Liz Callaway, Alli Mauzey, Eddie Korbich, and Evan Pappas are among the Broadway stars who will sing The Flip Side: Unknown Musical Gems by Ahrens and Flaherty, in New York on April 3 as a fundraiser for Off-Broadway’s Amas Musical Theatre.
The concert will honor Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, the songwriting team responsible for Broadway musicals including Ragtime, Once on This Island, Seussical, My Favorite Year, and this season’s forthcoming Anastasia. Amas’ 48th anniversary gala will be held at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Ave, at East 24th Street in Manhattan.
Scheduled to participate the event are the aforementioned Callaway (Baby, Cats), Korbich (Seussical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder), Mauzey (Wicked, Cry Baby), Pappas (Parade, My Favorite Year), along with Quentin Earl Darrington (Ragtime) Tina Fabrique (Dessa Rose), Janet Metz (Fiddler on the Roof, On the Town) Kenita R. Miller (The Color Purple) N’Kenge (Motown), Mick Bleyer, Jerusha Cavazos, Darlesia Cearcy, Kevin R. Free, Jeremiah James, Lauren Lukacek, Lulu Picart, and Juan Torres-Falcon.
Among the “gems“ will be the following songs, most of them cut from familiar scores:
“Come Down From the Tree” (cut from Once On This Island)
“The Flip Side” (cut from Rocky)
“The Show Biz” (cut from Ragtime)
“In the Bend of My Arm” (cut from Dessa Rose)
“Gonna Eat Tonight” (from Song of the Sea, an unproduced film musical)
“Nothing to Lose (But Your Heart)” (from a Liz Callaway recording project)
The event will directed by Jonathan Cerullo with musical direction by Deborah Abramson. Honorary chairperson for the event is Tony Award-winning actor, singer, and dancer Chita Rivera. Theatre journalist Peter Filichia will serve as master of ceremonies.
Amas Musical Theatre describes itself as a pioneer in diversity and multi-ethnic casting in the performing arts since 1968.
The gala will begin at 6 PM with a champagne reception and silent auction. At 7 PM students of the Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy, Amas’ flagship education program, will present a preview of their upcoming spring production, followed by the tribute concert with the celebrity guest performers. The evening will culminate in presentation of The Rosie Award to Ahrens and Flaherty.
Tickets for the benefit cost $500 and $250. A limited number of show-only $150 seats are available, and can be purchased online at Amasmusical.org, or by calling (212) 563-2565.
Callaway has been a special guest performer on three of Playbill’s Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Playbill’s inaugural river cruise along the Rhône River in May 2017 is sold out, but cabins are available for the Rhine River cruise in August 2017, featuring Seth Rudetsky, Andréa Burns, Faith Prince, Terrence Mann, Charlotte d’Amboise, and more exciting talent to be announced. Visit PlaybillTravel.com for booking and information
