Cast Announced For Free Concert Reading Of The ROMEO & JULIET PROJECT At Bay Street Theater

Bay Street Theater and Guild Hall, in association with Jamie Cesa and Bel Chiasso Entertainment present a free concert staged reading of The Romeo & Juliet Project, a new musical, featuring the music of Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, with book by Bradley Bredeweg. This FREE community event will be held in Mashashimuet Park in Sag Harbor, NY on August 16 and 17 at 7 pm and is the latest installment of Bay Street's ongoing Under the Stars Community Outreach Program. The performance is directed by Scott Schwartz, Bay Street Theater's Artistic Director.

Entry to the concert is FREE and no tickets are required. Bring chairs, blankets and picnics for a night of new musical theater on a balmy summer evening. Limited VIP seating is available for purchase for the Friday, August 16 performance only, with a rain date of August 17. VIP Seating includes a chair in a designated VIP section, boxed charcuterie, and a drink. VIP Seats may be purchased on the Bay Street website at baystreet.org, or by contacting Emma Ruben at 631-725-0818 or emma@baystreet.org.

The cast includes: Alex Nee as Romeo (National Tours: American Idiot, Once Regional Theater: Cabaret); Salena Qureshi as Juliet) Netflix: The Society, Film: Spider-man: Homecoming (movie) TV: Madam Secretary); Andréa Burns as Madam Capulet (Broadway: On Your Feet, In The Heights, The Nance National Tour: The Full Monty); Darlesia Cearcy as Madam Montague (Broadway: Book of Mormon, Once On This Island, National Tour: Ragtime); Matt Doyle as Paris (Broadway: Book of Mormon, Spring Awakening, Bye Bye Birdie); Howard McGillin as The Friar (Broadway: Phantom of the Opera, Kiss of the Spider Women, The Secret Garden); Jordan Kai Burnett as Benvolia, Carson Higgins as Tybalt, Natalie Masini as Nura, and Jamar Williams as Mercutio. The ensemble includes: Liam Allen, Griffin Binnicker, Talia Cohen, Nicolas Gonzales, Avery Norris, and Joya Richmond. Both Talia Cohen and Avery Norris are part of Bay Street's 2019 Summer Internship Program. Adam Brett will read stage directions. Jesse Vargas is the musical director/arranger and casting is by Stewart/Whitley.

The Romeo & Juliet Project reimagines the story of our star-crossed lovers using the power of Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo's music to remind us what happens when we forget the impact of love, equality, and acceptance. The show brings the audience into the modern, war-torn metropolis of Verona as the newly minted Chancellor Paris takes control and promises to return the city to its traditional roots and destroy the progressive resistance. This new musical is an intricate weaving of Benatar's and Giraldo's deeply emotional rock anthems and new songs, exploring the question - what does it take to regain a world where peace is possible?

Since 1979, PAT BENATAR AND NEIL GIRALDO (Music) have formed one of the most successful partnerships in music history. During their four-decade career, they have created two multi-platinum, five platinum and three gold albums as well as nineteen Top 40 hits. They have sold over thirty million records worldwide, won an unprecedented four consecutive Grammy awards and three American Music awards. Their undeniable chemistry, Benatar's take no prisoners attitude and passionate mezzo-soprano vocal range with Giraldo's trail blazing work as a producer, guitarist and songwriter, created some of rock's most memorable hits. These include, "We Belong," "Invincible," "Love Is A Battlefield," "Promises In The Dark," "Heartbreaker," "Hell Is For Children," and "We Live For Love." Their musical career has endured for forty years and they continue to tour every year thrilling their fans everywhere..

BRADLEY BREDEWEG (Book) began his career partnering with Madonna and her Maverick Films. Together, they developed and wrote his first passion project, Alyx, which sold to ABC Studios. Bredeweg connected with his current producing partner, Peter Paige, in 2007 and together they opened Blazing Elm Entertainment. With Paige, he has written television projects for Universal Cable, Showtime, ABC Studios, DreamworksTV, USA, Warner Bros. Television, The CW, and Freeform. Bredeweg is one of the creators, executive producers and showrunners of the critically- acclaimed new television series, Good Trouble, a spin-off of the award-winning Freeform series, The Fosters, of which Bredeweg was also a creator, executive producer and showrunner, alongside partners Jennifer Lopez, Paige and Joanna Johnson. The Fosters garnered many awards, including Outstanding Drama Series at the GLAAD Awards, Emmy's Television Academy Honors Award for Excellence in Television, The Television Critics Award for Outstanding Drama Series, and the Teen Choice Awards Best Drama Series. Bradley directed two episodes of Good Trouble in the first season, as well as multiple episodes of The Fosters. Bredeweg also co-wrote Tut, starring Sir Ben Kingsley, for Muse Entertainment which premiered on Paramount/Viacom's SpikeTV. Bredeweg produced the critically-acclaimed revival of Side Show on Broadway, as well as Green Day's American Idiot on the West End.

