Save The Date of September 22 - A Rare Chance For Boston Audiences To Hear Carolee Carmello in Concert

I can't seem to stop talking about the current blockbuster production of "Finding Neverland" in a World Premiere run at the American Repertory Theater.  Many of you read my review (see link below) and I know that many of you have already been part of the audience experience at the A.R.T.

White Rhino Report Review of Finding Neverland

Carolee Carmello as Mrs. du Maurier
"Finding Neverland"
American Repertory Theate

One of the stars of this production is Carolee Carmello, who plays Mrs. du Maurier, mother of the widowed Sylvia Llewelyn Davies.  Ms. Carmello is a veteran of Broadway and recipient of many awards and accolades for her acting and singing.  I have just learned that on one of her few days off during the run of "Finding Neverland," she will be offering a concert for Boston area audiences.  Details below.  I have already reserved my place.  I encourage you to join me for a rare and much-anticipated evening of song.

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The FUDGE Theatre Company
Founding Artistic Director, Joey DeMita

in association with
Matt Phillipps

Proudly Present
Broadway’s Award-Winning Powerhouse

CAROLEE CARMELLO
The Boston Concert

 

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Mosesian Theatre at The Arsenal Center For The Arts

Musical Director
PHIL RENO

“And then there’s CAROLEE CARMELLO.
Composers should be shoving each other aside to write shows for her.”
-BroadwayOnLine.com <http://BroadwayOnLine.com>

The FUDGE Theatre Company (Founding Artistic Director, Joey DeMita) in association with Matt Phillipps will present Broadway’s Award-winning powerhouse, CAROLEE CARMELLO in CONCERT - for one night only – MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 at The Mosesian Theatre at The Arsenal Center For The Arts (321 Arsenal Street, at the corner of Kingsbury Avenue, Watertown, MA).

CAROLEE CARMELLO: THE BOSTON CONCERT will begin at 8:00pm and will be followed by a VIP Soiree/Reception at the theatre.  Reception attendance is by invitation only or by purchase of a VIP Ticket.

Phil Reno will serve as Musical Director.

Considered Broadway’s Most Valuable Player, CAROLEE CARMELLO is currently receiving accolades for her performance as ‘Mrs. du Maurier’ in The American Repertory Theater’s (A.R.T.) Broadway-Bound FINDING NEVERLAND.

CAROLEE CARMLELLO’S voice has been acclaimed as miraculous; her talent as massive and magical; her presence on stage as a force-of-nature.

She is one of Broadway’s most sought-after iconoclastic beauties; one critic going so far as to proclaim her as Broadway’s SUPERHERO.

Her concerts are as celebrated as her triumphant Broadway starring roles.

In short, she is why we go to the theatre.

THE EVENT
CAROLEE CARMELLO: THE BOSTON CONCERT

THE DATE
Monday, September 22, 2014

THE THEATRE
The Mosesian Theatre
The Arsenal Center For The Arts
321 Arsenal Street  (at the corner of Kingsbury Avenue)
Watertown, MA).

THE CURTAIN TIME
8:00pm

THE VIP SOIREE/RECEPTION
Directly following the Concert
By Invitation Only

TICKETS
617-923-8487 (Arsenal Center Box Office)
www.fudgetheatre.com <http://www.fudgetheatre.com>

PRICES
VIP: $100 (Includes VIP Reception)
General Admission: $45
Students: $25

MISS CARMELLO’S RAVE REVIEWS

"Ms. Carmello, a first-rate interpreter of the new school of cerebral musicals (Hello Again, Parade), gives her heart and soul to every song she sings."
-New York Times

"Carmello is performing miracles, only hers are onstage at the Neil Simon Theatre.  Delivering one of the season's must-see performances.  When Carmello sings, there's magic in the theater.  There is absolutely no doubt that Carmello is a Broadway superhero."
-Backstage

"Ms. Carmello, a gloriously gifted singer actress,thrills us with the purity and power of her voice. She leads with bright-beaming intensity and with plenty of emotional heat."
-New York Times

"We have a reason to give thanks, and that is Carolee Carmello.  One of our most deeply wonderful, inexplicably underutilized singing actors, Carmello finally gets a giant vehicle that needs her massive talents.  Her voice has the shading and shine of buffed metal, copper and piercing one moment, pewter and mellow the next."
-Newsday

"Carolee Carmello gives a charismatic performance in the lead, belting out her numbers like a one-woman church choir."
-Entertainment Weekly

"CARMELLO turns her solo into a highlight."
-Variety

"Broadway stars Carolee Carmello and Terrence Mann are good enough to make the Beinekes add to the overall hilarity.  She as the compulsive rhymer Alice whose name prompts one of Brickman's and Elice's funniest referential laugh lines."
-Curtain Up

"CAROLEE CARMELLO steals the show.  She is brilliant."
-TODAY, NBC-TV

“Perhaps most dazzling is Carolee Carmello, who cracks her character’s conservative façade in unapologetic Broadway-diva style with her rafter-shredding first-act solo “Waiting,” inspired by drinking a vial of, um, Acrimonium that Pugsley intends to use to return Wednesday to the dark side.
-Talkin' Broadway

