YouTube Star Chester See to Make Broadway Debut in ROCK OF AGES

By: Oct. 14, 2014
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ROCK OF AGES, Broadway's five-time Tony Award-nominated smash hit musical built on the music that ignited a generation, will now blaze a path on Broadway as the first show to join today's new media revolution. On Monday, October 27, YouTube sensation Chester See, who has over 1.5 million subscribers and 160 million channel views, will make his Broadway debut as wild rock idol "Stacee Jaxx," for a limited engagement through January 4, 2015. Chester's work as a singer, songwriter, actor, comedian and producer has proven him one of the most successful YouTube artists creating original content today, garnering a record-setting six Streamy Award nominations (the online video industry's highest honor) and winning the most coveted category in 2014 for his Best Original Song "Whistle While I Work It" featuring Wayne Brady and Toby Turner. Current "Stacee Jaxx", Mitchell Jarvis, will play his final performance in the role on Sunday, October 26.

"Continuing our journey as Broadway's renegade musical, the Rock of Ages team stays dedicated to thinking outside the box and defying traditional theater norms within every level of the production," says producer Matt Weaver. "Today's freshest young talents are emerging online through this 'new media' revolution, and we're thrilled to be the first on Broadway to recognize the growing importance of digital platforms for reaching new audiences. Chester is an incredible artist, and just as our songs have transcended generations, we're certain his star power will shine brightly on the Broadway stage, as it does on monitors across the globe."

Chester's self-titled YouTube channel, which features comedy sketches, dramatic shorts, both original and cover songs, and vlog entries, has developed a zealous fan following with over 160 million views and 1.5 million loyal subscribers, leading to more than 500,000 iTunes downloads. A graduate of UCLA with a degree in Theater Arts, Chester first became known as the host of the Disney Channel's behind-the-scenes entertainment news program "Disney 365", before his work songwriting with various Warner/Chappell artists led to the launch of his channel in 2007. The music video for the first original song he uploaded to the channel, "God Damn, You're Beautiful", has garnered 10.5 million views alone. On top of creating music and videos for his channel, Chester works extensively as both actor and producer, most recently executive producing and starring in the popular web series "Side Effects" for DreamWorks' AwesomenessTV, one of YouTube's largest networks, and the popular web feature film Camp Takota. Chester's six Streamy Award nominations make him the most-nominated artist ever, with a 2014 win in the most coveted category of Best Original Song ("Whistle While I Work It"). In 2012, Chester forged a relationship Maker Studios, the leading producer and distributor of online video, who also develops talent, brands, and premium programming. When Maker was acquired by Disney, Chester - who is developing programming for ABC, ABC Family and its affiliates - was chosen by the studio to represent the merger at the 2014 Digital Content New Fronts in New York.

The music that ignited a generation is heating up Broadway in the five-time Tony Award-nominated musical Rock of Ages. The hilarious, tongue-in-cheek love story - which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary on Broadway and its spot in the Top 30 Longest-Running Broadway Shows in History - erupts into Broadway's Best Party, all to the sounds of such feel-good, sing-out-loud songs as "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", "I Wanna Know What Love Is", "Here I Go Again", "Don't Stop Believin" and more.

The smash hit musical opened on Broadway on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 and played its final performance at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Sunday, January 9, 2011 before transferring to The Helen Hayes Theatre on March 24, 2011. Now in its sixth year on Broadway, Rock of Ages has been seen on Broadway by over 1.4 million people, grossed over $123 million, broken the Box Office Record at the Helen Hayes Theatre ten times, and continues to sell out performances week after week.

ROCK OF AGES currently stars a "Supergroup" of performers including Tony Award-nominated original star Constantine Maroulis as "Drew", Original Las Vegas cast member Carrie St. Louis as "Sherrie," Mitchell Jarvis (Original Broadway cast member) as "Stacee Jaxx," Genson Blimline as "Lonny," Adam Dannheisser (Original Broadway cast member) as "Dennis," Cody Scott Lancaster as "Franz," Josephine Rose Roberts as "Regina," Paul Schoeffler (Original Broadway cast member) as "Hertz," and Teresa Stanley as "Justice." Rounding out the cast are Cristy Candler, Alyssa Herrera, Tony LePage, Michael Minarik, Rebecca Riker, Josh Sassanella, Andre Ward and Katie Webber.

In addition to being a bona fide Broadway hit musical, Rock of Ages is currently rocking the Las Vegas Strip at The Venetian Resort; the open seas on Norwegian's newest cruise ship The Breakaway; and the open road on its third U.S. National Tour and first U.K. National Tour. The show was also a runaway success in Toronto, Australia, and London's West End, and has licensed productions in several additional countries, including Sweden, Korea and Japan. In 2012, Rock of Ages hit the silver screen as a major motion picture starring Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

ROCK OF AGES is produced on Broadway and worldwide by Matthew Weaver, Michael Cohl and Jonathan Linden/S2BN Entertainment, in association with Carl Levin, Jeff Davis, Barry Habib, Scott Prisand, Reagan Silber, Relativity Media, Janet Billig Rich and Hillary Weaver.

Tickets for Rock of Ages at The Helen Hayes Theater (240 West 44th Street) can be purchased via Telecharge.com, by calling (212) 239-6200 (outside NY metro area: 800-432-7250) or in person at the Helen Hayes Box Office. Student Rush tickets are $37, and can be purchased when the box office opens the day of the performance. Student Rush tickets are cash only, and subject to availability. Only two tickets per student ID. The performance schedule is Monday at 8pm, Tuesday at 7pm, Thursday at 8pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm and Sunday at 3pm & 7:30pm.



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