Jason Michael Snow, Jim Stanek Join Cast of NAUGHTY/NICE Benefit, 7/25

On Monday, July 25, 2011, ASTEP, a nonprofit organization that uses the arts as a tool to foster creativity, teach life skills, and awaKen Young people's imaginations around the world, presents a one-night benefit concert reading of NAUGHTY/NICE, a new wickedly funny musical featuring grown-up Broadway performers singing misfits kids' letters to Santa Claus.

The 7 p.m. presentation at Ars Nova (511 West 54th Street, NYC) is directed by Jeff Talbott, with musical direction by ASTEP founder and Drama Desk Award winner Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Broadway's Company, The Addams Family and more), and will feature Jason Michael Snow (Broadway's The Book of Mormon) and Jim Stanek (Broadway's Lestat) along with previously announced JR Bruno (Broadway's West Side Story, regional premiere of [title of show]), Chris Hoch (Broadway's Shrek, La Cage aux Folles), Jeff Award winner Cindy Marchionda (Kiss of the Spider Woman in Chicago, The Wizard of Oz at Madison Square Garden) and Sally Wilfert (Off-Broadway's Make Me a Song, Broadway's Assassins, La Jolla Playhouse's Little Miss Sunshine).

Special guest performers include Tony Award nominee Robin De Jesús (In the Heights, La Cage aux Folles), Kathy Voytko (Harold Prince's Evita on tour, Lincoln Center's The Frogs) and Kate Wetherhead (Off-Broadway's Cam Jansen and Sarah, Plain and Tall, web series "Submissions Only").

A $20 pledge to ASTEP will secure a seat for this dress-casual, book-in-hand concert. All artists are volunteering their talent, and 100 percent of the money supports ASTEP's programs, which celebrate the transforming power of the arts.

To make a NAUGHTY/NICE reservation, email tickets@asteponline.org, add your name to the reservation list, and show up with $20 per seat (cash or check in hand) on July 25. Seating for the 7 PM show is general admission -- and seating is limited!

Written by lyricist Kenneth Jones and composer Gerald Stockstill, who met in the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, NAUGHTY/NICE was first seen in 2007 in a sold-out ASTEP benefit presentation at The Players Theatre in Greenwich Village, and in a later industry reading.

The musical was a recommended finalist in the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Festival of New Musicals in 2009, and helped the writers win the 2010 Dottie Berman Songwriting Award from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC). The show is written for four performers and a piano; the cast has been expanded for the special ASTEP concert.

ASTEP builds a child's capacity for self expression through art programs which inspire youth to develop the voices and skills they need inside and outside the classroom. By connecting established and emerging artists with underserved youth, ASTEP uses the arts as a tool to foster creativity, teach life skills, and awaKen Young people's imaginations.

Since 2003, ASTEP has partnered with community organizations to deliver after-school, holiday, and summer programs grounded in arts education curriculum. In addition to inspiring a passion for learning and leadership building, programs focus on social issues specific to each community such as HIV/AIDS, gang violence, drug abuse, gender equality, and teen pregnancy. ASTEP provides services to communities in New York, New York; Homestead, Florida; and Bangalore, India.

Our vibrant volunteer and student community continually explore the transforming power of the arts. If you are interested in getting involved through volunteering or donating to ASTEP, please visit www.asteponline.org.

Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter-Keddy

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