UNDER-EXPOSED: The Men's Songbook at Opia Dec. 5th

LIVE AT OPIA presents UNDER-EXPOSED: The Men's Songbook, the second event in a series that introduces audiences to the talented composers and lyricists on the forefront of New York's musical theatre and cabaret scene. The series will resume on December 5th at 8:00 pm and will include the music of over a dozen different writers performed by Broadway's top leading men.

UNDER-EXPOSED is the brainchild of producer David Leidholdt, teaming up with director Jamibeth Margolis, in conjunction with Opia's Lionel Casseroux, and was created as a venue for writers to develop and present new material. "We're introducing audiences to the next group of writers who break boundaries and push tradition." says Leidholdt.

As the title suggests, The Men's Songbook will highlight songs written for men by writers who have already been attracting some serious attention. Featured works of the evening include material by MAC and Bistro winner John Wallowitch, David Nehls (The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Carols for a Cure), Gary Schocker & Barbara Campbell (Far From the Madding Crowd), Ben Cohn & Sean McDaniel (Project Bluebook with producer Andrew Kato, UNDER-EXPOSED premiere), Chad Hardin & Dan Schillaci (Two Cities at Rich Form Theatre in Stamford, CT, Dreamers), Eric Svejcar (Caligula starring Euan Morton) plus others.

Renowned producer and party-planner Lionel Casseroux previously worked for The Supper Club and has now taken up producing duties at Opia. Producer David Leidholdt has developed new works with organizations such as the New York Musical Theatre Festival, Genesius Theatre Guild and Midtown International Theatre Festival and created UPSTAIRS @ RED, a cabaret theatre in Hell's Kitchen.

The evening is conceived and directed by Jamibeth Margolis, who most recently directed in the New York Musical Theatre Festival and served as assistant director to Jerry Zaks on A Bad Friend at Lincoln Center Theatre and Musical Direction will be by Ben Cohen, currently playing keyboards for the Broadway musical Wicked. The talent line-up for UNDER-EXPOSED will feature some of Broadway's brightest and handsomest leading men: Gilles Chiasson (Rent, Les Miserables, Civil War, La Boheme), Graham Rowat (Dracula, Beauty and the Beast, Les Miserables) D.B. Bonds (Les Miserables, The Last 5 Years, Scarlet Pimpernel) and William Broderick.

UNDER-EXPOSED will present its next installment, The Music of Brian Lowdermilk and Kait Kerrigan, on December 12th at 7:00pm. This young writing team was most recently the talk of the New York Musical Festival for their exciting new musical The Women Upstairs starring Tony Nominee Alison Fraser.

Opia is located on 103 East 57th St. off of Lexington Ave. Tickets are $15.00 cover plus a $15.00 food or drink minimum. $5.00 Discounts will be offered to anyone who brings a toy or makes a donation to TOYS FOR TOTS. For reservations call 212-688-3939 or visit www.liveatopia.com for more information.