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Reprise Theatre Company presents
Free Style
Fri., July 11 at 8:30 p.m.
Broadway composers write the music and high school students give voice to their feelings through the lyrics in this series of vignettes, realized by favorite stars from New York and L.A. and reflecting dreams of the young.
Full price $40
Buy 3 or more events and pay only $32
Students and Children $12
Extended Event Information
The fifteen songs have been woven into an evening by director Matt Gould, that places each student, his story and his song into a theatrical setting. Gould’s original musical "Twilight in Manchego" was last year's Jonathan Larsen Award winner and was a selection for this year's New York Musical Theatre Festival. Susan Dietz, Reprise Producing Director, is producing “Free Style.”
The evening will be hosted by Malcolm-Jamal Warner of “The Cosby Show” and will feature dancers from the Groovaloos. Performers include Titus Burgess, who can currently be seen on Broadway in “Disney’s The Little Mermaid,” and Emmy nominee Paul Anthony Stuart.
The composers include Desmond Child who wrote “Livin La Vida Loca”; Stephen Bray who wrote the score for “The Color Purple” and Madonna's “Into the Groove”; Eric Whitacre who wrote “Paradise Lost”; Jay Gruska, who wrote “Friends and Lovers” sung by Carl Anderson and Gloria Loring; Lauren Christy who has co-written songs for Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, and Christina Aguilera; and Michael Skloff, who composed the theme to “Friends”
Since January, Reprise Teaching Artists, have visited over 1,000 students ages 14 to 19 in 18 Los Angeles Unified High Schools spread out all over the greater LA area (Arleta, Belmont, Birmingham, Dorothy Johnson, Dorsey, Fremont, Gardena, Hamilton, Los Angeles, Narbonne, New Jefferson, North Hollywood, Ramona, Reseda, Thomas Riley, University and West Adams Prep). The artists visited each classroom twice and led a workshop teaching the art of lyric writing as a means of self-expression, as a way for students to verbalize their hopes, fears and dreams.
Each student then wrote a complete lyric for a song, and, from those lyrics, fifteen were chosen and set to music by an ASCAP composer. Many collaborated directly with the students on their original songs.
This 2008 "Free Style" is just the beginning. The plan is to have a total of forty to fifty songs created through this same process. From the body of songs a selection will be made to create a finished theatrical piece, to be premiered by Reprise Theatre Company. |
