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Office of External Communications |
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Mike Emery |
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HOUSTON, Oct. 26, 2006 – A group of aspiring Broadway stars will pay tribute to one of the avenue’s legendary songsmiths. The University of Houston’s Musical Theatre Lab students will perform Act Two of “Side by Side with Sondheim” at 8 p.m. Nov. 3 – 4 in the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts’ Jose Quintero Lab Theatre. This revue features a selection of composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s most popular show tunes including “Send in the Clowns” from “A Little Night Music,” “Somewhere” from “Westside Story” and “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” from “Gypsy.” This event is free and open to the public. Overseeing the student performers will be Tony winner and UH Distinguished University Professor of Theater Stuart Ostrow. “When I first saw this production in London, it was performed by three principals and a narrator,” Ostrow said. “I wondered what it would be like with a large cast and these students didn’t disappoint me.” Ostrow’s Musical Theatre Lab, part of UH’s School of Theatre and Dance, grooms student lyricists, book writers, directors, producers, choreographers and designers. All students participating in this program were hand picked by Ostrow himself following auditions and interviews. Ostrow founded the Musical Theatre Lab in 1973 at St. Clement’s Church in New York City. It was later developed at the Kennedy Center and Harvard College before it arrived at UH in 1995. During its stay in New York, the lab hosted workshops featuring the talents of Arthur Miller, Carol King and Robert Wilson. His many accolades include Tony awards for “1776” as Best Musical in 1969 and “M. Butterfly” as Best Play in 1988. He has also produced Tony nominees “Pippin” and “The Apple Tree,” in which he collaborated with regular UH Children’s Theatre Festival contributor Jerry Bock, Bob Fosse, Stephen Schwartz and Sheldon Harnick.
For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom. |
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