STAGE TUBE: Tommy Tune Makes Surprise Appearance at Noah Racey's PULSE at Asolo Rep

Asolo Repertory Theatre closed its production of Noah Racey's Pulse on June 16th, 2013. Tommy Tune made a surprise appearance at the final performance to congratulate the cast and creative team. Click below to watch the emotional backstage moment!

A song and dance celebration that harkens back to the golden age of hoofing, Pulse is written, conceived, and choreographed by Broadway song and dance man Noah Racey in collaboration with Broadway director and two-time Tony Award nominee Jeff Calhoun. Aaron Gandy is the Music Director for Pulse and is in his first season with Asolo Rep. Gandy's New York credits include The Lion King, Urinetown, and The Shaggs.

Noah Racey is an award-winning Broadway actor, singer and dancer as well as a director, choreographer, musician, and songwriter who's developed his career as a song and dance man in the great tradition of those who have come before him. His Broadway career launched in 2001 with a revival of Follies, and his work as an associate choreographer on Thoroughly Modern Millie led to a Tony Award for choreographer Rob Ashford. For ten years, Racey has served as the resident director/choreographer of the critically-acclaimed Broadway by the Year series.

The creative team behind Pulse is a mega-talented mix of Asolo Rep newcomers and veterans. In his second season with Asolo Rep, longtime Calhoun collaborator Tobin Ost bears responsibility for the look and style of the show as the Set and Costume Designer. A Yale "whiz kid," according to Calhoun, Ost earned a Tony nomination for his set design in Calhoun's production of Newsies in 2012. Ost also created the set and costume design for Calhoun's most recent Broadway show, Jekyll & Hyde, as well as for Bonnie & Clyde, which had its pre-Broadway run at Asolo Rep during the 2010-2011 season and later went on to Broadway. Lighting Designer Michael Gilliam makes his Asolo Rep debut with Pulse, as does Steve Orich, the Orchestrator, and Ross Patterson, the Arranger. Gilliam worked with Calhoun on Bonnie & Clyde on Broadway and lit Calhoun's Tony Award winning production of Dead West's Big River. Orich is best known for his contributions to Jersey Boys, for which he received a Tony nomination for Best Orchestrations. For the past 12 years, Patterson has been the arranger and musical director for the critically acclaimed Broadway by the Year concert series at The Town Hall in New York City, as well as for the Broadway Unplugged series. Sara Brians, Racey's Associate Choreographer in her first season with Asolo Rep, was the Resident Choreographer for Billy Elliot, the Musical on Broadway and in Chicago and Toronto. Kevin Kennedy, in his sixth season with Asolo Rep, is the Sound Designer. Kennedy worked with Calhoun at Asolo Rep on Bonnie & Clyde pre-Broadway. Earlier this season, he designed the sound for 1776 and Glengarry Glen Ross. Other Asolo Rep credits include My Fair Lady, Perfect Mendacity, and Deathtrap.

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