Broadway Stars To Perform In Reading Of 'Empire'

 There will be two invitation only industry readings of the original new musical Empire, written by Caroline Sherman and Robert Hull.  Directed by Clayton Phillips, New Hampshire Theater's Best Direction Award winner, the cast will include Matt Cavenaugh (A Catered Affair, Grey Gardens), Karen Ziemba (Curtains, Contact), Michael McCormick (Curtains, The Pajama Game), Mark Lotito (Jersey Boys, Fiddler on the Roof), Megan Sikora (Curtains, Wonderful Town), and Kevyn Morrow (Smokey Joes Café, Dreamgirls).
 
A 2003 Ovation Award winner in Los Angeles and 2004 featured production at Connecticut's Stamford Center for the Arts, Empire is a celebration of the American spirit embodied by those who bravely banded together to build what was then the tallest structure in the world, the Empire State Building. Michael, an architect, hired to build the Empire State building in record time, takes on politicians, deadlines, and a nosy but beautiful reporter, Hildy, dead set on derailing the project. A classic struggle of idealism versus advancement, Empire is filled with romance, dreams, and the struggles that surrounded us when we face a monumental challenge.
 
Written in the spirit of the classic musicals of the 40's and the 50's with big dance numbers and pop-driven melodies, the musical premiered at LA's Hudson Backstage Theatre in 2003.  At the Hudson, Empire played to sold out audiences, excellent reviews and garnered 3 LA Theatre Ovation Award-nominations, including Best Musical, and won the award for Best Choreography.  Daily Variety called the show "A fast, flavorful, exciting tale … joyously fresh …", and Backstage West said Empire was a "Tribute and testimony to the dreamers, doers, and unsung heroes … big and brave, like the building it celebrates …". The production was then chosen to open the 2004 season for the SCA's Rich Forum and was called ""An outstanding new musical" by the Scarsdale Inquirer.
 
Clayton Phillips, who recently won the New Hampshire Theater Award for Best Direction and Best Musical for Slow Dance with a Hot Pickup by John Pielmeier and Matty Selmen, has been at the helm of the production since its York Theater reading in 2001.
 
The industry readings will be produced by Ricky Stevens and John O'Boyle whose credits include, Is He Dead by Mark Twain, A Catered Affair, by Harvey Fierstein and John Bucchino, Glory Days by Nick Blaemire and James Gardiner, and Marguerite Music by Michel Legrand, Book by Alain Boublil/Claude-Michel Schönberg, Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer.