Rob Shapiro Serves CABARET SAUVIGNON At Playwrights Theatre 6/14

On Monday June 14, Melanie Hopkins and Rob Shapiro present "Cabaret Sauvignon," a musical theatre tasting by composer/lyricist Rob Shapiro at the Mainstage Theater at Playwrights Horizons.

Directed by Leah Bonvissuto, the evening of songs features Adam Chanler-Berat ("Next To Normal"), Ellen Condon, Amy Linden, Ruben Ortiz, Rich Silverstein, Sarah Statler and Jason "Sweettooth" Williams ("Bloodsong of Love"). The performers will sing selections from four new musicals in progress by Rob Shapiro and his various collaborators Will Aronson, Bekah Brunstetter, Hyun Rim Kim, Julia Meinwald, Ryan Scott Oliver, and Brian Valencia. Joel Waggoner musically directs.

Rob Shapiro's music and lyrics have been heard in various cabarets around New York City, Barrington Stages and Summer Play Festival's Composer Exposure. Rob is a graduate of the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, where he wrote the musical "Shelter" with composer Julia Meinwald. As producer, he has worked with composer/lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver on "Rated RSO" (Joe's Pub and NYMF), and he co-produced world premiere of Isaac Oliver's He Who Laughs Live with Melanie Hopkins. Rob is a member of A Broken Umbrella Theatre in New Haven, whose "Thunderbolt" - for which Rob wrote music - was a hit last Halloween.

"Cabaret Sauvignon" features selections from four works by Shapiro: "Songs from Rockland Country" is a song cycle about growing up in the suburbs of Broadway (By Rob Shapiro, Additional Music by Will Aronson and Ryan Scott Oliver); "Le Fou" is a new musical in which six Parisian women face the reality and illusion of the art of love after the scandal of John Singer Sargent's painting "Madame X" (Book by Bekah Brunstetter, Lyrics by Rob Shapiro, Music by Julia Meinwald); "Help Wanted" is a twenty-minute film noir fable loosely based on the three pigs tale (Book by Brian Valencia, Lyrics by Rob Shapiro, Music by Hyun Rim Kim); and "Catch" tells the story of a sportswriter forced to cover a baseball farm team in Nebraska after his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles in 1958. (Book, Music and Lyrics by Rob Shapiro).

The Mainstage Theater at Playwrights Horizons is located at 416 West 42nd Street NYC. "Cabaret Sauvignon" begins promptly at 7 PM; Running Time is about 90 minutes. Reservations are required; email your request to rsmusicals@gmail.com. Tickets are $15, and complimentary wine will be served after the concert. For more information about Rob Shapiro, visit www.rsmusicals.com.