New York Musical Theatre Fest And Kim Vasquez/Gray Lady Entertainment Present PLAGUED - A LOVE STORY With Brenda Braxton, Opens 10/9

THE NEW YORK MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL and Kim Vasquez/ GRAY LADY ENTERTAINMENT, INC. team up again with this year's PLAGUED - A LOVE STORY with book and lyrics by VYNNIE MELI and music by CASEY L. FILIACI. Directed by SAMUEL BUGGELN (Bedbugs!) with musical direction by ZAK SANDLER.

The cast includes: Brenda Braxton - Smokey Joe's Café, Jelly's Last Jam, Legs Diamond, Dreamgirls and Cats. LORRAINE SERABIAN Zorba, The Flowering Peach, Carmelina, Cabaret ('66), NATALIE BRADSHAW, Julian Brightman (Hello Dolly, Peter Pan), Pierce Cravens (The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, A Christmas Carol, Ragtime, Titantic, Beauty And The Beast), Dale Hensley (The Drowsey Chaperone, La Cage Aux Folles, Sunset Boulevard, Guys and Dolls and Anything Goes), Gina Milo (Les Miserables), JIM SORENSON, LA' NETTE SEARCY, Jason Simon and REBECCA STAVIS.

The design team for PLAGUED - A LOVE STORY includes sets DANIEL ZIMMERMAN, costumes JANELL BERTE, lighting DANS MAREE SHEEHAN, props ERIC REYNOLDS , music direction ZAK SANDLER, Casting JOY DEWING - Dave Clemmons Casting, marketing associate WILLIAM FERRALL and Production Stage Manager ANDREA WALES. TBG ARTS CENTER is located at 312 West 36th Street, 3rd floor, just West of 8th Avenue

The performance schedule for PLAGUED - A LOVE STORY is as follows:

Friday, October 9th at 8:00 pm
Saturday, October 10th at 1:00 pm
Tuesday, October 13th at 4:30 pm
Wednesday, October 14th at 1:00 pm
Thursday, October 15th at 8:00 pm
Closing Sunday, October 18th at 1:00 pm

Cinderella marries Prince Charming and 20 years go by in a flash- or a flicker, this is the Dark Ages. Their curious daughter Dusty raises a lot of questions and more than a few eyebrows. Dusty's diva Queen Grandmother wants her married off as soon as possible, and she wants Cinderella to finally start acting like a princess. When sweet young Scoop collapses at the palace gates with news of the Plague sweeping the neighboring kingdoms, they have to hatch a plan. Is it too late for fairy godmothers?"

VYNNIE MELI (Book/Lyrics) is a member of the Dramatists Guild and Working Title Playwrights of Atlanta. Meli's first play, KEATS IN CURLERS - a play for children based on "Ode on a Grecian Urn", premiered at The Looking Glass Theatre in NYC in '03. Productions of Meli's other plays include CHOPPED LIVER IN PARADISE (Jewish Theatre of the South, Atlanta) SEPTEMBER TENTH (Inner Voices Social Issues Theatre / Univ. of Illinois and Readers Theatre Repertory in Portland). A winner of the '09 Essential Theatre award, Meli's drama JIM CROW AND THE RHYTHM DARLINGS has premiered in Essential's Power Plays Festival in Atlanta in July. Honorable Mention in Jane Chambers Playwriting Contest '07 and ATHE - Association of Theatre in Higher Education.

CASEY L. FILIACI (Music) is an accomplished composer, arranger, pianist and producer. He started playing piano at the age of three, and after gaining a degree in Composition, pursued a career as a jazz pianist and composer. After being exposed to the world of music production and recording, he quickly changed course. Casey was signed to Atlantic Records as a songwriter and performer. His composing, arranging and production credits include HBO's Main Movie Theme (yes, that one); "When It Was A Game", "Inside the NFL", "World Championship Boxing", NBC Olympic Themes, plus many other documentaries, movies, TV specials, even music for Disney. He received two Emmy nominations for "Best Sports Music".

Kim Vasquez (Executive Producer/General Manager) founded Gray Lady Entertainment, Inc. a theatrical producing and consulting company in 2001. She is a founding producer of The New York Musical Theatre Festival and has previously produced the award-winning musicals EMERALD MAN, SUCH GOOD FRIENDS and ABOUT FACE. She also produced MAX AND THE TRUFFLE PIG in 2008. She is currently an associate producer on the Broadway bound STORMY WEATHER Book and Lyrics by Sharleen Cooper-Cohen, starring Leslie Uggums and the new absurdist play THE DEATH AND LIFE OF DR. CUTTER by Carrie Robbins and the late R.D. Robbins, MD. She is a graduate from the University of Minnesota - Duluth with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, The National Shakespeare Conservatory/The Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting and The Commercial Theatre In!
stitute, class of 2002. Kim is an Adjunct member of The Broadway League.

SAMUEL BUGGELN (Director) NYMF ‘08: BEDBUGS!!!, (fest best seller; five NYMF jury awards.) Off-Broadway: RUM & VODKA (O-B première) by Conor McPherson at the Ohio Theatre, where he is an Artistic Associate with Soho Think Tank. Other Ohio Theatre: CRESSIDA AMONG THE GREEKS (Drama Desk nom), and many other new plays. Other NYC: GO-GO KITTY, GO! (FringeNYC awards: Outstanding Play, Outstanding Sound Design) at the Lucille Lortel; plus work at NYTW, Atlantic, Rattlestick, HERE, MITF, Hypothetical, Expanded Arts, Theatre for the New City. Regional: numerous productions with Portland Stage, where he is an Artistic Associate; also Capital Repertory Theatre, Mason Street Warehouse, StageWorks/Hudson. Lincoln Center Directors' Lab alum; 2001
Artist-in-Residence with New York Theatre Workshop at Dartmouth College, faculty guest artist at SUNY Albany and the Stella Adler Conservatory/Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Upcoming: SPEECH AND DEBATE, Kitchen Theatre, Ithaca; BACH AT LEIPZIG, Portland Stage, Maine.

NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2009 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group and TheaterMania.com, and is supported by Back Stage, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Clear Channel Spectacolor, DFD-TV, Frank & Camille's Fine Pianos, King Displays, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, New World Stages, NASDAQ DMX, Next Magazine, Queerty.com, Reuters, Sweet Caroline's, Tekserve, TheMenEvent.com, The Tank, and Times Square Squared. Major supporters include The ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jamie Mayer, The Charlie & Jane Fink Charita!ble Fund, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Theater League. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

Photo credit Walter McBride