PRESS RELEASE — “MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH” SET FOR INDUSTRY READING ON MONDAY 10/27 IN NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA

WARP GRAPHICS PRESENTS

MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH
A MUSICAL THRILLER

BOOK AND LYRICS BY WENDY PINI
MUSIC AND ADDITIONAL LYRICS BY GREGORY NABOURS
DIRECTED BY CALVIN REMSBERG

EXCLUSIVE WORLD PREMIERE INDUSTRY READING
SET FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 27
IN NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

Warp Graphics has announced a world premiere industry reading of Masque of the Red Death, a musical thriller with book and lyrics by Wendy Pini, music and additional lyrics by Gregory Nabours, and directed by Calvin Remsberg, on Monday, October 27 at 7:30pm at the NoHo Arts Center in North Hollywood, CA.

Epic in sweep and scope, Wendy Pini and Greg Nabours’ musical thriller Masque of the Red Death is based on Pini’s graphic novel of the same name (based on The Mask of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe) which employs a Japanese anime style of art, and this new musical expands on this adaptation. Set in a decadent, perfect future, Anton Prosper uses his vast fortune and scientific genius to seek the ultimate power of life over death. But when the stunning prodigy Steffan Kabala enters Prosper’s life, he unlocks a tempestuous passion that may send the entire planet hurtling into a bloody maelstrom of destruction.

Writer/Artist Wendy Pini has worked for nearly all of the major comics publishers such as Marvel, First Comics, Comico, DC Comics, and Dark Horse Comics. In 1977, she created the best-selling high fantasy comic series Elfquest, the first Japanese anime-influenced graphic novel series to be published in America. Pini’s adults-only graphic novel based on Edgar Allan Poe’s horror story The Mask of the Red Death (1842) serves as the foundation for this new musical thriller.

Gregory Nabours is a composer/lyricist and music director. Musical Direction credits include The Color Purple (2012 Ovation, LADCC, LA Weekly, and NAACP Awards), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Falsettos, Rent, The Wild Party, A New Brain, Spring Awakening, Into the Woods, Assassins, and The Full Monty. Nabours’ song cycle, The Trouble With Words, was awarded the 2011 Ovation Award for Best Music and Lyrics for an Original Musical, as well as Best Musical in the Hollywood Fringe Festival. This November, an evening of his work will be performed and broadcast at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Nabours is a founding member and resident composer of Coeurage Theatre Company.

Calvin Remsberg is known both as an accomplished actor and noted theatre director. His directing credits include the revival of Bare, the LA premiere of Glory Days, Into the Woods starring Anthony Geary, Hello, Dolly! for 3-D Theatricals, Sweeney Todd for Musical Theatre West, the 20th Anniversary production of Sweeney Todd for Reprise!, the West Coast Ensemble production of Sunday in the Park with George, and Interact Theatre Company’s Urinetown. For Musical Theatre Guild, Remsberg has directed Shenandoah, Parade, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Street Scene, Aspects of Love, Titanic, The Most Happy Fella, and Death Takes a Holiday.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Heather Ayers, Benai Boyd, Rich Brunner, Emma Degerstedt, Tawny Dolley, Ben Gibson, Steven Good, Steve B. Green, Paulette Ivory, Ashley Jones, Jeffrey Landman, Tyler Ledon, Jamison Lingle, Jacob Lusk, Marco Ramos, Aaron Scheff, Rebecca Spencer, Zach Spound, and Zach Villa.

The reading will take place on Monday, October 27 at 7:30pm. For more information, contact kenwertherpr@gmail.com. The NoHo Arts Center is located at 11136 Magnolia Boulevard in North Hollywood, CA, 91601.

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10-03-14

Announcing: “Glory Days” Opens Saturday 3/19 at Lillian Theatre for Limited Run

LOS ANGELES PREMIERE OF
GLORY DAYS
A MUSICAL BY NICK BLAEMIRE & JAMES GARDINER
DIRECTED BY CALVIN REMSBERG

PERFORMANCES BEGIN MARCH 17 AT THE LILLIAN THEATRE
OPENS SATURDAY, MARCH 19 FOR LIMITED ENGAGEMENT

Producers Anthony Gruppuso, Calvin Remsberg, Tricia Small Stabile, and Bella Vita Entertainment have announced the Los Angeles premiere of Glory Days, a musical by Nick Blaemire & James Gardiner, directed by Calvin Remsberg, at the Lillian Theatre in Hollywood for a limited engagement. There will be two preview performances on Thursday, March 17 and Friday, March 18 at 8pm, and opening is set for Saturday, March 19 at 8pm. Performances will continue through April 24 only.

Glory Days is a new musical with music and lyrics by Nick Blaemire and book by James Gardiner that premiered at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, on January 15, 2008. The production opened to enthusiastic reviews, including a rave in The Washington Post. The show then moved to the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway, where after seventeen previews, it opened … and closed … on May 6, 2008.

Glory Days is the story of four high school friends who, after a year away at college, reunite on the bleachers of their high school football field. We soon learn the purpose of the midnight meeting: the boys are planning a prank seeking revenge on their high school football team, who tormented the four during their school years. Things do not go smoothly, as the boys find they have grown apart … and their friendship is not what it was. Said Peter Marks in The Washington Post, “Glory Days is a fresh and vivacious one-act musical … real, and surprisingly moving.”

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Alex Robert Holmes, Derek Klena, Matthew Koehler, Ian Littleworth, Jeffrey Scott Parsons, and Alex Martinez Wallace. The set design is by Andrew Hammer, lighting design is by Jeremy Pivnick, costume design is by Mara Bear, and sound design is by Joseph Slawinski. James May serves as musical director, and the production stage manager is Ronn Goswick.

Glory Days will play two preview performances on Thursday, March 17 and Friday, March 18 at 8pm, and opening night is set for Saturday, March 19 at 8:00. The limited engagement will continue through Sunday, April 24. Preview tickets are $20; all seats beginning March 19 are $32. Tickets may be purchased by visiting www.plays411.com/glorydays or www.brownpapertickets.com/event/159876 or by calling (323) 960-7792.

The Lillian Theatre is located at 1076 Lillian Way (one block west of Vine, just off Santa Monica Boulevard), in Hollywood. Street parking is available.

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03-07-11