THE BURNT PART BOYS Announces Complete Off Broadway Casting, Previews 4/30

Playwrights Horizons (Artistic Director, Tim Sanford; Managing Director, Leslie Marcus) and Vineyard Theatre (Artistic Director, Douglas Aibel; Executive Director, Jennifer Garvey-Blackwell) have announced complete casting for their co-production of the New York premiere of the new musical THE BURNT PART BOYS by Mariana Elder (book), Chris Miller (music) and Nathan Tysen (lyrics). With direction and musical staging by four-time Helen Hayes Award winner Joe Calarco (Shakespeare's R&J), the production will begin previews on Friday, April 30 at 8PM with an Opening Night set for Tuesday, May 25. The limited engagement will run through Sunday, June 13 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theatre (416 West 42nd Street).

The cast of THE BURNT PART BOYS will feature Charlie Brady (South Pacific), Al Calderon (13), Andrew Durand (Spring Awakening, Yank!), Steve French (Manifesto at Second Stage), Noah Galvin (Cirque du Soleil's Wintuk), Michael Park (Smokey Joe's Café, the recent Applause for Encores!, three-time Daytime Emmy nominee as Jack Snyder on "As the World Turns"), Molly Ranson (August: Osage County), Randy Redd (Some Men, Parade, Ring of Fire) and Asa Somers (Grey Gardens, Next to Normal).

Coal country, West Virginia, 1962. Fourteen year-old Pete's fighting to claim his past. His older brother Jake's hoping to forge a future. With their friends, they've embarked on a life-altering journey to the mine that took their father's life. Featuring a vibrant, haunting bluegrass and pop-inspired score, this gripping new musical from an acclaimed new team will capture your heart as it finds the streaks of light within the darkness.

The production will feature scenic design by Brian Prather, costume design by Elizabeth Flauto, lighting design by Chris Lee and sound design by Lindsay Jones. Orchestrations are by Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin (The Light in the Piazza) and Musical Direction is by Vadim Feichtner. Production Stage Manager is Lori Lundquist.

After an initial developmental production at Barrington Stage Company in 2006, THE BURNT PART BOYS has had an innovative production and development schedule on the way to its Off-Broadway premiere. Following a developmental Lab Production at Vineyard Theatre in spring 2009, the musical was presented last summer at New York Stage and Film (Artistic Director, Johanna Pfaelzer; Producing Directors Mark Linn-Baker, Max Mayer, Leslie Urdang) at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie. The Off-Broadway premiere is a co-production between Playwrights Horizons and Vineyard Theatre.

The unique developmental track of THE BURNT PART BOYS comes in part under the aegis of the Playwrights Horizons MUSICALS IN PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE. This program is generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to develop new musicals in partnership with regional theaters, wholly within the non-profit system from start to finish. For THE BURNT PART BOYS, this partnership is between Playwrights Horizons and New York Stage and Film.

With THE BURNT PART BOYS, Playwrights Horizons, Vineyard Theatre and New York Stage and Film all continue their commitment to developing unique and ground-breaking new musicals. At Playwrights Horizons, these include such musicals as Grey Gardens, James Joyce's The Dead, Floyd Collins, Assassins, Once on This Island and Sunday in the Park with George. At Vineyard Theatre, these include such musicals as The Scottsboro Boys, Avenue Q, [title of show], The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, Eli's Comin' and Dream True. New York Stage and Film has developed new musicals by artists including Pete Townshend, Duncan Sheik and Steven Slater, John Patrick Shanley, Henry Krieger and Christopher Durang.

The performance schedule for THE BURNT PART BOYS will be Tuesdays through Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2:30 PM &8PM and Sundays at 2:30 PM &7:30 PM. Tickets are $70 and will go on sale to the general public starting Friday, April 2. Tickets may be purchased online via TicketCentral.com, by phone at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily), or in person at the Ticket Central Box Office, 416 West 42nd Street (between Ninth &Tenth Avenues).

A ticketing initiative created as part of Playwrights Horizons' Arts Access program, LIVEforFIVE makes available $5 tickets for the first preview performance of each Playwrights Horizons production through a lottery via the company's website. The LIVEforFIVE lottery for THE BURNT PART BOYS will be for tickets to the first preview on Friday, April 30 at 8 PM. Details for the lottery are as follows: beginning Wednesday, April 21 at 10 AM, theatergoers can enter the lottery by filling out an entry form at www.playwrightshorizons.org. Entries will be accepted until Monday, April 26 at 12 Noon. Winners of the lottery will be notified via email no later than 3:00 PM on Monday, April 26 with instructions on how to book their $5 tickets. Unclaimed tickets will be offered via email starting at 12 Noon on Tuesday, April 27 on a first-come, first-served basis. One or two tickets may be purchased for $5 each. At least 50 tickets will be available for Mainstage shows via the lottery.

