PRESS RELEASE
DATE: May 5, 2008
Media Contact: Michelle Sanders, Public Relations Manager
(425) 392-1942 x124
www.villagetheatre.org
VILLAGE THEATRE produces a workshop presentation of
The last Starfighter
Based on the screenplay of the hit sci-fi motion picture
What: The Last Starfighter, a new musical
Music and Lyrics by Skip Kennon
Book by Fred Landau
Based on the Screenplay by Jonathan Betuel
Directed by David Bennett
Musical Direction by John Allman
Where: First Stage Theatre
120 Front Street North
Issaquah, WA 98027
When: May 23-25, 2008
Friday and Saturday: 8:00 PM
Sunday: 2:00 PM
Tickets: $10-$12 or FREE with a Village Originals Membership
Box Office: (425) 392-2202
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11:00 AM-7:00 PM
www.villagetheatre.org
Issaquah, Wash – Village Theatre Village Originals announces the return of the galactic space musical, The Last Starfighter as a workshop presentation. This new musical work features a book by Fred Landau with music and lyrics by Skip Kennon.
Based on the screenplay of the hit 1980s sci-fi movie, this high-flying show follows the adventures of 18-year-old Alex Rogan, a teenager with a gift for playing video games. When Alex breaks the record on his favorite intergalactic video game, he finds himself pulled into a reality where the fate of the galaxy is placed in his hands. Aided by an alien con man named Centauri, and stalked by alien bounty hunters called Zan-Do-Zans, Alex sets off on an exciting quest that will change the course of his life forever. With hilarious characters, stimulating songs, and a book that will bring this magical story to life with a bang, this is one show you won’t want to miss!
Last seen as a reading in Village Theatre Village Originals Sixth Annual Festival of New Musicals in 2006, The Last Starfighter went on to be presented as a reading with the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF). This led to a well-received full production of the show at NYMF this past fall. Skip Kennon comments, “During the NYMF festival, we felt from audience reaction that
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Page Two…Village Theatre Produces a Workshop Presentation of The Last Starfighter
there were ways of making it even stronger. At NYMF, we had several performances at which we could learn in front of an audience.”
Fred Landau adds, “Several people from Village Theatre had been in New York at the time of the festival shows, and came to see our production. They listened to what we felt we would like to try from our observations at NYMF, and they gave us some of their thoughts based on the presentations both at Village Theatre and in New York.” Skip Kennon comments, “Village Theatre offered us a chance to come back to Issaquah, this time for a longer period, to do a Workshop. And here we are.”
The Last Starfighter will feature the return of Brian Earp as Alex and Jessica Skerritt as Maggie, with Timothy McCuen Piggee taking on the role of Centauri. This is a workshop presentation and is not open for reviews. For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact Michelle Sanders at (425) 392-1942 x124 or .
About the Authors and Director
Skip Kennon (Composer/Lyricist) wrote the music for the one-man musical HERRINGBONE (Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2007 starring B.D. Wong and directed by Roger Rees; Playwrights Horizons starring David Rounds and directed by Ben Levit; Hartford Stage starring Joel Grey and directed by Graciela Daniele; Edinburgh Festival; Philadelphia's Prince Music Theater; Chicago's St. Nicholas Theater); for the 1998 Seattle Rep presentations of DON JUAN DEMARCO (directed by Joe Mantello and starring John Cullum); and for the one-act musical AFTERNOON TEA (2005 INTAR presentation at Theater Row Theaters starring Ed Harris and Amy Madigan; 2007 Summer Shorts Festival at 59E59). Skip also wrote the music and lyrics for: BLANCO (Goodspeed Opera House at Chester, National Alliance for Musical Theater, National Music Theater Network), FEATHERTOP (WPA Theater, Pennsylvania Stage Co.), and TIME AND AGAIN (Manhattan Theater Club directed by Susan Schulman; San Diego's Old Globe Theater directed by Jack O'Brien; Eugene O'Neill Center National Music Theater Conference). On film and video, his music and lyrics can be heard in the 2003 film festival favorite FRIENDS AND FAMILY (Regent Entertainment) and in Disney's 2002 DVD Premiere Award-winning video feature HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME PART II (songs sung by Jason Alexander, Tom Hulce, Charles Kimbrough and Haley Joel Osment). Skip moderated the first year of the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop for twenty years (overseeing the whole program for ten of those years) and taught at the world famous Neighborhood Playhouse for ten years. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, BMI and Musicians Local 802.
