Sneak Peek at “Crazy For You”

SIERRA BOGGESS is regarded as one of Broadway’s most beloved ingenues. She is best known world wide for not only re-inventing the coveted role of ‘Christine Daae’ in Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, but for Lord Webber himself going on record to say that “she’s the best, the best Christine certainly.” Boggess portrayed the role in the Broadway, West End, and the televised 25th Anniversary concert productions of Phantom.


Sierra made her Broadway debut as Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, receiving Drama Desk and Drama League Nominations, as well as the Broadway.com
Audience Award for Favorite Female Breakthrough Performance. Her additional Broadway credits include Master Class, It Shoulda Been You, The Phantom of The Opera, and School of Rock. Boggess’ Off-Broadway credits include Love, Loss, and What I Wore and Music in the Air, alongside Kristin Chenoweth, for New York City Center’s Encores! Series. In London’s West End, Boggess has appeared as Fantine in Les Miserables and originated the role of Christine Daae in Love Never Dies, the critically acclaimed sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, receiving an Olivier Award 
Nomination for her performance.

Sierra starred as Cinderella in the highly anticipated Hollywood Bowl production of Into the Woods where the Los Angeles Times raved of her “crystalline singing and gameness for comedy…Boggess’ Cinderella was enchanting.” Prior to that she starred as Danielle DeBarbarac in the new musical, Ever After at the Alliance Theatre as well as starred in the world premiere of the new play The Age of Innocence at Hartford Stage for which she received a nomination for a Connecticut Critics Circle Award for her portrayal of Countess Ellen Olenska.

Sierra's concert appearances multiple engagements with BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall, The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Series The Lyrics of David Zippel, Broadway By The Year at Town Hall, Guys and Dolls at Carnegie Hall opposite Patrick Wilson, Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane, and The Secret Garden at Lincoln Center. She has toured with her cellist sister, Summer Boggess and musical director, Brian Hertz all over the United States as well as Japan, Australia, Germany and London with her concert show which has been preserved live and released on CD, Awakening: Live at 54 Below.

Her recordings include the original cast albums of School Of Rock, It Shoulda Been You, The Little Mermaid, the 25th-anniversary concert of The Phantom of the Opera (also on DVD), the symphonic recording of Love Never Dies, Andrew Lippa’s A Little Princess, Rodgers & Hammerstein:A Night at the Movies with the John Wilson Orchestra, Where The Sky Ends: The songs of Michael Mott, A New York City Christmas: A benefit album for ASTEP and more.

www.sierraboggess.com

Tony Yazbeckbegan his career at the age of 11 on Broadway in Gypsy with Tyne Daly.For the 2014 Broadway revival of On the Town, he won the Astaire Award and was nominated for Tony, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle awards for his virtuosic performance. He also starred in the Susan Stroman/Harold Prince–helmed Japan and Broadway productions of Prince of Broadway for which he received the Chita Rivera Award as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations. 

His other Broadway credits include Finding Neverland (J.M. Barrie), Chicago (Billy Flynn), Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Phil Davis), Gypsy with Patti LuPone (Tulsa; Outer Critics Circle nomination), A Chorus Line (Al), Oklahoma!, and Never Gonna Dance. Off-Broadway credits include A Chorus Line (City Center), The Cradle Will Rock (Classic Stage), The Beast in the Jungle (Vineyard Theatre), The Scarlet Pimpernel and Crazy For You (both at David Geffen Hall), Fanny Hill (York Theatre), and for New York City Center Encores! he has appeared in Little Me, On the Town, Gypsy, The Apple Tree, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Pardon My English. Regional credits include Alliance, Barrington, Williamstown, Hartford Stage, Goodman, The Muny (St. Louis), Goodspeed (Connecticut Critics Circle Award), Signature (Helen Hayes Award), Trinity Rep, Paper Mill, and Old Globe. Mr. Yazbeck was seen internationally in Kiss Me, Kate at the Royal Albert Hall in London under the baton of John Wilson.

His television and film credits include Billions, Smash, and the feature documentary Every Little Step. In concert he has appeared with the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas; Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops under the baton of Steven Reineke; with National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap with Michael Barrett; and most recently he was featured on the PBS Great Performances special The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Yazbeck also stars in his own song and dance show. He recently premiered his solo concert at Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. His debut album, The Floor Above Me, has been released digitally and on CD by PS Classics.  He will be coming back to Broadway starring as Cary Grant in Flying Over Sunset at Lincoln Center Theatre this next season.  He will also make is New York directorial debut with Jekyll and Hyde at David Geffen Hall in February 2023.

“The Maria Callas of American musical theater,” as Opera News has called her, referencing both her crystalline voice and dramatic, expressive intensity, Melissa Errico is a Tony Award-nominated Broadway star -- an actor, singer and author -- who contributes regularly to The New York Times in an essay series called “Scenes From An Acting Life.” The Wall Street Journal recently referred to her as a "nonpareil cabaret singer".

