JANET MILLER KEEPS 5-YEAR FRINGE STREAK GOING

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 18, 2017

Linden Waddell
213.880.0502
[email protected]

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, Hello Janet!

JANET MILLER HITS 5-TIME STREAK AT FRINGE

HELLO AGAIN! THE SONGS OF ALLAN SHERMAN directed by Janet Miller Debuts at Fringe. Opens June 4 and runs through June 24, 2017. http://hff17.com/4580

LOS ANGELES, May 18, 2017 – Where’s Good People Theatre Company at Fringe this year? They were there inaugurally in 2013 with A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, followed by 2014’s THE FANTASTICKS, 2015’s MARRY ME A LITTLE and 2016’s THE TOXIC AVENGER MUSICAL: all musicals, all Good People Theatre Company (GPTCo), all Janet Miller, GPTCo’s Producing Artistic Director and director/choreographer of the productions.
“I’m teaching in the desert (Palm and Joshua Tree) and the Company is working on expanding our board. We are taking a step back,” Janet explains. GPTCo may not be represented at Fringe in 2017, but Janet is, as director and choreographer of HELLO AGAIN! THE SONGS OF ALLAN SHERMAN for producer/performer Linden Waddell.
“I knew of Janet’s outstanding work, and even though we both grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles we’d never worked together,” said Linden Waddell, a professional performer who was just returning to her career after taking a 20-year hiatus to raise her kids. “I ran into Janet at an event. I was putting my show together and mentioned it to her, blurting out, maybe you could direct? After that blurt I thought, ‘what have I said?’ because I really hadn’t gotten to that point in the project yet, but I followed my gut and set up a meeting with Janet and we clicked. It was a joy working with her on the rehearsal and development process.”
That was back in 2015 when Janet had returned to Cal State University, Los Angeles to get her Master of Fine Arts degree in Production in the Television, Film & Theatre program. She’d returned to the university to get a more competitive edge for teaching positions, adding to her 2007 Master of Arts degree in Theatre Arts & Dance, also from CSULA. Her plan worked – just before finishing her degree in 2016 she landed positions teaching theatre and directing shows at College of the Desert (Palm Desert) and at Copper Mountain College (Joshua Tree), and now she’s teaching full time.
“I commute back and forth between the desert and Los Angeles,” she said. “When in LA, I serve on Steering Committees for Directors Lab West and SDC (Stage Directors & Choreographers Society), visit friends, see theatre, take meetings.”
With the full-time teaching position out of town, GPTCo Board of Directors shuffling, and changes in Actors Equity Association contracts for small theatres that have many Los Angeles-based companies still finding their way, Janet and GPTCo couldn’t plan a show for Fringe this year. “We love Fringe! It’s a great platform to produce shows. Good People’s investment is big – we offer double the number of performances, the shows tend to be longer in length which is rare at Fringe (A Man of No Importance clocked in at 2-1/2 hours); the shows are musical, sometimes with larger casts, more traditional, not necessarily new pieces – our shows are different from other Fringe fare. We will miss it this year, but are happy to welcome our patrons to Hello Again! The Songs of Allan Sherman.”
GPTCo was created so that Janet could bring her vision of a fully-realized Los Angeles premiere production of A Man of No Importance to Fringe, and with that production, and every show since, Good People’s offerings have received high critical praise, numerous awards and noms and growing audience loyalty. Janet herself is a multi-award-winning director and choreographer, most recently receiving the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Joel Hirschhorn Award for Career Achievement in Musical Theater.
Good People may not be Fringing this year, but Janet Miller fans, do not despair, for her directing and choreographer chops are in full view in HELLO AGAIN! THE SONGS OF ALLAN SHERMAN. Big laughs and nostalgia reign in this 1-woman musical cabaret revue starring Linden Waddell, highlighting humorous song parodies written by Allan Sherman, who became an instant celebrity when his first three Warner Bros. albums shot to #1 in the early 1960’s.
Of the Allan Sherman show, Janet says, “I love the material! This is my history. My family and I listened to Sherman’s records. This show is classic, so funny, and I love the fact that women are performing Sherman’s material. Linden is such an accomplished actress and singer and that makes it even more interesting. She did detailed research and that’s also what makes it so special and personal. I just love the show. I think it’s hilarious.”
Janet will continue to teach, direct and choreograph in the southland. “I enjoy teaching. It works well for me. And there are many more shows I’d like to do with Good People, musicals and straight plays, it’s just a matter of where and when.” Rest assured, Janet fans can look forward to seeing GPTCo’s future local contributions. In the meantime, she adds, “Everybody should come see this show because it’s unique! With the historical aspect, its context, songs based on classic material and pop songs…Linden and Marjorie” (Poe, the musical director and accompanist) “are so talented…so Fringers are going to get an education and have a lot of fun. If you want a good time, come and see this!”
HELLO AGAIN! THE SONGS OF ALLAN SHERMAN plays for 5 performances during the Hollywood Fringe Festival at Asylum @ Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre, 5636 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038, June 4 – 24, 2017. Performance times vary so check listings. Tickets are $15 general admission, with discounts available for Fringe insiders (Citizens and Participants). Show times, details and ticket sales are available online at the Fringe Project Page for HELLO AGAIN! THE SONGS OF ALLAN SHERMAN: http://hff17.com/4580.

