Hunter Parrish, Erin Davie & More to Lead BALLAD OF DREAMS Industry Presentation

Based on the best-selling novel, Ballad of Dreams a new musical, will get an invite-only industry presentation on October 12, 2023, at Pearl Studios. The presentation is directed by Karen Carpenter with music direction by Laura Bergquist. For questions and RSVP’s please contact RSVP@LDKProductions.com or 212.739.7875.

Inspired by a true story, a love letter to New York City, Ballad of Dreams illuminates the struggle of two resilient women fighting for their place in the glittering world of 1940's theater, chasing the dream of being a performer and being a mother. Against insurmountable odds they must confront the universal question faced by women of every era: can we truly have it all?

Audrey McKenna, a vibrant grandmother and mother of thirteen, is confronted with the unfulfilled dreams of her youth to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City, circa WW2. With the help of her best friend Rose, they each journey in discovering love, their own identities, and independence as women in a time when society tried to define that for them.

The cast includes Hunter Parrish (Broadway: To Kill a Mockingbird, Showtime's “Weeds”), Erin Davie (Broadway:  Diana, The Musical, Sunday in the Park with George), Nicholas Rodriguez (Broadway: Company), Allyson Hernandez (Off-Broadway: If This Hat Could Talk), Robb Sapp (Broadway: The Lion King, Wicked), Alan H. Green (Broadway:  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Sharon Wheatley (Broadway:  Come From Away), Neal Mayer (Broadway: Les Misérables), Emily Walton (Broadway:  Come From Away), Elizabeth Bedley (Regional: A Chorus Line), Noah Wolfe (Regional:  A Little Night Music), Laura Sky Herman (National Tour:  Hello, Dolly!), Emily Jewel Hoder (Broadway: The Music Man) and Charlie Carroccio (Film: The 12 Days of Christmas Eve), with Harmony Harris (Associate Director), Jamibeth Margolis, CSA (Casting) LDK Productions (General Manager).

For more information on Ballad of Dreams, please visit www.BalladofDreams.com

Bios:

ALLYSON HERNANDEZ

(Composer/Lyricist/Librettist/Producer/Actor) defines the word multi-passionate creative. She is an author, playwright, composer, lyricist, singer, actor, producer, and mom to two teenage boys. Allyson is deeply passionate about telling stories that highlight and uplift women's voices. Ballad of Dreams, a novel with music was published in Jan 2022 through New Degree Press and is an Amazon #1 Best Seller and a new release in Musicals. The Concept Album of Ballad of Dreams is available on all streaming platforms, as well as an Audiobook on Audible, narrated by Allyson Hernandez and Amanda Ferguson. Allyson produced and performed a sold-out Concert version of Ballad of Dreams last year at the Triad Theater. Allyson was interviewed and performed her original song, "It's Never Too Late" on the Tamron Hall Show last year.  Her debut EP, Soul Stories, can be found on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube. She has performed at the acclaimed Apollo Theater with Tony award- winning Director George Faison and toured with the Gospel musical “If This Hat Could Talk” in the role of Miss Tilly and understudied for the principal role of Eleanor Roosevelt. She's a proud member of Actors Equity and ASCAP. She has a BFA in Musical Theater from Syracuse University. She's also the Founder and President of AH Coaching Group which specializes in leadership development and Coaching for Women Executives. www.allysonhernandez.net. 

Karen Carpenter

(Director/Dramaturg) is the director and co-creator of streaming sensation Period Piece; the co-writer and director of Lioness in Winter: Writing an Old Woman's Life, and director of comedy legend Tom Leopold's musical satire, Kip & Sylvia: Tonight on Deck, recurring monthly at the Triad, by popular demand. She directed the critically-acclaimed premiere of George Eastman's comedy, Harry Townsend's Last Stand, starring Len Cariou and Craig Bierko (Critic's Pick, The New Yorker) which shuttered abruptly due to the pandemic - plans to turn it into a motion picture are in the works. Her other Off-Broadway premieres include Delia and Nora Ephron's beloved Love, Loss And What I Wore, (Drama Desk Award, BWW Audience Favorite, NYT Critic's Pick), which continues to play all over the world; Handle With Care (NYT Critic's Pick); Lois Robbins' L.O.V.E.R. (Time Out NY Critic's Pick), Bulldozer: the Ballad of Robert Moses; and Witnessed by the World. Regionally, she has directed for The Old Globe Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, Bucks County Playhouse, Contemporary American Theater Festival, the Asolo, and Surflight Theater, where she premiered the new musical, Boynton Beach Club (based on Susan Seidelman's film), which delighted its sold-out crowds. Karen served as Artistic Director of the William Inge Theater Festival, where she instituted a New Play Lab, hosting over 70 readings of playwrights' new works, and directed lifetime achievement tributes to David Henry Hwang, Arthur Kopit, Beth Henley and Donald Margulies. As Associate Artistic Director of The Old Globe, she produced over 40 plays and musicals, revived their annual Shakespeare Festival; and directed many award-winning plays, among them, As You Like It, named Best of the Year by San Diego Magazine. Ms. Carpenter served on the Faculty of the DG Yale School of Drama, and is an alumna of Boston University, where the Karen Carpenter Award for Excellence in Theater Arts is given annually to a graduating student of exceptional merit. She is also the Producing Director of her company, The Figment Factory, LLC, whereby she creates spectacular corporate and non-profit events. 

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