Superstar Lineup Announced for Broadway @ NOCCA’s 2018/19 Season

Superstar Lineup Announced for Broadway @ NOCCA’s 2018/19 Season

Broadway stars Christine EbersoleJessie MuellerJeremy Jordan, and opera star Marisol Montalvo headline sixth season of acclaimed concert series in New Orleans!

For tickets, visit www.BroadwayNOLA.com or call 800-838-3006!


Producer Mark Cortale has announced a star-studded lineup for the sixth season of his celebrated Broadway @ NOCCA concert series in New Orleans. Three of Broadway’s biggest names will share the marquee with one of opera’s premiere stars in 2018-19.

Kicking-off the season on November 1, internationally renowned opera star Marisol Montalvo brings her acclaimed new show Mad Scene for its New Orleans debut. The show was written and directed by Jeffery Roberson (aka Varla Jean Merman) and features William Hobbs at the piano.

On December 15, the Broadway @ NOCCA series presents Christine Ebersole, a two-time Tony Award-winner for Grey Gardens and 42nd Street and star of Oscar-winning films such as Amadeus and TootsieSeth Rudetsky will join her as pianist and host.

The star-power continues into the new year, with the January 31 series debut by Jessie Mueller. Mueller won a Tony Award for her performance in Beautiful – The Carole King Musical and most recently was a Tony-nominee for Sarah Barielles’ Waitress. She will be joined by Seth Rudetsky as pianist and host.

Rounding out the series is Jeremy Jordan, who performs on March 29. Jordan was nominated for a Tony Award for Newsies, and on TV, he’s starred in The CW’s Supergirl and in NBC’s Smash. This concert marks Jordan’s series debut, and he’ll be joined by Seth Rudetsky as pianist and host.

Broadway @ NOCCA is sponsored by the New Orleans Hotel Collection and The New Orleans Advocate. All proceeds from the 2018/19 Broadway @ NOCCA series will benefit The NOCCA Institute.

For a limited time–from now until September 17th only–all four of these star-studded shows will be offered at a special subscription-only “Season Pass” discount of 20% off the regular ticket price. For tickets and information, please visitwww.BroadwayNOLA.com or call 800-838-3006.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Marisol Montalvo‘s new show Mad Scene was written and directed by Jeffery Roberson. Called “a theatrical journey of operatic proportion,” it is the autobiographical tale of the insane challenges faced by an American opera singer as she performs on some of the most prestigious stages in the world, including the Paris Opera and Carnegie Hall. Montalvo made her Carnegie Hall debut with Christoph Eschenbach and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and has recently performed the role of Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier opposite Renee Fleming with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.  Other recent engagements include Knoxville: Summer of 1915 at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago and performances at the Salzburg Festival in 2018. She has worked with many of today’s leading composers, including Matthias Pintscher, Olga Neuwirth, and Wolfgang Rihm, Peter Eötvos, Pascal Dusapin, and Marco Stroppa. Her affinity for contemporary music has led to regular engagements with ensembles including Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Intercontemporain, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Ensemble Remix and Ensemble Modern. She will return to the Salzburg Festival for concerts in the summer of 2019. Marisol is especially associated with the title role of Berg’s Lulu. Following her debut in the part at the Opéra National de Paris, Le Monde described her performance as “a true revelation: The American soprano possesses real stage and vocal presence, and executes the exhausting role with incredible intensity.” She has since performed the role at premier houses including Deutsche Oper Berlin, Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Teatro de la Maestranza, Theater an der Wien, Komische Oper Berlin, and at Theater Basel.

Christine Ebersole starred most recently on Broadway in War Paint opposite fellow Tony nominee Patti LuPone. She won her second Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, for her “dual role of a lifetime” as Edith Beale and Little Edie Beale in Grey Gardens, which was nominated for a total of ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Her extensive Broadway career also includes her Tony Award-winning performance as Dorothy Brock in the hit revival of 42nd Street, in addition to leading roles in On the Twentieth Century, Oklahoma, Camelot, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, Steel Magnolias, Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit, and Dinner at Eight, for which she received both Tony and Drama Desk Award Nominations. Concert appearances include Carnegie Hall, the San Francisco Symphony, the Boston Pops, and PBS concerts. In addition to her acclaimed stage career, she has also appeared in hit films such as Amadeus, Tootsie, Richie Rich, Black Sheep, Dead Again, Folks!, Ghost Dad, True Crime, My Girl 2, Mac and Me, and Confessions of a Shopaholic, and on television in Retired at 35, Royal Pains, Ugly Betty, Law and Order SVU, Boston Legal, Samantha Who, Will and Grace, The Nanny, Just Shoot Me, Murphy Brown, Ally McBeal, Valerie, Ryan’s Hope, One Life to Live, and The Colbert Report.

Tony Award-winner Jessie Mueller originated the role of Jenna Hunterson in composer-lyricist Sara Bareilles’ hit Broadway musical Waitress, which earned her nominations for Tony, Drama Desk, and Grammy awards. She earned all three for her starring role as Carole King in Beautiful-The Carole King Musical. Other major Broadway credits include Nice Work if You Can Get It, The Mystery Of Edwin Drood, and her Broadway debut as Melinda in On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, opposite Harry Connick Jr. She portrayed Carrie Pipperidge in the New York Philharmonic’s staged concert production of Carousel at Lincoln Center, and was a part of Carnegie Hall’s family concert series, Take the Stage with Broadway Stars. Mueller began her career in Chicago and was named Actor of the Year in 2011 by The Chicago Tribune. Four years later she received Chicago’s prestigious Sarah Siddons Society Award. Recently she collaborated on Broadway for Orlando’s What the World Needs Now benefiting our brothers and sisters in Orlando. Jessie appeared most recently on Broadway in Carousel, starring as Julie Jordan, opposite Joshua Henry.

