Erin Leigh Peck News

'Days of Our Lives' star Kevin Spirtas leads a cast of 13 in the new musical comedy MR. CONFIDENTIAL, presented as part of the 2014 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Directed and choreographed by Stephen Nachamie(director of NYMF's award-winning 2012 production of Foreverman), MR. CONFIDENTIAL features book and lyrics bySamuel Bernstein (Bobbie's Girl) and music by David Snyder. The production plays five performances July 21-27 at theAlice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center (480 W. 42nd St.), as part of the 2014 New York Musical Theatre Festival. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The critically acclaimed Making Books Sing will premiere two new musicals for family audiences in the 2014-2015 season. The Amazing Adventures of Harvey and the Princess and The Beautiful Game come on the heels of last season's hit shows Ballerina Swan and Dear Albert Einstein (Off-Broadway Alliance Award nomination).

This month, the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is teaming up wiht the Theatre Development Fund's Autism Theatre Initiative (ATI) to launch its first ever autism friendly series for kids. The shows will be performed in a supportive environment for an audience of families and friends with children or adults who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder or other sensitivity issues. Slight adjustments to the production may be made, including reduction of any jarring sounds or light cues. The theatre lobby will have a quiet/activity area, staffed with autism specialists, for those who need to leave their seats during the performance. Social narratives and pictures of the theares and productions designed to personalize the experience for each attendee with ASD will be available for download in advance of the performances.

'Days of Our Lives' star Kevin Spirtas leads a cast of 13 in the new musical comedy MR. CONFIDENTIAL, presented as part of the 2014 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Directed and choreographed by Stephen Nachamie (director of NYMF's award-winning 2012 production of Foreverman), MR. CONFIDENTIAL features book and lyrics by Samuel Bernstein (Bobbie's Girl) and music by David Snyder. The production plays five performances July 21-27 at theAlice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center (480 W. 42nd St.), as part of the 2014 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal!

'Days of Our Lives' star Kevin Spirtas leads a cast of 13 in the new musical comedy MR. CONFIDENTIAL, presented as part of the 2014 New York Musical Theatre Festival.

It's time for this year's exciting Third Annual New York Children's Festival, running April 25 to May 18. The New York Children's Theater Festival is a spring highlight for NYC families, created to greatly widen the spectrum of existing theater offerings for children and bring new respect and heightened awareness to the art form and the artists involved. NYCTF provides a birthplace in New York City for new live children's entertainment from around the globe, and serves as a platform for writers and producers who are passionate about developing innovative theatrical experiences for children. Here's the low-down on this year's offerings:

Samantha is a lonely kid who prowls the rain-washed streets of her film-noir fantasies as SAMANTHA SPADE, ACE DETECTIVE, the go-to gumshoe who always solves the case (for $25 a day plus Twizzlers). TADA! Youth Theater will be presenting the world premier of this original family musical performed by kids for kids, from April 26-May 18.

This Summer, The Public Theater will be offering a summer program for young actors between the ages of 14 and 18. A Midsummer's Day Camp at The Public Theater. Designed by arts in education specialists from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the two week summer conservatory for NYC's young Classical Actors will run August 4th through 17th.

Set in 1954, DEAR ALBERT EINSTEIN tells the story of Susan, a 12-year-old star math student who, when starting junior high, struggles between the desire to be herself and the pressure to be like all of the other girls in her class. Her admiration for Einstein, who periodically pops up in her imagination, complicates and eventually helps her along her journey. The musical combines early rock-n-roll, swing, and classical music.

Wally Watthead and His Lost Glow is magician Janne Raudaskoski's experiential magic theatre performance for the entire family. The play takes place on the night desk of a girl called Polly - the home to a mobile phone, a night lamp and a picture of Polly. Everything is fine until one day Wally Watthead, the night lamp, loses his glow. Simon Simcard, a smartphone, helps Wally regain his glow, and the magic of the play is based on their adventures together. Among a variety of other tricks, Wally Watthead is seen levitating in the air and shrinking himself to miniature size. The chemistry between the two buddies is, however, put to test when Polly Picture - whom Wally is rather fond of - comes to life.

