Hey folks — this summer, my friend Ronald Shore is producing a new musical at NYMTF called Mr. Confidential. If you are in the NYC area this summer, check it out! I’m going to try to get out to see it myself….
This summer, The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) and Babyhead Productions (Ronald Shore, producer) are pleased to present the new musical comedy Mr. Confidential. Directed and choreographed by Stephen Nachamie (director of NYMF’s award-winning 2012 production of Foreverman), Mr. Confidential features book and lyrics bySamuel Bernstein (Bobbie’s Girl) and music by David Snyder. The production plays five performances July 21-27 at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center (480 W. 42nd St.), as part of the 2014 New York Musical Theatre Festival.
Before TMZ and Gawker, there was Bob Harrison’s Confidential Magazine. Its scandal and showbiz fizz went viral, fab ’50s style, outselling TV Guide and Time Magazine. But scrape away the hype, whipped cream and dirt, and what do you have? A mostly true story about heart, innocence, and family loyalty, set to a sexy, swinging, Big Broadway beat. But shhh! Keep it confidential…
In 1952, Bob Harrison dreams up Confidential Magazine. As part of a tight-knit family, he works with older sister, Edith, and her kids Michael and Marjorie — who trades her life as a young wife and mother for a chance to be Bob’s right hand in the business.
Bob’s creation is born of his own need to matter in the world. But he grows obsessed and enthralled by its spectacular success. Confidential’s mix of juicy true stories about Hollywood and Broadway stars, society swells and Washington big-shots soon dwarfs everything else around, with each issue selling over five million copies by 1957.
His dazzling rise, desperate fall and spectacular comeback take Bob to a triumph that’s beyond even his own imagination. Bob’s girlfriend Jeannie is at the center of everything glamorous he hopes to build. His nemesis is his own hire, a red-baiting writer named Howard Rushmore.
In the end, Bob must choose between fantasy and reality; family and infamy; legacy and longing.
With a cast of 13 lead by “Days of Our Lives” star Kevin Spirtas as Bob Harrison, Mr. Confidential co-stars Amy Bodnar as Jeannie Douglas, Erin Leigh Peck as Marjorie Meade and Paul Michael Valley as Howard Rushmore, and features Jane Blass, Joshua Dixon, Tony Award nominee Willy Falk, Badia Farha, James LaRosa, Michael Marotta, Rachel Alexa Norman, Elyssa Samsel and Aléna Watters.
The production features costume design by Vanessa Leuck, set design by Alan C. Edwards, lighting design by Peter Gragg and sound design by Matt Kraus. Kevin Cole serves as musical director.
Mr. Confidential is presented by The New York Musical Theatre Festival and Babyhead Productions, and was developed with the assistance of The York Theatre Company and The Anna Sosenko Trust.
Visit Mr. Confidential online at www.mrconfidentialmusical.com.
Mr. Confidential plays five performances only as part of the 2014 New York Musical Theatre Festival. The playing schedule is as follows:
- Monday, July 21 at 8 p.m.
- Thursday, July 24 at 1 p.m.
- Friday, July 25 at 9 p.m.
- Saturday, July 26 at 1 p.m.
- Sunday, July 27 at 5 p.m.
All performances take place at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at 480 W. 42nd St. (9th/10th Aves.).
Kevin Spiritas (Bob Harrison) from the start of his career, has been celebrated as one of the true, rare, tour-de-force performers in the world of entertainment. Be it theater, film or television, he thrills and captures the hearts of audiences in every medium. Spirtas is, perhaps, best known to millions around the world as television’s dashing “Dr. Craig Wesley,” a character he portrayed, for 7 years on NBC’s Emmy award-winning drama “Days of Our Lives.” After becoming a huge fan favorite, Spirtas was cast to play his “Days” role opposite Matt Leblanc’s “Dr. Drake Ramoray” on NBC’s “Friends.” Spirtas’ career began at 18, when he landed his first professional job as Mike (“I Can Do That”) Costa, in Michael Bennett’s Broadway seminal musical A Chorus Line. Spirtas has also starred on Broadway and Regional tours including Hairspray, Meet Me in St. Louis, Company, Damn Yankees and Into the Woods. A tribute to Spirtas’ high-octane talent came in 2003 when he was cast as the standby for Hugh Jackman in Broadway’s smash hit musical The Boy from Oz. His television and film credits include: “L.A. Heat,” “V.I.P.,” “Fired Up,” “Silk Stalkings,” “Quantum Leap,” Embrace the Darkness, Striking Resemblance and Green Plaid Shirt. Spirtas has been featured opposite Sir Ian McKellen in Bryan Singer’s Apt Pupil, and Ben Affleck in Mark Steven Johnson’s director’s cut of Daredevil. Spirtas can also be seen starring in those fantastic cult classic slasher sequels: Friday the 13th VII, Subspecies II, Subspecies III, Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes II and Albino Farm. In October 2009, Spirtas made his debut as a Broadway producer with the critically acclaimed revival of Finian’s Rainbow. He was also one of the producers on the smash hit Broadway musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert. While continuing his work in film and television, Spirtas tours the world with his highly acclaimed one-man musical shows: Night & Days, Jersey Men and Let There Be Love. kevinspirtas.com
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