John Kander and Greg Pierce Chat New Musical KID VICTORY Today at The Drama Book Shop

The Drama Book Shop welcomes acclaimed playwright Greg Pierce (Slowgirl, Her Requiem) and three-time Tony Award-winning composer John Kander (Chicago, Cabaret, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, The Visit) for a discussion with playwright and Drama Book Shop Events Manager Steven Carl McCasland (Little Wars) about their new musical, Kid Victory, opening at The Vineyard Theatre this month.

Tonight's (February 17th) 5:00pm event will take place in The Drama Book Shop's Arthur Seelen Theatre. It is free to the public.

John Kander's first Broadway musical was A Family Affair, collaborating with James and William Goldman. Kander and Ebb's four decade collaboration created Flora the Red Menace, Cabaret, Zorba, The Happy Time, 70 Girls 70, Chicago, The Act, Woman of the Year, The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Steel Pier, Curtains, The Scottsboro Boys and The Visit. Kander's movies and television writing includes original material for "Liza with a Z" (Emmy winner) and HBO's "Liza Minnelli's Steppin Out" (Emmy winner), Funny Lady (Oscar nomination, Best song) Lucky Lady, New York, New York, Stepping Out and ChicagoThe Movie (Oscar nomination, Best Song). Mr. Kander alone composed scores for, An Early Frost, Breathing Lessons, The Boys Next Door, Kramer vs. Kramer, Blue Skies Again, Places of the Heart and also a composition for Renee Fleming, "A Letter from Sullivan Ballou."

Greg Pierce's first collaboration with John Kander, The Landing, premiered at the Vineyard Theatre. His play Slowgirl was the inaugural play of Lincoln Center's Claire Tow Theater (LCT3). It was subsequently produced by Steppenwolf Theatre and the Geffen Playhouse. His play Her Requiem was also produced by LCT3. He wrote the libretto for the opera FELLOW TRAVELERS (composed by Gregory Spears) which premiered at Cincinnati Opera. Other plays include The Quarry (with composer Randal Pierce, Vermont Stage Company), and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, based on the novel by Haruki Murakami, (Edinburgh International Festival, Singapore Arts Festival, The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival). He has been commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater, Second Stage Theatre, Vermont Stage Company, and Manhattan Theatre Club. He is currently working on two new projects with John Kander.

Vineyard Theatre is a not-for-profit theatre company dedicated to new work, bold programming, and the support of artists. One of America's preeminent centers for the creation of new plays and musicals, Vineyard Theatre has consistently premiered provocative, groundbreaking works by both new and established writers. Notable premieres include Kander and Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys, Nicky Silver's The Lyons, Whitty Lopez and Marx's Avenue Q (Tony Award, Best Musical) and Bowen and Bell's [title of show], all of which went on to Broadway runs; the Pulitzer Prize-winning plays How I Learned To Drive by Paula Vogel and Three Tall Women by Edward Albee; Tarell Alvin McCraney's Wig Out!, nine plays by Nicky Silver, Becky Mode's Fully Committed, Julia Cho's The Piano TeacherJenny Schwartz's God's Ear and Somewhere Fun, The Civilians' This Beautiful City, Colman Domingo's A Boy And His Soul and Dott, Adam Rapp's The Metal Children, Will Eno's Middletown and Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman's Indecent, which will open on Broadway this spring. Works premiered at The Vineyard have gone on to be produced across the country and around the world. VineyaRD Productions have garnered two Pulitzer Prizes, three Tony Awards, and numerous Obie, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics, and New York Drama Critics Circle awards, and Vineyard Theatre is proud to be the recipient of special Obie, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel awards for Sustained Excellence.

Kid Victory a hauntingly mesmerizing new musical, is the latest collaboration from the creators of Vineyard Theatre's The Landing composer John Kander and acclaimed playwright Greg Pierce. Seventeen-year-old Luke returns to his small Kansas town after a wrenching one-year absence. As his friendship grows with the town misfit, Emily, his parents realize that in order to truly find their son, they must confront some unnerving truths about his disappearance. Directed by Liesl Tommy (Broadway's Eclipsed) in her Vineyard debut Kid Victory is a riveting original musical about breaking out and breaking through. The musical is a co-production with Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia. Tickets are available now at www.vineyardtheatre.org.

The Tony Award-winning Drama Book Shop, now in its 100th Anniversary Year, is located at 250 West 40th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues. For more information on this and other events, visit www.dramabookshop.com.