Natalie Weiss Hosts Carner & Gregor's 2014 BARELY LEGAL Concert at 54 Below Tonight
By: BWW News Desk Aug. 21, 2014
Musical theater writing team Sam Carner and Derek Gregor's 6th Annual "Barely Legal Show-Tune Extravaganza" is set for tonight! The annual contest rewards college student performers with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend week-long intensive workshops led by Broadway stars, casting directors, agents, actors and more, culminating in concerts tonight, August 21 at 7:00pm and 9:30pm at New York's premier cabaret venue 54 Below, 254 W 54th St.
Carner & Gregor present the summer concert "Barely Legal Show-Tune Extravaganza" each year, featuring a cast of up-and-coming college student performers and recent graduates from around the world. The cast, selected by a panel of industry judges based on video submissions and workshop sessions at Indiana University, will make their New York concert debut joined by a Broadway band and various Broadway stars (former guests include Tony Award nominee Bobby Steggert, Andrew Kober, and Sarah Stiles) in an unforgettable experience for participants and audiences alike. This year's finalists were selected out of a pool of over 100 applicants. Some applicants, even if not chosen for "Barely Legal", have been brought in by casting agent judges for Broadway auditions.
"We had a fantastic pool of applicants this year and could certainly have cast the show several times over," said Sam Carner. "Out of that pool, the judges have selected a super-talented, wonderfully varied (and multi-national) group of young performers for this year's show. We can't wait to introduce these fantastic new voices to New York City -- and vice-versa."
"BARLEY LEGAL" 2014 CAST:
Clearwater, FL
University of Cincinnati- College Conservatory of Music
Class of 2015
Kyle Segarra
Philadelphia, PA
University of the Arts
Class of 2016
Tiffany Ames
Charlottesville, VA
Oberlin College
Class of 2017
Morissa Trunzo
Missoula, Montana
Point Park University
Class of 2016
Daina Goldenberg
Seattle, Washington
University of Washington
Class of 2017
Lydia Hall
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England
University/Schooling TBD
Zachary Stewart
Fort Mitchell, Kentucky
formerly of Indiana University
Mia Fitzgibbon
New York, New York
Indiana University
Class of 2016
Kayla Eilers
Louisville, Kentucky
Indiana University
Class of 2016
Nat Zegree
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Indiana University
Class of 2015
Emily Schultheis
Evansville, Indiana
Indiana University
Class of 2015
The 2014 "Barely Legal" concert will be hosted by Natalie Weiss (Les Miserables, Everyday Rapture, "American Idol"), who -- alongside Tituss Burgess (Little Mermaid, Jersey Boys) and casting director and producer Michael Cassara (NYMF, NAMT) -- led this year's dynamic panel of judges, which also included composer and music director Will Van Dyke (Kinky Boots), casting director Jason Najjoum (Prospect Theater Company), agent Samantha Stoller (Abrams Artists), and director/choreographer Emily Maltby (The Lion, Under My Skin).
"I'm so excited -- and nervous! -- to host 'Barely Legal' this year," said Weiss. "Derek and Sam are the bomb-diggity, and all of the 2014 finalists are so freakin' talented!"
This year, produced by Bandits Roost Entertainment, "Barely Legal" introduces a new component to the already impressive offerings to the cast -- workshops and classes. In addition to pairing the students with Carner & Gregor and producers from the Bandits Roost team, these workshops and classes will introduce students to Broadway stars, casting directors, agents, actors, teachers, and more, ensuring an enhanced experience for the young performers.
Alums of Carner & Gregor's "Barely Legal Show-Tune Extravaganza" include Danielle Wade (winner Over the Rainbow Canada and currently playing Dorothy in the North American tour of Wizard of Oz, having completed a year-long Toronto run), Lora Lee Gayer (Young Sally in the recent Broadway production of Follies!), Blair Goldberg (Carrie Off-Broadway and Sister Act 1st National Tour), Ashley Park (currently appearing in Mamma Mia), and many more performers currently working Off-Broadway, regionally, and on national tours.
For more information, visit: www.CandGBarelyLegal.com or www.CandGBarelyLegal.com/contest.
About Carner & Gregor: Sam Carner and Derek Gregor were included in Playbill.com's 12 "Contemporary Musical Theatre Songwriters You Should Know," and their work has been performed on at least 6 continents (including Antarctica). Their musical Unlock'd played an extended Off-Broadway run at the Duke Theater last summer ("gorgeous" -NYTimes "Astounding, enveloping" -Talkin' Broadway). Previously Unlock'd won a Richard Rodgers Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was produced at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2007, where it won the "Best of the Fest" audience award and received Talkin' Broadway citations for "Outstanding New Musical" and "Outstanding Original Theatrical Score." Their musical Island Song was produced in this February at the Bloomington Playwrights Project in Indiana ("mesmerizing... vibrant, supercharged" -Herald Times) having had workshops last summer at the Balagan Theatre in Seattle and the Indiana Festival of Theatre, following 2012 concerts at (le) Poisson Rouge in New York and at Crawfish in Tokyo (in Japanese!). Island Song was recently presented in concert at London's St. James Studio featuring a cast of West End stars. Five of the numbers from Island Song have been nominated for MAC Awards: "Sing, But Don't Tell" and "Wall Lovin'" (Best Special Musical Material), "After Hours," "Make It Here," and "So Far From Pennsylvania" (Best Song).
Sam and Derek's short children's musical Love, Splat is currently touring the country in the new TheatreWorks USA revue The Teacher From the Black Lagoon and Other Stories, and their song "Eleven O'Clock" was part of Unsung Musicals' Passing Show in June. Other current projects include additional songs for Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York (book by Todd Graff and songs by Michael Devon), Toast (book by Laura Marks), and The Great Cookie Quest (a children's musical with book by Jim Weitzer). Recent concerts include Sing, But Don't Tell, an evening of Carner & Gregor songs sung by West End performers which sold out London's Matcham Room and a sold-out 54 Below show in April.
Derek writes country songs with Laura Bell Bundy and has material on her album Longing for a Place Already Gone and composed the music for the movie musical Grind (now appearing in film festivals around the world). Sam lectures regularly on various musical-theatre history related topics at Yale and has taught musical-theatre history and analysis courses at New York University and Yale.
About Bandits Roost Entertainment: Bandits Roost is an entertainment production company based in New York City. Led by Cori Silberman, Michael Dovid, and Jared Sais, Bandits Roost develops and produces creative content across various mediums including film, theater, television, print and digital. www.BanditsRoost.com
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