Carrollwood's Hagelstein Cast in National Tour of THE MUSIC MAN

The Carrollwood Cultural Center is pleased to announce that Sebastian Hagelstein, a member of the Center's Broadway Kids youth theatre group, has been cast in a national touring production of Meredith Willson's The Music Man.
 
Hagelstein, 10, joined the Carrollwood Cultural Center's Broadway Kids when the program started in 2008. In fact, Hagelstein was the very first student enrolled in the program, then under the direction of the late Mary Ann Scialdo and her sister Vicki Cuccia. Since then, he appeared in the Center's two main stage performances, first as the title character in Lionel Bart's Oliver! and then as Winthrop in The Music Man.
 
Shortly after the Center's run of The Music Man in July 2010, Hagelstein and his parents, Ed and Georgia, traveled to New York to audition with Windwood Productions for a part in their traveling production of the show. A few days after arriving back home to Tampa, the Hagelsteins received word that Sebastian was cast, and on December 26, the Hagelsteins were back in New York for rehearsals.
 
"We are so proud of Sebastian," said Paul Berg, executive director of the Carrollwood Cultural Center and a trained actor/director who played opposite Hagelstein in The Music Man. "He has incredible focus and really knows how to develop a character, making it easy to play against and easy for the audience to respond."
 
Hagelstein, a 5th grader at Lee Academy for Gifted Education in Tampa, has appeared in several local community productions in addition to Oliver! and The Music Man at the Carrollwood Cultural Center. Other credits include Tiny Tim/Turkey Boy in A Christmas Carol, Ben in Meet Joe Young, Randy in A Christmas Story as well as the short independent film Ben Burgess as young Ben.
 
Windwood Productions' The Music Man opened in Frostburg, MD on Jan. 15 and will conclude in Uniontown, PA on April 30 after more than 80 performances in more than 80 cities including the Youkey Theatre in Lakeland, FL on Wed., Feb 16. Call (863) 834-8111 to inquire about tickets.
 
For more information about the Carrollwood Cultural Center Broadway Kids, visit www.CarrollwoodCenter.org or call (813) 269-1310.