October 16 , 2007                                                                                                                                            Associate Director of Marketing

                                                                                                                                                                             Phone: 253.573.2360

                                                                                                                                                                             Email: laceyl@broadwaycenter.org

Rock Band?  Musical Theater?  The Best of Both.

From the Tony Award® Winning Creative Team

Broadway Center presents Striking 12

Sponsored by Franciscan Health System

Tacoma, WA- Performed by pop-rock trio GrooveLily, co-written by Rachel Sheinkin (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) and directed by Tony Award® winning director Ted Sperling (A Light in the Piazza and The Full Monty), the new musical Striking 12 will be at Broadway Center’s for five performances.  The performances will take place at Theatre on the Square on October 26 at 7:30pm and October 27 & 28 at 3:00pm and 7:30pm and tickets are $36.

As a rewired version of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Match Girl”,  Striking 12 is the story of a disillusioned and overworked New Yorker, who is spending New Year’s Eve alone in his apartment. When an unexpected guest brings light and hope to his evening, the performance comes to life with an eclectic and gripping musical score.  Striking 12 gives the audience an experience both unexpected and entertaining.

The pop-rock trio, GROOVELILY, has backgrounds in classical music, theater, jazz and rock.  The group makes refreshingly new and alternative music. Recent commissions and performances include: A Midsummer Night's Dream (McCarter/Paper Mill) and Sleeping Beauty Wakes - with Rachel Sheinkin – (Deaf West/CTG). Wheelhouse, the second GrooveLily concert-musical (about the band's time in a used RV) is in development.

GENE LEWIN (Band Member) hails from Princeton, NJ. Gene blurs the lines between jazz and rock, supporting and complementing the music but unafraid to instigate when the time is right. After graduating from Princeton University, Gene earned a Master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music. He has toured with Audra McDonald and has appeared on CDs with George Coleman, John Patitucci and many others.

BRENDAN MILBURN (Band Member; Co-Author – Book, Music and Lyrics) graduated from Pomona College and NYU's MFA program in Musical Theatre Writing. He does most of the arranging for GrooveLily and is accomplished record producer. Brendan's music has been or will be featured in a growing number of Broadway shows (both on and off). 

VALERIE VIGODA (Band Member; Co-Author – Book, Music and Lyrics) is the founding member of GrooveLily. Originally from McLean, Virginia, Valerie is a classically-trained musician, honors graduate of Princeton University, and former Army lieutenant. She has toured the world with Cyndi Lauper (opening for Tina Turner and Cher), Joe Jackson and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. She founded GrooveLily in 1994, with a critically-acclaimed CD called Inhabit My Heart. She is the winner of a 2006 Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award for excellence in writing for the theater, along with her longtime collaborator and husband, Brendan Milburn.

For every 2 tickets purchased, patrons will receive a $10 bonus gift card to Paddy Coyne’s Irish Pub.  Tickets are $36 and may be purchased at the Broadway Center Box Office located on 9th & Broadway or by calling the Box Office at 253.591.5894. To purchase online at any time or for information about upcoming events visit www.broadwaycenter.org.

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The Broadway Center for the Performing Arts gratefully acknowledges the following for support of the 2007-2008 Season: ArtsFund, Ben B. Cheney Foundation, The Boeing Company, City of Tacoma, Forest Foundation, The News Tribune, Pierce County Arts Commission, Sequoia Foundation Pierce County Program, and Washington State Arts Commission.