Date: Jun 01, 2012

Hofstra Entertainment Presents "Hollywood Live!"

Saturday, June 23, at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, June 24, 2 p.m.

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY … Hofstra Entertainment brings the music of the silver screen to the stage with the New York area premiere of Hollywood Live! This new and entertaining collection of songs from the movies will be performed by Broadway performers Rachel Bay Jones, Christina Bianco and Gary Mauer, with special guest vocalist Bob Spiotto and pianist Barry Levitt.

Christina Bianco, Gary Mauer, Rachel Bay Jones

This production is a tour of cinematic romance and humor from the past and present, including the 1940s with Fred and Ginger, The Road to … movies of Hope and Crosby, The Wizard of Oz, Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, Danny Kaye, Elvis, Disney, and a special tribute to Gene Kelly in celebration of his 100th birthday. Also, enjoy unforgettable songs from movies that also became Broadway shows, including Sweet Charity; Damn Yankees; Kiss Me, Kate; West Side Story; Grease; Guys and Dolls; Pal Joey; Hairspray; and Chicago.

Show times for Hollywood Live! are Saturday, June 23, 2012, at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 24, at 2 p.m. at The Helene Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus. Tickets are $35 adult; $30 senior citizen (over 65); $20 matriculated non-Hofstra student with ID; and $15 Hofstra faculty/staff/student with current HofstraCard (one-ticket maximum). For tickets and more information call the Hofstra Box Office at (516) 463-6644, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m.-3:45 p.m. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.hofstra.edu/hofstraentertainment  (click on “Box Office”).

About the Performers:

RACHEL BAY JONES recently toured with the Broadway-bound new musical version of the 1980s classic film A Christmas Story, playing the leading role of Mother. Off-Broadway she appeared in Transport Group’s acclaimed revival of Michael John LaChiusa’s Hello Again and in the Broadway revival of HAIR (Mother / Buddadalirama), and also on Broadway as Patti LuPone’s standby, where she thrice performed the role of Lucia in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Other Broadway and large-scale tour credits include roles in: Meet Me in St. Louis; Grand Hotel; Fiddler on the Roof; Rent (Berlin Company; in German).

GARY MAUER most recently starred in the Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera, playing the Phantom. Broadway/ national tour credits: Les Misérables and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. He was cast opposite his wife, Elizabeth Southard, in the national tour of Harold Prince’s Show Boat. Other favorite roles include: Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Anthony in Sweeney Todd and Frederick in Pirates of Penzance. He has traveled with Marvin Hamlisch and the Chicago and Pittsburgh Symphonies.

CHRISTINA BIANCO is currently starring Off-Broadway in Newsical: The Musical and received a Drama Desk award nomination for her work in Forbidden Broadway Goes To Rehab. Christina originated the role of Dora in the long-running national tour of Dora The Explorer Live, including a sold-out run at Radio City Music Hall. New York credits include: Raffi On Broadway (Gershwin Theatre), Forbidden Broadway Dances With The Stars, and Tony & Tina’s Wedding (Tina). A MAC award-nominated cabaret artist, Christina performed weekly in an unprecedented eight-month run of 11 O’Clock Numbers at Feinsteins at Loews Regency. She frequently performs in concert as a soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

BARRY LEVITT is an award-winning pianist, musical director, composer, conductor and producer. He has been an active presence within the New York musical community for more than three decades, participating in every style of music from rock to R&B to theatre, cabaret and jazz. He was musical director/arranger for Catskills on Broadway and Swinging on a Star, and Off Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors, Taking My Turn and Match Made in Heaven. He has worked with Ben Vereen, Bernadette Peters, Faith Prince, Eartha Kitt, Nell Carter, Rosemary Clooney, Connie Francis, Marilyn Michaels and Carol Woods, among others. He has conducted the New York, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Indianapolis Pops Orchestras. Mr. Levitt is the former artistic director of the 92nd Street Y’s world-renowned Lyric and Lyricists series.
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