Fred Landau (Librettist) is a member of BMI and an alumnus of the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. He wrote the book and score for THE HAPPIEST OF TIMES, which was seen in production at New York's Triangle Theater and as part of BMI's Festival of Musicals in Miniature, as well as in workshop presentations at ASCAP and Circle Rep. Fred graduated from Harvard Law School and received a masters in law from NYU Law School, is an alumnus of the New School's musical theater program, and is an associate member of the Dramatists Guild. His work has also been performed as part of the National Music Theater Network's concert series at the Donnell Library Theatre. On the production end, he produced the revue PICKING UP THE PIECES, which enjoyed a near-capacity three-month run in New York's Greenwich Village, and was associate producer of the critically acclaimed live CD recording SKINNER/RIPLEY: RAW AT TOWN HALL, featuring Tony nominees Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley; and last summer's release of TAKING A CHANCE ON LOVE: MILLA ILIEVA LIVE ON VALENTINE’S DAY, a CD of Milla Ilieva’s Bistro Award winning performance.
David Bennet (Director) past Village Originals credits include: Kellogg and Friedman’s Stunt Girl and Desperate Measures, Kennon and Landau’s The Last Starfighter, Wood and Gerle’s The Tutor & Austin’s Every Little Vow. Village Theatre Mainstage: Once On This Island & Man of LaMancha. Village Theatre KIDSTAGE: A Perfect Fall. Local credits include the world premiere of The Neverending Story for Seattle Children’s Theatre.
John Allman (Music Director) is thrilled to be with another Village Original! Previous workshops include Barnstormer, Anna Karenina and Field of Dreams. This season, he was Associate Music Director for Little Women, Village Theatre Mainstage. John studied music at UW, then composition privately in NYC. NYC premieres include Agamemnon and Henry V at La MaMa ETC. In Santa Fe, NM he produced The Mask of Alice (workshop), his musical based on “Alice in Wonderland.” Seattle credits: keys for CATS, EVITA - Mainstage; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Honk Jr., Music Dir. for KIDSTAGE; also Bat Boy at ArtsWest, Sweeney Todd at Kirkland Performance Center, and On the Twentieth Century (Showtunes!).
About Village Originals
Village Theatre’s nationally-recognized Village Originals program is dedicated to every aspect of new musical development: workshops, readings, and full productions. To date, over 75 new musicals have been developed, many of which have gone on to stages throughout the world, including Once Upon A Time in New Jersey, The Ark (opened off-Broadway November 2005), After the Fair, Play It By Heart, Making Tracks, The Wedding Banquet, and Eleanor. Village Theatre is highly respected on a national level for its significant contribution to the world of musical theatre--only a handful of theatre companies throughout the country commission and develop new musicals!
Workshops are the next step after a reading in the development of a new musical. There are no costumes, set or props, and include minimal lights and music. Workshops are for shows ready to move beyond readings, giving them the opportunity to further develop and gain more in-depth audience feedback before becoming a staged production.
About Village Theatre
Based in Issaquah, WA, with operations in Everett, Village Theatre is a leading producer of musical theatre in the Pacific Northwest. Producing entertaining quality productions for the entire family since 1979, Village Theatre has grown into one of the region's best-attended Equity theatres, with over 18,000 subscribers and 170,000 projected total attendance each season. Through its Village Originals program, Village Theatre is nationally recognized for its contribution to the development of new musicals, having launched over 75 new works to date. Village Theatre also takes pride in nurturing tomorrow’s audiences through its youth education programs, Pied Piper and KIDSTAGE, serving over 53,000 young people, families, and schools annually.
Village Theatre season sponsors are The Boeing Company, Continental Airlines, Microsoft and Lombardi
Village Theatre is also funded in part by 4Culture, ABODA, ArtsFund, ArtsUnited, Bellevue Arts Commission, Cascade Bank, City of Everett, City of Issaquah /Issaquah Arts Commission, Encore Arts Programs, First Mutual Bank, Frontier Bank, Journal Newspapers, The National Endowment for the Arts, Overlake Hospital and Medical Center, PONCHO, Port Blakely Communities/Issaquah Highlands, Standing Ovation, and Washington State Arts Commission. Village Theatre is a member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and Theatre Puget Sound.
Editor’s Notes:
**Cast (in alphabetical order):
Alex/Beta Brian Earp
Centauri Timothy McCuen Piggee*
Maggie/Alien Recuit Jessica Skerritt
Otis/Grig Eric Polani Jensen*
Harry/Enduran Hugh Hastings*
Hugh/Ko-Dan General Krill John Patrick Lowrie*
Elaine/Manzar Jayne Muirhead*
Granny/Alien Recruit Sharva Maynard*
Jerry/G’nur Collin Morris
Jenny/Taura/Miss July Abby Pollard*
Darlene/Alien Recruit/Zur’s Asst. Kat Ramsburg*
Marty/Ko-Dan Lt. Parak Brian Lange
Blake/Zur Dan Connor
Mrs. Rogan/Alien Recruit Vickilee Wohlbach*
Louis/Alien Recruit Sam Tacher
Reader/Zandazan Ben Gonio*
NOTE: There are no understudies for this production.
*The actors are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
**Cast subject to change prior to run.
KEY
* = member of Actors' Equity Association