As a musical theater actress, she starred on Broadway in such musicals as My Fair Lady where The New York Times called her Eliza Doolittle “beguiling” Anna Karenina, High Society as Tracey Lord, Amour (Tony-nominated for Best Actress), Dracula, White Christmas in the Rosemary Clooney role of Betty, and as Cosette in Les Miserables. Melissa maintained a constant TV presence throughout her career, starring in Darren Star’s Central Park West, steady guest roles, and most recently playing recurring roles on Showtime’s Billions and Cinemax’s The Knick. She appeared in featured films such as Frequency with Dennis Quaid, Life Or Something Like It as Angelina Jolie’s best friend, and Loverboy directed by Kevin Bacon; and others. At The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, she starred in The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady (with John Lithgow), and Camelot (with Jeremy Irons) which she revived for one night on Broadway. She also starred in non-musical roles in such plays as The Importance of Being Earnest, Shaw’s Candida and Wally Shawn’s Aunt Dan and Lemon at The New Group. Off-Broadway, she has performed the role of Sharon in Finian’s Rainbow three times (the subject of her debut essay for the New York Times), and starred in On A Clear Day You Can See Forever at The Irish Repertory Theater to great acclaim. She has five Drama Desk nominations, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Helen Hayes nominations and four Drama League Honors and a Tony Award nomination. She was honored with a Sardi’s caricature and also served a term on the National Endowment For The Arts.

Melissa has made many studio recordings including her debut on EMI Records produced by Arif Mardin called Blue Like That. Her 2018 album, Sondheim Sublime, was called by The Wall Street Journal “The best all-Sondheim album ever recorded,” and led to sold-out concert dates around the country--from Ravinia to Caramoor and Wolftrap--and in London. She has sung many concerts (of Sondheim music as well as other repertoire such as R & H, Scott Frankel, film evenings with Michael Feinstein, and more) at the 92 St Y, Birdland, 54 Below, Joe’s Pub, Carnegie Hall, Town Hall and Lincoln Center’s Allen Room. Errico’s history with Sondheim began when he selected her to star as Dot in Sunday In The Park With George at The Kennedy Center, then as Clara in Passion at Classic Stage Company; then in the NY City Center Encores! production of Do I Hear A Waltz? In 2020, she sang “Children and Art” in the Sondheim 90th Birthday Concert “Take Me To The World,” and was featured on PBS television in a documentary special in which she sang “Finishing The Hat” and discussed Sondheim and his lyrics with Adam Gopnik and Raul Esparza for Poetry in America.

In addition to Sondheim, nothing in her work has been more constant than her association with composer Michel Legrand. Having starred in his Broadway show, Amour, she went on to collaborate with him on the iconic album Legrand Affair. After his death in 2019, she was asked to write an extended eulogy in the The New York Times and then to expand it (in translation) for La Regle Du Jeu, the most esteemed political and cultural magazine in Paris; Melissa was invited to be the sole American performer in the two-night musical memorial to Legrand held in April, 2019 at Paris’ Le Grand Rex Theatre. At that time, Warner Music/Ghostlight Records reissued her symphonic album, which Legrand arranged & conducted, as Legrand Affair (Deluxe Edition). The Wall Street Journal described her Michel Legrand tribute concert Amour & After: “One of the most moving and even thrilling cabaret shows I've ever seen. When Miss Errico sings the work of the late and much-missed Michel Legrand, you just want to climb up inside one of her songs and stay there for the rest of your life."

At the height of the pandemic, Melissa was exceptionally busy, offering multiple live-streams and conversations and publishing essays for Variety, Playbill, The Purist Magazine, Theatermania and The New York Times. She taught master classes for students across the country and produced two IGTV series: "The Honest Cook” (cooking and mischief) and "How Do We Go On Singing?" (interviews and performances) in which she aimed to re-moralize the singing community with in-depth in conversations with professionals and educators. She offered many remote solo concerts – including with Seth Rudetsky and Mercyhurst Institute – and a full-scale live holiday special "Season For Joy" filmed with four-cameras onstage at The Bay Street Theater, hailed as “all style, class and holiday spirit.” Errico co-starred in a fully produced green screen musical of Meet Me in St. Louis for the Irish Repertory Theater, which she chronicled in The New York Times. She has a 3-part livestream concert series with New York’s French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) "Love, Desire & Mystery" in collaboration with New Yorker magazine essayist Adam Gopnik, which is available On Demand. Of the series, one critic said "Melissa is piercing, probing, and at the absolute height of her vocal and interpretive powers. Errico here reaffirms her status as one of the most intuitive musical theatre actresses of her generation. There is seemingly no limit to Errico's empathetic range.” (BroadwayWorld).

Her plans for summer 2021 include curating a film noir festival for FIAF, masterclasses for CUNY and HB Studio; and summer concerts in NJ, Connecticut, Provincetown and more. She has written a play which is currently in development for The Irish Repertory Theater and is working on a book--expanding on her New York Times column--tentatively titled “Terminal Ingenue.” She is married to Patrick McEnroe and they have three daughters.

