Perkins to Perform with NYC Company at O'Neal
O'Neal's own Ryann Perkins (7th grade) will be peforming with NYC actress Jennifer Mintzer at the Broadway Classics event at the Hannah Center Theater on May 1st. They will be singing "Marry the Man Today" from "Guys and Dolls" as Miss Adelaide and Miss Sarah.
Touching Humanity is a 501c3 created in 2007 by occupational therapist and Equity NYC actor Dr. Michael Pizzi. The mission of the organization is to promote disability awareness and occupational and social justice through the arts and education. Since 2007, he directed a musical version of the popular children's book "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" with the first actress in a wheelchair to ever appear on Broadway. He also created performing arts classes for children with special needs and realized there were many benefits of these classes, including improved social skills, attention, concentration, improved reading and movement skills. Michael also created a performing arts and disability conference, bringing together 75 professionals from ten different disciplines. He currently is an Associate Professor of occupational therapy at Dominican College near Nyack, NY.
Touching Humanity is a 501c3 created in 2007 by occupational therapist and Equity NYC actor Dr. Michael Pizzi. The mission of the organization is to promote disability awareness and occupational and social justice through the arts and education. Since 2007, he directed a musical version of the popular children's book "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" with the first actress in a wheelchair to ever appear on Broadway. He also created performing arts classes for children with special needs and realized there were many benefits of these classes, including improved social skills, attention, concentration, improved reading and movement skills. Michael also created a performing arts and disability conference, bringing together 75 professionals from ten different disciplines. He currently is an Associate Professor of occupational therapy at Dominican College near Nyack, NY.
As an actor, Michael received his Equity card from Godspeed Opera House when he performed in "1776" and has played Fezziweg in "A Christmas Carol" at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC and a pirate/understudy Smee in North Carolina Theatre's "Peter Pan" among many other credits. He was in 'The Magic Flute' conducted by Victor Borge, and has sung the role of Leporello in "Don Giovanni". He has also created and performed cabaret work in NYC.
Given his roles as an occupational therapist, producer and performer, Michael distinguishes the musical theatre work he produces by partnering with local charities for each and every event he plans. He believes that giving back to the community and helping support and empower others is a blessing and a privilege, and it is through the arts that this can be successfully accomplished. This current theatrical event called "Broadway Classics" has partnered with Sandhills Childrens Center. The location of the event is the Hannah Center Theatre at the O'Neal School in Southern Pines.
Michael recognizes the power of the performing arts for all people given the magic and joy it brings to them. Having moved to Pinehurst as a part-time resident (he teaches occupational therapy and performs in NYC) Michael realized there was a dearth of musical theatre in the area. So in the Fall of 2015 he came up with the idea to bring in musical theatre activities and began developing the Sandhills Broadway Series. To ensure the community had such a need for something he was passionate about, he informally polled people living in the area beginning Fall 2015 and found great support for bringing musical theatre to the area. People were saying there were other artistic endeavors in the area, but regular musical theatre was a missing piece. This was further evidenced by people saying the local high schools did great work, and professional musical theatre would be a welcome addition given many local people had to travel 30-60 minutes away for such.
So when he began to develop projects, having a PhD in community health, he wanted to include the community in several of the projects for 2016-17 and beyond. The first is "Broadway Classics" in which he performs (as a local and NYC resident), along with Jennifer Mintzer and Greg Roderick with musical direction by Brett Boles. All three are from the NYC area. Jen has performed in regional productions of "A Christmas Carol", "Cats", "Fiddler on the Roof" and "That's Andy" with Tony Award winner Beth Leavel, a North Carolinian. Greg was in the recent concert version of "Ragtime" at Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall) after 2 and half years on Broadway in the revival of "South Pacific" with opera star Paolo Szot, Tony winner Kelli O'Hara and Matthew Morrison of TV's "Glee". Brett is a Broadway composer who is developing the movie "Benjamin Button" as a musical which had developmental workshops at Goodspeed in Connecticut and The York in NYC. He also has been accompanist and a singer/songwriter for various charity events.
Brett will also be performing an original song he wrote for The Wellsongs (tm) Project that Michael conceived a couple years ago. Michael interviews a child with special needs and their family and Brett wrote songs for that child. This will be a special moment in our show and not to be missed. This project is currently being planned for Moore County. If any family is interested in participating, they can contact Michael at wellsongsproject@gmail.com. Another disability and performing arts related project is also being planned in collaboration with a local mom and successful businesswoman which will be revealed in the near future.
Michael conceived the idea for this current show "Broadway Classics", as the great American songbook includes many of those songs which appeal to most people whether you are familiar with Broadway music or not. The shows from which the songs were selected include "Gypsy", "Man of La Mancha", "South Pacific", "Guys and Dolls" and "Brigadoon" among others. Familiar songs like "Some Enchanted Evening" (South Pacific), "The Impossible Dream" (la Mancha), and "If I Loved You" (Carousel) comprise some of the ballads along with "Gotta Get a Gimmick" (Gypsy), "Fugue for Tin Horns" and "Sue Me" (Guys and Dolls) which are some of the more comic theatrical numbers. The shows Michael wants to bring to the area are more than "stand and sing" events, but are more theatrical in nature. There is Broadway "patter" in between songs, and in "Broadway Classics" the singers deliver personal stories about their experiences on and off Broadway. Some future shows and theatre and music events will include local talent to a much greater extent.
For other local talent for this show, there will be special guests who have not yet confirmed. Tickets for this show can be obtained from the website www.touchinghumanityinc.org and clicking on your choice of ticket. The $40 VIP ticket includes a dessert reception with desserts made fresh by a local bakery. You also get to meet the performers at the reception. There is $30 general admission ticket, a $25 senior/military ticket and a $20 student (with ID) ticket.
Future theatrical and musical events will include shows by Broadway stars, musical theatre revues and others that are in the planning stages. The Fall and Spring promise to be very busy so look for the Sandhills Broadway Series and Touching Humanity to bring great musical theatre events to our area.
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