[NEohioPAL] CMSD Students Present "Dreamgirls" - Ninth Annual All City Musical



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2008

 

Cleveland Metropolitan School District
Students Present Dreamgirls
As Ninth Annual All-City Musical

Producing partners include The Cleveland Music School Settlement, Great Lakes Theater Festival,
The Human Fund, The Musical Theater Project and Playhouse Square.

 

CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) will present its ninth annual All-City Musical, Dreamgirls to crown the District’s 2007-08 series of All-City Arts Programming.  The production features the talents of over fifty CMSD students from across the District and will take place on the stage of the Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square, May 30-June 1, 2008.  Tony Sias, Director of Arts Education for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, directs the production.  The book and lyrics for Dreamgirls were written by Tom Eyer.  The music for the production was composed by Henry Krieger.

The ninth annual All-City Musical is presented with generous support from The Human Fund which contributed $150,000 to the school District for a third consecutive year to fund its All-City Arts Programming.  “It is truly exciting to fund things that introduce students to their creative possibilities. We look forward to expanding those possibilities as we work to create a new model in career development that hopefully other cities will emulate,” said Human Fund co-founder and co-chairman, Heather Guess regarding the aim of the funds.  Other producing partners for the All-City Musical include The Cleveland Music School Settlement, Great Lakes Theater Festival, The Musical Theater Project and Playhouse Square.

Dr. Eugene T.W. Sanders, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District stated, “We are extremely pleased to have The Human Fund’s continued support of our All-City Arts Programs and annual spring musical. We greatly appreciate the substance of this donation, and understand that the real value of these funds is immeasurable when considering how they facilitate growth and performance opportunities for our students. We are grateful that The Human Fund is partnering with us to further enable standards-based arts education for our students as we strive to become a premier school district in the United States of America.”  

            The All-City Musical is a rewarding experience for the students involved as well as for the professional artists that collaborate to produce the production, according to Tony Sias, the director of the production for the sixth consecutive year.  “The All-City Musical is an extraordinary program that provides students with a structured arts-based experience that refines individual talents, stimulates critical thinking, focuses creativity, strengthens social skills and affords students an informed perspective on the world that they might not have had if they were not involved in the program,” said Sias in a recent interview about the upcoming production.  “These young people are amazing.  As a member of the production team, I find it immensely rewarding to witness and play a significant role in the growth and development that these students experience over our intensive All-City Musical rehearsal process.  They work diligently, remain focused and emerge from the program with the ability to demonstrate the skill and the discipline that it takes to be an artist in the theater.  It is deeply satisfying to be able to share this leg of their journey with them.”

A Tony award-winning Broadway musical, Dreamgirls is a tale of dreams, stardom, and the high cost of success in the challenging recording industry. The time is the 1960s, and three singers are about to find out just what it's like to have their wildest dreams come true.  Discovered at a local talent show, the trio known as "the Dreamettes" is soon molded into an unstoppable hit machine by their manager and propelled into the spotlight.  But the girls quickly find their bid for the big time taking priority over personal friendship.  As their crossover act continues to dominate the airwaves, the small-town girls with big-city dreams slowly begin to realize that the true cost of fame may be higher than any of them ever anticipated.  The original Broadway production was directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett. Dreamgirls was originally produced on Broadway by Michael Bennett, Robert Avian, Geffen Records and The Schubert Organization.

The production team for the ninth annual All-City Musical is a distinguished group of professional artists from across Northeast Ohio.  A new addition to the All-City artistic company this year, Dr David Manning Thomas, a music teacher at John Adams High School with a distinguished career in music, will serve as Musical Director for the production.  An All-City veteran, Michael Medcalf, founder and Artistic Director of Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theater, will return to the production team for the seventh consecutive season to create Dreamgirls’ choreography.  Terry J. Martin will design the colorful, multi-location set while Esther Haberlen will design the richly textured costumes for the production.  Another newcomer to the project, Colleen Dowling will design lights.  Longtime GLTF resident sound designer Stan Kozak will create the production’s soundscape.

Opening Night for the eighth annual All-City Musical Dreamgirls is scheduled for Friday, May 30th at 7:30 p.m.  The production will continue with a Saturday evening showing on May 31st at 7:30 p.m. and a closing matinee performance on Sunday, June 1st at 3:00 p.m. 

All tickets for the ninth annual All-City Musical, Dreamgirls are $15 and are available by phone at (216) 241-6000, online at www.playhousesquare.org or by visiting the Playhouse Square Ticket Office.  All seating is general admission.

The primary goal of the Cleveland Municipal School District is to become a premiere school district in the United States of America.

 

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Media Contact:

Todd Krispinsky
Marketing and Public Relations Director
(216) 241-5490 x317
tkrispinsky@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 
 


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