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www.myspace.com/normansark
www.lafestival.org
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NORMAN'S ARK
A New Musical
Directed by Peter Schneider, The Lion King Tony Award-Winning Producer.
Broadway comes to Los Angeles when Glen Roven and Jerome Kass retell the Noah's Ark story of hope in the context of a Post-Katrina world. The entire family will thrill to the entrance of 100 children as the animals on the ark. Emotional country ballads and smokin' rock-a-billy tunes along with the giant gospel choir would raise the roof if the Ford Amphitheatre had one!
May 27 (preview) & 29, June 3, 4 & 5: $65, $34
May 28 (opening night), 30 & 31, June 1, 6, 7 & 8: $75, $34
Buy 3 or more events and pay only $60, $52, $27
Students and children $5 May 27, 28, 29 & 30 only
Extended Information
Norman’s Ark is an unprecedented production that includes over 100 children from all over greater Los Angeles costumed as adorable animals with many young dancers playing the storm, ballet dancers on pointe as the Doves and a huge Gospel Choir combining kids from 5 to 18 with seniors. The West Coast premiere is directed by Peter Schneider (the Tony Award-winning producer of The Lion King) and features a gospel/rockabilly score by 4-time Emmy award winning composer Glen Roven. The book is by Jerome Kass and is produced by Maria S. Schlatter.
The world premiere of Norman’s Ark will be held at the Ford Amphitheatre as part of the FESTIVAL OF NEW AMERICAN MUSICALS, a two-month musical theatre festival, will be held in May and June, 2008, throughout Southern California. Marcia Seligson and Bob Klein are the Executive Producers of the Festival (at www.lafestival.org).
Norman’s Ark is a musical celebration about hope, family, and the human spirit; it's a universal story about surviving disaster—any disaster. The project was conceived as a response to the increase in disastrous floods affecting our planet, but will have a greater impact and a deeper significance in light of the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina. It incorporates professional actors with non-professional community performers of all ages.
On the Norman’s Ark website at myspace.com/normansark, you can hear interviews with Glen Roven, Jerome Kass, Adam Davis (from the FORD THEATRE) and Peter Schneider. Also, you will hear selections from the score and find lists of community groups involved.
NORMAN'S ARK, features a cast of 200 including a 100-voice gospel choir, and retells the Noah’s Ark story of hope in a post-Katrina world that takes place on a roof in the middle of a devastating flood. A family of five is on their roof with their house virtually submerged in water while waiting for a helicopter to come and rescue them. The father, Norman (Philip Casnoff), tries to calm his terrified family with a story about another flood the happened a million years ago … but not the one of traditional biblical accounts. The kids say, "Dad, if you start telling us about Noah's Ark, we're going to push you off the roof." Norman says, "It's not Noah's Ark, it's Norman's Ark," and the kids are hooked.
God, herself (Dawn Lewis), is surrounded by a 100-piece community choir (culled from the Los Angeles population and include The Holman United Methodist Church, Grace United Methodist Church and the United Children’s Choir, AMDA Alumni Choir and the animals are 105 children from the community and include kids from St. Finbars Academy in Burbank, 360 Theatre in Pasadena and E.S.C.A.P.E. Theater School in Santa Clarita and the 'storm' itself consists of a group of trained young dancers.
At the end of the story, as Norman survives, the audience sees over 200 people on the stage and we get the feeling that there is hope in the world and we CAN survive and move on with our lives.
Peter Schneider (director) has enjoyed an extensive and multifaceted movie and theatrical career. His directing credits include Sister Act, the Musical, the Breakup Note Book, the Marc Blitzstein opera, Regina, staring Lauren Flanigan, a revival of Grand Hotel, the Musical, and a live action/animation short staring Julie Andrews celebrating the 40th anniversary of Mary Poppins. He has also directed for the WPA Theatre, Playwrights Horizon and Circle Rep.
His Broadway producing credits include the multi-awarding winning The Lion King, for which he won a Tony Award, and Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida. He is also one of the producers of the long running Ovation Award winning, LA hit, The Marvelous Wonderettes.
As President of Animation and Chairman of the Studio for the Walt Disney Company for 17 years, he was responsible for creating and distributing over 50 movies including Beauty and the Beast, (Golden Globe Award Winner), Little Mermaid, Toy Story, The Lion King, Roger Rabbit, Remember the Titians and Princess Diaries. He was the Associate Director of the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival and the Managing Director of one of Chicago's premiere theatres, The St. Nicholas Theater. He is a world champion bridge player, having won the Open Teams in Estroil Portugal, has an honorary doctorate from Purdue University, is married, has two daughters and lives in Los Angeles and New York.
