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 The announcement was made today that Michael’s musical Dog and Pony (music and lyrics by Michael, book by Rick Elice) will receive it’s world premiere at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego as part of their 2013-2014 season! Click here to read the Playbill.com article and Click here to visit the Old Globe’s website for more information on this exciting announcement!  Michael heads into the recording studio today to record four new demo tracks for his musical being theo! Featuring the talents of the amazing Nick Blaemire, Raymond J. Lee, Lindsay Mendez and Kenita R. Miller, you can get a “sneak listen” to the tracks on the being theo page. Check ’em out!  Tonight is the star-studded launch concert for the Directory of New Musical Theatre Writers. The Directory is a new online resource featuring a database of musical theatre writers and examples of their songs as well as where to find them online and Michael is proud to be included! Check out the story on Playbill here!  The 2012 Radio City Christmas Spectacular opens tonight at the amazing Radio City Music Hall. Once again, this year’s edition features the newest Rockette number, Humbugged!, composer and arranged by Michael. Get your tickets here!  Sheet music for songs from the acclaimed album Out of Context: The Songs of Michael Patrick Walker is now available for purchase! Now you can perform your own version of the songs performed by Kelli O’Hara, Telly Leung, Rachel York, Andy Mientus and more! To buy and receive your sheet music electronically, just click on over to the brand new Store section of my web site or check out NewMusicalTheatre.com!  Michael will be making his London concert debut at the Hippodrome’s Matcham Room on Sunday August 19th at 5pm! An Evening with the Composers will feature Michael, Georgia Stitt and Scott Evan Davis with a cast of amazing West End singers - Kelly-Anne Gower, Stuart Matthew Price, Lauren Samuels, Caroline Sheen and Simon Thomas - and the composers themselves performing their songs. Get your tickets here!  Michael will be a featured composer/lyricist as part of Cutting Edge Composers at this year’s New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF)! Two shows only - July 23rd at 7:00pm and 9:30pm at The Theater at St. Clements (423 W. 46th Street). Get your tickets now for this exciting evening!  A reading of Michael’s newest musical, Dog and Pony - written with book writer Rick Elice (Peter and the Starcatcher, Jersey Boys, The Addams Family) - is happening today. The reading features the talents of Kate Wetherhead (Submissions Only, Ordinary Days), Santino Fontana (Sons of the Prophet, Billy Elliot), Anne L. Nathan (Once, Thoroughly Modern Millie), and Jay Armstrong Johnson (Wild Animals You Should Know, Catch Me If You Can). The rave reviews continue to pour in for Out of Context: The Songs of Michael Patrick Walker. Check out Rob Lester’s review from Talkin’ Broadway’s “Sound Advice” as well as David Finkle’s article for the Huffington Post dubbing Michael on of today’s “must-know songwriters”!
Michael Patrick Walker’s debut album, Out of Context: The Songs of Michael Patrick Walker is now availble for purchase and download on iTunes and Amazon.com. The album is a brand new collection of original songs by Michael. The thirteen tracks cover a wide range of musical ground from driving pop to slinky jazz to lush ballads to comedic showstoppers. To perform this unique collection, Michael has assembled fifteen of Broadway’s finest, including 3-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O’Hara (South Pacific, The Pajama Game, Light in the Piazza), Cheyenne Jackson (“30 Rock,” Finian’s Rainbow, Xanadu), Telly Leung (“Glee,” Rent, Pacific Overtures) and Rachel York (CBS “Lucy,” Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, City of Angels). Backed up by a group of New York’s best musicians, led by Michael himself on piano, Out of Context is an album you won’t want to miss.
 Michael will be making his Birdland debut on Monday November 7, 2011 at 7pm with a launch concert for his album, Out of Context: The Songs of Michael Patrick Walker. Scheduled to perform are Ann Harada, Lauren Kennedy, Peter Friedman, John Tartaglia, Andy Karl, Julie Foldesi, Jim Stanek, Betsy Wolfe, Andy Mientus, Noah Galvin and Tyler Maynard. This will also be your first chance to buy the album! Make your reservations now by visiting Birdland’s Website or calling 212-581-3080. $25 cover, $10 food/drink minimum. Michael was interviewed by Pat Cerasaro at BroadwayWorld and by Scott Stiffler at Edge New York City about his new album, Out of Context: The Songs of Michael Patrick Walker, his Birdland show, upcoming projects and what shows and composers influenced him. Click the logos below to read the complete feature articles.
Michael is heading into the recording studio with a fantastic collection of Broadway singers to record an album of his music and lyrics! Entitled Out of Context, the album will feature a selection of songs from some of his musicals in development and his “trunk” as well as a few stand-alone songs and a brand new version of an old favorite... Stay tuned for updates on the who and the what and look for Out of Context to be released on Yellow Sound Label this fall!  Check out the Playbill.com article on The Distant Bells reading happening later this month. Check out the Projects page for more on this new original musical!  The 29-hour reading of The Distant Bells at the Roundabout Theatre Company has a cast. The reading will feature the amazing talents of Chita Rivera, Ana Gasteyer, Christopher Sieber, James Snyder, Jason Tam and Andy Mientus! Check out the Projects or Media pages for some demos from earlier versions of the show. Michael’s show,The Distant Bells will receive a 29-hour reading produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company in late March. Casting will be announced soon, but it's going to be an amazing group! Check out the Projects or Media pages for some demos from earlier versions of the show. Michael recently completed a 7-song sampler CD for his new show The Distant Bells. Check the Projects or Media pages to get a taste of this exciting new original musical!  The documentary film, Thespians, will have its premiere at the Palm Beach International Film Festival. The film follows four competing high school thespian troupes - one of which takes on Michael’s song “Rhythm In Me” from Altar Boyz. If you’re in the Palm Beach area, check it out here.  Michael will be back at the piano performing with Chita Rivera in a series of concerts across the country including a one-night only, two performance stint at the amazing Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center on March 6, 2010! Check out my blog for more about the experience of working with the amazing Chita! Hope to see you there!  The Off Broadway production of Altar Boyz will play its 2000th performance at 7:30pm! By reaching this landmark performance, Altar Boyz is now the 9th longest running Off Broadway musical of all time – running several hundred performances longer than such long-running shows as Forever Plaid and the original production of Jacques Brel is Alive... The announcement was made today that Altar Boyz will end it’s amazing Off Broadway run on January 10, 2010. When it closes, it will have played 16 previews and 2032 regular performances, making it the 9th longest running Off Broadway musical of all time! You still have a few weeks left to catch the show in NYC - buy your tickets now before it’s too late! Check out my Blog for my thoughts on the closing and the show. Thespians, a documentary film following 4 high schools competing in the Florida State Thespian Conference, had a sneak-peak screening in NYC this evening. One of four major story lines in the film concerns a group performing Michael’s song, “Rhythm In Me”. www.thespiansthemovie.com  Michael will be appearing with Chita Rivera at the Lincoln Square Barnes & Noble to promote the release of her new CD entitled And Now I Swing. Ms. Rivera will perform several songs and will be interviewed by Backstage’s Patrick Pacheco. The 7:30pm event is free and open to the public.  The second season of Johnny and the Sprites (for which Michael served as Head Composer and Musical Director) received 4 Daytime Emmy Nominations today including one for Outstanding Pre-School Children’s Series. |
