Hunter Foster Will Direct American Theater Group's PARADE in March

The American Theater Group (ATG), Somerset County New Jersey's professional regional theater company celebrating its 11th season, will present Parade, the Tony Award-winning musical by acclaimed playwright Alfred Uhry (Driving Miss Daisy), which features a rousing and haunting score by Jason Robert Brown (Bridges of Madison County). The show will run March 2-5th at the Sieminski Theater in Basking Ridge. Additional performances may be announced at a later date."

The musical was awarded the 1999 Tony Awards for "Best Score" and "Best Book of a Musical," and tells the heart-wrenching, true story of Leo Frank, a Brooklyn-raised Jewish man living in Atlanta who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of a 13-year-old employee. Amid religious intolerance, political injustice and racial tension, the stirring musical explores the endurance of love and hope against all odds. It was also named "Best Musical" by the 1999 Drama Desk Awards.

Broadway veteran Hunter Foster will direct the production, with musical direction by Keith Levenson. Foster, an actor, writer and director, was named the 2018 "Director of the Year" by the Wall Street Journal for his productions of 42nd Street at the Bucks County Playhouse, and The Drowsy Chaperone at the Goodspeed Opera House. He directed The Other Josh Cohen Off-Broadway and has directed at regional theaters across the US, including Theatre Aspen, Cape Playhouse and Redhouse Art Center. As an actor, he has performed on Broadway in Little Shop of Horrors (Tony Nomination), Urinetown, The Producers, The Bridges of Madison County, Hands on a Hardbody, Million Dollar Quartet, Footloose, Les Miserables, Grease, Pump Boys and Dinettes and King David. He earned a BFA in Theater from the University of Michigan.

Levenson has conducted and created arrangements for major rock groups including The Who, KISS, Meatloaf, Alice Cooper, Yes, The British Rock Symphony and Peter Frampton. As a Broadway and National Tour Music Director and Supervisor, he has conducted musicals such as Annie, The Best Little Whorehouse, The Bridges of Madison County and Grease. He also conducted ATG's enormously successful 2019 production of The Bridges of Madison County.

"We are thrilled to present this important, compelling piece of theater," noted Jim Vagias, Producing Artistic Director of ATG. "Its themes of bigotry and political injustice remain ever so relevant today and its magnificent score and masterful script allow for a moving examination of the darkest corners of American history."

The Sieminski Theater is located on the scenic campus of Fellowship Village at 8000 Fellowship Road in Basking Ridge, NJ. Performances will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm. Tickets are available at www.sieminskitheater.org. Additional information about casting will be announced shortly. Parade is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com.

ATG will continue its season in May with a production of The Right to be Forgotten by Sharyn Rothstein (By the Water, USA Network's "Suits"), a powerful look at today's social media landscape. The drama explores how a young man's mistake at 17 haunts him online a decade later. Desperate for a normal life, he goes to extraordinary lengths to erase his indiscretion. Rothstein's "A Good Farmer" was presented by ATG in 2018 to wide acclaim.

"We are thrilled to welcome the American Theater Group back to the Sieminski Theater for their performances of the Tony Award-winning musical Parade this March. The extent of talent within their cast and the spectacular staging ATG employs brings excellent theater to Somerset County," said Brian Lawrence, President & CEO, Fellowship Senior Living.

American Theater Group (ATG), founded in 2012, produces new and classic works primarily by American Playwrights with an emphasis on the development of new works and the rediscovery of undeservedly neglected older ones. It also provides quality arts-in-education initiatives, including its annual DramaFest for students and its PlayLab program for BIPOC and queer playwrights. ATG programming is made possible in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Made possible by the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. More information can be found at www.americantheatergroup.org.

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