Date: Apr 17, 2008

HOFSTRA'S MASQUERADE MUSICAL THEATER COMPANY PRESENTS "THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS (THE MUSICAL!)"

May 5 and 6, 2008; John Cranford Adams Playhouse

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY … This semester Masquerade Musical Theater Company, Hofstra University’s student run musical organization, will present The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) on May 5 and 6, 2008, at 8 p.m. at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse, South Campus.

Tickets are $10; $5 for members of the Hofstra community with a current HofstraCard. There will be no advance ticket sales. Tickets will be sold at the door prior to each performance.

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) has been called a show for people who love musicals, and for people that hate them. In this hilarious satire of musical theater, one story becomes five delightful musicals, each written in the distinctive style of a different master of the form, from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim.

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) by Eric Rockwell and Joanne Bogart opened at the York Theater Company in December, 2003 and closed in October 2004, becoming the longest running show in their 39 year history.  It went on to play a 500-plus performance run at Off-Broadway’s New World Stages in 2005.

The basic plot: June is an ingénue who can't pay the rent and is threatened by her evil landlord. Will the handsome leading man come to the rescue? The variations are: a Rodgers & Hammerstein version, set in Kansas in August, complete with a dream ballet; a Sondheim version, featuring the landlord as a tortured artistic genius who slashes the throats of his tenants in revenge for not appreciating his work; a Jerry Herman version, as a splashy star vehicle; an Andrew Lloyd Webber version, a rock musical with themes borrowed from Puccini; and a Kander & Ebb version, set in a speakeasy in Chicago.

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) features direction by Emily Miethner, choreography by Samantha Amaral and musical direction by Adam Griffith. The cast includes Matt Adams, Chris Balestriei, Joe Bennethum, Shira Rose Berk, Laura Duell, Andrew Fine, Lily Goodman, Patrick Harman, Alexandra Laks, Matthew Landis, Stephanie Leke, Matt Mavroides, Amanda McIntyre, Jackie Nese, Michael Quattrone, Kaitlin Rose, Jeff Seesselberg, Danielle Thomas, Matt Tiberi, Erin Willet.

The production staff also includes Angelica Dowling (Stage Manager), Ian Benjamin (Set Design), Robert Burstzyn (Set Design), Matt Rubin (Lighting Design), Jacqueline Lyons (Costume Head), Chuck Finfrock (Costumes), Matt Leve (Sound Design), Christina DePalma (Props), Katie Barnhard and Lily Moore (Assistant Stage Managers).

Masquerade was founded in 1992 as a sister to the Spectrum Players, Hofstra’s student-run dramatic theater club.  Previous productions have included Assassins, Into the Woods, Reefer Madness and The Full Monty.

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