Heath Calvert, Kate Weatherhead & More Set for National Music Theater Conference

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has announced cast members for this summer's National Music Theater Conference.

The Conference, under the leadership of Artistic Director Paulette Haupt, runs from June 25 through July 15 at the O'Neill?s Waterford, Connecticut, campus and will develop not just three, but four original music theater pieces this season.

In announcing this year's NMTC actors, Ms. Haupt remarked, "Casts at the National Music Theater Conference play a vital role in the development of a new work. Their willingness to go out on a limb each day to bring their characters to life enables the authors and composers to learn what is on the page and what still remains to be written to tell the story they want to tell. We are fortunate indeed for the superb actors who join us this summer."

Unknown Soldier: Michael Friedman, Composer and Lyricist; Daniel Goldstein, Lyricist and Librettist; with public staged readings on June 25, 26, 29, and July 1, will feature cast members Whitney Bashor, Erik Lochtefeld, Lindsay Mendez, Catherine Porter, Matthew Scott, and Price Waldman.

Son of a Gun: Don Chaffer, Composer, Lyricist, and Librettist; Chris Cragin, Librettist; with public readings on July 2, 3, 6, and 8, will feature Billy Brimblecom, Michael Castillejos, David Finch, Lori Fischer, Rebecca Hart, Van Hughes, Ryan Link, and Skye Scott.

The Shadow Sparrow: Keith Gordon, Composer; Charlie Sohne, Lyricist; Anton Dudley, Librettist; with public readings on July 7, 10, and 14, will feature Danny Binstock and Barbara Walsh.

Suprema: Daniel Zaitchik, Composer and Lyricist; JorDan Harrison, Lyricist and Librettist; with public staged readings on July 9, 10, 13, and 15, will feature cast members Heath Calvert, Jarrod Emick, Jamey Hood, Carl Kimbrough, Theresa McCarthy, Rachel Resheff, Price Waldman, and Kate Weatherhead.

Tickets are now on sale for this year's summer conferences, including the National Music Theater Conference, National Playwrights Conference public staged readings July 6 ? 30, and Cabaret & Performance Conference presentations August 3 ? 13. Tickets may be ordered online at www.theoneill.org or through the box office at 860.443.1238. Discounted tickets are available to O'Neill Members; for information, email Membership@theoneill.org or call 860-443-5378 x211.

The Eugene O?Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964 in honor of Eugene O'Neill, four-time Pulitzer Prize Winner and America's only playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, is the country's preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the American theater. The O'Neill has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full production at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, Off-Broadway and major regional theaters.

O'Neill programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Critics Institute, National Puppetry Conference, the Cabaret & Performance Conference, and National Theater Institute, which conducts semester-long, fully intensive theater training programs and Theatermakers, a six-week summer program.

In addition, the O'Neill owns and operates Monte Cristo Cottage as a museum open to the public. Childhood summer home of Eugene O'Neill, the Cottage is a National Historic Landmark.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center received the 2010 Tony Award for Regional Theater, a special Tony Award for Theatrical Excellence in 1979, the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theatre Excellence, and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. For more information, visit www.theoneill.org or email theaterlives@theoneill.org.

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