Kate Shindle Stars in GARBO AND ME At The Paramount 8/6-7

The Paramount Theatre announced today that they will present the fourth installment in the "30 Center Stage" Theatre Development Series: two semi-staged performances of a new musical in development, Garbo and Me, with book, music and lyrics by husband and wife team Joshua Rosenblum and Joanne Sydney Lessner. Presentations will be Friday Aug. 6th and Saturday August 7th. Both performances will be at 8:00 PM. All open-seating tickets are $10.

Garbo and Me features former Miss America (1998) and star of Broadway's Legally Blonde, Kate Shindle, as the elusive Garbo. Ron Bohmer, Father in the recent Broadway revival of Ragtime, plays matinee idol John Gilbert, with Neal Mayer (Les Miserables, 101 Dalmations) as movie mogul Louis B. Mayer, and 9 to 5's Jill Abramovitz as gossip columnist Louella Parsons. The company also includes Niffer Clarke (Adding Machine), Susan Derry (Wonderful Town), Frank Galgano (Naked Boys Singing), Herndon Lackey (LoveMusik; Parade), and Drama Desk nominee Orville Mendoza (Adrift in Macao; Road Show).

In her dramatic journey from Swedish schoolgirl to Hollywood legend to New York recluse, Greta Garbo kept the world in her thrall. But behind her glamorous screen persona was an insecure country girl yearning for the snows of her homeland and the one true love she left behind. With a jazzy, sultry score by the composer of Bush is Bad and the writing team behind Fermat's Last Tango, Garbo and Me traces the elusive film icon as she conquers the studio system, negotiates the tabloid minefield, and juggles a string of lovers, both male and female, while struggling to protect her cherished privacy.

Joshua Rosenblum (Music and Lyrics) is a composer, conductor, and pianist with wide-ranging experience in classical, contemporary and theater music. He was recently awarded a Next Generation "honoree grant" from the Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre. For the theater, Rosenblum wrote the score to the cult hit musical Fermat's Last Tango, which had a critically acclaimed Off-Broadway production at the York Theatre Company. Other works for theater include Einstein's Dreams, based on the best-selling novel by Alan Lightman, and BUSH IS BAD, the smash Off-Broadway musical revue, which Variety magazine called "a sensation." Rosenblum was recently named the receipient of a development grant from the Signature Theatre in Washington, D.C. As a conductor, Rosenblum has led the orchestras for thirteen Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, with a specialty in flying vehicles (Miss Saigon, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, How the Grinch Stole Christmas). Other conducting credits include guest appearances with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the American Repertory Ballet, plus the soundtracks to five major motion pictures. A summa cum laude graduate of Yale College and the Yale School of Music, he now teaches Composing for Musical Theater at his alma mater. Rosenblum is also the Founder and Music Director of the Pit Stop Players, an eclectic and genre-defying chamber orchestra. Rosenblum and Lessner live in New York City with their two children, Julian and Phoebe.

Joanne Sydney Lessner (Book and Lyrics) collaborated with husband Joshua Rosenblum on the cult hit musical Fermat's Last Tango, which received its Off Broadway premiere at the York Theatre in the fall of 2000. Their musical Einstein's Dreams, based on the celebrated novel by Alan Lightman, received a concert presentation in February 2009 at Symphony Space and its world premiere in Lisbon in 2005. Her play Critical Mass, about married opera critics and a revenge-seeking tenor, will run from October 22-November 7, 2010 at the Lion Theatre in New York, produced by Heiress Productions. Her debut novel, Pandora's Bottle, inspired by the true story of the world's most expensive bottle of wine, is available now from Flint Mine Press (www.flintminepress.com) and at online retailers. Joanne holds a B.A. in music, summa cum laude, from Yale University and is a regular contributor of CD and performance reviews to Opera News.

"30 Center Stage" at the Paramount Presents
"GARBO AND ME"
A New American Musical in Development
Friday and Saturday, August 6th and 7th @ 8:00PM
All tickets $10 - Open Seating
"On Line not In Line"
www.paramountlive.org <http://www.paramountlive.org/>
802-775-0903
Box Office hours: Thur & Fri: 11 - 6
Saturday 10-2
One Hour Before Show Time

Photo Credit: Linda Lenzi