CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF MIMI LE DUCK
A Nouveau Musical
Arrives Off-Broadway
Featuring
Candy Buckley, Robert DuSold, Allen Fitzpatrick,
Annie Golden, Ken Jennings, Marcus Neville,
and Eartha Kitt
Opening night scheduled for Tuesday, October 31
Mimi le Duck, a nouveau musical, will play off-Broadway’s New World Stages this fall, beginning performances on Wednesday, October 11 and officially opening on Tuesday, October 31 at New World Stages (340 West 50th street). Directed by Thomas Caruso, Mimi le Duck has book and lyrics by Diana Hansen-Young, music by Brian Feinstein, and musical staging by Matt West (Beauty and the Beast). The production will feature Candy Buckley, Robert DuSold, Allen Fitzpatrick, Annie Golden, Ken Jennings, Marcus Neville, and Eartha Kitt. For tickets, please call Tele-Charge at (212) 239-6200.
The new musical Mimi le Duck follows Miriam (Annie Golden), a discontented Mormon housewife from Ketchum, Idaho, who, in a moment of desperately crazy inspiration, packs her bags and moves to Paris, leaving behind her husband and her successful career as a painter of duck canvases for the QVC Network. Thus unfolds Mimi le Duck, a musical as whimsical and unique as the city of Paris, populated by romance and intrigue, gypsy pickpockets, over-the-hill torch singers, and that ever-elusive spark that gives us the guts to change our lives.
Mimi le Duck had its world premiere at the Adirondack Theatre Festival and its New York premiere at the Fringe Festival, both in the summer of 2004.
Mimi le Duck will have scenic design by Tony Award-winner John Arnone; costume design by Tony Award-winner Ann Hould-Ward; and lighting design by David Lander. The production’s Musical Supervisor and Orchestrator is Chris Fenwick.
CANDY BUCKLEY appeared on Broadway in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Cabaret, Ring 'Round the Moon. Off-Broadway roles include The Petrified Prince, Shockheaded Peter, Defying Gravity, Communicating Doors, View of the Dome. Regional credits include Williamstown Theatre Festival (Travesties); four seasons at the American Repertory Theatre, including Hedda Gabler, Macbeth, and Misalliance; as well as 11 seasons at Dallas Theater Center. Awards: Drama Desk nomination, Helen Hayes nomination, Princess Grace Statuette.
ROBERT DuSOLD’s Broadway and national tour roles include Javert/Valjean in Les Miserables, Monsieur Andre in Phantom of the Opera, Old Deuteronomy in Cats, Pete in Show Boat, Marcos in Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Che in Evita. Regional work includes Sunday in the Park..., Arena Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, O'Neill Theatre Fest. Recordings: Gala For Hal Prince, Oh, Kay!
ALLEN FITZPATRICK’s many New York theatre credits include Les Miserables, 42nd Street, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Damn Yankees, Jack's Holiday, Annie Warbucks, The Rothschilds, Mata Hari, Wonderful Town, and Boys From Syracuse. He has appeared in national tours of Sunset Blvd., Aspects of Love, Guys and Dolls, Six Degrees of Separation, Elmer Gantry, and Whistle Down the Wind.
ANNIE GOLDEN appeared on Broadway in The Full Monty, On the Town (Lucy Schmeeler), Ah, Wilderness! (Belle), and Hair (revival, Jeannie). Regional and off-Broadway credits include The Full Monty (The Old Globe), An Empty Plate?, La Terrasse, Saturn Returns, On the Town, Assassins, Little Shop of Horrors. Film: Hair, The Pebble and the Penguin (animated), Twelve Monkeys. TV: "Law & Order," "Third Watch," "One Life to Live," "Cheers," "Miami Vice," "House of Ramon Iglesia" (American Playhouse).
KEN JENNINGS created the role of Tobias in the original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd (Drama Desk and Theater World Awards). Other Broadway roles include The Boss in Side Show, Mr. Spanker in London Assurance, Roland Maule in Present Laughter, Shorty in All God's Chillun' Got Wings, Georg Strunk in Grand Hotel, and LaGuardia in Mayor. TV: "Hack," "Third Watch," "Law & Order," "Another World," "One Life to Live," "All My Children."
The legendary EARTHA KITT made her Broadway debut in New Faces of 1952. Other stage appearances include Mrs. Patterson (Tony nomination), Shinbone Alley, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Owl and the Pussycat, Timbuktu, (for which she received her second Tony nomination), and most recently in The Wild Party (for which she received her third Tony nomination as well as a Drama Desk nomination). Her film roles include Boomerang; St. Louis Blues with Nat King Cole; Anna Lucasta, with Sammy Davis, Jr.; and the Isaac Mizrahi documentary Unzipped. Television: "The Nanny," "Living Single" and "Batman" as the infamous Catwoman. Ms. Kitt is one of only a handful of performers to be nominated for Tony (three times), Grammy (twice), and Emmy awards. She has written three autobiographies, including the best-selling I'm Still Here: Confessions of a Sex Kitten, as well as the 2001 best-seller Rejuvenate! (It’s Never Too Late). She has enjoyed extended stays at the Café Carlysle and will soon release an album, Eartha Kitt: Live at the Carlysle. For more info, visit www.earthakitt.com.