"Carolee Carmello projects so much warmth and friendliness that one might think her unable to pull off Lilli, but she does, providing a delightful performance. Looking better than ever, she’s authoritative in the broad comedy of “I Hate Men,” and, singing almost all of the music in that wonderfully rangy belt, supplies some exciting tones in “So in Love.” Above all, it’s a pleasure to see the confidence with which she carries off a traditional musical comedy part."
-Broadway.com <http://Broadway.com>

"Chief among the musical’s assets is the astonishing Carolee Carmello, who recently nabbed a Tony nomination for her starring role in Parade. Here she plays Ella Peterson, a.k.a. Melisande Scott, an overly helpful answering-service operator ridiculously in love with lazy would-be playwright Jeff Moss (Stephen Bogardus). Carmello not only makes us root for this unlikely pairing, she also convinces us of her character's ability to transform lives, including that of a dentist and actor. One of those force-of-nature performers, Carmello is equal parts Lucille Ball and Ethel Merman in this production. In songs like ‘It's a Perfect Relationship,’ ‘Is It a Crime?’ and the show-stopping ‘I'm Going Back,’ she winningly conveys utter conviction and the warmest of hearts. Her flexible voice, ideal for tuners, only furthers our joy."
-Variety

"Carolee Carmello, fresh from her Tony Award nomination for last season's Parade, brings the same virtues to her Marguerite: acute psychology, sizzling passion and a voice that can belt with the best. Mr. Wildhorn's style for her songs veers between Streisand and Piaf.  Ms. Carmello encompasses both extremes and remains her own woman."
-The Dallas Morning News

"Carolee Carmello, the unforgettable Lucille Frank of Broadway's Parade, again finds an outlet for her tremulous, character-rich singing and strong actor's instincts in the pivotal role of Marguerite, torn between hero and villain. She brings unexpected emotional colors -- womanly in her passion, wounded at Percy's neglect, furious at Chauvelin's betrayals, urgent in her efforts to rescue her captive brother."
-Houston Chronicle

“Carolee Carmello, who gives a stirringly heartfelt performance as Leo's wife, Lucille. The shy Lucille is clearly tortured by the public scrutiny of herself and her husband, but she also never seems to wonder if her husband might indeed be guilty. Ms. Carmello nonetheless creates a vital and affecting portrait of a sheltered woman thrust out into a harsh and dangerous world. Made up and dressed to look a bit like Eleanor Roosevelt (the period-appropriate costumes are by Judith Dolan), the actress' very accent and vocal inflections bespeak both a heritage of Southern Jewish gentility and a fluttery primness that never quite conceals a yearning for a more fully lived life. The second act is mostly hers, as Lucille convinces Georgia's governor, John Slaton (John Hickok), to reopen her husband's case. Though much of what follows has the feeling of a historical detective story, there is something infinitely touching about the valiant hope that Ms. Carmello projects. In her climactic love duet, during a conjugal visit to Leo in prison just before his abduction and murder by a mob symbolically commanded by a Confederate Civil War veteran, you suddenly feel you've been given emotional entry to a show that has determinedly kept you outside of it."
-New York Times

"On this large canvas, "Parade" zooms in on the odd, fragile and ultimately very moving relationship of Lucille and Leo Frank, perfectly played by Carolee Carmello and Brent Carver. Crucially, they are not conceived as Jewish martyrs. Carmello and Carver create rich and fascinating portraits of people with complex motivations. Carver's Leo is a cold fish, obsessive, neurotic and sarcastic, the kind of man who might conceivably have committed a terrible crime. Adding to the interest in their relationship is the fact that it is only after he is imprisoned that Carmello's Lucille is able to blossom. The events that undo him prove to be the making of her. When Leo and Lucille's marriage becomes, in the end, a love story, it is much more moving for being so unlikely."
-New York Daily News

"The performances of stars Brent Carver and Carolee Carmello are valiant, vocally and dramatically, and the staging is marked by Princely intelligence and economy.  Carmello's vibrant vocalizing and warm presence flesh out the simple contours of her part, but some of the villains have as much stage time as she does, making it difficult to create a fully rounded portrait."
-Variety

"Parade has a fine supporting cast, but the musical is anchored by its two leading performers, Brent Carver and Carolee Carmello.  Carmello possesses a rich, dramatic voice and tremulous smile that is immediately ingratiating.  In Parade, she triumphs, creating a vulnerable character whose strength in supporting her husband never wavers."
-Associated Press

"He is matched every step of the way by the Lucille of Carolee Carmello.  She plays a modern-day Joan of Arc without a scintilla of false or even inapposite real glamour, and infuses seeming ordinariness with enough lambent faith and dauntless determination to move a good-size mountain, if not budge human stupidity."
-New York Magazine

