tenor at Paper Mill; The Other Place at The Alley; Guys and Dolls and The Roar of the Greasepaint (BroadwayWorld nom. Best Director of a Musical) at Goodspeed; Lend Me a Tenor at Bay Street Theatre (Broadway World nomination, Best Director of a play); The Cottage at Theatre Aspen; Noises Off and Buyer and Cellar at Pittsburgh Public Theater; Titanic at the Muny; Deathtrap and The 39 Steps at the Flat Rock Playhouse; Titanic at the Hangar Theatre (BroadwayWorld nomination, Best Director of a Musical); Sister Act and How To Succeed in Business at Marriott Theatre; I'll Eat You Last at Theatreworks/Hartford; Oleanna, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, and Doctors and Diseases at the Barter Theatre. Other New York directing credits include A Charles Dickens Christmas at Urban Stages, Buck Simple (Garrick Gaieties), When Pigs Fly (Kaufman Theatre), Golden Voices (Symphony Space), and Old Flames (Theatre- Studio Inc.). Don directed The Desperate Hours and Through All Kinds of Weather at the Clarence Brown Theatre and Sleeping Beauty at American Stage Festival. He has appeared on Broadway in A Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder, The Producers, Private Lives, Titanic, By Jeeves, Rock of Ages, and Parade.

Melissa Zaremba (Choreographer) most recently directed and choreographed Smokey Joe's Café in Atlanta. Her choreographic credits include: How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Sister Act and "La Cage Aux Folles" for Marriott Theatre (Chicago), All Shook Up, and The Addams Family for Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre (Colorado), Mary Poppins for Abilene Christian University, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum for Northwestern University, among others. Melissa was Assistant Director of Showboat with The Dallas Opera last Spring. As a performer she was a Radio City Rockette for 8 years, toured the country as Lorraine Flemming on the 1st National Tour of 42nd Street and performed as a Principal Dancer with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and National Opera in Washington, DC. She has performed and Dance Captained dozens of shows regionally with Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane and Ravinia (Chicago), the MUNY (St Louis), Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma as well as performed on Dancing With the Stars, and aboard Holland America Cruise Lines. She holds a BPA in Dance from Oklahoma City University, and is currently obtaining an MFA in Choreography from Jacksonville University. www.melissazaremba.com

Benjamin Ruahala (Music Direction, Arrangements, and Orchestrations) worked on the music team for both Bartlett Sher's Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and the Broadway production of Duncan Sheik's American Psycho last season. Most recently, he worked on David Byrne and Alex Timbers' collaboration Joan of Arc: Into The Fire at The Public Theater. He also currently serves as music supervisor for the Off-Broadway revival of The Marvelous Wonderettes. He is best known for his work touring the country with Jeremy Jordan, the Tony-nominated star of Broadway's Newsies and The CW's "Supergirl," and as co-creator of The Broadway Princess Party concert series with Tony-nominee Laura Osnes. He previously served as music director for "Hit List," the meta-musical from the NBC television show "Smash" and is an Original Programming Producer at Feinstein's/54 Below, where he has created dozens of sold-out concerts including 'Broadway Loves' Series, that has famously honored Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion and many more beloved pop icons.

Paul Tate DePoo III (Scenic Designer) is an international designer for theatre, opera, events and film based in NYC. Recent and upcoming productions include: OD Musicals Korea: Titanic. Signature Theatre: Titanic, Little Night Music, Crazy for You, Girlstar. Asolo Rep: Josephine. Goodspeed Musicals: Thoroughly Modern Millie, A Sign of the Times, Guys and Dolls. Off-Broadway: Locusts Have No King, White Guy on the Bus, Himself and Nora, Romance Language, Pageant: The Musical, Sex of the Baby, Look Upon Your Lowliness. Ted Talks: Boston. Delaware Theatre Company: War of the Roses. Classic Stage Company: Othello. Maltz Jupiter: The Producers, Me and My Girl, The Wiz, Les Misérables, Will Roger's Follies, Annie, The Music Man, Hello, Dolly! Bard Opera: Turandot. Yale: The Rocky Horror Show. Broadway Associate Designer: Lincoln Center's Sweeney Todd, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Bengal Tiger, Follies, Anything Goes. Paul is a member of Lincoln Center's Directors Lab, United Scenic Artists and was recently announced as Live Design Magazine's 'Designer to Watch.' www.pauldepoo.com

