A ONE NIGHT ONLY EVENT!
ABINGDON THEATRE COMPANY
ONE NIGHT ONLY SERIES
PRESENTS
“DATE OF A LIFETIME”
A NEW MUSICAL
BOOK AND LYRICS BY CARL KISSIN
MUSIC BY ROBERT BAUMGARTNER, JR.
MUSIC DIRECTION BY ISAAC HARLAN
DIRECTED BY NATHAN BREWER
FEATURING: BROADWAY’S KATIE ROSE CLARKE & NOAH WEISBERG
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17th @ 7:00PM
AT THEATER 71
(152 WEST 71st STREET, NYC)
New York, NY (January 23, 2020) – Abingdon Theatre Company (Chad Austin, Artistic Director) will present a one night only benefit performance of “Date of a Lifetime” a new musical with book and lyrics by Carl Kissin, music by Robert Baumgartner, Jr. with musical direction by Isaac Harlan and directed by Nathan Brewer. Starring Broadway’s Katie Rose Clarke (Wicked, Light in the Piazza) and Noah Weisberg (South Pacific, Legally Blonde), the “date of a lifetime” will take place at Theater 71 (152 West 71st Street – just east of Broadway) on Monday, February 17th at 7pm.
In the pressurized few minutes of a speed date, two singles suggest to each other what they think their entire lives would be like if they allowed their brief tête-à-tête to go beyond the “switch partners” bell. Competing comical and fraught visions of the future leave them wondering if the person they have just met is the Date from Hell or the Date of a Lifetime.
“Date of a Lifetime is a fast paced ninety minutes packed full of wit, charm, great music, and amplified by the effervescent Katie Rose Clarke and Noah Weisberg” says Chad Austin, Abingdon Theatre Company’s Artistic Director. “Under the helm of Nathan Brewer, it is bound to be a fabulous evening.”
Benefiting Abingdon’s ongoing mission to support new works, ticket prices are: $125 “Date of a Lifetime” (includes a pre-show reception, preferred seating and post show bubbly and sweets with the company), $75 “First Date” (includes pre-show reception and preferred seating) and $45 “Blind Date” (general admission). All tickets are tax deductible. Tickets may be purchased here.
Noah Weisburg. 
Katie Rose Clarke
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Katie Rose Clarke Broadway: Glinda in Wicked, Ellen in Miss Saigon, Hannah Campbell in Allegiance, and Clara Johnson in Light in the Piazza. National Tours: Wicked and Light in the Piazza. Regional: Cassandra Stone in The Heart of Rock and Roll at The Old Globe, Cathy Hiatt in Last Five Years at the Long Wharf Theatre (2014, Winner, Best Actress, Connecticut Critics Circle Award). East Coast debut of Craig Lucas’ play Prayer For My Enemy_as Marianne Noone at the Long Wharf Theatre Company directed by Bartlett Sher. Clarke appeared in the staged concert of Parade_ as Mrs. Phagan conducted by Jason Robert Brown at Lincoln Center. TV/Film: National broadcast Live from Lincoln Center presents The Light in the Piazza. “The Good Wife” (CBS).
Noah Weisberg Broadway: South Pacific, Enron, Elf, Legally Blonde. Tour: Willy Wonka – Charlie…Chocolate Factory. TV: “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” “Modern Family,” “Major Crimes,” “Law & Order,” “The Good Wife,” “Franklin & Bash,” “Bones,” “The New Normal,” “Snowy Day.” Film: writer/director: Thank You Kindly, What’s Life Got To Do With It. NYU.www.NoahWeisberg.com
Carl Kissin (Book and Lyrics) performed 4000 shows for the improvisational troupe Chicago City Limits and is a three-time Manhattan Monologue Slam champion. He appeared in Talk Radio both at the Public Theater and Oliver Stone’s movie version. His musical Date of a Lifetime won Best Lyrics at NYMF. www.carlkissin.com
Rob Baumgartner, Jr. (Music) is a DC native and New York based composer/lyricist and musical director. His original musicals include: The Jungle (Johnny Mercer Writers Colony, Roundabout Space Jam, Good Company Theatre), Adam Lives (Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals, Johnny Mercer Writers Colony, Baldwin Wallace First Takes, New York Theatre Barn, NAMT, Cap21), Date of a Lifetime (NYMF, New Jersey Rep), Alone World (Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, West Village Musical Theatre Festival-winner of Best Score), What the Moon Saw (Cap21), Under Construction (NYU), The Hole (St. Clements ’09), Radiant Ruby(Vital Theatre Company ’05) and Lullabies. Rob has served as an assistant to composers Galt MacDermot, Debra Barsha, Rob Reale. Rob was lucky enough to assist Mr. MacDermot on the 2009 Broadway revival of his musical Hair. Rob is a graduate of the Musical Theatre Writing MFA program at Tisch School of the Arts. Rob is a proud faculty member at Cap21/Molloy College, Wesleyan University, New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, and Harlem School of the Arts.
Isaac Harlan (Music Director) works with the Broadway Inspirational Voices, a Tony-winning gospel choir, as a pianist and orchestrator. He has played concerts for Norm Lewis, Renee Goldsberry, Eden Espinosa, and Michael McElroy among others, and his orchestrations have been heard at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center.
Nathan Brewer (Director) has directed for Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Washington National Opera, Park Avenue Armory, Theatreworks/USA, New York Musical Theatre Festival, Town Hall, Forestburgh Playhouse, Princeton Festival, Long Island Musical Theatre Festival, Pennsylvania Centre Stage, numerous universities, and multiple televised award shows.
The Abingdon Theatre Company is dedicated to developing and producing brave, new American work by emerging and established artists. The company provides a safe home where playwrights, directors and actors can collaborate within a supportive and nurturing environment. We search for stories about the human experience that reflect our social, political, historical and cultural diversity. We are acutely aware of the theatre’s power to unite disparate population groups through stories about common human interests, and we strive to shed light on a variety of perspectives. In January 1993, a group of five professional theatre artists eager for ongoing collaboration and greater control over their creative lives gathered in a brownstone near New York City’s Abingdon Square Park for a series of bi-weekly readings of new plays. After a few months of informal meetings, enthusiasm swelled and the artists pooled their theatrical experience to establish an open-door home where they could collaborate, invite their colleagues to join the process, and develop new plays. Twenty-two years later, Abingdon has collaborated with more than 200 playwrights, produced 85 New York and World Premiere plays, presented more than 700 readings, staged 175 ten-minute plays, and commissioned 6 one-act plays.
