Saint Michael's Playhouse to Present BROADWAY DIRECT with Bill Carmichael, John Jensen & More, 12/7

Saint Michael's Playhouse presents a benefit for the summer 2014 Playhouse season-a performance titled Broadway Direct on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, at 2 pm and 7 pm in the McCarthy Arts Center. Favorite singer/performers from the summer Playhouse will take to the stage with talent and tunes for a holiday benefit.

An all-star Playhouse cast led by Broadway veteran Bill Carmichael along with John Jensen (Fiddler on the Roof), Kathryn Markey (Nunsense, Rumors), Amanda Ryan Paige (Unnecessary Farce, Marvelous Wonderettes), and Gabrielle Stravelli (Fiddler on the Roof) will perform a festive musical event featuring the best music of Broadway!

Tickets $27; buy online at www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org or at the McCarthy Arts Center Box Office, phone and walk-up window opens December 2, (802) 654-2281. All proceeds to benefit the Saint Michael's Playhouse 2014 summer season.

Musical numbers from blockbuster Broadway shows - The Lion King, Mame, Phantom of the Opera, Guys and Dolls, Pippin, Mamma Mia and more, will be performed.

Bill Carmichael was last seen on Broadway in "Mamma Mia". Other Broadway credits include "Les Miserables", "Cats", and "Peter Pan". In Los Angeles he was in the original US premiere of "Ragtime", "Forever Plaid" and "Sweeney Todd" with Kelsey Grammer and Christine Baranski. 1st National tours include 'Phantom of the Opera' "City of Angels" "Ragtime" and' Cats'. Bill's local productions include 10 productions at Saint Michaels Playhouse, and performance throughout the state.

Kathryn Markey appeared in the St. Michael's Playhouse productions of Nunsense, The Drowsy Chaperone, the Brighton Beach trilogy, as well as directing Fiddler on the Roof, Over the Pub, Boeing, Boeing and 80 Days. She appeared in Three From Brooklyn. On-screen: Law and Order, SVU, Premium Blend, All My Children, Filmic Achievement, DutchWestTV, CollegeHumor & Amateur Hour. As co-creator of the satirical country band "The Chalks" she appears regularly around the country, most recently in Holidays With The Chalks at the ALLIANCE THEATRE in Atlanta

Amanda Ryan Paige has performed Off-B'way: Zanna Don't! (Houseman); Charlie Brown, Henry and Mudge (Lortel). Other NYC Credits: Trailer Park (NYMF); Awesome 80's Prom (workshop/co-writer); Dreams This Way/ Raw Impressions (TADA!); Babes In Toyland (Avery Fisher); Lucky Stiff (APAC). National Tour: Fiddler, Water Coolers. And a number of Playhouse shows.

John Jensen is a freelance Actor, Director, and Teacher who moved to South Burlington VT in 2011. From 2004 -2011 Mr. Jensen taught Acting, Movement, and Voice at Case Western Reserve University. Most recently John played the Rabbi in Saint Michael's Playhouse production on Fiddler on the Roof, Mike in Vermont Stage Company's production of Good People, and Marvin in Falsettos at the Town Hall Theatre in Middlebury.

Gabrielle Stravelli appeared last summer as Tzeitle in the Saint Michael's Playhouse production of Fiddler on the Roof. She has been featured in 92Y's Lyrics and Lyricists series, with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra at Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing and regularly appears at New York's Birdland Jazz Club as a featured vocalist. Gabrielle was one of 10 vocalists selected internationally for the 2011 Montreux Jazz Festival Vocal Competition and was first runner-up at the 2009 Jazzmobile Vocal Competition in Harlem, NYC.

SCOTT NICHOLAS (Music Director/Accompanist) has appeared throughout the US and internationally in solo and chamber performances, and has served as pianist for the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, The Three Irish Tenors, The Borromeo String Quartet, the Leyontene Price Vocal Arts Competition and among many others.