NC Theatre’s Pre-Broadway Engagement of NERDS Heads to Broadway
Artistic Director, Casey Hushion, Makes Broadway Directorial Debut
Raleigh, NC, January 17, 2016 --(PR.com)-- North Carolina Theatre is proud to announce the Broadway opening of the new musical dot-comedy NERDS on Thursday, April 21, 2016 at the Longacre Theatre (220 West 48th Street) in New York City. NERDS was produced by North Carolina Theatre as a pre-Broadway engagement at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in January 2013 with the goal of using the process to continue the show’s development. The show was hailed as a first for the Raleigh arts community and celebrated as an innovative theatre experience by critics and audiences. NERDS is also notable as the Broadway directorial debut of NCT’s Artistic Director, Casey Hushion.
“As Artistic Director, I am proud to uphold NCT’s mission to honor the past, present and future of the musical theatre art form. With NERDS, we are advancing our long-term artistic vision to produce New Works and I could not be more thrilled. Directing this show on Broadway is realizing a life-long dream,” said Casey Hushion.
“We’re thrilled to add a jolt of comedy to this already astounding theater season, with this hilarious tale of the Founding Fathers of Tech, from a creative team stacked with new voices,” said producer Carl Levin. “While fine-tuning and re-coding the show for this exciting launch, we’ve also been exploring innovative ways to upgrade the ‘user experience’ inside the theater, for a uniquely entertaining event – compatible for Broadway audiences of all generations.”
About NERDS
Before Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were the undisputed titans of technology, they were NERDS. Join America’s favorite geeks – from garage inventors to Silicon Valley mega-billionaires – on a hilarious musical journey from the floppy disc era to the iPhone phenomenon and the epic competition in between. Fittingly, the production will feature the most progressive technology seen on Broadway, including: on-stage holograms; projection mapping; and an enhanced theatergoing experience through app integrations that allow users to interact with the set and other audience members, choose the show’s ending, and more.
NERDS features book & lyrics by multiple Emmy Award nominees Jordan Allen-Dutton and Erik Weiner (Cartoon Network’s “Robot Chicken”, Bombitty of Errors), music by Hal Goldberg (The Children), choreography by Tony Award nominee Josh Bergasse (On The Town, “Smash”) and Additional Choreography by Emmy Award nominee Spencer Liff (Spring Awakening, “So You Think You Can Dance”). The Broadway cast will be announced shortly.
NERDS features scenic design by Lee Savage (Ordinary Boys), projection design by Daniel Brodie (Aladdin), costume design by Jennifer Caprio (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), lighting design by Jason Lyons (Rock of Ages, Hand to God) and sound design by Nevin Steinberg (Hamilton, Bright Star). Orchestrations are by Adam Blau (Monica! the Musical, “Funny or Die’s Billy on the Street”).
NERDS was first presented by the Philadelphia Theatre Company in 2007, where it received Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Original Music and Outstanding New Play. In 2013, the show played limited engagements at North Carolina Theatre and again at Philadelphia Theater Company where it received seven Barrymore Award Nominations. The Philadelphia Inquirer called NERDS "generation defining,” “visually hot and musically adept filled with one knockout, high-velocity number after number” and “with surgical precision [like] How to Succeed meets Urinetown, NERDS nails such themes as the cost of dreams and the emptiness of revenge. And, is full of class, insight and wit.”
Casey Hushion has directed 19 productions for North Carolina Theatre and is currently an Associate/Resident Director on Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway. Other Broadway credits include: Associate Director of Elf (2012, 2010), Assistant Director of In The Heights (Broadway/National Tour), Assistant Director of The Drowsy Chaperone (Broadway/National Tour/West End), To Be or Not To Be (Manhattan Theatre Club), and Good Vibrations. Most recently, Casey was the Associate Director on the lab of a new untitled Broadway musical, directed by Casey Nicholaw.
NERDS is produced on Broadway by Carl Levin, Vicki Halmos, Elizabeth Williams, Seth Greenleaf, and Clear Channel Entertainment.
NC Theatre is the region’s premiere nonprofit professional regional theatre producing Broadway musical revivals and new works. Coming up on our 2015/2016 season: RAGTIME January 12-17, 2016; GREASE, February 9-14, 2016; WIT, April 29- May 8, 2016; Disney's & Cameron Mackintosh's MARY POPPINS, July 26- 31, 2016.