THE BIOS

CAROLEE CARMELLO has played leading roles in 12 Broadway musicals, including her recent Tony-nominated performance in Scandalous, where she portrayed the infamous evangelist, Aimee Semple McPherson.  Broadway audiences also saw Carolee as Mother Superior in Sister Act, as Mrs. Beineke in The Addams Family (for which she received a Drama Desk nomination and an Outer Critics Circle nomination), as Donna in Mamma Mia!, as Gabrielle in Lestat (Tony nomination, Drama Desk nomination), as Ms. Pennywise in Urinetown, as Kate in Kiss Me Kate, as Marguerite in The Scarlet Pimpernel, as Lucille Frank in Parade (Tony nomination and Drama Desk Award), as Abigail Adams in 1776, as Cordelia in Falsettos, and as Oolie in City of Angels.  Her Off-Broadway shows include: john and jen, Das Barbecü, I Can Get It For You Wholesale, Hello Again (Obie Award), A Class Act, The Vagina Monologues, and Elegies.  She has been seen on television in “Smash,” “Law and Order,” “Frasier,” “Ed,” and “Remember W.E.N.N.” (SAG Award nomination).  Her concert appearances have taken her across America and Europe, including engagements at Lincoln Center, New York’s Town Hall, and Carnegie Hall. Ms. Carmello can currently be seen as Madame du Maurier in Finding Neverland at The American Repertory Theater in Cambridge.

PHIL RENO (Music Director) Phil has been the Music Director/Conductor for eight Broadway shows : Promises, Promises ; Elf! ; The Drowsy Chaperone ; The Producers ;Thou Shalt Not ; Dame Edna: The Royal Tour and Back With a Vengeance ; and Cats. Off-Broadway: The Diva Is Dismissed (Public), A New Brain (Lincoln Center), Chess (Master Theater). National Tours: Joseph…. (with Donny Osmond), world premiere Music of the Night, Starlight Express, and Bob Fosse’s Sweet Charity. Regional : Minsky’s (pre-broadway premiere at Ahmanson), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (premiere at Old Globe) , Melissa Manchester’s I Sent a Letter to My Love (premiere at North Shore). Television: Music Director/Conductor Broadway Under the Stars, CBS 2002-2006; CBS Tree Lighting in Bryant Park 2006-2011. Film : The Producers. Phil was also nominated for a Grammy award for his work as co-producer of the Drowsy Chaperone original cast album.

MATT PHILLIPPS (Associate Producer) Matt is thrilled to welcome the brilliant Carolee Carmello to the Boston stage. Matt has performed in NYC and Boston at Circle in the Square, New World Stages, American Repertory Theater, Company One, Reagle Music Theatre, Boston Playwrights Theatre, The Majestic, The Strand and Berklee College of Music. Most recently he was seen as the title role in the premiere of the new musical Jack the Ripper. He played Mark in Rent at Boston Center for the Arts, opened for Gavin Creel at Ryles Jazz Club and has been directed by Stephen Schwartz and Diane Paulus. On screen he can be seen in the film Exclusive. Matt received his education from Circle in the Square Theatre School and The Boston Conservatory. He teaches acting at Reagle Music Theatre and recently opened the Matt Phillipps Photography studio where he specializes in headshot and fashion photography.

JOEY DeMITA is the Founding Artistic Director of The FUDGE Theatre Company, Inc.  Directing credits include Jake's Women (Stonehill Theatre Company) Company (Winthrop Playmakers), and the over twenty FUDGE productions, including the premieres of I Sing!, I Love You Because, Half-Married (World Premiere), bare, Nevermore, Glory Days (IRNE Nomination: Best Director, Best Musical), The Glorious Ones, Drawin' on the Walls (World Premiere) and Jack the Ripper: The Whitechapel Musical. Other notable directing credits with FUDGE include Carousel (IRNE Nomination: Best Chorography), Spring Awakening (IRNE Nomination: Best Director, Best Musical), Parade (IRNE Nomination; Best Director, Best Musical), and Assassins (IRNE Nomination: Best Director, Best Musical). Joey has served as the directing intern to Rob Ruggiero at TheatreWorks Hartford on productions of The Exonerated (featuring TV/Film star Kim Fields) and the world premiere musical Ella: Off the Record (starring Broadway's Tina Fabrique). In the Boston area, Mr. DeMita served as the assistant director to Adam Zahler on the Lyric Stage's production of Talley's Folly.  When not directing/producing, Mr. DeMita teaches pre-school through 6th grade  performing arts in Boston and Brookline.

THE FUDGE THEATRE COMPANY, Incorporated aims to provide the Greater Boston area with innovative, professional and cutting-edge theater as well as provide educational opportunities. We strive to breathe new life into familiar shows, and above all, introduce audiences to new and under produced works. We challenge theatergoers to think outside of the box, open their minds to new concepts and experiences, and expand their imaginations beyond the limitations of traditional theater. By doing so, we will improve the cultural landscape and develop genuine entertainment.

www.fudgetheatre.com <http://www.fudgetheatre.com>
www.caroleecarmello.com <http://www.caroleecarmello.com>