Right now at the NYU Skirball Center, a new Cirque-style acrobatics show is waiting to make your holiday week special. The choreographer of the 2006 Olympic Games closing ceremonies has joined forces with Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity choreographer to create a new circus spectacle 'that lives between dream and reality, underscored by a continuous stream of original music, and brought to vivid life by 3-D projections'. CIRKOPOLIS, the new show by Montreal-based Circus Arts company Cirque Eloize, is a mind-blowing spectacle for kids of all ages. I was lucky enough to bring my ten and five year olds, and both had a memorable theatrical experience not easily replicated!

A lively musical adaptation of the classic Dickens tale. Follow along with Ebenezer Scrooge as he is visited by four ghosts; his old business partner Marley, the ghost of Christmas past, present and future. See what happens when he gets a glimpse of his own future if he doesn't change his life. Will Scrooge catch the holiday spirit and save himself in the process? Find out by joining us for this special holiday show with a story so warm it will melt the cold heart of even the grumpiest Scrooge!

Clearly, Once is a perfect show for a family with teenage children. It doesn't pander in any way, yet it's message is so pure and beautiful, it becomes holistically wholesome by the end of the show. It's a love story. There is no violence. Women are not exploited. Children are not harmed. But there is pain and heartbreak and loss and when those things are filtered through the minds and mouths of working class Irish folk, the F word shows up. A lot.

THE GREATEST PIRATE STORY NEVER TOLD! is a madcap, musical adventure that revolves around Captain Henry Martin and his stalwart crew, who have been flung in to the future by a befuddled sea witch to perform the greatest pirate epic ever seen on stage. But with their script torn asunder, these pirates-turned-players are forced to improvise their show as it unfolds, based upon the audience's suggestions.'

Based on the 2003 Tim Burton Film, the show deals with a man's journey to sort out the truth from the fiction of his dying father's life. The stories, told through musical numbers, are larger than life and there is enough color and character to entrance any kid. The subject matter however, is a bit more sensitive a topic. Death is dealt with in a very emotional way, and just as no adult in the audience escaped without a tear, kids will also find the show as sad as it is often uplifting. A mature eight year old will be able to handle the themes, although my sensitive ten year old held my hand tight during the sad parts.

Four original productions have been announced for the 2014 New York Children's Theater Festival. Now in it's third year, the festival 'serves family audiences by supporting upcoming artists and industry professionals who are passionate about creating theatrical experiences and productions for children'. The following productions will be showcased in April of 2014:

If I didn't know that Pippin was written by two men in the 1970's, I might think it was a message from a 2013 mother to her child about finding happiness. I personally missed the original Broadway production which closed when I was four years old (stop doing math!), but enough high school productions (featuring a different version of the book) made me miss what makes this show so universally appealing and meaningful: What began as an allegory of a young man in search of himself presents, for people my age, as a reflection of our sacrifices and triumphs as parents who may have given up loftier dreams for the deeper sense of satisfaction that comes from raising children. Meanwhile, for kids, the show may be about the constant hunger young people feel when they are chasing ambitions and deciding who they will be. Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson were writing about a young man aspiring to find his purpose, while I felt the show was a perfect documentation of my current midlife crisis. Universally appealing.

Between this year's early Jewish holidays and that darned phase-in at my son's pre-K (didn't he just go to camp ALL DAY LONG this summer?), it took until this week for my house to actually be empty between the hours of nine and three. It's finally time to start picking some shows for my kids and here's what I'm interested in for the fall:

New York Theatre Barn will release the new fully orchestrated demo recording of Small Town Story (formerly Speargrove Presents), a new musical commissioned by NYTB, in a concert sung by most of the demo cast and band at its signature new musical development platform NYTB in the D-Lounge on Monday, September 23, 2013 at 7:30 PM at the Daryl Roth Theatre in New York City. The demo can be accessed online at https://soundcloud.com/nytheatrebarn/sets/small-town-story-demo starting on Tuesday, September 24.

ATLANTIC FOR KIDS announces the World Premiere of Molly Shannon's Tilly the Trickster, based on the book Tilly the Trickster by Molly Shannon. An exuberant and riotous musical adaptation of Molly Shannon's children's book, Tilly theTrickster encourages audiences to embrace the silliness and fun of life! This high spirited tale follows a feisty, mischievous youngster named Tilly, who loves nothing more than playing pranks and causing a little trouble. From leaking cups to toothpaste-flavored cookies, this saucy heroine has more than one inventive and relentless trick up her sleeve.