Musical Theater Writers to be Celebrated In Berklee's CURTAIN UP! Concert

Curtain Up!, an annual Berklee College of Music event showcasing new musical theater songs written, orchestrated, and performed by students, will take place at the Berklee Performance Center on Tuesday, April 26 at 8:00 p.m.

The results of Berklee's annual Musical Theater Songwriting Contest, Curtain Up! presents the early gems of tomorrow's Broadway composers and lyricists, performed by a stunning lineup of Broadway stars in the making, and backed by a dynamic 16-piece band.

"The next generation of theater artists are meeting each other here at Berklee and forming lifetime relationships," explains Grammy-nominated vocalist Debo Ray '13, Curtain Up's faculty director, who was a featured soloist in many Curtain Up concerts when she herself was a student. "Actors, musicians, songwriters, orchestrators, conductors - all these students are collaborating in service of creating new work, and learning how by doing it."

Now in its 13th year, Curtain Up! has served as a launching pad for some of the school's biggest names in musical theater. The upcoming blockbuster Spirited starring Ryan Reynolds will feature songs co-written by past Curtain Up songwriter Khiyon Hursey '14 and Dear Evan Hansen's Benj Pasek and Justin Paul; Off-Broadway's Prospect Theater Company produced a sold-out concert of On This Side of The World by Paulo K. Tiról '13; Sujin Kim Ramsey '11 is set to music direct Broadway-bound K-Pop; and Maya by Cheeyang Ng '13 will be developed by AMAS Musical Theater. Performers who previously have lit up the Curtain Up stage include Broadway Associate Conductor of Hamilton Mike Moise '15, singer Vincint Cannady '13 of TV's The Four, actor Claudia Yanez '12 who has played the role of Gloria Estafan in the tour of On Your Feet, and both the Come From Away tour's music director Cameron Moncur '14 and actor Aaron Michael Ray '14.

Numerous student pit musicians have gone on to play for Broadway, off-Broadway and national tours including Josh Plotner '14 on reeds for Broadway's Be More Chill, Elena Bonomo '14 on drums in Broadway's current Six, and Daniel Gittler '18, Caitlin Thomas '19 and current student Nancy O'Connor who have all played in tours of Waitress. Many more alumni have gone on to earn MFA degrees at the NYU Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program or participate in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop, furthering the education received through Berklee's unique undergraduate minor in Musical Theater Writing.

Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door, and on sale now online, at the Berklee Performance Center box office during business hours, or by calling the box office at 617-747-2261.

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