Every day is opening night.

Press Contact:
Rick Miramontez
rick@omdkc.com
212 695 7400

FOR RELEASE ON THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019

THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
MULTI-PLATINUM COMPOSER
ROSS GOLAN’S NEW MUSICAL
“THE WRONG MAN”
WILL KICK OFF MCC THEATER’S 2019/20 SEASON
IN HELL’S KITCHEN

DIRECTED BY TONY AWARD® WINNER THOMAS KAIL
WITH MUSIC SUPERVISION AND ORCHESTRATIONS BY TONY WINNER ALEX LACAMOIRE

PERFORMANCES BEGIN WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

ANIMATED CONCEPT FILM OF THE WRONG MAN WILL DEBUT AT THE TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL APRIL 27 FOLLOWED BY Q&A WITH GOLAN AND JASON FLOM (CEO, LAVA MEDIA AND FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER OF THE INNOCENCE PROJECT)

New York, NY – MCC Theater (Bob LuPone, Bernie Telsey, Will Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) announced today that the World Premiere of The Wrong Man, the new stage musical written by multi-platinum songwriter Ross Golan (book, music, lyrics), will kick off its 2019/20 season – the first full season in its new Hell’s Kitchen home, The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space (511 West 52^nd Street). The production, which marks the reunion of Hamilton’s Tony Award^®-winning director Thomas Kail and three-time Tony^® and four-time Grammy^®-award winning orchestrator Alex Lacamoire, begins performances Wednesday, September 18, 2019 (with opening night set for October 7, 2019). The production will also feature choreography by two-time Emmy^® winning choreographer Travis Wall.

The premiere of the musical is one in a series of significant events that will bring this exciting new work to life this year, including the release of a concept album on Interscope Records. An animated concept film, based on the album and directed by Golan and John Hwang, will have its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, April 27 at 11:30 a.m. followed by a Q&A with Golan, Jason Flom (CEO, Lava Media and Founding Board Member of The Innocence Project) and wrongfully convicted person Noura Jackson.

In this singular and exciting new work, the wrong man meets the wrong woman in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Set in Reno, Nevada, The Wrong Man tells the story of Duran, a man just scraping by, who is accused of a murder he says he didn’t commit.

Ross Golan has written hit songs for artists spanning multiple genres, including Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, Charlie Puth, Flo Rida, Lady Antebellum, Selena Gomez, Pink, Michael Buble, Idina Menzel and many more.

The concept album on which the musical will be released on a date TBA.  Golan performed songs from the album live, to a sold-out crowd, at SXWS earlier this month.  Variety praised the performance, stating, “The Wrong Man is a Lin Manuel Miranda-meets-Dashboard Confessional master class in storytelling. By the end, each song’s refrain weaves around each other in a true display of songwriting prowess. Just brilliant.”

Additional information, including complete casting and creative team, will be announced shortly.

ABOUT THE CREATORS

Ross Golan (Book, Music and Lyrics) is a multi-platinum songwriter, artist, podcast host, and advocate. He studied music at the University of Southern California and is published by Warner/Chappell Music; he has since released songs with artists including Maroon 5, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Lady Antebellum, Michael Bublé, Selena Gomez, Keith Urban, Ariana Grande, Flo Rida, One Direction, Idina Menzel, Nelly, Demi Lovato, Jason Derulo, Meghan Trainor, Cee Lo Green, 5 Seconds of Summer, Snoop Dogg, Gavin DeGraw, Colbie Caillat, Andy Grammer, James Blunt, Big Sean, Travis Barker, Lukas Graham and Skylar Grey amongst many others. He was awarded 2016 BMI Songwriter Of The Year. As an artist, his concept album The Wrong Man is being released on Interscope Records. His podcast, “And The Writer Is… with Ross Golan,” has approximately 1.5 million downloads and has become the perennial songwriting podcast. Each episode is a conversation between Ross and a venerable songwriter discussing their journey in the music industry. As an advocate, he coauthored the proposal to get songwriters added to the Album of the Year award at The Grammys®. He has also been a leading voice in passing the Music Modernization Act alongside NSAI, SONA, NMPA, and RIAA.

Thomas Kail (Director) Broadway directing credits include: Hamilton (Tony Award^®); In the Heights (Tony^® Nom); Lombardi and Magic/Bird. Other directing credits include the world premiere of Hamilton, Dry Powder, Tiny Beautiful Things, and Kings at the Public Theater; the world premiere of In the Heights; Broke-ology and the world premiere of When I Come to Die at Lincoln Center Theater; the world premiere of Daphne’s Dive at the Signature Theater. He is the co-creator and director of the hip-hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme. He is a recipient of a Kennedy Center Honors Award, in addition to the Drama Desk Award, an Obie, a Callaway Award, the Lucille Lortel Award and the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center.  He is a graduate of Wesleyan University.

Alex Lacamoire (Music Supervisor, Vocal Arrangements and Orchestrations) has won three Tony Awards^® and three Grammys^® for his work on the Broadway musicals Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and In The Heights. He won his fourth Grammy^® producing the soundtrack for The Greatest Showman and is the recipient of the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors Award for his work on Hamilton. As Music Director, Arranger and/or Orchestrator On/Off Broadway: Bring It On; Wicked; High Fidelity; Annie (2011 B’way revival); The People In The Picture; 9 to 5 (Drama Desk and Grammy^® noms.); Legally Blonde, Bat Boy: The Musical. Film and television credits include FX’s ”Fosse/Verdon” (Supervising Music Producer), The Greatest Showman (Executive Music Producer), Incredibles 2 (Arranger/Orchestrator), and “Sesame Street” (Emmy-nominated composer). Other credits: Godspell (2001 National Tour), orchestrations for The Rockettes and for the Oscars.

Travis Wall is the recipient of 8 consecutive Emmy nominations, which include 2 Emmy wins, for his work on Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” Wall was also the runner-up in the show’s 2^nd Season. Additional television work includes “Dancing with the Stars,” The Academy Awards, The MTV VMAs, The American Music Awards, and “Pretty Little Liars.” Wall also produced and starred in Oxygen’s docu-reality series “All The Right Moves” profiling his dance company Shaping Sound. Travis has collaborated with artists including Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Lopez, Sara Bareilles, Adele, Demi Lovato, Maddie Ziegler, and Florence Welsh. His work in film can be seen in Step Up: Revolution and The Wedding Ringer. Travis made his Broadway performance debut in the 2001 revival of The Music Man. His New York
choreography debut was the Off-Broadway production of BARE: A Rock Musical. Travis is thrilled to be working with Tommy Kail and the amazing team of The Wrong Man.

ABOUT MCC THEATER

MCC Theater 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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