Duncan Sheik and Lauren Pritchard to Perform at Westport Country Playhouse 11/14

Tony Award winner and Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter/composer Duncan Sheik will perform selections from his hit musical “Spring Awakening,” winner of eight 2007 Tony Awards including Best Musical, along with captivating original materials, in a concert on Friday, November 14, 8 p.m., at Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, and Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director).  Opening for Sheik will be Lauren Pritchard, a member of the “Spring Awakening” original Broadway cast. Tickets to the one-night-only event are $30, $40 and $50.

Duncan Sheik won the 2007 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations and Best Original Score for th provocative rock musical “Spring Awakening,” which began an off-Broadway run in spring 2006.  The show moved to Broadway in December 2006 and currently continues its success.

In addition to writing the music for “Spring Awakening,” the Grammy Award-nominated singer–songwriter has composed original music for The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of “Twelfth Night” and for “The Golden Rooms of Nero,” which recently debuted at Cornell University and opened at the Magic Theater in San Francisco earlier this year. His self-titled 1996 debut album, which was an enormous popular and critical success, introduced the hit singles "Barely Breathing" and "She Runs Away," and spent 30 weeks on the Billboard 200. Other albums include "Humming," "Daylight," "Phantom Moon," with lyrics by Steven Sater, and his latest, "White Limousine,” released in 2006. Film soundtracks include “Great Expectations,” “The Saint,” “Teaching Mrs. Tingle,” “Three to Tango,” “What a Girl Wants,” “Transamerica” and “A Body Goes Down.” Sheik recently composed and produced the original score for the feature film “A Home at the End of the World” starring Colin Farrell.

Born in 1969, Sheik was playing piano at age five. He later mastered the guitar and was in a cover band, Slightly Off, at age 12. Sheik graduated from Brown University in 1992 majoring in Semiotics, the study of signs and symbols.

The concert is sponsored by Joanna Heimbold, Westport Country Playhouse board of trustees member.

Celebrating its 78th season, the venerable Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, Artistic Directors; Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, Managing Director) is creating innovative new works and dynamic revivals. The Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 36 of which later transferred to Broadway including “Come Back, Little Sheba” with Shirley Booth; “The Trip to Bountiful” with Lillian Gish; “Butterflies Are Free” with Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner; “Absurd Person Singular” with Sandy Dennis, Geraldine Page and Tony Roberts; and “Our Town” with Paul Newman.  The list of actors, directors, and other theatre artists who have worked and continue to perform on the Playhouse’s legendary stage reads like a "Who's Who" of the American theatre.  Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, the Playhouse now produces year-round, welcoming 85,000 audience members annually. In addition to a full season of theatrical productions, the Playhouse presents educational programming and workshops; a children’s theatre series; symposiums; music; films; and readings of short fiction, classical works and new plays.  Westport Country Playhouse serves as a treasured home for the theatrical arts, its audiences and its artists.  For the State of Connecticut, it is a true cultural landmark. Your experience begins at www.westportplayhouse.org.

For more information or reservations, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Information about the Playhouse is also available at www.westportplayhouse.org.

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