Dee Hoty has earned three Tony nominations for her starring roles in Footloose, The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, and The Will Rogers Follies.  She starred on Broadway and in eight major U.S. cities as Donna in Mamma Mia! She has appeared in 13 Broadway shows, including City of Angels (Outer Critics Circle nomination) and Me and My Girl.  Dee’s most recent Broadway appearances were Gigi (2015) and Bright Star (2016).

Her film and TV work include New Amsterdam, Dickinson (Apple TV), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), The Sinner (USA Network, S1), Julian Fellowes’ film, The Chaperone, and the upcoming Charles Busch film, The Sixth Reel.

Recent stage appearances (pre-COVID) include the roles of Mary Cassat in Susan Stroman’s pre-Broadway MARIE: DANCING STILL, starring Tiler Peck and Terrence Mann at Seattle’s 5^th Avenue Theatre, and Madame (the stepmother) in Cinderella at Paper Mill Playhouse.

She is a BA graduate of Otterbein, and was honored by them in 1997 with an Honorary Doctorate of Arts. The same year, she was inducted into the Hall of Excellence of the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges.

A native of Lakewood (Cleveland) Ohio, Dee has served as an Eastern Principal Counselor of Actors Equity Association since 2018, and in June of 2020, she was elected Eastern Regional Vice President. She has been a proud member since 1976.

Amateur baker, crossword puzzle doer, and dog lover,  www.DeeHoty.com

A five-time Tony Award winning director and choreographer most known for Crazy For You, Contact, The Scottsboro Boys, and The Producers. Her work has been honored with Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel and a record six Astaire Awards.

She directed and choreographed The Producers, winner of a record-making 12 Tony Awards including Best Direction and Best Choreography.

She co-created, directed and choreographed the Tony Award winning musical Contact for Lincoln Center Theater, which was honored with a 2003 Emmy Award for “Live from Lincoln Center”.

She directed and choreographed the critically acclaimed musical The Scottsboro Boys on Broadway and in the West End, where it was honored with the 2014 Evening Standard Award for Best Musical.

Other Broadway credits include Oklahoma!, Show Boat, Prince of Broadway, Bullets Over Broadway, Big Fish, Young Frankenstein, Thou Shalt Not, The Music Man, The Frogs, Big, Steel Pier, Picnic, and Crazy for You.

Off-Broadway credits include: The Beast in the Jungle, Dot, Flora the Red Menace, And the World Goes ’Round, Happiness and The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville starring Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac.

For ten years she choreographed Madison Square Garden’s annual spectacular A Christmas Carol. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut directing and choreographing The Merry Widow, starring Renée Fleming.

Her London West End productions include Crazy For You, Oklahoma!, Show Boat, Contact, The Producers, and Young Frankenstein.

For New York City Ballet, she created Double Feature, a full-length ballet featuring the music of Irving Berlin and Walter Donaldson, and For the Love of Duke, featuring the music of Duke Ellington. 

Other ballet credits include But Not For Me for the Martha Graham Company and Take Five…More or Less for Pacific Northwest Ballet. Her choreography received an Emmy Award nomination for the HBO presentation Liza – Live from Radio City Music Hall, starring Liza Minnelli. She received the American Choreography Award for her work in Columbia Pictures feature film Center Stage. She directed and choreographed The Producers: The Movie Musical, nominated for 4 Golden Globes. 

She directed and choreographed the Broadway bound Ahrens/Flaherty musical Marie for The 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle. In collaboration with the Williamstown Theatre Festival, she directed the play Photograph 51 for Audible. 

She is an Associate Director for Lincoln Center Theater and a member of the Board of Directors for the Ronald O. Perelman Center for the Performing Arts located at the World Trade Center.

She is the recipient of the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater and an inductee of the Theater Hall of Fame in New York City.

Learn more at susanstroman.com

Greg Jarrett is a composer, conductor, and pianist. On Broadway, he served as Music Director/Conductor for the revival of Gigi, Music Supervisor for Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and conducted performances Side Show, Fun Home, Dames at Sea, and The Nance. Off-Broadway, he will serve as Orchestrator/Music Director for the upcoming Classic Stage Company production of Assassins, and has music directed and conducted Pacific Overtures and The Cradle Will Rock (both at at Classic Stage,) The Beast in the Jungle at the Vineyard, Anything Can Happen In The Theatre: The Musical World of Maury Yeston at the York. In addition, he supervised the recent revival of Timon of Athens at Theatre For A New Audience and The Shakespeare Theatre Company in D.C. He regularly works at Encores! and Encores! Off-Center, and music directed and conducted 2019's Promenade. Regionally, he served as Music Director/Conductor for the world premiere of August Rush at the Paramount Theatre. His cast albums include Anything Can Happen..., Beast In The Jungle, Gigi, Red Eye Of Love, Side Show and Side Show: Added Attractions. Currently, he works at a music and technology startup where he explores the intersection of composition, arrangement, and AI-technology. Education: The University of Michigan.