Planet Connections Presents DISENCHANTED: A NEW MUSICAL

The Planet Connections Festivity presents a free staged reading of Disenchanted: A New Musical written by Nikki M. Jenkins. Aaron Pratt will direct a cast of nine including Doreen Montalvo Mann* (Broadway: In the Heights), Joshua James Campbell* (1st National Tour: Legally Blonde; Harv Fremont in Curtains, Paper Mill Playhouse/TUTS-Houston), Nikki M. Jenkins*, Jennifer Mintzer*, Nicholas Ryan Rowe*, Topher Nuccio, Kristin Mularz, Jenna Bitow, Jerome Amanquiton. The readings will be held on Tuesday, June 21st at The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, and on Friday, June 24th at 7pm at The Cherry Lane Studio Theater, 38 Commerce Street, NYC. Actors' Equity Association Staged Reading. *Member, Actors' Equity Association.

The staged readings of the musical are open to the public and will run for approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. Reservations for June 21st can be made by visiting http://planetconnections.org/disenchanted/. Reservations for June 24th can be made by emailing paul@offoffpr.com.

The Truth is never Black and White. Once upon a time, in a faraway land called Manhattan, there lived a socialite named Mandi. Blonde, beautiful, and unbelievably rich, this paparazzi princess led a fairytale life. But alas! Unbeknownst to Mandi, she had been living under the spell of a terrible "White" lie. And her perfect world was about to come tumbling down. With her Mumsy and Dadsy dead and gone, it would be up to her doting beau Daniel and twin besties Bee-Bee and Dee-Dee to protect Mandi from the truth. All was going well, until mean-spirited Margarita Torres and Stephen Q. Burkowski vow to bring Mandi's ignorant bliss to an end. But fear not. Sometimes when the fairytale ends, that's when the real story begins...

Originally titled "Denial! Time to Face the Musical," Nikki first workshopped her piece in April 2009 with the Frank Silvera Writer's Workshop. In July of the same year, it received a stage reading at the Matthew Corozine Studio Theatre. Positive feedback prompted Ms. Jenkins to submit her developing musical to Theater for the New City's Scratch Night Emerging Playwrights' Program. It was accepted and presented as a one night Equity Stage Reading in September 2009. This led to a showcase at Theater for the New City, where it ran from April 15- May 2, 2010 and quickly became a top grossing production. In 2011 Ms. Jenkins became the latest recipient of the Looking Glass Theatre Space Grant, where "Denial!" was presented for 8 nights as a concert revue. Upon the completion of that run, Nikki M. Jenkins and Aaron Pratt teamed up to revisit, revamp, and resubmit this work to the 2011 Planet Connections Festivity as "DISENCHANTED."

Playwright Nikki M. Jenkins* (Book, Music & Lyrics) debuts her musical "DISENCHANTED" at the 2011 Planet Connections Festivity. Nikki has developed this piece (originally titled "Denial! Time to Face the Musical") through her affiliation with the Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop, the Matthew Corozine Studio Theatre, and Theater for the New City. She is also the most recent winner the Looking Glass Theatre Space Grant. An actress as well as a playwright, Nikki is a member of the Actors' Equity Association and recently joined the Greenwich Village Follies Company at Manhattan Theatre Source. Regional credits include playing Dionne in "Hair" and Brenda in "Smokey Joe's Cafe." Ms. Jenkins looks forward to performing in ReVision Theatre's "Dreamgirls" concert in May 2011, and is currently featured in several new web series, including "Sherry's Kitchen" and "Therapy."

Director Aaron Pratt worked on "DISENCHANTED" at a limited-run at Theatre for the New City under its original title, "Denial! Time to Face the Musical." Aaron's performance and production credits are varied and include performances and residencies with regional, Off-Off and Off-Broadway playhouses including The Irish Repertory Theatre, Theatre for the New City, North Carolina Theatre, Burning Coal Theatre, Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy and Loessin Playhouse. Production highlights include I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change; Merrily, We Roll Along; Miss Siagon; Hair, Hedda Gabler; Flora; The Red Menice; and Chicago.

Brad Gardner, Music Director/Arrangements/Orchestrations. Brad has been involved in the past two productions of Disenchanted at Theatre for the New City and Looking Glass Theatre. He is currently a pianist at The Addams Family on Broadway, as well as at Lucky Guy, a new musical currently playing at the Little Shubert Off-Broadway. He recently music directed Lippa's Wild Party at Fordham University and played keyboard for the Off-Broadway production of Sky Boys. Regionally, he has worked as a music director at Arena Stage and North Carolina Theatre; productions include HAIR, Peter Pan, The Sound of Music, Bat Boy, Miss Saigon, West Side Story, Altar Boyz, Whistle Down the Wind, and High School Musical 2.

The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity is New York‘s premiere eco-friendly/socially-conscious theatre festival. Fostering a diverse cross-section of performances, the festival seeks to inspire artists and audiences both creatively and fundamentally, in a festive atmosphere. At the heart of the festivity are like-minded individuals striving to create professional, meaningful theatre, while supporting organizations, which give back to the community at large. The Festivity will take place June 1st through the 26th at Gene Frankel Theatre (24 Bond Street) and The Robert Moss Theater at 440 Studios (440 Lafayette Street) in New York City. www.planetconnections.org.

Disenchanted: A New Musical is produced by Aaron Pratt and Nikki M. Jenkins. Musical Director/Orchestrations: Brad Gardner; Stage Manager: Erin Person; Lighting Design/Photography: Timothy Greeson; Casting: Wojcik | Seay; Publicist: Paul Siebold/Off Off PR.

The run time is approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.

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