Brown Paper Box Co. to Host MARY'Z WITH A 'Z' Tribute Cabaret

Brown Paper Box Co. opens its 2016/2017 season with Mary'z with a "Z," a cover-to-cover tribute to 1972's Emmy-winning "Liza With a 'Z'" broadcast featuring BPBCo. members, alumni, and fresh faces presenting and reinventing Bob Fosse & Marvin Hamlisch's setlist in its entirety. The evening begins with Kander and Ebb's "Yes" and ends with a 5-song Cabaret medley. Mixed in are a plethora of standards, show tunes, and numbers written specifically for Ms. Minnelli.

Classic songz. New arrangementz. 44 yearz later.

"From high school screwups and springtime loves, our cabarets have tackled a wide range of topics from a wide range of performers," say coordinators M. William Panek and Justin Harner. "For Mary'z with a 'Z,' we want to bring something familiar yet new to our audiences. Liza with a 'Z' is one of the greatest TV concerts of all time, so the ability to share thirteen local performers' interpretations of her classic set list at Mary's Attic in Andersonville is 'simply grand!'"

The current cast of Lizas include T.J. Anderson* (Julius Caesar and [title of show], BPBCo.), Alexis Bevels (Dixie Wins a Talent Show While Alexis Bevels Stage Manages, Berlin Nightclub; Co-host of Night of 100 Drag Queens 2015, Sidetrack the Video Bar), Lindsey Charles (lead singer of The Cell Phones; Various projects for Knife and Fork), Johnny Kyle Cook (Heathers, Kokandy; A New Brain, BPBCo.), Megan Ensley (Sketch performer, Stage 773 & Second City Training Center; Singer with the band the Mashed Potatoes), Veronica Garza (Heathers, Kokandy; Side Show, Porchlight), Justin Harner* (Triassic Parq, Circle Theatre; [title of show], BPBCo.), David Lipschutz* (Company member, Hell in a Handbag; Design For Living, Pride Films & Plays). Anna Schutz* ([title of show]and A New Brain, BPBCo.), Dan Toot (Julius Caesar, BPBCo.; Romeo and Juliet, Notre Dame Shakespeare), Vahishta Vafadari (Julius Caesar, BPBCo; A Widow of No Importance, Rasaka Theatre Company), Jillian Kate Weingart (Cabaret, Brightside Theater; Spike Heels and A New Brain, BPBCo.), and Damian Wille* (Haymarket, Underscore Theatre Company; [title of show], BPBCo.).

Mary'z with a "Z" is coordinated by Justin Harner* & M. William Panek*, with an original poster design by Charlie Sheets*.

*denotes Brown Paper Box Co. company member