Glen Roven (Music and Lyrics), a four-time Emmy Award winner, is one of the rare musicians equally at home in the classical field as well as popular arena. He just had his violin concerto based on the Runaway Bunny, written for Ittai Shapira and performed by the Royal Philharmonic released on Sony/BMY with narration by Brooke Shields. He makes his Carnegie Hall conducting debut next season. His new musical The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T opens on Broadway next season as well.
Glen began his Broadway career as a rehearsal pianist for Pippin when he was in high school and, at nineteen was the musical director of Sugar Babies. He arranged Patti LuPone's one woman Broadway show and was the co-Musical Supervisor for Liza Minnelli's record-breaking engagement, Steppin' Out, at Radio City. A contributing composer for the Off-Broadway hit, A…My Name Is Alice, he wrote the scores for John Guare's Lydie Breeze, directed by Louis Malle, and Gardenia, directed by Karel Reisz. He also composed the scores for Larry Gelbart's Mastergate and Christopher Isherwood's A Meeting By The River, on Broadway, and Radio City's Got To Get Away. He made his Israeli conducting debut in 2001 conducting the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and has conducted the National Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the IKO, The Munich Philharmonic, The Radio Luxembourg Orchestra, as well as conducting for Renee Fleming, Placido Domingo, Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle.
He conducted the last four Presidential Inaugural Concerts plus America's Millennium Celebration produced by Quincy Jones and Steven Spielberg. He has written, conducted and produced for Julie Andrews, Aretha Franklin, Kenny G., Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Kermit the Frog, Patti LaBelle, Diana Ross, Catherine Zeta-Jones and many more. He conducted Frank Sinatra's last concert on television and Sammy Davis's last concert appearance. He is also a contributing author to Games We Played, a collection of essays published by Simon and Schuster as well as the City Secrets to London and New York. He has lectured at the Hebrew University as well as NYU Business School.
Jerome Kass (Book) was an Emmy nominee and Writers Guild Award winner in 1975 for his CBS special, “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom,” which starred Maureen Stapleton and Charles Durning. In 1978, Kass adapted it to the Broadway stage. Michael Bennett (A Chorus Line) produced and directed it as Ballroom. Kass was nominated for a Tony for that production.
Other television specials and movies of the week written by Kass include “A Brand New Life” on ABC in 1973, for which Cloris Leachman won an Emmy; “My Old Man,” CBS, 1978, which starred Warren Oates and Eileen Brennan; “The Fighter,” CBS, 1982, starring Gregory Harrison; “Scorned And Swindled,” CBS, 1984, with Tuesday Weld and Keith Carradine; the mini-series “Evergreen,” NBC, 1985, starring Lesley Ann Warren and Armand Assante; “Crossing To Freedom,” CBS, 1990, with Peter O'Toole and Mare Winningham; “Last Wish” in 1992 for ABC, which starred Patty Duke and Maureen Stapleton; “The Only Way Out,” ABC, 1993, with Henry Winkler and John Ritter; and “Secrets,” ABC in 1995, starring Veronica Hamel, Richard Kiley and Julie Harris.
In 1981, Kass wrote the feature film, “The Black Stallion Returns,” produced by Francis Ford Coppola for United Artists.
His theatre work includes Monopoly in 1965, an evening of four one-act plays, which featured Estelle Parsons; Saturday Night in 1967; and Ballroom, 1978, starring Dorothy Loudon and Vincent Gardenia. In the 1990's, Kass adapted three classic musicals to concert versions for Reprise! (the Encores of the West) in Los Angeles: Finian’s Rainbow, Pajama Game, and Fiorello.
Kass has taught screenwriting at the American Film Institute, the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, and, currently, at the Film School of Columbia University.
Set Designer, Jerome Sirlin's, “fluid use of sets, scenic projections and light effects annihilates space and time and gives his productions an exhilarating sense of visual freedom and cinematic illusion." (Time Magazine)
Designing productions throughout the US, Canada and Europe, his work ranges from avant-garde collaborations with Philip Glass, Allen Ginsberg and Lou Reed to pop concerts for Madonna and Paul Simon; from the classic world of Wagner's Ring Cycle and Verdi's Macbeth to contemporary operas such as John Corigliano's Ghosts of Versailles and Jonathan Dove's Flight; from big budget musicals like Kiss of the Spider Woman, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame to more intimate theatricals such as Piazzolla's Maria de Buenos Aires and the traveling stage circus Cirque Ingenieux.
In addition to Musical Theater and Opera, he's designed multimedia installations and shows for museums and other cultural institutions. Freedom Rising at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia gives the American Constitution both a historical and contemporary context. The video finale for the Hershey Park's Chocolate World Tour Ride, Hershey, Pennsylvania provides a whimsical ride through a landscape of American iconography.
Projects combining direction and scenic design include the European premiere of John Corigliano's opera The Ghosts of Versailles, Toshiro Mayazumi's Kinkakuji (from the novel The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Mishima) for New York City Opera, and the world premiere of Marilyn -- an opera by Ezra Laderman based on the last months of Marilyn Monroe's life.
