THEATREWORKS SILICON VALLEY PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF A TIMELESS MUSICAL JOURNEY The Prince of Egypt

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1 THEATREWORKS SILICON VALLEY PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF A TIMELESS MUSICAL JOURNEY The Prince of Egypt Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz Book by Philip LaZebnik Directed by Scott Schwartz October 6 - November 5, 2017 Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, Mountain View MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (11 October 2017) TheatreWorks Silicon Valley continues its mission of developing new works in the Bay Area with the World Premiere of The Prince of Egypt, a soaring celebration of the human spirit and one of the greatest stories ever told: the saga of Moses, his Pharaoh brother Ramses, and the indomitable people who changed them both forever. The musical score and lyrics come from Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell, Pippin), with book by Philip LaZebnik (Pocahontas, Mulan), who were both in residence at TheatreWorks developing this stage adaptation of the acclaimed DreamWorks Animation film. Featuring the Oscar-winning Best Song When You Believe, this vibrant new stage musical is directed by multi-award-winning Broadway director Scott Schwartz (Golda s Balcony; Jane Eyre; Bat Boy; Tick, Tick Boom!), and features a multi-ethnic cast led by Diluckshan Jeyaratnam, an acclaimed Danish actor/singer making his US debut as Moses, and Broadway s Jason Gotay (Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), as Ramses. This Co-World Premiere will be presented in collaboration with Fredericia Teater in Denmark, where it will be staged in The World Premiere of The Prince of Egypt will be presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley October 6-November 5, 2017 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. For tickets ($40-$100) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) We are thrilled to bring this new musical to life, said Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley. At TheatreWorks Silicon Valley we seek works that celebrate the human spirit, and

2 believe that The Prince of Egypt could not be a better fit for us. We also are more than delighted to welcome back Stephen Schwartz, who has been a partner of our New Works Initiative developing shows such as Snapshots and whose other works we have presented seven times over the years, and Scott Schwartz, who has directed several shows for TheatreWorks including his World Premiere drama My Ántonia. The Prince of Egypt is produced in collaboration with the Fredericia Teater, which will host the Co-World Premiere in Denmark in April Collaborating with the Fredericia Teater for this World Premiere is remarkable, said TheatreWorks Managing Director Phil Santora. TheatreWorks has established itself as one of the nation s foremost professional theatres championing the creation of new works, and we are honored to be working in tandem with one of Europe s top companies. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has assembled an exceptional cast with assistance from Stewart/Whitley Casting for this World Premiere, searching far and wide to help bring this production to life. The Prince of Egypt celebrates the human spirit with a universal story treasured by many cultures around the world, said Kelley. Our production will honor that legacy with a cast drawn from the world s many races, ethnicities, and religions playing characters from the diverse cultures portrayed in the show. The role of Moses will be played by Diluckshan Jeyaratnam, a Danish native who will also be playing the role at the Fredericia. His international credits include Shubidua The Musical and Disney s The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the Fredericia Teater, and Jesus Christ Superstar and Cats with MCH Musicals at the Herning Congress Center. Broadway actor/singer Jason Gotay co-stars as Ramses, Moses adoptive brother and successor to the Pharaoh. Gotay has been seen on Broadway as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, and as Randall in the original cast of Bring It On the Musical. His extensive Off-Broadway and regional credits include Paper Mill Playhouse, Theatre Under The Stars, concerts at Jazz at Lincoln Center and 54 Below, and the national tour of Bring It On the Musical. Among his television credits, he was seen as the Lost Boy Toodles in NBC s recent Peter Pan Live.

