“Musical Theatre in the USA: American Musical Elements – From Page to Stage”

Organized and Moderated by Randy Gener

Featuring Michael John LaChiusa and Jose Llana
Tuesday, 9th of November 2010

within the International Festival for Musical Performing Arts “Life is Beautiful”
3rd edition
Bucharest, Romania

BUCHAREST — Randy Gener‘s conference entitled “Musical Theatre in the USA: American Musical Elements — From Page to Stage” will take place within the International Festival for Musical Performing Arts “Life is Beautiful” in Bucharest, Romania.  The festival is one of a kind event in Romania, organized by the National Operetta Theatre “Ion Dacian.”  This third edition of the festival includes number of musical and operetta performances, concerts of international artists like Mariza, Laurie Anderson and The Tiger Lillies, workshops for children, photography exhibitions and conferences, performed by both Romanian and foreign artists, from over 10 countries around the world.

The International Festival for Musical Performing Arts “Life is Beautiful”

The conference entitled “Musical Theatre in the USA : American Musical Elements — From Page to Stage” will take place on the 9th of November 2010, at 6 p.m. at the Intercontinental Hotel – Opera Room, in Bucharest.  The conference is an intimate forum organized and moderated by Randy Gener, the Nathan Award–winning senior editor of American Theatre magazine, who will present a paper on American musicals.

The conference also features two of the most compelling figures in the American musical theatre today: composer/lyricist/librettist Michael John LaChiusa and singer/performer/recording artist Jose Llana. The conference discusses the elements of what makes a great musical and offers Romanian audiences a glimpse beyond the proscenium into the creative worlds of musical theater writing and musical performance.

The conference completes the diverse program of the festival and is aimed at gathering important personalities of the Romanian cultural stage, who will analyze the present situation on the musical stage in Romania and in the United States, in the context of an evergrowing interest in the musical performances and Romania.

The conference on the American Musical Theatre will be completed with a discussion on the musical theatre in Europe, held by the German journalist and President of the Kultur Forum Europa, Dieter Topp, bringing together two different musical cultures and putting forward their most important features.

Randy Gener

Randy Gener is a Nathan Award-winning writer, editor, drama critic, playwright and visual artist. He has published criticism, articles, essays and reviews in The New York Times, New York Magazine, The International Herald Tribune, Time Out New York and other publications in Europe, Asia and the U.S. His plays include “Love Seats for Virginia Woolf,” “What Remains of a Rembrandt Torn into Four Pieces,” among others. His visual-art installations include “in the garden of One World” and “Positively No Filipinos Allowed”, among others. He is the author of scholarly essays in the encyclopedia “Cambridge Guide to the American Theater”; the anthologies “Theater and Humanism in a World of Violence” and “roMANIA After 2000,” among others. He is a contributor to “The American Theatre Reader: Essays and Conversation from American Theatre Magazine,” edited by the magazine’s staff. In his capacity as the senior editor of American Theatre magazine, published by Theatre Communications Group, Gener is the magazine’s lead staff writer and is responsible for writing news, features and criticism, as well as preparing and curating theme issues on all aspects of the professional U.S. theatre. He is involved in the planning, management and commissioning of the magazine’s freelance assignments, both nationally and internationally. He has been the recipient of 2010 Deadline Club Award and 2010 NLGJA Journalist of the Year. In 2009, Gener was named the winner of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism, the highest award for dramatic criticism in the U.S. and one of the most distinguished awards in the American theater.

Michael John LaChiusa

Michael John LaChiusa is a composer, lyricist and librettist; he wrote the music for numerous Broadway performances. Michael John LaChiusa was present on Broadway during the 1999-200 season by “The Wild Party” and “Marie Christine”, receiving nominations for Best Score and Best Book (with George C. Wolfe on “The Wild Party”) for each show and he received a Tony nomination for Best book (with Graciela Daniele and Jim Lewis) for “Chronicle of a Death Foretold.”  LaChiusa is an Obie-Award winner (“Hello Again” and “First Lady Suite”) and the recipient of the Gilman-Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theatre Award and the winner of two Emmy Awards for the children’s television show “The Wonder Pets.”

Jose Llana

Jose Llana most recently appeared on Broadway in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee where he created the role of Chip Tolentino (Drama Desk Award).  And in other parts that include: Wang Ta in “Flower Drum Song” (starring opposite Lea Salonga), Angel in “Rent”, Jessie-Lee in “Streetcorner Symphony” and his Broadway debut as Lun Tha in “The King and I” opposite Lou Diamond Phillips and Donna Murphy. TV/film appearances include HBO’s “Sex and the City” and “Hitch”, starring Will Smith. Llana is a best-selling recording artist in his native Philippines with his self-titled solo album. Among the future productions, starring Jose Llana is  “Wonderland” by Frank Wildhorn on Broadway in the role of  El Gato (in April 2011) at the Marquis Theater.

About Admin

CultureofOneWorld.org is a NYC-based production, event and media project devoted to U.S. news, foreign diplomacy, cultural issues, innovative art projects and journalism in the public interest. Learn more about the proprietor at MediaKit.RandyGener.org

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