Staged brings summer musical to Milagro

Four actors, two musicians and a baby grand ... Miracle Theatre Group and Staged! Portland’s Musical Theatre Series are collaborating to unplug the traditional summer musical in an intimate, acoustic presentation of Tony Award-winning Jason Robert Brown’s first produced musical, the off-Broadway hit SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD.

From a ledge 57 stories above Fifth Avenue to the deck of a 1492 Spanish sailing ship ... from a young man who hopes basketball is his ticket out of the ghetto to the wife of a certain North Pole resident who loves her husband but just can’t face another Christmas alone ... it’s the hard choices and startling discoveries we make at pivotal moments in life that drive the stories of this theatrical song cycle filled with love, laughter, adventure and, above all, passion for life.

SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD plays June 18-July 3, 2010 at the Milagro Theatre (525 SE Stark St., Portland). Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $17-$22 ($13 for students/seniors) when purchased in advance; $24-$29 ($19 for students/seniors) at the door. Tickets may be purchased by calling 503-236-7253, online from www.milagro.org or in person from the PDX Ticket Network community box office at the Hollywood Theatre daily 1-9 p.m. For more information about the production, visit www.milagro.org or www.stagedpdx.org.

ENSEMBLE David Cole Elizabeth Klinger Vin Shambry Rebecca Teran

PRODUCTION TEAM Jamie M. Rea … Director Eric Nordin … Musical Director Peter West … Lighting Designer Marit Estergreen … Production Manager/Costume Designer Elizabeth Hadley … Stage Manager Chanda Hall … Co-Producer, Staged! Portland’s Musical Theatre Series Tim Krause … Co-Producer, Miracle Theatre Group

“One of Broadway’s smartest and most sophisticated songwriters since Stephen Sondheim.” — Philadelphia Inquirer

“Extraordinary, jubilant theater music.” — Chicago Tribune

“A leading member of a new generation of composers who embody high hopes for the American musical.” — The New York Times

“In Songs for a New World, Brown is dizzily, unabashedly confident, and infuses his songs with optimism ... shot through with wit, intelligence, and enthusiasm for life’s crazy possibilities.” — Time Out New York

“These are songs to pierce the heart and raise the rafters.” — The Hollywood Reporter

ABOUT MIRACLE THEATRE GROUP Miracle Theatre Group, the Northwest's premier Latino arts and culture organization for over 25 years, provides high-quality Latino theatre, arts and cultural experiences for urban and rural communities. Miracle merges the highest aesthetic ideals with social responsibility, illustrated by a long tradition of innovative programs serving diverse artists and audiences at El Centro Milagro, its home in Portland, Oregon, and through national tours. The Miracle Theatre Group is dedicated to the growth of a vital, diverse, exciting regional and national arts community and is proud to nurture emerging arts organizations such as Staged!. For more information about Miracle Theatre Group, visit www.milagro.org or call 503-236-7253.

ABOUT STAGED! PORTLAND’S MUSICAL THEATRE SERIES Staged! is dedicated to the art of the musical — the marriage of story, song and movement. Staged! productions celebrate the creators of this art form: the lyricists, composers and book writers who craft the stories that make us burst out in song. Since bounding onto Portland’s art scene in 2005, Staged! continues to delight audiences with stripped-down productions of complex musical theatre, focusing on musicians and actors telling stories together through song. Staged! is proud to be a Portland-based theatre company, producing stellar musical theatre, providing pre-professional training to young people, and nurturing talent. For more information about Staged!, visit www.stagedpdx.org or call 971-322-5723.

Piano courtesy of Sherman Clay http://www.shermanclay-portland.com