3 Brennyn Lark will play Tzipporah, Moses wife. She has performed as Eponine in Les Miserables on Broadway, as well as at many New York theatres including Connelly Theater, and Cherry Lane Theatre. Julia Motyka will portray Moses biological sister Miriam. She returns to TheatreWorks where she was last seen in The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue, which captured her a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Ensemble Performance, and a Dean Goodman Choice Award for Outstanding Principal Performer. Off-Broadway, she has been seen with many companies including La MaMa, and Player s Theatre, and regionally she has performed with The Alley, Denver Theatre Center, Folger Theatre, and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, among others. Pharaoh Seti will be played by Obie Award winner Tom Nelis. Among his Broadway credits are Indecent, The Visit, Enron, and Aida, as well as dozens of other New York productions. Nelis was also seen in NBC s Smash, and has been a recurring character on Late Night with Conan O Brien. Christina Sajous as Queen Tuya also boasts Broadway credits including Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, and Green Day s American Idiot. She has performed regionally with Williamstown Theatre, Denver Center Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music s New York City Opera, and the Folger Theatre, and others. Although he was seen as Bobby Dupree in Broadway s Memphis (which got its start at TheatreWorks), Will Mann is making his local debut with the company as High Priest Hotep. Mann has starred in the national tours of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Memphis, Billy Elliot, and Wonderful Town, and regionally has performed with Dallas Theatre Center, Sacramento Music Circus, and North Shore Music Theatre, among others. He was also seen as a principal dancer in the film Ricki and the Flash, starring Meryl Streep. David Crane will portray Aaron, the biological brother of Moses. He has performed with regional theatres including the Mountain Play Association, and Sacramento Theatre Company, among many others, and can be seen in various roles with BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, with some of his sketches accumulating more than 40 million views online. Known to Bay Area audiences for roles at PlayGround, SF Playhouse, Ray of Light, Theatre of Yugen, Shotgun Players, and Custom Made Theatre, Ayelet Firstenberg makes her

4 TheatreWorks debut as Youcheved, the biological mother of Moses. Her national credits include work Off-Broadway at the Vital Theatre, among others. Jamila Sabares-Klemm will play Nefertari, Ramses wife. She has performed in the first national tour of Hair, and at many regional theatres. Paul-Jordan Jansen, as Jethro, made an impact on TheatreWorks audiences at last summer s New Works Festival reading of Something Wicked This Way Comes, in which he appeared as the ominous Mr. Dark. Jansen has performed with New York s Westchester Broadway Theatre, and regionally with Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Maine State Music Theatre, and others. Natalie Schroeder and Alexandra Van De Poel will share the role of Young Miriam. Schroeder has performed with the Peter Pan Foundation, and the Berkeley Playhouse, among other local appearances. Van De Poel has been seen in American Conservatory Theater s production of A Christmas Carol, performed at Carnegie Hall, and with the Orinda Community Center and Town Hall Theater. Playing Young Aaron is Dylan K. Curtis, who has performed with StarStruck Theater and San Jose Dance Theatre, and Oliver Copaken Yellin, who has starred in several Children s Musical Theater San Jose productions including Roald Dahl s Willy Wonka, as the hyperactive kid addicted to television Mike Teavee. The diverse ensemble for this musical will include Carmichael James Blankenship, Dominic Dagdagan, Katherine Dela Cruz, Jourdan Epstein, Brian Flores, Gabriel Hyman, Joshua Keith, Travis Leland, Alison Mixon, Ramone Owens, David Sattler, Alicia Shumway, and Kalyn West. Stephen Schwartz (Music & Lyrics) wrote the music and lyrics for the current blockbuster Broadway hit Wicked, and contributed music and/or lyrics to Godspell (presented by TheatreWorks in 1977), Pippin (presented by TheatreWorks in 1982), The Magic Show, The Baker s Wife, Working (which he also adapted and directed; presented by TheatreWorks in 1980), Rags (presented by TheatreWorks in 1989 and 2017), Snapshots (presented by TheatreWorks in 2008) and Children of Eden. His most recent musical, Schikaneder, premiered in 2016 in Vienna. He wrote the title song for the play and movie Butterflies are Free and for young audiences, he has written songs for two musicals, Captain Louie and My Son Pinocchio.