Tickets to NERDS are now on sale via telecharge.com. Preview performances begin March 31, 2016. Opening night is April 21, 2016 at the Longacre Theatre.
www.NERDSBroadway.com
@NERDSMusical
#NERDSMusical
“As Artistic Director, I am proud to uphold NCT’s mission to honor the past, present and future of the musical theatre art form. With NERDS, we are advancing our long-term artistic vision to produce New Works and I could not be more thrilled. Directing this show on Broadway is realizing a life-long dream,” said Casey Hushion.
“We’re thrilled to add a jolt of comedy to this already astounding theater season, with this hilarious tale of the Founding Fathers of Tech, from a creative team stacked with new voices,” said producer Carl Levin. “While fine-tuning and re-coding the show for this exciting launch, we’ve also been exploring innovative ways to upgrade the ‘user experience’ inside the theater, for a uniquely entertaining event – compatible for Broadway audiences of all generations.”
About NERDS
Before Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were the undisputed titans of technology, they were NERDS. Join America’s favorite geeks – from garage inventors to Silicon Valley mega-billionaires – on a hilarious musical journey from the floppy disc era to the iPhone phenomenon and the epic competition in between. Fittingly, the production will feature the most progressive technology seen on Broadway, including: on-stage holograms; projection mapping; and an enhanced theatergoing experience through app integrations that allow users to interact with the set and other audience members, choose the show’s ending, and more.
NERDS features book & lyrics by multiple Emmy Award nominees Jordan Allen-Dutton and Erik Weiner (Cartoon Network’s “Robot Chicken”, Bombitty of Errors), music by Hal Goldberg (The Children), choreography by Tony Award nominee Josh Bergasse (On The Town, “Smash”) and Additional Choreography by Emmy Award nominee Spencer Liff (Spring Awakening, “So You Think You Can Dance”). The Broadway cast will be announced shortly.
NERDS features scenic design by Lee Savage (Ordinary Boys), projection design by Daniel Brodie (Aladdin), costume design by Jennifer Caprio (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), lighting design by Jason Lyons (Rock of Ages, Hand to God) and sound design by Nevin Steinberg (Hamilton, Bright Star). Orchestrations are by Adam Blau (Monica! the Musical, “Funny or Die’s Billy on the Street”).
NERDS was first presented by the Philadelphia Theatre Company in 2007, where it received Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Original Music and Outstanding New Play. In 2013, the show played limited engagements at North Carolina Theatre and again at Philadelphia Theater Company where it received seven Barrymore Award Nominations. The Philadelphia Inquirer called NERDS "generation defining,” “visually hot and musically adept filled with one knockout, high-velocity number after number” and “with surgical precision [like] How to Succeed meets Urinetown, NERDS nails such themes as the cost of dreams and the emptiness of revenge. And, is full of class, insight and wit.”
Casey Hushion has directed 19 productions for North Carolina Theatre and is currently an Associate/Resident Director on Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway. Other Broadway credits include: Associate Director of Elf (2012, 2010), Assistant Director of In The Heights (Broadway/National Tour), Assistant Director of The Drowsy Chaperone (Broadway/National Tour/West End), To Be or Not To Be (Manhattan Theatre Club), and Good Vibrations. Most recently, Casey was the Associate Director on the lab of a new untitled Broadway musical, directed by Casey Nicholaw.
NERDS is produced on Broadway by Carl Levin, Vicki Halmos, Elizabeth Williams, Seth Greenleaf, and Clear Channel Entertainment.
NC Theatre is the region’s premiere nonprofit professional regional theatre producing Broadway musical revivals and new works. Coming up on our 2015/2016 season: RAGTIME January 12-17, 2016; GREASE, February 9-14, 2016; WIT, April 29- May 8, 2016; Disney's & Cameron Mackintosh's MARY POPPINS, July 26- 31, 2016.
Tickets to NERDS are now on sale via telecharge.com. Preview performances begin March 31, 2016. Opening night is April 21, 2016 at the Longacre Theatre.
www.NERDSBroadway.com
@NERDSMusical
#NERDSMusical
Contact
N.C. Theatre
Heather M. Millen
347-457-6364
Heather M. Millen
347-457-6364
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