From Manhattan to Tiffin
A group of 18 music students will have a rare opportunity to work with the renowned actor, singer and composer Jeff Blumenkrantz when he serves as an artist-in-residence this Friday.
The Tony Award-nominated Blumenkrantz will coach the music and theatre students and they will then join him on stage Saturday, Feb. 23, for a performance of his contemporary musical theatre compositions.
Students who will be on stage with Blumenkrantz include: Kaylea Bowers, Elias Rousculp, Elizabeth Bowman, Gavin Buurma, Riley Gibson, Ashley Dawson, Maia Brower, Sam Stohlman, Paige Hood, Caira Goldstein, Haley Martin, Reese Lytle, Krysten Lilly, Gavin Hubbard, Madison Swyers, Jasmine Ridler, Anna Zeller and Lo Erin Jackson.
Students can attend the performance free of charge. It will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Gundlach Theatre. Others can purchase tickets here or at the door. Cost is $10 for theatre subscribers or Berg Bravo! members and $15 general admission.
About Jeff Blumenkrantz
Blumenkrantz’s career as a songwriter began at Northwestern University, later pursuing his acting career in New York. He has been composing for more than 30 years and his works have been performed in regional theatres around the country. He received a 2003 Tony Award nomination for the songs he contributed to the score of Urban Cowboy, the musical.
In 2004, he was commissioned by Carnegie Hall to contribute to The Seven Deadly Sins, a song cycle premiered by Audra McDonald that year. A year later, The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook, a piano/vocal folio of 20 songs, was published, followed by the release of the first episode of The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast, a performance and interview show featuring his songs sung by some of musical theatre’s great talents.
In 2011, Blumenkrantz received the Fred Ebb Award for his song cycle, Month Upon a Time, which he wrote over the course of year. The song cycle features 12 songs each dealing with a different month, inspired by ideas pitched to him by his Twitter followers.
Early 2015 marked the release of his recording I’ve Been Played: Alysha Umphress Swings Jeff Blumenkrantz featuring Alysha Umphress. His songs can also be heard on such recordings as: Audra McDonald’s How Glory Goes, Sutton Foster’s Wish and An Evening with Sutton Foster – Live at the Café Carlyle, Rebecca Luker’s Greenwich Time, Victoria Clark’s 15 Seconds of Grace, Megan Mullally’s Big as a Berry, Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Album, and Lauren Kennedy’s Here and Now.
He has performed on Broadway in Into the Woods, Threepenny Opera and Damn Yankees, among other productions, as well in many off-Broadway productions. Film and TV credits include The Big Sick, The Detour, 30 Rock, The Good Wife, Ugly Betty, Will and Grace, Law and Order, and the PBS telecasts of the New York Philharmonic concerts of Sweeney Todd and Candide.
February 18, 2019