5 He has also worked in film, collaborating with Alan Menken on the songs for Disney s Enchanted, as well as the animated features Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and wrote the songs for the DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt. In the classical music field, he collaborated with Leonard Bernstein on the English texts for Bernstein s Mass, and his first opera, Séance on a Wet Afternoon, was produced at Opera Santa Barbara and New York City Opera. A book about his career, Defying Gravity, has been released by Applause Books. Schwartz has been inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has been given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Awards include three Academy Awards, and four Grammy Awards. Philip LaZebnik (Book) has numerous film and television writing credits, both in Los Angeles and Europe. His credits include the screenplays for the DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt and The Legend of El Dorado as well as Disney s animated features Pocahontas and Mulan. Since moving to Europe, his screen credits include the Treasure of the Templar Knights trilogy; The Three Investigators: The Secret of Skeleton Island and The Three Investigators: The Mystery of Terror Castle; Asterix and the Vikings and Asterix and the Domain of the Gods. LaZebnik was the head writer for the highly successful Danish TV series Ludvig and Santa Claus. He also wrote the book for My Fairytale, a theatrical musical about Hans Christian Andersen with songs by Stephen Schwartz. Scott Schwartz (Director) is a multi-award-winning artist whose work has been seen on and Off-Broadway, across the United States, in Great Britain, Europe, and Asia. Schwartz directed Golda s Balcony, which became the longest running one-woman show in Broadway history. Schwartz made his Broadway debut as co-director (with John Caird) of the new musical Jane Eyre. Other notable credits include: the US Premiere of The Hunchback of Notre Dame at La Jolla Playhouse and Papermill Playhouse, the World Premiere of Theresa Rebeck s What We re Up Against, the new musical A Room With A View, his own adaptation of Willa Cather s My Ántonia (premiered by TheatreWorks in 2004), The Foreigner starring Matthew Broderick at Roundabout Theatre Company, the Off-Broadway and London productions of Jonathan Larson s Tick, Tick... Boom!, and the Off-Broadway hit Bat Boy: The Musical, among many others. He is the Artistic Director of Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, New York.

6 Sean Cheesman (Choreographer) was born in Trinidad, grew up in Calgary, Canada, and studied at the Alvin Ailey Dance Center. He was choreographer/head judge on the TV-dance competition Dirty Dancing: Time of Your Life, and he has judged/choreographed for So You Think You Can Dance in the USA, Canada, and UK. Cheesman choreographed tours for Prince ( Diamonds and Pearls ), Faith Hill, and No Angels. He has worked with Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Vanessa Williams, Carmen Electra, Tina Turner, Queen Latifah, and Britney Spears. He has written, directed, and choreographed large-scale musicals in Russia and Japan, and worked on Carnegie Hall s re-imagined West Side Story. His film and television credits include The Bodyguard starring Whitney Houston, NBC s Guys Next Door, Soul Train Awards, and Janet Jackson s performance on Saturday Night Live. Ann Hould-Ward (Costume Designer) has designed some 20 Broadway productions, winning a Tony Award for Beauty and the Beast, and Tony nominations for Into the Woods, and Sunday in the Park with George. She has received numerous Drama Desk, Olivier, Outer Critics Circle, and other nominations. Hould-Ward also has extensive Off-Broadway credits and more than 100 regional theatre credits. Her work can be seen in more than 35 international companies of Beauty and the Beast, and her designs are featured all over the world. She is a recipient of the Fashion Institute of Technologies Patricia Zipprodt Award. Kevin Depinet (Scenic Designer) has designed for Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, National Theatre of Great Britain, Royal George Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Old Globe, McCarter Theatre Center, Denver Theatre Center, Mark Taper Forum, and many others. He was the associate designer for the original Tony Award-winning August: Osage County, and recently Mother F**ker with a Hat, and Of Mice and Men on Broadway. His national tour credits include Camelot, Ragtime, and On Your Feet. Depinet also designed scenery for Michael Mann s Film Public Enemies (Universal Studios), and worked with the Discovery Channel, Netflix, 21st Century Fox, and Disney. The creative, musical, and technical team also includes August Eriksmoen (Orchestration), Dominick Amendum (Music Supervisor/Arrangements), William Liberatore (Musical