MARCUS NEVILLE played Harold in the Broadway and Old Globe Theatre's productions of The Full Monty. Other Broadway includes City of Angels (as well as its national tour). Off-Broadway credits include Lil' Abner (Encores!), I Love New York (Rainbow and Stars), Michael Jackson's Sisterella, That's Life, CBS Live (as Ricky Ricardo). Regional: Same Time, Next Year (Indiana Rep), Lucky in the Rain (Goodspeed), The Gig (American Stage Co.), Merrily We Roll Along (Weston Playhouse), Young Rube (Rep Theatre of St. Louis). Film: Ham and Addie.
THE CREATIVE TEAM
After a successful career as one of Hawaii’s leading artists, book writer/lyricist Diana Hansen-Young came to New York City at age 50 to pursue her lifelong dream of writing for musical theatre, enrolling in and eventually graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Theatre Writing program. While in the program, she met her collaborator, Brian Feinstein, and they began working on Mimi le Duck. Since that time, Diana estimates the show has been rewritten 138 times. A published member of Mystery Writers of America, Ms. Hansen-Young has also written and illustrated 10 children’s books and three art and coffee table books for women. She was elected to the Hawaii State Constitutional Convention in 1968, and the Hawaii State House of Representatives in 1970. She is married and has two daughters.
Composer Brian Feinstein's composing credits include: the song No Looking Back, which debuted on New Year's Eve with the Boston Pops Orchestra, conducted by Keith Lockhart, with 14-year old singing sensation Katilyn Lusk; the musical adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle and the instrumental music for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, both produced by the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY; By The Numbers: A Musical Comedy in Three Generations for the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop conducted by Stephen Schwartz; ; the one-act musical Daphne & Apollo for the Mondo publishing company; The Circus is Coming to Town produced by Theatre West in Los Angeles; which was awarded the "Best Children's Musical" in Southern California. Brian has received an ASCAP Plus Award for songwriting in the popular music division and is a recipient of a Jonathan Larson Memorial Fellowship award. He earned an MFA from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts for Musical Theatre Writing and a BA from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema. Brian is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild, ASCAP, and the Tri-State Basset Hound Rescue League.
Director Thomas Caruso most recently staged The Butcherhouse Chronicles for SPF 2006 in New York. Other credits include the premiere of Jack Heifner's Earth to Bucky (Bay Street Theatre) and the premiere of Terrence McNally and Israel Horovitz's Off Season – a duet (Gloucester Stage). He directed the national tour of Master Class, starring Charlotte Cornwell of the RSC. Other New York play credits include Jack Heifner's China Dolls (Ensemble Studio Theatre), James Edwin Parker's Two Boys… (Rattlestick and Off-Broadway), Mimi le Duck (FringeNYC), Surviving Mom (HB Playwrights Foundation), Clive Barker's Subtle Bodies (Off-Broadway), Mickey's Home (Theatre for the New City), Tatjana (Juilliard - workshop), Enemy of the People (Century Center), and All American Boy (FringeNYC). He received the Kenneth Frankel Memorial Directing Fellowship from MTC. Regionally, he has directed Cowboy Mouth (Williamstown Theatre Festival – workshop), The Next Marilyn (Florida Studio Theatre), Master Class (TheatreWorks, Palo Alto), New World Rhapsody (New York Stage and Film Emerging Writers Workshop), and The Girl in the Frame (Adirondack Theatre Festival). He is a Resident Director of Mamma Mia!. On Broadway, he was the Associate Director for both Bombay Dreams and the musical revival of Follies. At the Key West Theatre Festival, he directed the inaugural gala presentation of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues. Thomas has assisted on numerous Broadway productions including Love! Valour! Compassion!, Master Class with both Zoe Caldwell and Faye Dunaway, Stanley with Anthony Sher, Parade (Toronto), and Les Miserables (10th Anniversary).
Matt West (musical staging) received the L.A. Drama-Logue Award for Beauty and the Beast. He also received London's Olivier, Drama Desk and Outer Critics' Circle award nominations for Beauty. He has directed and choreographed productions that include The Wanderer at Tokyo's Parko Theatre, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan and Cinderella for Disney Home Video, and "Mickey's Nutcracker" for the Disney Channel. Matt played the role of Bobby in the film A Chorus Line, directed by Sir Richard Attenborough. Broadway and regional credits: A Chorus Line; Hello, Dolly!; and Peter Pan. As a team, Mr. West, Robert Jess Roth and Stan Meyer created the stage versions of Plane Crazy and Dick Tracy.
Mimi le Duck will be performed on the following schedule at New World Stages (340 West 50th street): Monday, Wednesday – Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 3:00pm and 8:00pm, and Sunday at 3:00pm and 7:30pm. Tickets, priced $45 - $70, can be purchased by calling TELE-CHARGE at (212) 239-6200.