Paul Scott Goodman Opens at MetroStage 4/15-5/9

Carolyn Griffin, Producing Artistic Director of MetroStage, is pleased to announce that Paul Scott Goodman will be performing his show Son of a Stand Up Comedian, directed by Michael Baron, at MetroStage beginning April 15 through May 9, 2010. The music and lyrics were written by Goodman and the book is by Goodman and Miriam Gordon. Their work was seen at MetroStage last season when Rooms a rock romance premiered. ROOMS was nominated for 5 Helen Hayes Awards, including Outstanding Musical and Outstanding New Play or Musical, and 3 Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best Off Broadway Musical and Best Score. ROOMS moved from MetroStage to GEVA in Rochester NY and to New World Stages Off Broadway. ROOMS can currently be seen in Norwich CT and Philadelphia and soon around the country. www.roomsmusical.com. The critically acclaimed New York cast album for ROOMS was recently released and will be on sale at MetroStage during the run of Son of a Stand Up Comedian. Broadwayworld.com crowned Paul Scott Goodman "king of the rock musical on Broadway or off!" in its review of the album.

Son of a Stand Up Comedian is the story of an artist's struggle to live and survive as a writer, performer, lover and, ultimately, a father in the searing hot summer of Manhattan 1988. Goodman's songs tell a story of love and hope with wry wit and uncompromising honesty, capturing the unique sights and sounds, challenges and complexities of life as a songwriter and performer in New York City.

Goodman started writing Son of a Stand Up Comedian in 1988 on Delancey Street in New York City. Goodman and Gordon developed the show in clubs and theatres all over NYC and the East Coast under the titles Tiny Dancer and Him and Her (a combination of Tiny Dancer and a companion piece Domestica.) Most recently, it has been produced in New York City as Him and Her at the NYC International Fringe Festival for which it won an award, and at Theater One, NYC Musical TheaterWorks, the West Bank Cafe, the Bottom Line, the Bitter End, and the Sidewalk Café. It was also produced by the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia (2007), and in London at the New End Theatre (2006). This production at MetroStage has given Goodman and Gordon an opportunity to revisit this work, and the revised, expanded show is being performed for the first time as Son of a Stand Up Comedian, a title from one of the signature songs. After the success and critical acclaim of ROOMS MetroStage is pleased to welcome Goodman back to showcase him as an exciting, unique Scottish Jewish rocker in addition to being a composer and lyricist. Gregory Holloway will be performing percussion.

Paul Scott Goodman (music and lyrics) was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1984 he relocated to New York City after a year of performing in Los Angeles. Goodman wrote the book, music, and lyrics for Rooms a rock romance and Bright Lights, Big City, which was presented at the New York Theater Workshop (directed by Michael Greif), The Guggenheim Museum, the Prince Music Theater, Philadelphia and Harvard University. The CD of Bright Lights, Big City, starring Patrick Wilson, Sherie Renee Scott, Jesse L. Martin, and Christine Ebersole is available on Sh-K-Boom Records and the live performance rights are available through The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization.

Goodman was the first recipient of the Songwriters' Hall of Fame Best New Songwriter Award, winner of the Backstage Bistro Award for Domestica (book, music and lyrics), first solo recipient of the Jonathan Larson Foundation Award, and winner of the Gilman Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation Commendation Award. In London, Paul's musicals have also been produced at the National Theater, The New End Theater, and twice on BBC TV. www.paulscottgoodman.com
Miriam Gordon (book) wrote the book for ROOMS a rock romance and wrote the book and directed Him & Her, God Save the New Wave (Bottom Line, and West Bank Theater, NYC), and Marathon (New York Theater Workshop, NYC). She wrote Easterhouse for the Eugene O'Neill Cabaret Conference in 2009, and directed I'VE GOT TO SEE YOU AGAIN by two-time Grammy Award winner Jesse Harris, featuring Norah Jones. She is the recipient of the Stella Adler Talent Scholarship and the Allan S. Gordon Foundation Performing Arts Program Award. She lives in SoHo with her husband Paul Scott Goodman and their three children.
Director Michael Baron is the Associate Director of Signature Theatre and has directed over 60 productions at theaters across the country. Most recently, he directed a new production of A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theatre and The Little Dog Laughed at Signature.

Performances of Son of a Stand Up Comedian will begin April 15 (Thursday is the first preview and will be PWYC), followed by Fridays at 8, Saturdays at 5 and 8, and Sundays at 3, through May 9. Tickets are $45 and $50 and can be reserved through boxofficetickets.com/800-494-8497 or by calling 703- 548-9044. For more information go to www.metrostage.org.