Broadway Meets Mason Gross: A Journey of Musical Theater

WHAT: The musical review brings together accomplished alumni from Mason Gross School of the Arts for a free evening featuring a collection of songs and themes that enrich the American musical theater canon. Particular focus will be placed on how selections and genres evolved, like love songs (such as “I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta My out of my Hair” from South Pacific to “Take Me or Leave Me” from Rent). It will also explore the genre of teenage angst and how that expression has evolved over time.

A highlight to celebrate Rutgers University’s 250th anniversary are selected numbers from High Button Shoes, the 1947 Broadway musical that takes place in 1913 New Brunswick, N.J., including the song “Nobody Ever Died for Dear Old Rutgers.”

WHO:

• Deirdre Friel* (Leap of Faith, Broadway), BFA 2003, Acting
• Christopher Sears* (Stupid Fu**ing Bird, Pearl Theater), BFA 2013, Acting
• Jeanel LeBlanc (The Ride, Off-Broadway), BFA 2012, Music Education
• Collin Kelly-Sordelet* (Sting’s The Last Ship, Broadway)
• Thomas DellaMonica* (Movements of the Soul and Tribes, Off-Broadway) BFA 2011, Acting
• Artistic Direction by alumnus Marshall Jones III (Mason Gross Theater Department faculty)
• Musical Direction and Performance by Stephen Agosto* (Rutgers High School Musical Theater Academy)
• Featuring an onstage jazz trio comprised of the renowned Mason Gross jazz faculty Kenny Davis, Victor Lewis and Marc Stasio
• Featuring dance numbers by the musical theater students of the Rutgers Summer Acting Conservatory for High School Students

*Actor appears courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

WHEN: Wednesday, July 13, 7 p.m.

WHERE: Nicholas Music Center, 85 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, Rutgers University, Douglass Campus

No tickets required. Wristbands will be distributed upon entry to free performances. Limited seating available. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.