Jerusalem Syndrome Opens Tonight at 37 Arts During NYMF

The Jerusalem Syndrome, an official selection of the New York Musical Theatre Festival’s 2008 Next Link Project, will open on Tuesday, September 23 at 8pm.  This original musical comedy features the talents of Liz Larsen (Hairspray, The Most Happy Fella), Austin Miller (Grease: You’re the One that I Want!, Hairspray Las Vegas and National Tour), Alan H. Green (Spelling Bee National Tour), Stuart Zagnit (Seussical, The Wild Party, Kuni Leml) as her workaholic husband, Bruce Sabath (Company), Nick Verina (Altar Boyz-Chicago, That Time of the Year), Chandra Lee Schwartz (Damn Yankees, Gypsy, Hairspray-Las Vegas), Mary Gutzi (Les Miserables), Roger DeWitt 
(The Woman in White, The Adding Machine), J.D. Webster (Wonderful Town, Ragtime, Showboat), Vanessa Lemonides (Jewtopia), Ron DeStefano, Ronica Reddick, and Felicia Ricci.  

With book and lyrics by 2006 Kleban Award winners Laurence Holzman & Felicia Needleman and a score by Kyle Rosen, this tuneful show brings to life the strange but real psychological phenomenon that makes ordinary tourists in Jerusalem believe they are figures from the Bible. When a host of characters including Eve, Noah, Jesus, God, and not one, but two Virgin Marys are led by Moses in an Exodus from the hospital psych ward, the result is a journey that is both hilarious and heartwarming.  The production is directed by Annette Jolles, whose credits include Little by Little, That Time of the Year, Wall to Wall Sondheim at Symphony Space, and TV’s “9/11 Memorial from Ground Zero,” for which she received an Emmy Award.  Sariva Goetz (Les Miserables) will musical direct.  Lorin Latarro is the choreographer.  Lighting design is by Ed McCarthy.  Costume design is by Jennifer Caprio and sound design is by Jim van Bergen.

Laurence Holzman and Felicia Needleman’s other collaborations include That Time of the Year, an original holiday musical revue that had its off-Broadway premiere at the York Theatre (original cast recording due out on JAY Records this fall); Wallenberg, a musical drama about Raoul Wallenberg which premiered at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2006; Suddenly Hope, an original musical comedy that played at the Denver Civic Theatre and the Stamford Center for the Arts; and a musical version of the 1942 film I Married a Witch, for which they earned ASCAP’s Sammy Cahn Award for Outstanding Lyricists.

In addition to composing music for The Jerusalem Syndrome, That Time of the Year and Suddenly Hope, Kyle Rosen also orchestrated the music for the NBC Movie-of-the-Week, A Child Lost Forever.  He is the recipient of the Milton Lyon Award for songwriting and is a former president of the Princeton Triangle Club. 

Venue:
37 Arts, Theatre C
450 West 37th Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues)

Performances:
Tuesday, Sept. 23rd at 8:00 pm (Opening)
Wednesday, Sept. 24th at 1:00 pm
Friday, Sept. 26th at 9:00 pm
Saturday, Sept. 27th at 1:00 pm
Thursday, Oct. 2nd at 9:00 pm
Sunday, Oct. 5th at 5:00 pm
 
 
About NYMF

Hailed as "the Sundance of Musical Theatre," The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) exists to revitalize one of America’s greatest art forms by discovering, supporting and promoting new musical theater artists, producers, and projects, and by introducing a diverse audience to the vibrancy of contemporary musical theater. Since its inception in 2004, the three-week annual festival has premiered more than 130 new musicals – many of which have gone on to award-winning productions in New York, in regional theaters and on tour in 38 states, and nine countries worldwide.  NYMF 2004 hit Altar Boyz has played well over 1,000 performances off-Broadway and is now in its fourth year at New World Stages; fellow NYMF alum [title of show] recently began performances at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway.
 
Widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery, NYMF is the flagship program of The National Music Theater Network, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group and TheaterMania.com, and is supported by amNewYork, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Frank & Camille's Fine Pianos, HX Magazine, Jossip.com, King Displays, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, Metromix.com, The New York Blade, Next Magazine, Panasonic Astrovision, Queerty.com, Tekserve, TheMENEvent, VOGA Italia, and The Zipper Factory. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
 
Tickets can be purchased online at www.nymf.org, by calling (212) 352-3101 or in person at one of the following advance sale box offices:  45th Street Theater - 354 West 45th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenue); ATA - Chernuchin Theater - 314 West 54th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenue); MMAC - 248 West 60th Street (between 10th and 11th Avenue); TBG Theatre - 312 West 36th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenue.  For more information visit www.nymf.org.