7 Director), Mike Billings (Lighting Designer), Cliff Caruthers (Sound Designer), Shawn Sagady (Projections Designer), J. Jared Janas (Wig, Hair, Makeup Designer), Jacques Simard (Magic Consultant), and Randall K. Lum (Stage Manager). Stewart/Whitley (Casting) is a Casting Society of America agency led by Duncan Stewart CSA and Benton Whitley CSA. The Atrios Award-winning company s Broadway and New York credits include The Great Comet, A Clockwork Orange, As You Like It, On the Town, Pippin, Chicago The Musical, La Cage aux Folles, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Carnegie Hall s West Side Story, The Band Wagon, and Pageant. West End and UK credits and clients are Thriller Live, Menier Chocolate Factory, West Side Story, and national tours of Finding Neverland, Dirty Dancing, The Sound of Music, Into the Woods, The Bodyguard, Chicago The Musical, Once, Shrek The Musical, Elf The Musical, Flashdance, Anything Goes, Bullets Over Broadway, and We Will Rock You. Upcoming projects include Hadestown, The Man in the Ceiling, Back Home Again, Waterfall, and August Rush. The casting company has regionally worked with American Repertory Theater, Alley Theatre, Bay Street Theater, Goodspeed, Theatre Under The Stars, The Asolo Repertory Theatre, Hollywood Bowl, and Royal Caribbean Productions. Founded in 1883, Fredericia Teater is one of Denmark s most distinguished institutions in music and music theatre. Committed to producing relevant and groundbreaking musicals, Fredericia attracts more than 150,000 patrons per season from all over the country. In 2011 the company began a policy of exclusively presenting musicals that had never been professionally performed in Denmark. With some 100,000 patrons per year, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has captured a national reputation for artistic innovation and integrity, often presenting Bay Area theatre-goers with their first look at acclaimed musicals, comedies, and dramas, directed by award-winning local and guest directors, and performed by professional actors cast locally and from across the country. For calendar editors:

8 WHAT: TheatreWorks Silicon Valley continues its mission of developing new works in the Bay Area with the World Premiere of The Prince of Egypt, a soaring celebration of the human spirit and one of the greatest stories ever told: the saga of Moses, his Pharaoh brother Ramses, and the indomitable people who changed them both forever. The musical score and lyrics come from Grammy and Oscarwinning composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell, Pippin), with book by Philip LaZebnik (Pocahontas, Mulan), who were both in residence at TheatreWorks developing this stage adaptation of the acclaimed DreamWorks Animation film. Featuring the Oscar-winning Best Song When You Believe, this vibrant new stage musical is directed by multi-award-winning Broadway director Scott Schwartz (Golda s Balcony; Jane Eyre; Bat Boy; Tick, Tick Boom!), and features a dazzling, multi-ethnic cast led by Diluckshan Jeyaratnam, an acclaimed Danish actor/singer making his US debut as Moses, and Broadway s Jason Gotay (Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), as Ramses. This Co-World premiere will be presented in collaboration with Fredericia Teater in Denmark, where it will be staged in WHEN: Previews: Friday, October 6, 2017 Friday, October 13, 2017 Closes: Sunday, November 5, 2017 SHOWS: WHERE: TICKETS: INFO: PRESS: PHOTOS: Previews: 8:00pm Tuesdays: 7:30pm Wednesdays: 2:00pm, 7:30pm Thursdays and Fridays: 8:00pm Saturdays: 2:00pm, 8:00pm Sundays: 2:00pm, 7:00pm Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts 500 Castro St., Mountain View $40-$100; savings available for educators, seniors, and patrons 35 and under. Pricing subject to change. For information or to order tickets visit theatreworks.org or call (650) Contact Courtney Heimbuck, Carla Befera & Co courtney@cb-pr.com Downloadable high-res photos will be available here: