Amas Musical Theatre to Celebrate 56th Anniversary at Annual Gala Benefit Concert

Amas Musical Theatre will celebrate its 56th Anniversary at its annual Gala Benefit Concert on Monday, May 19, 2025 at Theater 555. Following the concert, there will be a reception at Penthouse 45. The evening will benefit Amas Musical Theatre’s education programs.

The gala evening will begin at 6:00pm with a champagne toast in the lobby. At 6:45pm the evening continues with a 20th Anniversary reunion concert performance of Lone Star Love or, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Texas (featuring “The Red Clay Ramblers”), conceived and adapted by John L. Haber, music and lyrics by Jack Herrick, additional music and lyrics by Tommy Thompson and Bland Simpson. Directed by Randy Skinner. The Honorary Chair is Bill Irwin.  The evening will also include a tribute to Amas Artistic Associate Lynne Taylor-Corbett.

An inspired musical western adaptation of Shakespeare's bawdy, laugh-out-loud play, Lone Star Love or, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Texas stampedes onto the stage. Lone Star Love sets the Bard's The Merry Wives of Windsor_ in post-Civil War Texas. Ex-Confederate Colonel Falstaff charms his way into the graces of Mrs. Page and Mrs. Ford, wives of two wealthy cattle ranchers, and proclaims his passions to each lady--with an eye on the irhusbands' riches. But who's fooling whom--the Colonel, mild-mannered Mrs. Page or madly jealous Mrs. Ford? And who will win the hand of pretty Miss Anne Page--local yokel Master Slender, elegant immigrant Dr. Caius or Fenton, the yodeling cowboy? Book a trip to Windsor, Texas and find out for yourself!

Amas' Fall 2004 Mainstage production at The John Houseman Theatre received two Lucille Lortel Award nominations for Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Choreography and an Outer Critics Circle nomination for Best Off-Broadway Musical. The director Michael Bogdanov and the choreographer Randy Skinner were nominated for the 2005 Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Callaway Awards for "Excellence in the Craft of Direction and Choreography."

The cast, featuring many members of the original cast is Gary Bristol, Clay Buckner, Stacia Fernandez, Harriett D. Foy, Chris Frank, Stacey Harris, Jack Herrick, John Jellison, Lauren Kennedy, David Longworth, Drew McVety, Ollie Oshay, Kilty Reidy, Nick Sullivan,, Julie Tolivar, Brandon Williams, Dana Zihlman Harshawans, Miguel Angel Vazquez, and Jay O. Sanders as Falstaff. The Production Stage Manager is Chris Steckl and Benjamin A. Vigil is Assistant Stage Manager.

“This year we are happy to be celebrating our 56th year of continuous operation at Amas Musical Theatrre,” says Donna Trinkoff, artistic producer. “It’s worthwhile looking back at some of the wonderful shows that have been on our stage. “Lone Star Love was such a terrific show with a score that is so deserving of again being heard here in New York. After a series of unfortunate incidents after the Amas production, it closed out of town. The marquis was already up on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre. I am so looking forward to hearing the wonderful score again.”