NEWS RELEASE

Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax; 713/743-8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2004

Contact: Eric Gerber
713/743-8189 (office)
713/617-7130(pager)
egerber@uh.edu

GOING THROUGH A STAGE? INTERVIEWS UNDER WAY FOR MUSICAL THEATRE LAB
Broadway Producer Stuart Ostrow Looking for Hopefuls for Annual UH Project

HOUSTON, Jan. 29, 2004 – Interviews for the University of Houston’s Musical Theatre Collaboration class for the Fall 2004 term are now under way.

Each year, Tony Award-winning producer Stuart Ostrow, Distinguished University Professor of Musical Theatre at UH, selects a variety of promising theater enthusiasts to participate in producing three original musicals. At the conclusion of the semester, the newly created works are performed for the public.

Specifically, Ostrow is looking for composers, lyricists/librettists, book writers, directors, choreographers, designers, producers and stage managers. To be eligible for the class, an individual will have to be registered at the University of Houston during the Fall 2004 semester as either a part- or full-time student.

Interview requirements for applicants:

Composers: May perform their compositions live, or submit a tape or score of their work intended for musical theater, opera, pop music, symphonic/chamber/choral, or any other form that conveys the human condition.

Lyricists & Librettists: May submit examples of their work, intended for musical theater, opera, or pop music, or as poetry expressed in verse, song, or rhyme.

Book writers: May submit original plays, musicals, novels, tales, newspaper articles, reviews, diary, etc.; any writing that tells or dramatizes a story.

(All submitted works to be returned must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.)

Directors & Choreographers: May present a scene, musical number, or staged dance, from any play, musical, or ballet. Applicants must provide their own cast and accompanist.

Designers: Show portfolio, including models of sets and costume swatches, if available.

Producers: Show evidence of ability to be hard-headed, soft-hearted, cautious, reckless, a hopeful innocent in fair weather, a stern pilot in stormy weather, a mathematician who prefers to ignore the laws of mathematics and trust intuition, an idealist, a realist, a practical dreamer, a sophisticated gambler, a stage-struck child. Submit detailed resume.

Stage Managers: Must aspire to be producers. Submit detailed resume.

For an appointment, rehearsal time and space availability or further information, telephone Sandy Judice at
713-743-3003 or contact her by e-mail at sjudice@uh.edu.

Auditions for singers and dancers will not be held until April.

For more information about the UH School of Theatre, visit the Web site http://www.class.uh.edu/theatre/

About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 35,000 students.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.