Niki Scalera Joins the 'The After Party', Tonight 9/26

The Laurie Beechman Theatre, located within The West Bank Café (407 West 42nd St.), is pleased to continue our Friday night soiree, THE AFTER PARTY. Now going strong it’s second year, THE AFTER PARTY is billed as “a weekly schmoozefest for the theatrically inclined.” Every Friday from 10:30 pm until the wee hours, pros from Broadway and aspiring stars alike belt it out on the stage of The Laurie Beechman Theatre. Join hosts Brandon Cutrell (MAC & Bistro Award winner) and Alysha Umphress (XL Star) with Ray Fellman (Captain Louie) at the piano for this weekly party in the theatre district. There is no cover charge for this event. Come and sing yourself as the mic is always open, or sit back and enjoy a cocktail with friends. Located just blocks from the Great White Way, you never know who might drop in.

Friday, September 26th, we're pleased to welcome Hairspray’s Niki Scalera and Company’s Matt Castle.  Both will be on hand to greet fans and perform as only they can.

The Laurie Beechman Theatre is located downstairs, within The West Bank Café, 407 West 42nd St. at 9th Avenue .   There is a full bar and bar menu available, and reservations are not necessary for this event.  THE AFTER PARTY highly recommends audience members arrive early.  Seating is first come, first serve.  Priority seating may be given to those who wish to order from the menu and/or the bar.

Niki Scalera is currently playing Penny Lou Pingleton in Broadway's Hairspray. Other Broadway: Jane cover in Tarzan, Neil Simon's Jake's Women. Off-B'way: The American Dream with James Naughton, Our Town with HAl Holbrook, Richard Greenberg's Vanishing Act. Tour: Ariel in Footloose. Vegas: We Will Rock You. Film: Emmy- Nominated "Don't Touch". TV: "Loving", "All My Children" and "Another World". Niki is an NYU Tisch grad.

Matt Castle most recently played Peter (and piano and bass) in the
Tony Award-winning revival of Company. Off-Broadway: The Musical of Musicals, in which he played both Willy and Jitter, and the York Theatre’s LingoLand, for which he also served as musical director and arranger. Regional: roles at Paper Mill Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Sacramento Theatre Company, and Music Circus.  Musical direction: York Mufti series, Jean Cocteau Rep, Theater Ten Ten, and many, MANY new works at NYMTF, NAMT, BMI, Tisch, Theatreworks/USA, et al. Concert:  arranger and vocal soloist with Omaha and Stockton symphonies, and over 250 solo and chamber recitals at venues across the country.

Brandon Cutrell is a Bistro Award and two-time MAC Award winner. New York credits: Broadway By The Year at Town Hall, The 2nd Annual Broadway Unplugged at Town Hall, Pippin (with Ben Vereen and Rosie O'Donnell), La Gioconda at TheatreSource, David Friedman's King Island Christmas, and Liz Swados' Waiting For Lefty. National: Theatre of the Stars, Goodspeed Musicals, the Human Race Theatre and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. For nearly two years, Brandon was the original host of the MAC Award nominated show, Mostly Sondheim. In December of 2005, Brandon made his debut in the world-famous Oak Room at The Algonquin Hotel. In June of 2006, Brandon made his solo debut at Feinstein's, New York's legendary nightclub on Park Avenue. Currently, Brandon can be seen every Friday night at The Laurie Beechman Theatre on 42nd Street as the host of The After Party, a weekly open-mic, musical theatre soiree. Brandon's self-titled debut cd was released on June 4th, 2007 at Feinstein’s and is now available on iTunes and at www.BrandonCutrell.com.

Alysha Umphress, a graduate of  The Boston Conservatory, made a splash at the Chelsea bar, XL, winning their American Idol-type competition, XL Star. She recently opened for Diana Krall at the Fujitsu Jazz Festival, soloed along side Carlos Santana at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium and performed with the Boston Pops. Regional roles include the Witch in Into the Woods, Trina in Falsettos and Winnifred in Once Upon a Mattress. Alysha is the recipient of two Bay Area Theatre Critics Awards for her work in Rags and FAB! She has belted out the National Anthem for The Oakland A's, San Francisco Giants, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings and San Jose Sharks.

Bistro Award winner Ray Fellman recently made his Off-Broadway debut when he was handpicked by Stephen Schwartz to musical direct his off-Broadway musical, Captain Louie. Other Musical Director credits include The Tutor by Wood/Gerle (59 E. 59th), Reluctant Pilgrim (The Barrow Group), Blood Drive: A Musical Triptych by Sheinkin/Derfner (workshop at the O’Neill Theater Center) and Amahl and the Night Visitors (national tour directed by David Aiken). Ray has been seen behind the piano in The Storefront Theatre’s New Mondays (with Bill Russell and Emily Skinner), No Reservations (starring Brandon Cutrell with special guests Karen Mason and Shoshana Bean), Broadway Downtown (with Kristy Cates) and We Miss Nancy: The Storefront Sings Lamott (with Liz McCaney). He has also served as accompanist for Utah Festival Opera Company, The Opera Company of Brooklyn , Mid America Productions at Carnegie Hall (with John Rutter) and A Yuletide Celebration with the Indianapolis Symphony starring Judy Kaye. As a singer, Ray has sung with some of the finest opera companies in the country, including Florida Grand, Glimmerglass and New Orleans operas. Ray holds degrees in piano and voice from the Indiana University School of Music.

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