[NEohioPAL] CMSD Students Present "Dreamgirls" - Ninth Annual All City Musical

Todd Krispinsky tkrispinsky at greatlakestheater.org
Fri May 9 14:50:05 PDT 2008


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2008


 


Cleveland Metropolitan School District 
Students Present Dreamgirls 
As Ninth Annual All-City Musical


Producing partners include The Cleveland Music School Settlement, Great
Lakes Theater Festival, 
The Human Fund, The Musical Theater Project and Playhouse Square.

 

CLEVELAND, OH - The Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) will
present its ninth annual All-City Musical, Dreamgirls to crown the
District's 2007-08 series of All-City Arts Programming.  The production
features the talents of over fifty CMSD students from across the
District and will take place on the stage of the Ohio Theatre at
Playhouse Square, May 30-June 1, 2008.  Tony Sias, Director of Arts
Education for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, directs the
production.  The book and lyrics for Dreamgirls were written by Tom
Eyer.  The music for the production was composed by Henry Krieger.



The ninth annual All-City Musical is presented with generous support
from The Human Fund which contributed $150,000 to the school District
for a third consecutive year to fund its All-City Arts Programming.  "It
is truly exciting to fund things that introduce students to their
creative possibilities. We look forward to expanding those possibilities
as we work to create a new model in career development that hopefully
other cities will emulate," said Human Fund co-founder and co-chairman,
Heather Guess regarding the aim of the funds.  Other producing partners
for the All-City Musical include The Cleveland Music School Settlement,
Great Lakes Theater Festival, The Musical Theater Project and Playhouse
Square.



Dr. Eugene T.W. Sanders, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School
District stated, "We are extremely pleased to have The Human Fund's
continued support of our All-City Arts Programs and annual spring
musical. We greatly appreciate the substance of this donation, and
understand that the real value of these funds is immeasurable when
considering how they facilitate growth and performance opportunities for
our students. We are grateful that The Human Fund is partnering with us
to further enable standards-based arts education for our students as we
strive to become a premier school district in the United States of
America."  



            The All-City Musical is a rewarding experience for the
students involved as well as for the professional artists that
collaborate to produce the production, according to Tony Sias, the
director of the production for the sixth consecutive year.  "The
All-City Musical is an extraordinary program that provides students with
a structured arts-based experience that refines individual talents,
stimulates critical thinking, focuses creativity, strengthens social
skills and affords students an informed perspective on the world that
they might not have had if they were not involved in the program," said
Sias in a recent interview about the upcoming production.  "These young
people are amazing.  As a member of the production team, I find it
immensely rewarding to witness and play a significant role in the growth
and development that these students experience over our intensive
All-City Musical rehearsal process.  They work diligently, remain
focused and emerge from the program with the ability to demonstrate the
skill and the discipline that it takes to be an artist in the theater.
It is deeply satisfying to be able to share this leg of their journey
with them."



A Tony award-winning Broadway musical, Dreamgirls is a tale of dreams,
stardom, and the high cost of success in the challenging recording
industry. The time is the 1960s, and three singers are about to find out
just what it's like to have their wildest dreams come true.  Discovered
at a local talent show, the trio known as "the Dreamettes" is soon
molded into an unstoppable hit machine by their manager and propelled
into the spotlight.  But the girls quickly find their bid for the big
time taking priority over personal friendship.  As their crossover act
continues to dominate the airwaves, the small-town girls with big-city
dreams slowly begin to realize that the true cost of fame may be higher
than any of them ever anticipated.  The original Broadway production was
directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett. Dreamgirls was originally
produced on Broadway by Michael Bennett, Robert Avian, Geffen Records
and The Schubert Organization.



The production team for the ninth annual All-City Musical is a
distinguished group of professional artists from across Northeast Ohio.
A new addition to the All-City artistic company this year, Dr David
Manning Thomas, a music teacher at John Adams High School with a
distinguished career in music, will serve as Musical Director for the
production.  An All-City veteran, Michael Medcalf, founder and Artistic
Director of Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theater, will return to the
production team for the seventh consecutive season to create Dreamgirls'
choreography.  Terry J. Martin will design the colorful, multi-location
set while Esther Haberlen will design the richly textured costumes for
the production.  Another newcomer to the project, Colleen Dowling will
design lights.  Longtime GLTF resident sound designer Stan Kozak will
create the production's soundscape.



Opening Night for the eighth annual All-City Musical Dreamgirls is
scheduled for Friday, May 30th at 7:30 p.m.  The production will
continue with a Saturday evening showing on May 31st at 7:30 p.m. and a
closing matinee performance on Sunday, June 1st at 3:00 p.m.  



All tickets for the ninth annual All-City Musical, Dreamgirls are $15
and are available by phone at (216) 241-6000, online at
www.playhousesquare.org or by visiting the Playhouse Square Ticket
Office.  All seating is general admission.



The primary goal of the Cleveland Municipal School District is to become
a premiere school district in the United States of America.

 

#  #  #

 

Media Contact:

Todd Krispinsky
Marketing and Public Relations Director
(216) 241-5490 x317 
tkrispinsky at greatlakestheater.org

 
 
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