Jeremy Jordan has appeared on Broadway in the musicals Rock of Ages, the revival ofWest Side StoryBonnie & Clyde, and in Newsies, which earned him critical raves and a Tony nomination as Best Actor in a Musical for his star-making role. This year, Jeremy reprised his role as Jack Kelly in Disney’s live filmed stage production of Newsies. He also starred as real life Peter Pan writer J.M. Barrie in the stage musical version of Finding Neverland, directed by Tony-winner Diane Paulus at Boston’s legendary A.R.T. theatre. While starring inNewsies on Broadway at night, he appeared regularly on NBC’s hit series Smash. Jeremy also starred in the feature film Joyful Noise opposite Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah, and in the film adaptation of The Last 5 Years opposite Oscar and Tony nominee Anna Kendrick. He also appears as the voice of Varian in Disney Channel’s new animated series, Tangled, based on the 2010 hit movie. Currently, Jeremy stars in The CW drama Supergirl opposite Melissa Benoist. This fall he will star on Broadway opposite Scandal star Kerry Washington in the drama American Son.

Seth Rudetsky is the afternoon host on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio’s On Broadway as well as the host of Seth Speaks on Sirius/XM Stars. As an author, he penned My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan and the sequel The Rise And Fall Of A Theater Geek(Random House) as well as three volumes of Seth’s Broadway Diary featuring inside scoop and hilarious stories from all of the stars he’s worked with. He co-wrote and co-starred in Disaster! (NY TIMES “critics pick”) recently on Broadway. Disaster! also premiered to rave reviews in London’s West End. In June 2016, he and his husband, James Wesley, co-produced a recording of What The World Needs Now with stars like Idina Menzel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Carole King, Audra McDonald which went to number one on iTunes and raised $100,000 for the Orlando shooting victims (and is still raising money. Buy it!). On Inauguration Day 2017, he and James started Concert For America, a monthly series around the country helping five nonprofits being hurt by the current administration. Stars such as Kelli O’Hara, Barry Manilow, Stephanie Mills, Vanessa Williams, Andy Cohen, and more have performed, and you can watch the next one streamed live on ConcertsForAmerica.com.


ABOUT THE SERIES

Mark Cortale (Artist Manager & Producer) is the Producing Artistic Director at The Art House in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He produced Deconstructing Patti on Broadway this past September at the Nederlander Theatre with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The event starred Patti LuPone and Seth Rudetsky, and it raised over $280,000 in a single night. He also launched the Broadway @ concert series in 2011 at The Art House. The series, featuring creative partner Seth Rudetsky as music director and host, had its seventh season last summer, with a roster of guest artists that included Sutton Foster, Jessie Mueller, Megan Hilty, Faith Prince, Beth Malone, Melissa Errico, and Michael Cerveris. The Broadway @ series also premiered in 2013 in New Orleans, in Australia (Sydney & Melbourne) with Megan Mullally, and in London’s West End with Patti LuPone at the Leicester Square Theater. The series has since travelled to cities that include Chicago @ The Steppenwolf, Beverly Hills @ The Wallis,  Fort Lauderdale @ The Parker Playhouse, San Francisco @ The Herbst Theatre, and Scottsdale @ Scottsdale Center for the Arts. Other artists who have participated include Audra McDonald, Christine Ebersole, Chita Rivera, Kelli O’Hara, Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Rosie O’Donnell, Vanessa Williams, and Gavin Creel. Mark also produced the feature film Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads and the web television series Seth’s Reality.  He manages the singing string quartet Well-Strung, which he co-founded. Info at markcortalepresents.com.

Beginning this fall, in addition to its many outposts in venues across the U.S. and on London’s West End, the “Broadway @” series comes full circle with the launch of the “Broadway @ Town Hall” series in New York City. It kicks off with legendary, six-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald, smack dab in the middle of Broadway itself.

ABOUT NOCCA AND THE NOCCA INSTITUTE

Founded in 1973, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) is Louisiana’s arts conservatory for high school students. NOCCA offers intensive instruction in Classical Music, Creative Writing, Culinary Arts, Dance, Drama, Jazz, Media Arts, Musical Theatre, Theatre Design, Vocal Music, Visual Arts, and academics. Students come from across Louisiana, attending via full-day, afternoon, and after-school sessions. Admission to NOCCA is by audition, and there is no tuition.

The NOCCA Institute is NOCCA’s nonprofit partner, providing supplemental funding for NOCCA and advocacy for its world-class program. Some of the Institute’s more notable endeavors include: a comprehensive Financial Aid Program that funds students’ supplies and fees associated with important summer training programs across the country; an Artists-in-Residence Program that brings more than 100 professional visiting artists into NOCCA’s classrooms each year; the capital campaign for NOCCA’s current home and expansion projects along the Press Street corridor, including Press Street Gardens; a wide array of arts classes for adults; and concert, gallery, and literary events for the community.