Al Tapper News

The National Pastime has been a fan favorite for movie buffs since the infancy of the two American institutions.  The annual celebration of that connection returns this week in Cooperstown at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's 13th Annual Film Festival.  Ted Williams: “The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived” headlines the Film Festival, which begins on Friday, Sept. 21.   The film was produced by Al Tapper, composer and lyricist of the Off Broadway hits 'Sessions', 'An Evening at the Carlyle', 'All Aboard!' and 'National Pastime,' the baseball musical which has played all over the world.  Tapper's latest musical 'The Paparazzi', opens in Guadalajara October 19th.  Tapper has also produced the hit documentaries 'Broadway: The Golden Age' and 'Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy'.  'Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy' won the 2013 Peabody Award.

In 2010 the musical 'Sessions', (produced by Algonquin Theater Productions, book, music and lyrics by Al Tapper) opened in Guadalajara, becoming the first Off Broadway musical to ever play in Mexico's second largest city. It won Best Musical of the Year.

The book and songs for the new musical 'The Paparazzi' are being written in Manhattan but the director, actors and designers who are going to bring it to life are three thousand miles away. Mau Cedeno is currently in Guadalajara, Mexico, directing rehearsals for the brand new show with songs by Al Tapper and book by Tony Sportiello, who reside in New York, Utilizing email and Facebook the collaborators work on the show daily despite being in two separate countries. 'The Paparazzi' is scheduled to open at the Vivien Blumenthal Theatre in Guadalajara this October,

During his remarkable career with the Boston Red Sox, Ted Williams earned many nicknames - The Kid, The Splendid Splinter and Teddy Ballgame, but the only nickname that he wanted was “the greatest hitter who ever lived.” In that pursuit, he combined his preternatural gifts with a fierce work ethic to become widely regarded as one of the greatest ever to play the game of baseball and in the process elevated the science of hitting in ways still emulated today.

With all the talk of building walls between Mexico and the U.S., it's encouraging to know there's also talk of creating bridges between the two countries, at least in the world of theater. Since 2010 Algonquin Theater Productions in New York has been working with acclaimed Mexican director Mauricio Cedeno in Guadalajara to create new works which transcends politics or national interests. Productions of the Algonquin musicals Sessions and National Pastime have been produced in Guadalajara, with National Pastime being the 'most awarded musical work in the history of Western Mexico.' The companies are now trying something revolutionary: they are creating a new musical simultaneously in both New York and Guadalajara. They feel that now more than ever artists across the world must reach out and embrace the craft in a way which shows we all have a common core of humanity.

'The Paparazzi' is a new musical about the tabloid news industry dominated by the fictional paper, the New York Beacon. In keeping with the premise, Algonquin Theater Productions has chosen to advertise its upcoming public readings on social media with a series of satirical, eye catching fake headlines. Each one features a member of the cast with a famous celebrity.

Adrianne Tolsch, the first female House MC at the legendary Catch a Rising Star was remembered at the Friars Club last night and you can only imagine what happens when comics commemorate one of their own in the confines of the Milton Berle Room's husband, former Letterman writer Bill Sheft hosted the evening which featured some of his wife's favorite comics… Maureen Langan, Brian Cichocki, Rose Bennett, Jeff Stison, Cory Kahaney, Patty Rosborough, and Judy Gold.

Algonquin Theater Productions presents the reading of an original musical by Al Tapper and Tony Sportiello, ripped from today's headlines. At a time when CNN, MSNBC and FOX are falling over themselves to fight the label of being 'fake news', the New York Beacon embraces it. The Paparazzi highlights the men and women who sacrifice their blood, their sweat and their dignity in an effort to get the raciest, steamiest, most provocative pictures and stories involving celebrities, regardless of the truth. L.R. Davidson plays Christie Barnes, an ambitious young reporter whose dream is to win a Pulitzer Prize but whose reality at the moment is stuck following D List celebrities at weddings and bar mitzvahs. Spencer Plachy plays the morally bankrupt owner of the Beacon, less interested in 'all the news that's fit to print' so much as how many Likes it will get on the Facebook Page. Drama Desk Award Winner Ken Jennings (Sweeney Todd) narrates the modern day fable as the spirit of Walter Winchell in the Broadway bound musical featuring the talents of Abe Goldfarb, Laua Kaldis, Kelli Maguire, Michael McIntyre and Dan Van Why.