He is currently designing a 360-degree scenic projection environment for The Planet Hollywood Performing Arts Theater in Las Vegas.
Ann Closs-Farley (Costume Designer) is a Los Angeles based Award Winning Designer. Her recent credits include: Disney's Toy Story: The Musical, Winter Wonderettes, Hedwig and The Angry Inch, Menopause: The Musical, Jewtopia, 99 Cent Only Shows, Three Penny Opera, Titis The Clownicus, Ten Thousand Years, Hardtimes, Hurly Burly, Growing With Ghosts, Stage Directions, Orlando, Mayhem and many
more.
She has earned multiple Ovation, LA Weekly and Garland Awards for her work in: Batboy: The Musical, When Tigers Smoked Long Pipes, Echo’s Hammer, Mephisto, The Seagull, Exonerated, Euphoria, Plastica Fantastica, Broadway, XXX Love Act, Cinderella, Medea, Macbeth, and
Ugly’s 1st World.
She also won a LA Drama Critics Award for her work in Sneaux and Gorey Stories: The Musical, as well as, the Local Hero Award from Backstage West. She designed the wigs and hairpieces for
a Snapple Ad campaign, clothes for Disney Merchandise, sets for movie publicity, furniture/toy construction for MGA Entertainment
("Bratz"), and has led recycled-fashion workshops at the M.O.C.A and
GETTY museums.
Maria S. Schlatter (Co-Producer) is an Emmy winning television producer and writer. She has produced and written many comedy, music, and variety specials and series for the top performers in entertainment including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Muhammed Ali and Roseanne. She produced the “American Comedy Awards” for eleven years, “Oscar's Greatest Moments” video for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, tributes for the Directors Guild, The Television Hall of Fame for the Television Academy, AFI Salutes and most recently, A Tribute to Nancy Reagan, promoting the use of stem cell research.
Also an award winning videographer, she has produced and written many video tributes for Julie Andrews, Blake Edwards, Goldie Hawn, Frank Oz and Dudley Moore as well as the Gstaad Film Festival for two years. Maria has written for and created video presentations for The Larry King Heart Foundation, Race to Erase MS, Retinitis Pigmentosa, The Henry Mancini Young Musicians Foundation, Operation Smile and many other deserving charities.
She has written comedy for John Cleese, Drew Carry and Eddie Murphy. Her political satire sketch comedy was used on the New York stage in Blow Me: A New Revue and in Zipper a stand-up and sketch comedy revue. She is currently in development on Pandora's Box, A New Musical Play, directed by Gary Halvorson and The Five Thousand Fingers of Dr. T. Schlatter wrote the books for both of these projects, collaborating with composer and lyricist Glen Roven.
Melida Skeete-Smith (Choir Coordinator and Director) was born in Colon, Panama and raised in Pasadena, California. As a soloist and musician Melida has ministered throughout Southern California, Portland Oregon, Seattle, Las Vegas, Arizona, Texas, New Orleans, Huntsville, Alabama, Maryland, Delaware, Washington D.C., New York, Orlando, Florida and a sold out audience in Wuppertal, Germany. Melida is a freelance musician, choral director, soloist, songwriter and arranger. She has worked On-Call for the Southern California Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Churches throughout the Southern California area. Melida lead The Jubilant Voices of Holman United Methodist Church to capture the Adult Category 1st Place win of the 19th Annual McDonald's Gospelfest, held at the Shrine Auditorium, November 8, 2003. The Jubilant Voices has appeared the last four years at the Los Angeles Holiday Celebration held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Christmas Eve and performed on December 24, 2007 which was broadcast live on KCET-TV-channel 28. Melida has received declarations and certificates by Los Angeles City and California State officials for her dedication and untiring work in the community, all while maintaining her fulltime position as Continuity Director of KFWB News. Also, Melida lead Praise Worship for the Negro Spiritual Institute's From the Cotton Field to the Concert Halls three Day seminar, held at Holman United Methodist Church, LA on February 23rd – 24th 2007. She was a clinician for the workshop A Song In My Heart, which explored the hope and powers that gospel music, has given black people throughout their journey from Africa to America. She also presented a brief history of black music, from Negro Spirituals, Jazz/Blues, Gospel to contemporary Christian music of today. Melida performed the National Anthem on May 14, 2007 at 7pm, at Dodger Stadium, when the Dodgers played their first game against the World Champion Cardinals. KFWB 980-AM Radio aired the entire event, including the National Anthem live that evening. She also most recently performed her Original composition Uyoyo as well as the National Anthem at the 50th Anniversary Route 66 parade VIP Breakfast for the City of Duarte, California on September 22, 2007. And also performed her composition American We Can for the Veterans Day Celebration held at Thorsen Park in Duarte, November 12, 2007.
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