Every day is opening night.

Press Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Michael Jorgensen / Pete Sanders
rick@omdkc.com / michael@omdkc.com / pete@omdkc.com
212 695 7400

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

PREVIEWS BEGIN TOMORROW WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30
FOR WORLD PREMIERE OF
MCC THEATER’S
“ALICE BY HEART”

BOOK BY STEVEN SATER WITH JESSIE NELSON
MUSIC BY DUNCAN SHEIK
LYRICS BY STEVEN SATER
CHOREOGRAPHY BY RICK AND JEFF KUPERMAN
DIRECTED BY JESSIE NELSON

DUE TO HEAVY DEMAND FOR TICKETS MCC THEATER ANNOUNCES EXTENSION WITH TICKETS NOW ON SALE THROUGH MARCH 31, 2019

OPENING NIGHT SET FOR FEBRUARY 26, 2019

New York, NY (January 29, 2019) – Previews begin tomorrow for the New York premiere of the musical Alice By Heart with book by Steven Sater with Jessie Nelson, music by Duncan Sheik, lyrics by Steven Sater and directed by Jessie Nelson. Due to the heavy demand for tickets, MCC Theater (Bob LuPone, Bernie Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) announced a three week extension for the show and tickets are now on sale through Sunday, March 31^st.

The cast features  Molly Gordon (Life of the Party, “Animal Kingdom”) as Alice and Colton Ryan (Girl From the North Country, “The Americans”) as Alfred/The White Rabbit, along with Mia DiLena (Disney’s The Music Man), Zachary Downer (Hello, Dolly!, CATS), Noah Galvin (Dear Evan Hansen, “The Real O’Neals”), Ari Groover (Head Over Heels, Holler If Ya Hear Me), Michael Hartung (Hello, Dolly!), Zachary Infante (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, dir. Julie Taymor), Andrew Kober (School of Rock, Hair), Grace McLean (Great Comet), Andrew Mueller (Peter and the Starcatcher) Nkeki Obi-Melekwe (“Bull,” “SMILF”), Catherine Ricafort (SpongeBob Squarepants, Honeymoon in Vegas), Heath Saunders (Great Comet, “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”), Wesley Taylor (Spongebob Squarepants, The Addams Family), and Natalie Walker (“Search Party”).

The creative team for Alice By Heart includes choreography by Rick and Jeff Kuperman, set design by Edward Pierce, costume design by Paloma Young, lighting design by Bradley King, sound design by Dan Moses Schreier, hair, wig and makeup design by J. Jared Janas, dialect coach Stephen Gabis, orchestrations by Duncan Sheik, additional orchestrations by Simon Hale, music direction and vocal arrangements by Jason Hart, and casting by Telsey + Company/ Rebecca Scholl, CSA. The Production Stage Manager is Davin De Santis and the Stage Manager is Jason Pacella.

Alice By Heart is the first show in the Newman Mills Theater at The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space (511 West 52^nd Street), with an official opening night set for Tuesday, February 26, 2019. To celebrate the first preview of Alice By Heart, MCC Theater is offering specially-priced $52 tickets for performances of The Light and Alice By Heart. The offer is only valid in person at the box office from 12:00pm noon to 8:30pm,on Wednesday, January 30th. Additional restrictions may apply. As part of its public engagement programs, MCC offers $30 seats for all performances in the Newman Mills Theater as well as limited $30 accessible seating. These tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis. Audience members needing accessible seats may purchase online using code 30NMT.

When the madness of the world is too much to bear, we take refuge in the stories we love. Tony^® and Grammy^® award-winning creators of Spring Awakening, Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, reunite for their new musical Alice By Heart, inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and directed and co-written by Jessie Nelson (Waitress). In the rubble of the London Blitz of World War II, Alice Spencer’s budding teen life is turned upside down, and she and her dear friend Alfred are forced to take shelter in an underground tube station. When the ailing Alfred is quarantined, Alice encourages him to escape with her into their cherished book and journey down the rabbit hole to Wonderland. As they travel through the tale, Alice By Heart explores the poignancy of first love, coming to terms with loss, and finding the courage to move forward. This world premiere musical encourages us all to celebrate the transformational power of the imagination, even in the harshest of times.

Tickets are on sale now at mcctheater.org and at the box office.

A workshop production of Alice By Heart was presented by New York Stage and Film & Vassar at the Powerhouse Theater, Summer 2018.

Developed at Theatre Aspen’s New Work Development Program.

ABOUT MCC THEATER

MCC is one of New York’s leading nonprofit Off-Broadway companies, driven by a mission to provoke conversations that have never happened and otherwise never would. Founded in 1986 as a collective of artists leading peer-based classes to support their own development as actors, writers and directors, the tenets of collaboration, education, and community are at the core of MCC Theater’s programming. One of the only theaters in the country led continuously by its founders, Artistic Directors Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, and William Cantler, MCC fulfills its mission through the production of world, American, and New York premiere plays and musicals that challenge artists and audiences to confront contemporary personal and social issues, and robust playwright development and education initiatives that foster the next generation of theater artists and students.

MCC Theater’s celebrated productions include Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play; Penelope Skinner’s The Village Bike; Robert Askins’ Hand to God (Broadway transfer; five 2015 Tony Award^® nominations including Best Play); John Pollono’s Small Engine Repair; Paul Downs Colaizzo’s Really Really; Sharr White’s The Other Place (Broadway transfer); Jeff Talbott’s The Submission (Laurents/Hatcher Award); Neil LaBute’s Reasons to Be Happy, reasons to be pretty (Broadway transfer, three 2009 Tony Award^® nominations, including Best Play), Some Girl(s), Fat Pig, The Mercy Seat, and All The Ways To Say I Love You; Michael Weller’s Fifty Words; Alexi Kaye Campbell’s The Pride; Bryony Lavery’s Frozen (Broadway transfer; four 2004 Tony Award^® nominations including Best Play, Tony Award^® for Best Featured Actor); Tim Blake Nelson’s The Grey Zone; Rebecca Gilman’s The Glory of Living (2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist); Margaret Edson’s Wit (1999 Pulitzer Prize); and the musicals Coraline, Carrie, and Ride the Cyclone.  Many plays developed and produced by MCC have gone on to productions throughout the country and around the world.

Blake West joined the company in 2006 as Executive Director. MCC opened the doors to its new home in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, on January 9, 2019, unifying the company’s activities under one roof for the first time and expanding its producing, artist development, and education programming.

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