Tracy Christensen (Costume Designer) recently designed Sunset Boulevard on Broadway starring Glenn Close, and Carousel for the English National Opera in London. Other projects: West Side Story for Carnegie Hall's 125th Anniversary celebration, Souvenir (Broadway), Hand To God (City Theatre), Tribes (Barrington Stage), The Other Place (Alley Theater), Guys & Dolls at Goodspeed Opera House (CT Critics Circle nomination), Sweeney Todd (starring Emma Thompson), Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill (HBO, starring Audra McDonald), Company (starring Neil Patrick Harris), Abundance (Hartford Stage), Seussical for TheatreworksUSA (Lucille Lortel nomination). 10 seasons: Chautauqua Theatre Company. Faculty: SUNY Purchase for costume design. www.tracychristensen.com

Travis McHale (Lighting Designer). Off-Broadway: premieres of H2O and The Awake (59E59); Primary Stages, 3 Legged Dog, Abingdon, Theatre Row, The Barrow Group. Regional Theatre: the world premiere of Terrance McNally's Mothers and Sons (Bucks County Playhouse), Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Capital Repertory, Colorado Festival of World Theatre, Guild Hall, Weston Playhouse, Westport Country Playhouse. Broadway Associate designer for Sunset Boulevard, Something Rotten!, Les Liasions Dangereuses, and others. Other: Zaide (Carnegie Hall), "Great Performances" (PBS), Chita Rivera: Legendary Celebration (International Tour), and six seasons with IMCD Lighting for NY Fashion Week. Awards: Connecticut Critics' Circle, NY Innovative Theatre. Member: United Scenic Artists. www.travismchale.com

Josh Liebert (Sound Designer). Selected designs: The Rocky Horror Show (Buck's County), Ain't Misbehavin' (European Tour), Our Country's Good, The Last Confession (Toronto), Story of My Life, South Pacific (Delaware Theatre Co.). Off-Broadway: The Other Josh Cohen, Son of a Gun, Galois.

Shawn Duan (Projection Designer). Broadway: Chinglish (Longacre Theatre). Off-Broadway/New York: Knickerbocker, Before Your Very Eyes (The Public Theater); The Who's Tommy (Abrons Art Center). Regional: Miss Saigon, FLY, Chasing Rainbows (premiere) (Flat Rock Playhouse); Buyer and Cellar (Pittsburgh Public Theater); Tarzan (North Shore Music Theatre); The Other Place, Great Gatsby, Sing the Rising Sea (premiere) (Virginia Stage Company). Opera: Prima Donna (New York City Opera); Benjamin Button the Opera (Symphony Space). Tours: An Evening with Pacino (U.S., international); Alvin and the Chipmunks Live!; Super Why! Live!; Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! Las Vegas: Frankie Moreno: Under the Influence; Paul Zerdin: Mouthing Off; Puppet Up: Uncensored.

Jaimie Van Dyke (Production Stage Manager). Select credits include: Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd (Goodspeed Musicals), Tonight at 8:30 (Guild Hall, dir. by Tony Walton) Ironbound (Rattlestick/Women's Project), A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (New Georges/ Women's Project, Obie Award), Bright Half Life (Women's Project), How to Get into Buildings (New Georges), Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King (Cherry Lane Theatre, Nat'l Tour), Sworn Virgin and Doruntine (NYC and Balkan tour with Teatri Oda of Kosova), Nick, A Midsummer Night's Dream, ArtCampSexyTimeFootball, Eurydice's Dream, A Christmas Carol, and Lying (Blessed Unrest). Producer for Netflix's "Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King". She has also worked with Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre and Take Dance. IT Award recipient Outstanding Stage Manager 2010.

DTE Management (General Management). Founded by Ken Davenport, DTE Management is an industry leader in general management services for Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. DTE Management currently manages Avenue Q, Attack of the Elvis Impersonators and the anticipated Broadway revival of Once on This Island. Previous productions include the Tony Award-nominated Broadway revival of Spring Awakening as well as Off-Broadway productions of Daddy Long Legs, A Dog Story, Trip of Love, My First Time, Clinton the Musical and the successful ten-year run of The Awesome 80s Prom. Find out more at www.davenporttheatrical.com.

Lawrence Rosner (Producer) is a successful entrepreneur, a philanthropist and founder of various businesses in the medical, restaurant and hospitality industry. Recently he opened the fun filled Catskill Mountains Resort in upstate NY near Bethel and Monticello. All he needs now is borscht and a belt. Lawrence has retired from stand up and is now a sit down comedian. Producing "Attack of the Elvis Impersonators " is a labor of love for him.

Ryan Conway (Executive Producer) began working in commercial theatre as a company manager for some of Broadway's biggest shows, including Mamma Mia!, Billy Elliot, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, and Macbeth. He currently oversees the general management department at DTE Management where recent productions include, Spring Awakening, Daddy Long Legs and Clinton The Musical. Ryan is a proud member of the Broadway League, and a Board Member of the Off-Broadway League.



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