Meg Zervoulis News

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

This February and March 54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street. For a detailed schedule of upcoming performances at 54 Below and to purchase tickets, visit www.54Below.com.

MIDTOWN DIRECT REP (MDR), the company that brought New Jersey the award-winning Rated P for Parenthood and Listen to Your Mother: North Jersey, returns to the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) with a Theatre in the Loft reading of a new musical based on The Iliad by Homer.

The 26th Annual Festival of New Musicals, presented by the National Alliance For Musical Theatre (NAMT), kicked off with THE 46TH MINUTE, a concert hosted by Lindsay Mendez and featuring performances by Heidi Blickenstaff, Doreen Montalvo, Mamie Parris, Bryce Ryness, and more. Musical presentations started October 23 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street) and included Beautiful Poison, Cubamor, Great Wall, How To Break, Mary Marie, The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes, String and Stu For Silverton. The Festival concluded on October 24, 2014. Scroll down for photos!

Paper Mill Playhouse is proud to announce the launch of a new education service for high school students who aim to study theater or musical theater in college. Paper Mill Prep is a college discovery and audition coaching program.

The National Alliance For Musical Theatre (NAMT) is proud to announce final casting for the 26th Annual Festival of New Musicals. Michael Cassara Casting serves as the resident casting office for the 26th Annual Festival of New Musicals, taking place on Thursday, October 23, 2014 and Friday, October 24, 2014 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street). Online Festival registration ends Friday, October 17.

The National Alliance For Musical Theatre (NAMT) just announced initial casting for the 26th Annual Festival of New Musicals. Michael Cassara Casting serves as the resident casting office for the 26th Annual Festival of New Musicals, taking place on Thursday, October 23, 2014 and Friday, October 24, 2014 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street).

Paper Mill Playhouse is proud to announce the launch of a new education service for high school students who aim to study theater or musical theater in college. Paper Mill Prep is a college discovery and audition coaching program.

Paper Mill Playhouse has announced the launch of a new education service for high school students whose aim it is to study theater or musical theater in college. Paper Mill Prep is a college discovery and audition coaching program. "Paper Mill has an extensive statewide education and outreach effort that already has us working closely with the strongest young talent in New Jersey, and this extension of our Conservatory professional training program and Rising Star Awards will allow us to support these students as they begin the process of looking at college theater programs." shared Director of Education, Lisa Cooney. "Our goal is to help them determine and gain admission to the college programs that benefits them the most."

Paper Mill Playhouse has announced open auditions for the award-winning Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir. The Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir is a tuition-free, audition based, performance show choir that stems from Paper Mill Playhouse's award-winning Arts Education and Outreach programs. The choir consists of 40 to 50 singer/dancers between the ages of 16 and 22. Auditions for this special ensemble will take place at Paper Mill Playhouse, 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, NJ on the evenings of Sunday, August 24th; Monday, August 25th and Wednesday, August 27th by appointment only. Call-back auditions will be held on Paper Mill's campus on Sunday, September 7 from 6:00pm-9:00pm. To make an audition appointment please call 973-315-1640 or email Jzeitoun@papermill.org. For more information please visit www.PaperMill.org/showchoir. The Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir is sponsored by Overlook Medical Center, Atlantic Healthcare.

Jackie Hoffman (Hairspray, The Addams Family), Jake Epstein (Beautiful, Spiderman...) and John Tartaglia (Avenue Q, Shrek) are among the artists who will join Fred Ebb Award-winning songwriters Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond for Kooman & Dimond: Still Not Famous tonight, May 5th at the York Theatre at Saint Peter's.

Jackie Hoffman (Hairspray, The Addams Family), Jake Epstein (Beautiful, Spiderman…) and John Tartaglia (Avenue Q, Shrek) are among the artists who will join Fred Ebb Award-winning songwriters Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond for Kooman & Dimond: Still Not Famous May 5th at the York Theatre at Saint Peter's.

Imagine Washington Heights, a tight-knit New York community where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. During its acclaimed Broadway run, In the Heights quickly became an audience phenomenon and a critical success, winning 5 Tony Awards. Conceived and with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights is an authentic and exhilarating journey into one of Manhattan's most vibrant communities. Find out what it takes to make a living, what it costs to have a dream, and what it means to be home... In the Heights.

Stageworks Media will present an industry reading of Cyrano de Burger Shack, A New High School Musical written by award-winning playwright Jeremy Desmon and directed by Jeremy Dobrish, which will take place on Friday, February 7th at 1:00 pm at 54Below (254 West 54th Street, NYC). Featured in the cast of Cyrano de Burger Shack are F. Michael Haynie (Wicked) as Cyrano, Julia Mattison (Godspell) as Roxanne, and Michael Campayno (Sound of Music Live) as Christian, as well as Ashley Kate Adams (La Cage aux Folles), Trista Dollison (Avenue Q), Rebecca LaChance (Beautiful), Ellyn Marie Marsh (Kinky Boots), Shina Ann Morris (Cinderella), Jeremy Morse (Papermill's Oliver!), and Alex Wyse (Lysistrata Jones). The music director /arranger is Meg Zervoulis.

Kean University's Department of Theatre will host a Rock Musical Audition Workshop with actress Sheri Sanders, author of Rock the Audition: How to Prepare For and Get Cast in Rock Musicals, and Meg Zervoulis, music director for Kean's upcoming production of In The Heights, this Saturday, December 7th from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. The workshop will take place in the Little Theatre, located in Kean's University Center at 1000 Morris Avenue. Admission is $25.00 for the general public, and free for current Kean students with I.D. Those wishing to participate in (rather than observe) the master class are asked to prepare a 16-32 bar selection of a rock song in one of the following styles: Motown, '70s folk/rock, disco, '80s pop/rock, contemporary pop/rock, or "faeries" (Regina Spektor, Rufus Wainwright, etc.).

Paper Mill Playhouse has announced open auditions for the highly-acclaimed Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir. The Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir is a tuition-free, audition based, performance show choir that stems from Paper Mill Playhouse's award-winning Arts Education and Outreach programs. The Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir acts as ambassadors to Paper Mill Playhouse with an array of performance opportunities throughout the community and beyond. In 2013, the choir performed for more than 15,000 people across the state including appearances at the New Jersey State House, Best of Morris-Essex Festival, Patriot's Theater in Trenton, NJ Pride in Asbury Park, numerous street fairs and the main stage at Paper Mill Playhouse. The choir consists of 30 to 40 singer/dancers between the ages of 16 and 22.

Paper Mill Playhouse has announced open auditions for the highly-acclaimed Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir. The Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir is a tuition-free, audition based, performance show choir that stems from Paper Mill Playhouse's award-winning Arts Education and Outreach programs. The Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir acts as ambassadors to Paper Mill Playhouse with an array of performance opportunities throughout the community and beyond. In 2013, the choir performed for more than 15,000 people across the state including appearances at the New Jersey State House, Best of Morris-Essex Festival, Patriot's Theater in Trenton, NJ Pride in Asbury Park, numerous street fairs and the main stage at Paper Mill Playhouse. The choir consists of 30 to 40 singer/dancers between the ages of 16 and 22.

Completing the programming for the 10th annual New York Musical Theatre Festival, NYMF announced several additional concerts, a series of educational workshops, and a "Musicals on Television" screening series in partnership with the Paley Center for Media. This year's Festival will begin July 8th and continue through July 28th. Single tickets are currently on sale.

Tony winner John Rando (Urinetown) will direct two private industry staged readings of Strange Faces, a new musical by Andrea Grody.