Mauricio Cedeno, in association with Algonquin Theater Productions/Armando Morales/Cultura UDG/Secretaria de Cultura de Jalisco brings back their award winning smash musical hit National Pastime to the historic Teatro Vivian Blumenthal in Guadalajara, Mexico for eight encore performances, starting December 7th.

Mauricio Cedeno, in association with Algonquin Theater Productions/Armando Morales/Cultura UDG/Secretaria de Cultura de Jalisco brings back their award winning smash musical hit National Pastime to the historic Teatro Vivian Blumenthal in Guadalajara, Mexico for eight encore performances, starting December 7th.

Saturday night the largest theatrical festival in Mexico, the 2017 MET Jalisco, gave out their awards for excellence The ceremony was held in the historic Degollado Theater, in Guadalajara, Mexico. For the first time in the festival's twenty-one year history, a musical was included - National Pastime, music and lyrics by Al Tapper, book by Tony Sportiello, directed by Mauricio Cedeno.

Broadway veteran Ken Jennings will be portraying legendary newspaper columnist and radio personality Walter Winchell in the upcoming reading of the Broadway bound musical The Paparazzi, September 18th 3pm at The Davenport Theatre (354 West 45th Street).

On Friday, July 28th, the Jalisco Culture Secretariat announced the fifteen selected productions which would participate in historic XXI State Theater Show of Jalisco, Mexico, 2017. More than eighty shows throughout Mexico were considered, out of which fifteen were chosen, including National Pastime.

No, not that paparazzi, although no doubt they will be present, too.  The Paparazzi is the original new musical by Algonquin Theater Productions, bursting its way to Broadway in 2018. 

Algonquin Theater Productions, in association with What If Productions is proud to present The Bet, a new musical by Tony Sportiello and David Wolfson, as part of this year's Midtown International Theatre Festival.

Algonquin Theater Productions, in association with What If Productions is proud to present The Bet, a new musical by Tony Sportiello and David Wolfson, as part of this year's Midtown International Theatre Festival.

Algonquin Theater Productions, in association with What If Productions is proud to present The Bet, a new musical by Tony Sportiello and David Wolfson, as part of this year's Midtown International Theatre Festival. The two person musical is directed by Tom Herman, and features the talents of Dana Aber and Spencer Plachy. Performances are Wednesday, July 26th at 6pm, Friday, July 28th at 7:15pm and Saturday, July 29th at 4pm. The show is slated to run Off Broadway in the fall of 2017.

This Saturday, March 25th, the baseball musical 'National Pastime' by Al Tapper and Tony Sportiello opens in Guadalajara, Mexico.  The musical, last produced by Robyn Goodman and directed by Hunter Foster at Bucks County Playhouse in 2015, tells the tale of a radio station during the Depression so desperate for ratings that they created a fictional baseball team which can't lose.  Because the games are held in Europe no one can see them.  The gimmick is so successful that the radio station and the town of Baker City Iowa is saved.  At least until Life Magazine shows up.

Executive Producer Sonia Carrion of The Girl Behind The Curtain Productions announced today the complete cast and creative team for the world premiere of a new musical, ALL ABOARD! With Music & Lyrics by composer Al Tapper, recognized for his books, plays and films, and with a book by internationally produced and published playwright Tony Sportiello and with direction by Warren Scott Friedman.    

Algonquin Theater Productions and Jason Hewitt welcome Lindsay Nicole Chambers (Lysistrata Jones, Legally Blonde, Hairspray), Mel Johnson Jr. (Jekyll & Hyde, Hot Feet, The Lion King, Big Deal, The Rink, Eubie!, On the Twentieth Century), and James Ludwig (Spamalot, Little Shop of Horrors) for the world premiere of ON THE RAILS, a new musical with book by Tony Sportiello (Second Chance, National Pastime), music and lyrics by Al Tapper (Sessions, An Evening at the Carlyle), arrangements and musical direction by David Wolfson, and directed by Misti B. Wills (In Search of Euphoria).