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"This season pays tribute to the legendary Tony Award-winning Director and Choreographer Susan Stroman and we felt that Contact would be a great way to honor her and be an entertaining departure from the standard definition of a musical," said Barry Ivan, NSMT's new Artistic Director and Executive Producer. "The show is wonderfully unique in that it tells three separate stories of romance and escapism primarily through Stroman's clever and witty choreography. This will be a rare treat for NSMT audiences."
CONTACT is a moving and often humorous dance play that tells three separate stories "Swing," "Did You Move?" and "Contact." Each is about different ways to pursue love. Featuring a book by John Weidmann & Susan Stroman, and with music and lyrics from various artists, CONTACT will sweep audiences off their feet. An eclectic array of songs provide the soundtrack for the mini-vignettes, including Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible," Dean Martin's "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You," Dion's "Runaround Sue," the Beach Boys' "Do You Want to Dance?" and "Sing Sing Sing" from Benny Goodman and his Orchestra.
CONTACT stars Tony Award-Winner Jarrod Emick as Michael Willey, Naomi Hubert as A Girl in the Yellow Dress, Sally Mae Dunn as Wife, and Steve Luker as Husband. Emick is best known for his Tony Award-winning performance as Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees, which also garnered him a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor and a Theatre World Award. He has also starred in Broadway productions of TheRocky Horror Show, The Boy From Oz, and Ring of Fire. Before she became a girl in the yellow dress, Hubert was an original cast member in Stroman's Broadway productions of The Producers and The Frogs. She has also appeared in national tours of Spamalot, Doctor Dolittle and Annie Get Your Gun and played Cassandra in the IV National Tour of Cats. Dunn has appeared on Broadway in Never Gonna Dance (u/s Mabel), Beauty and the Beast (Babette), The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, The Will Rogers Follies and in a national tour of Chicago (June). Luker has appeared in over 80 professional shows including 42nd Street on Broadway, National and European tours of Footloose and 42nd Street, and at Radio City and was last seen at NSMT in Damn Yankees.
The cast of CONTACT also features Noah Aberlin, Sean Ewing (Servant), Jake Pfarr (Aristocrat), Matt Rivera, Ariel Shepley (The Girl on the Swing), Monica Alicia Coates, Ivy Fox, Jeremy McQueen, Marcos Santana, Leeanna Smith, Mary Lynn Tiep, Francis Toumbakaris and swings Wesley Edwards and Hallie Metcalf.
CONTACT will be directed and choreographed by Tome Cousin. Cousin performed in and helped to develop the original production of CONTACT as part of the original Lincoln Center ensemble, both off-Broadway and on, from 1999-2002. He has been selected by Stroman to recreate the original show. Cousins other performance credits include Broadway productions of Dreamgirls, Belle Epoque Bingo Long, and Village Wooing. He has also traveled the country in National Tours of A Chorus Line, Dreamgirls, My One and Only and performed in many Regional Theatres. -- www.nsmt.org
Posted June 16th, 2008 by ruzik_tuzik