Reflecting Playwrights Horizons' ongoing commitment to making its productions more affordable to younger audiences, the theater company will offer HOTtix, $20 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before showtime to patrons aged 30 and under. Proof of age required. One ticket per person, per purchase. STUDENT RUSH, $15 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before curtain to full-time graduate and undergraduate students. One ticket per person, per purchase. Valid student ID required.

LIVEforFIVE, HOTtix and STUDENT RUSH are some of Playwrights Horizons' popular Arts Access initiatives, which allow the institution to reach out to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a full-price theater ticket. This program is supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The McGraw-Hill Companies and the Elroy and Terry Krumholz Foundation.

A special open captioned performance of THE BURNT PART BOYS for theatergoers who are deaf and hard of hearing will be held on the Saturday, May 15 matinee at 2:30 PM. Funding for this program is provided, in part, by the Theodore H. Barth Foundation and the Theatre Development Fund's TAP Plus program in cooperation with the New York State Council on the Arts.

How to order tickets for the open captioned performance:
? Online: log on to www.playwrightshorizons.org
? Phone: call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily) via Relay Service (800) 421-1220
? TTY: call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (noon-8pm daily) via Relay Service (800) 662-1220
? By fax: a printable order form may be found online at ww.playwrightshorizons.org/tickets.html

In addition, special Post-Performance Discussions with members of the cast and creative team will take place immediately after the following three performances: Wednesday evening, May 5 at 8PM, Wednesday evening, May 12 at 8PM and Sunday matinee, May 16 at 2:30 PM.

Playwrights Horizons' season productions are generously supported by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Playwrights Horizons is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Shubert Foundation and Time Warner Inc.

THE BURNT PART BOYS has also received generous support from the Shen Family Foundation.

BIOGRAPHIES

Mariana Elder (Book). Credits include The Burnt Part Boys (New York Stage and Film, Vineyard Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, Theatreworks Palo Alto, University of Nebraska: Lincoln, National Endowment of the Arts Grant, American Critics New Play Finalist); This Side of Paradise (Theater for a New City, Bank Street Theater, Hudson Backstage Theater, Manhattan Theatre Source, published Estrogenius Sourcebook); Run Teddy Run (Electric Pear, NYU/Playwrights Horizons, Musical Theater Works, Ensemble Studio Theatre Rusty Magee Fellowship, Daryl Roth Award). Graduate of NYU Tisch (Dean's Fellow) and Grinnell College, teaching artist for Lincoln Center Theater and Dreamyard Project.

Chris Miller (Music) studied piano and voice at Elon University and Musical Theatre Writing at NYU. With Nathan Tysen, he has written an album of folk/cabaret songs entitled Point A, a musical based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (Joe Calarco, book) and the Off-Broadway song cycle Fugitive Songs, which was nominated for a Drama Desk Award (Outstanding Revue). He is a contributing composer (Mark Campbell, lyrics) to the song cycle Songs From an Unmade Bed produced at NYTW in 2005 (cast album on Sh-K-Boom Records). His string quartet Moment of Weakness premiered at Symphony Space in 2007. His songs have been performed at Lincoln Center, Joe's Pub, Don't Tell Mamas, The Triad and The Knitting Factory. Awards: 2003 Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Grant, 2003 Frederick Lowe Foundation Grant, 2004 Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award, 2006 Richard Rodgers Award, 2007 Kitty Carlisle Hart Musical Theatre Award from the Vineyard Theatre, ASCAP Plus Awards 2005-07, one of the Dramatists Guild Magazine's "50 To Watch" in 2007.

Nathan Tysen (Lyrics), profiled in The Dramatist Magazine under "Fifty to Watch," has written The Burnt Part Boys (music by Chris Miller, book by Mariana Elder, finalist for the American Theatre Critics New Play Award). Other work with Miller includes their song cycle Fugitive Songs (2008 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Revue) and an adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg's picture book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (book by Joe Calarco, world premiere at Barrington Stage, Boston Globe Top Ten Pick of 2008). He's received awards and grants from many foundations including Richard Rodgers, Jonathan Larson, Frederick Loewe, Kitty Carlisle Hart and Daryl Roth. He is currently working with Miller on Molly's Delicious (book by Craig Wright) for Playwrights Horizons/Theatreworks, an adaptation of Tuck Everlasting, and a new musical commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater.

