O'Neill Theater Center Announces 2010 Cabaret & Performance Conference Selections

The EuGene O'Neill Theater Center, winner of the 2010 Tony Award for Regional Theater, has announced selections for this summer's Cabaret and Performance Conference, Artistic Director Michael Bush.

Public performances begin Wednesday, August 4 with Opening Ceremonies and Preview, free to the public, and conclude Saturday, August 14 with Grand Finale Cabaret. Eight additional performances, including two featuring Cabaret Fellows, will also take place.

With the theme "Say It With Music," the conference will present cabaret theater pieces featuring legends of Broadway, including Tony Award winner Leslie Uggams (Hallelujah, Baby!, Jerry's Girls, On Golden Pond) who will perform her critically acclaimed show Uptown Downtown, conceived and directed by Michael Bush; and Penny Fuller (Dividing the Estate) in the world premiere of Sin Twisters with Anita Gillette (Chapter Two, Moonstruck); world acclaimed jazz singer and basest Nicki Parrott in Peggy Lee, Big Instruments and Other Weapons of Mass Distraction; and one of Broadway musical theater's great leading men, Brent Barrett.

In addition, during its intensive two week period, the Cabaret and Performance Conference will once again provide hands-on artistic guidance and instruction to Cabaret Fellows who are chosen by application and audition. During their time at the O'Neill, with the guidance and direction of conference artistic associates Penny Fuller and Barry Kleinbort, Fellows work on the creation of new cabaret performance pieces. The application deadline for the Fellows program is June 1; information and application form are available at www.theoneill.org.

Commenting on the coming season, Michael Bush, Cabaret and Performance Conference artistic director said, "I chose this year's theme, ‘Say It With Music' based on the famous Irving Berlin song because we certainly have a lot to say. Our work is now being recognized on Broadway and in the top cabaret rooms and concert halls, not only in America, but also internationally."

Remarking on cabaret's place in the O'Neill summer season, executive director Preston Whiteway said: "The 2010 Summer Season at the O'Neill will go out in style, with another memorable and talented Cabaret & Performance Conference. I thank Michael for putting together a stand-out season, and look forward to welcoming everyone for 10 nights of pure fun."

Tickets go on sale Wednesday, June 9 at the box office and by phone at 860.443-1238, and online at www.theoneill.org. Advance ticket sales are now open to O'Neill Members; for information email Membership@theoneill.org or call 860.443.5378 x 211.

Cabaret and Performance Conference - Public Performances (schedule subject to change)

Opening Ceremonies and Preview, free performance featuring conference artists, August 4

Leslie Uggams, Uptown Downtown, August 5

Penny Fuller and Anita Gillette, Sin Twisters, August 6

Cabaret Fellows, August 7

O'Neill Follies and Picnic, two act evening featuring talents of entire conference, as well as Allen Harris, Aja Nisenson, Jay Rogers, and Lois Robbins; August 8, with dinner break; picnic basket can be ordered in advance.

Nicki Parrot: Peggy Lee, Big Instruments and Other Weapons of Mass Distraction, August 10

Brent Barrett, August 11

Cabaret Fellows, August 12

Stoned Soul Picnic: The Songs of Laura Nyro, August 13

Grand Finale Cabaret, August 14

The O'Neill, founded in 1964 in honor of EuGene O'Neill, four-time Pulitzer Prize Winner and America's only playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, is the country's preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the American theater. The O'Neill has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full production at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, Off-Broadway and major regional theaters.

O'Neill programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Critics Institute, National Puppetry Conference, the Cabaret & Performance Conference, and National Theater Institute, which conducts semester-long, fully accredited intensive theater training programs and Theatermakers, a six-week accredited summer program.

In addition, the O'Neill owns and operates Monte Cristo Cottage as a museum open to the public. Childhood summer home of EuGene O'Neill, the Cottage is a National Historic Landmark.

The EuGene O'Neill Theater Center has received the 2010 Tony Award for Regional Theater, a special Tony Award for Theatrical Excellence in 1979, the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theatre Excellence, and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. For more information, visit www.theoneill.org or email theaterlives@theoneill.org.

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