Photo Flash: SHINE! The Horatio Alger Musical At NYMF

SHINE! The Horatio Alger Musical with a Book by Richard Seff; Music by Roger Dean Anderson and Lyrics by Lee Goldsmith is being presented by Other Side Productions (Peter Mercurio, Chuck Blasius - Co-Artistic Directors) as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival at The Theater at St. Clements, 423 West 46th Street. The director is Peter Flynn and the choreographer is Devanand Janki. Michael Bottari & Ronald Case are the set and costume designers. Greg Anthony is the music supervisor, arranger, orchestrator; Annbritt duChateau is the music director and the associate musical directors are Danny Percefull and Sue Anschultz. With a highly melodic, hummable and bouncy score with bright lyrics, "SHINE the Horatio Alger Musical", has tons of period atmosphere, nostalgic charm, comedy and entertainment. A multi-talented cast of 19 makes this one of the largest of the festival productions. Tickets are $20. Performances are: Thurs. 10/7 at 8pm; Sat. 10/9 at 5pm; Mon. 10/11, at 9pm; Fri. 10/15, at 1pm; Sat. 10/16, at 9pm and Sun. 10/17 at 3pm. www.shinethemusical.com

The principals for the show are: Andy Mientus (Richard Hunter); Michael Halling (Luke Gerrish); Meggie Cansler (Stacia Jane Hauser); Jimmy Ray Bennett (Gideon Chapin); William Ryall (Silas Snobden); Stanton Nash (Higgins); Philip Chaffin (Allen Carlisle); Tyler Merna (Rob Carlisle); Dan Lawler (Foswell); Evan Jay Newman (Mickey Maguire) and Kathy McGrath (Mrs. Mooney).
The Ensemble includes: Jason Mills was last seen as the Phantom in the tour of "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Forbidden Broadway: SVU", "South Pacific" (Carnegie Hall), and Encores!. Cheo Bourne has performed in "Hot Mikado", "Cabaret", "Of Mice and Men", "Animal Farm", "Jerry Springer The Opera", "HONK!", "The Comedy of Errors" to name a few. Todd Horman was on Broadway in "Urinetown", the tours of "Urinetown" and "Victor/Victoria" and a few Encore shows. Some other credits are "The Full Monty", "Les Miz" and "Guys and Dolls". Robert Mintz was in The Kennedy Center's "Broadway: Three Generations" and Signature Theatre's "The Visit" by Kander and Ebb. Rachell Coloff some B'way roles are: SoupySue in "Urinetown", Rivka / Fruma Sarah in "Fiddler on the Roof", The Baroness in "Candide", and Off B'way as Mother in "Enter Laughing". Jessica Vosk just returned from London's Royal Albert Hall, where she was featured in the new ABBA musical "Kristina". Other credits "Lend Me a Tenor: The Musical", "To Carry On: The Music of Laura Nyro". Joy Hermalyn on B'way: "Fiddler on the Roof", "Cyrano", "Candide", "Christmas Carol", Baz Luhrmann's production of "La Boheme", and numerous Encores!. Melissa Rain Anderson some NYC credits: "Bonnie and Clyde, a Folktale"; "Babes in Arms" and "Tenderloin" at Encores!; "Time and Again" as well as the National Tour: "South Pacific".

"SHINE! The Horatio Alger Musical" follows the tale of Ragged Dick (Horatio Alger's first best-selling hero) in lower Manhattan (1876) as he rises from penniless bootblack to budding Wall Street entrepreneur. Dick's adventures with a little bit of luck, some charm and a whole lot of hard work bring him face to face with scheming ex-convicts, vicious comic villains, kind benefactors, and a world of colorful street characters in this charming rags-to-riches romp for everyone.

Richard Seff (Book) has spent a lifetime in the theatre as actor, playwright, columnist, critic, agent, librettist, investor and now memoirist. He first acted professionally in 1946 and took a 22 year leave of absence from the stage to become an agent representing artists in the musical theatre on Broadway. Roger Dean Anderson (Composer) has been fortunate to collaborate with such legendary talents, Michael Smuin, Joe Layton, Wally Harper, Tony Walton, Vivian Matalon and Hal Prince. In 1979 he was paired with lyricist Lee Goldsmith, more than 30 years his senior; later composing the award-winning "Chaplin", followed by "Quality Street". Recent projects include "Ladykiller"; "Flying Tigers" and "Abe". Lee Goldsmith (Lyricist) enjoyed an early career with National Comics scripting stories for The Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and The Flash. He adapted several projects for the stage, writing book and lyrics: "Come Back Little Sheba", "Golddiggers of 1633" and his ground-breaking Broadway musical "Sextet".

Peter Flynn (Director) is Artistic Director of The Hangar Theatre and staged the star-studded Broadway concerts of "On the Twentieth Century" (Douglas Sills, Marin Mazzie, & Joanne Worley); "Chess" (Josh Groban); and "Funny Girl" (Whoopi Goldberg, Bebe Neuwirth, & Peter Gallagher, among others). Devanand Janki (Choreographer): directed & choreographed the award-winning hit "Zanna, Don't"! and "Junie B. Jones", "Cupid & Psyche", "Henry & Mudge" and John Patrick Shanley's "Romantic Poetry" (MTC). Broadway concerts: director of "Hair" (all-star cast, featuring Jennifer Hudson), choreographer of "Funny Girl" (16 Fanny Brices, including Whoopi Goldberg, Bebe Neuwirth, & Jane Krakowski).

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Photo Credit: Steven Rosen and Ron Case