Joe Calarco (Direction/Musical Staging) is the adaptor/director of Shakespeare's R&J, which ran for a year Off-Broadway, becoming the longest running version of Romeo and Juliet in New York history, and earning him a Lortel Award. He also directed the play's award-winning premieres in Chicago, DC, London and Tokyo. He's previously worked with The Burnt Part Boys writers Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen directing their song cycle Fugitive Songs (Drama Desk nomination, Best Musical Revue). Additional New York credits include Floyd and Clea Under the Western Sky (Playwrights Horizons), Boy (Primary Stages), ...in the absence of spring... (Second Stage), Bury the Dead (Transport Group) and Sarah, Plain and Tall. He's earned four Helen Hayes Awards for Best Director (Assassins, Urinetown, Nijinsky's Last Dance and Side Show, all at Signature Theatre).

Charlie Brady (Jake) made his Broadway debut in the Lincoln Center Theater production of South Pacific. National tours: Les Misérables, Mamma Mia! Regional: Barrington Stage Company (The Burnt Part Boys, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick), North Shore Music Theater (Les Misérables), St. Louis Muny (Miss Saigon), Moonlight Amphitheater (The Music Man). He was a series regular on the TV show "Kids Incorporated."

Al Calderon (Pete) made his Broadway debut as Eddie in the Jason Robert Brown musical 13. He performed the role of Patrick in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular 2007, also appearing in the role on television. Regional: Grease, Bye Bye Birdie, The Sound of Music, 13.

Andrew Durand (Chet) recently appeared in the Off-Broadway premiere of the musical Yank! at The York. He made his Broadway debut as Georg and understudying Moritz in Spring Awakening. He is a recent graduate of the Boston Conservatory, BFA musical theatre.

Steve French (Roy Tinns). New York: Manifesto (Second Stage); Still the River Runs, Professional Skepticism (Zootopia). Regional: Avenue X (Alliance Theatre); Camelot, Big River (Goodspeed Musicals); Othello, A Christmas Carol (Hartford Stage Company); A Moon for the Misbegotten, The Mystery of Irma Vep (Long Wharf).

Noah Galvin (Dusty) originated the role of Billy in Ace (Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Playhouse in the Park in Cincinnati) for which he won a Kevin Kline Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical. Galvin also originated the role of Jamie in Cirque du Soleil's Wintuk at Madison Square Garden. National tour: Les Misérables (Gavroche). Regional: The Who's Tommy (Bay Street Theatre).

Michael Park (Dad) has earned three Daytime Emmy nominations for his long-running role as detective Jack Snyder on the CBS daytime drama "As the World Turns." His Broadway credits include the original company of Smokey Joe's Café, Little Me and as standby for Billy Bigelow in Carousel at Lincoln Center. He most recently starred opposite Christine Ebersole in the Encores! production of Applause. Off-Broadway credits include Violet at Playwrights Horizons, Hello Again at Lincoln Center and Milk and Honey at AJT.

Molly Ranson (Frances). Broadway/London: Jean in August: Osage County (2009 Olivier Award nomination, Best Company Performance). Recent graduate of LaGuardia Arts High School: Mother in Ragtime, Moll in The Cradle Will Rock. She had the distinction of playing the title role in the recent workshop of the notorious musical Carrie.

Randy Redd (Miner Boggs). Broadway: Ring of Fire, Parade (Lincoln Center and national tour). Other credits include Some Men (Second Stage), Lucky Stiff (York), Smoke on the Mountain (Lambs), Pump Boys and Dinettes (20th Anniversary) and Andrew Lloyd Webber's By Jeeves (Kennedy Center). Film: Kinsey, After the Storm.

Asa Somers (Miner Taylor) originated the role of Doctor Madden in the Second Stage production of Next to Normal and recently joined the Broadway production. Other Broadway: Grey Gardens, Taboo, Dance of the Vampires, The Rocky Horror Show. Off-Broadway: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (title role), Once Around the Sun. Regional includes The Man in the White Suit (NY Stage &Film) and Hair (TUTS Houston).