SCOTT SCHWARTZ (Director) is the Artistic Director of Bay Street Theater, where he directed the world premiere of The Prompter this season. Previous directing credits at Bay Street include Intimate Apparel starring Kelly McCreary and Conviction starring Sarah Paulson. Most recently outside Bay Street, he directed the world premiere of the new musical The Prince of Egypt at both TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in California and at Fredericia Teater in Denmark. Prince of Egypt will open on the West End in London at the Dominion Theatre in February of 2020. As a director, he has worked on and off-Broadway, in major regional theaters across the country, and in the UK and Japan. On Broadway, he directed Golda's Balcony and Jane Eyre (co-directed with John Caird). Off-Broadway, he directed Murder for Two, Bat Boy: The Musical (Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Awards, Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical; Drama Desk Award nomination, Outstanding Director of a Musical), tick, tick...BOOM! (OCC, Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical; Drama Desk nomination, Outstanding Director of a Musical), Gigantic (Vineyard), The Foreigner (Roundabout), Rooms: A Rock Romance, Kafka's The Castle (OCC nomination, Outstanding Director of a Play), and No Way to Treat a Lady. At New York City Opera he directed Séance on a Wet Afternoon. The regional theaters he has worked at include ACT, Alley, Alliance Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Dallas Theatre Center, Denver Center, The Geffen, Goodspeed Opera House, La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe, Pasadena Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Signature, Theatre Under the Stars, and Westport Country Playhouse among others. He is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and a graduate of Harvard University.

JAMIE CESA (Producer) Broadway producing and general management credits include: Pippin (Tony Award for Best Musical Revival), Colin Quinn Long Story Short (directed by Jerry Seinfeld), Wishful Drinking (written by & starring Carrie Fisher), Kiki and Herb: Alive on Broadway (Tony Award nomination for Best Special Theatrical Event), Lombardi, and Godspell. On London's West End, Cesa produced the Tony Award winning Best Musical Revival of Hair. Off-Broadway producing and general management credits include: Nothing to Hide (directed by Neil Patrick Harris), Bullet for Adolf (written & directed by Woody Harrelson); CELIA: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz; La Barberia; Los Big Names (Drama Desk nomination), The Women of Lockerbie (starring Judith Ivey); 21 Dog Years: Doing Time @Amazon.com (written & performed by Mike Daisey); Love, Janis; Criss Angel, Mindfreak and many more.

Sponsors (list in progress) include Principal sponsor Barbara Slifka, BNB Bank, New Cancer & Blood Specialists, Peak Savers, Douglas Elliman Real Estate, Invisible Fence Company, Slomin's, and PSEG. Media sponsors WLNG and WBAZ.

The historic partnership for this event between the area's two leading cultural institutions Bay Street Theater and Guild Hall - is a first-time joining of the forces and combining of resources that benefits the entire East End arts loving community.

Bay Street Theater and Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is a year-round, not-for-profit 299 -seat professional regional theater and community cultural center located on the Long Wharf, in Sag Harbor, NY. It was founded in 1991 by Sybil Christopher, Emma Walton and Stephen Hamilton. The organization is currently run by Scott Schwartz, Artistic Director and Tracy Mitchell, Executive Director. The theater's purpose is to innovate, educate, and entertain a diverse community through the practice of the performing arts. It serves as a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource, and a home for a community of artists. Many productions that premiered or were developed at Bay Street have moved to Broadway, Off Broadway, regionally and abroad.

Guild Hall, located in East Hampton, NY, is one of the first multidisciplinary centers in the country to combine a museum, theater, and education space under one roof, was established in 1931 as a gathering place for community where an appreciation for the arts would serve to encourage greater civic participation. For nearly nine decades, Guild Hall has embraced this open-minded vision and provided a welcoming environment for the public to engage with art exhibitions, performances, and educational offerings. Andrea Grover is the current Executive Director and Josh Gladstone is the Artistic Director for Guild Hall's John Drew Theater. Guild Hall is excited to engage in productions outside its physical walls. Art and artists have long been the engine of Guild Hall's activities and the institution continues to find innovative ways to support creativity in everyone.

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