Making Books Sing Presents TEA WITH CHACHAJI, Begins 1/25/2010

Now in it's 14th season - Making Books Sing, the New York-based company dedicated to turning books for young readers into musical works for the stage, will present the world premiere of the new family musical TEA WITH CHACHAJI - with Book & Lyrics by Gwynne Watkins and Music by Denver Casado, with performances set for the Lovinger Theatre at Lehman College in The Bronx; BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center in Manhattan; the Goldstein Theatre at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn; and Stanford Lively Arts in Stanford, CA.

Based on the award-winning book "Chachaji's Cup" by Uma Krishnaswami, TEA WITH CHACHAJI - a Making Books Sing commission - is a world-premiere musical that features the history and culture of India. Indian-born Chachaji, Neel's Great Uncle, sips chai as he entertains his great nephew with captivating Hindu stories and exciting Bollywood movies. The greatest story of all, and the most difficult to share, is found in Chachaji's teacup. This precious heirloom migrated with young Chachaji and his mother from Pakistan to India after the Partition of 1947. As Neel grows older and busier, so grows the distance between his American life and Indian traditions. In one careless moment, the teen shatters the teacup and his uncle's heart. As he repairs the broken pieces of both, Neel comes to understand the true value of family heritage.

With book and lyrics by Gwynne Watkins and music by Denver Casado, the score of TEA WITH CHACHAJI - under the musical direction of Tim Rosser - will be performed on keyboard, as well as sitar and tabla. TEA WITH CHACHAJI is directed and choreographed by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj (who directed/choreographed Making Books Sing's acclaimed A SHELTER IN OUR CAR) and will feature traditional Indian dance, as well as, Bollywood style dance.

The cast of TEA WITH CHACHAJI features Raja Burrows, Tony Mirrcandani (THE MERCHANTS OF BOLLYWOOD), Stephanie Klemons (IN THE HEIGHTS), Jose Sepulveda, and Soneela Nankani.

Design team for TEA WITH CHACHAJI is - Cory Einbinder (Set Design), Bill Grady (Sound Design), Doug Cox (Lighting Design), and Leslie Bernstein (Costume Design).

Additionally, Making Books Sing will partner with Kenneth Cole to host a "Shopping Night," at the Grand Central Station Kenneth Cole store (42nd Street and Lexington Avenue) on Wednesday, December 9 from 6:30pm to 9:00pm. Award-winning WPIX-Ch. 11 "Morning News" anchor Sukanya Krishnan will read excerpts from "Chachaji's Cup" and will share stories of growing up Indian in America. Kenneth Cole will donate 20% of all sales from the evening to support Making Books Sing's arts in education programs as well as SAFE (Shelters, Arts, Families and Education.). This event is FREE and open to public.

Making Books Sing
- where theatre inspires learning - is the only theatre company of its kind dedicated to combining literacy with the performing arts by creating professional theatre works based on contemporary children's books from diverse cultures. In previous years, Making Books Sing has developed a devoted audience of school-age children and their families (73,000 and counting!) with its musical productions based on books such as: BEAUTIFUL WARRIOR, BIRD WOMAN: THE STORY OF SACAJAWEA, A BAND OF ANGELS, THE ORPHAN SINGER, THE BUTTERFLY, A SHELTER IN OUR CAR, and last year's Jose Limon: The Making of an Artist.

Making Books Sing
began in 1996 by Barbara Zinn Krieger (Artistic Director and Founder) and Debra Sue Lorenzen, (Executive Director and Co-Founder), as a program of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Vineyard Theatre. There it enjoyed phenomenal success as an entertainment program for family audiences, and even greater success in New York City schools, where Making Books Sing sends professional theatre artists each year to teach students and their teachers how to create their own plays and musicals based on books.

As many as 12,000 school children from across the four boroughs of New York City will attend Making Books Sing daytime performances of TEA WITH CHACHAJI.

Denver Casado (Music) is the composer of two full-length musicals (Life on the Mississippi, Just Like That) and five children's musicals (America's Top Ensemble, Behind the Scenes, Space Pirates!, Musicville, The Big Leap) all of which have had performances in New York. Life on the Mississippi, based on the Mark Twain novel, will be produced in 2010 at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City and at the American Folklore Theatre in Wisconsin. His work has been featured at the Goodspeed Opera House, the York Theatre, the Flea Theatre and Symphony Space. Denver is an alumnus of the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, holds a degree in Music Technology and Composition from NYU and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Previous work by Gwynne Watkins (Book & Lyrics) for children includes the original musical Space Pirates! (Garden Players, Forest Hills NY), the three-play series In Between Worlds (Little Theater, Ridgewood NJ), and Wow! What Does That Mean?, an original Christmas pageant for Sunday schools. Gwynne is an alumnus of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Uma Krishnaswami (author "Chachaji's Cup") is an award-winning children's book author. She is "recognized as a major voice in the expanding of international and multicultural young adult fiction and children's literature," according to the JOURNAL OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE. In addition to "Chachaji's Cup" Ms. Krishnaswami has written: "Naming Maya" (recognized as a Notable Book for a Global Society by the International Reading Association), "Remember Grandpa," "Bringing Asha Home," "The Broken Tusk: Stories of the Hindu God Ganesha" (recipient of the Scientific American Young Readers Award), "The Closet Ghosts," "The Happiest Tree," "Monsoon," and others.

Barbara Zinn Krieger is the Founder and Chair Emerita of the major Off-Broadway Vineyard Theatre, where she served as Executive Director from 1981-2002. During her tenure, the Vineyard and its productions earned more than 40 awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes and the Tony Award. In 1996, she launched Making Books Sing as the Vineyard's children's theatre program to apply the Vineyard's high standards of artistry and content to work for young people. Making Books Sing continues today as an independent organization. Barbara has written 12 librettos, including eight for Making Books Sing.

TEA WITH CHACHAJI
will give performances as follows:

THE BRONX - January 25 - January 28 at 10:30am
Lovinger Theatre @ Lehman College - 250 Bedford Park Blvd. West - Bronx, NY

MANHATTAN - January 30 & January 31 at 1:00pm & 4:00pm; February 1 - 3 at 10:00am and 12:00pm; & February 3 at
7:00pm.
BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center - 199 Chambers Street (between Greenwich and West Streets) New York, NY

BROOKLYN - February 8 - 11 at 10:30am
Goldstein Theatre @ Kingsborough Community College - 2001 Oriental Blvd. - Brooklyn, NY

STANFORD, CA - February 27 at 11:00am and 2:00pm
Stanford Lively Arts - 537 Lomita Mall - Stanford, CA
www.livelyarts.stanford.edu
(for directions to the space)

Tickets for TEA WITH CHACHAJI purchased before December 4th are $13.50 for individuals and $7 for school groups; and purchased after December 4th are $16 for individuals and $8.50 for school groups and can be purchased by calling 212-573-8791 or online at www.makingbookssing.org.