FACT SHEET

WHAT:
Hello Again! The Songs of Allan Sherman

WHO:
Presented by: Linden Waddell
Directed & Choreographed by: Janet Miller
Musical Direction by: Marjorie Poe
Written by: Linden Waddell
Lyrics by: Allan Sherman

Performed by: Linden Waddell
Live accompaniment by: Marjorie Poe

WHERE:
Hollywood Fringe Festival
Asylum at Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre
5636 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038

WHEN:
5 Public Performances
Sunday June 4, 2017, 2:30pm (preview)
Friday June 9, 2017, 7:00pm
Sunday June 18, 2017, 4:00pm
Thursday June 22, 2017, 7:00pm
Saturday June 24, 2017, 11:30am

Run time: 55 minutes
Rated G – appropriate for audiences age 6+

ADMISSION:
Tickets are $15 General Admission
HOW:
Purchase Tickets Online: http://hff17.com/4580
Comps available for members of the press, upon request

SOCIAL MEDIA & LINKS

Weird Al meets Bette Midler!
Song parodies + chutzpah = fun!
Fab revue of zany lyrics, hilariously sung!

Fringe Project Site http://hff17.com/4580
YouTube https://youtu.be/8ObE1Y6ZedM
Twitter @LindenW1 #HelloAgainSherman
Website: www.lindenwaddell.com
Review from CABARETSCENES:
http://cabaretscenes.org/2015/08/31/linden-waddell-the-songs-of-allan-sherman/
Review from critic Don Heckman, THE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF MUSIC:
https://irom.wordpress.com/2016/02/01/hello-again-the-songs-of-allan-sherman-by-linden-waddell-at-the-gardenia

PRESS CONTACT
Linden Waddell
213.880.0502
[email protected]

WHO’S WHO

Linden Waddell (Performer/Producer/Concept/Writer)
Linden Waddell has graced the stages of the Shubert Theatre (CATS), the Ahmanson Theatre (The Pirates of Penzance), the Colony Theatre (LA Stage Alliance Ovation nom – Working / Drama-Logue Award – The Matchmaker); the Long Beach Center Theatre (A…My Name is Alice – Robby Award nom); the Matrix (Stages – original cast album); the Cast (Captain Fabulous – west coast premiere); Hidden Valley Music Theatre (RLS: Recollections – world premiere); Arizona’s Herberger Theatre (Heartbeats) and Actor’s Lab (Six Women With Brain Death – AriZoni Award winner), among many others. Producer, writer, actress, singer, mom, proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA. Visit www.lindenwaddell.com

Marjorie Poe (Musical Director/Accompanist/Arranger)
Marjorie Poe is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and has taught music at several schools and colleges. Ms. Poe served as an award-winning musical director for dozens of Equity waiver theatre productions in LA and spent a handful of years on tour with Broadway road companies (Cats, Wizard of Oz, Sunset Boulevard and Meet Me in St. Louis). She has worked with Debbie Reynolds, Robert Morse, Debby Boone, Mary Jo Catlett, Jo Anne Worley, Mickey Rooney, Pat Boone and an assorted mix of large animals, as she was also an arranger/keyboardist with Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus, traveling with the “Greatest Show on Earth.” She composed an original score for the West Coast premiere of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby produced at the LACC Theatre Academy. Ms. Poe is a noted arranger and orchestrator.

Janet Miller (Director/Choreographer)
Janet Miller is a producer, director, choreographer and educator. She is a recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Joel Hirschhorn Award for Career Achievement in Musical Theater. Her original choreography has been showcased Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre in The Marvelous Wonderettes. She received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Choreographer for this production. Janet garnered an Ovation nomination for her work on TMW, a Garland, a LADCC Award, and was part of the team that won the Ovation for Best Intimate Musical. Ms. Miller was thrilled to choreograph the European Premiere of TMW for Teatro Franco Parenti in Milan, Italy. Janet has staged her award-winning step touch extensively throughout the US.
Good People Theater Company is celebrating their four-year anniversary and Janet serves as Producing Artistic Director. GPTCo has seven productions under their belt, A Man of No Importance, Barrymore (2x) The Fantasticks, Closer Than Ever, Marry Me A Little, and The Toxic Avenger. The shows have been well received in Los Angeles by both critics and spectators. AMONI and Barrymore were both Ovation Recommended, and Barrymore received an Ovation nomination for Best Actor.
Ms. Miller has worked as director and/or choreographer on both coasts on such shows as Side By Side By Sondheim, South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, Kiss Me Kate, Jesus Christ Superstar, Anything Goes, Baby, Annie Get Your Gun, Dames At Sea, Charlie Brown, Urinetown, Bat Boy, The Odd Couple, The Nerd, The Man Who Came To Dinner, The Rimers of Eldritch, and Taming of the Shrew to name a few. JM holds a B.A. in musical theatre from CSU Northridge, an M.A. and an M.F.A. from CSU Los Angeles. She is adjunct faculty at College of the Desert and Copper Mountain College. Ms. Miller is a proud member of SDC.
www.janetmiller.net www.goodpeopletheaterco.org.

Allan Sherman (Lyricist)
Allan Sherman b. November 30, 1924 – d. November 20, 1973 was an American comedy writer and television producer who became famous as a song parodist in the early 1960’s. His first album, “My Son, the Folk Singer” (1962) became the fastest-selling record album up to that time. His biggest hit single was “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh,” a comic novelty song in which a boy describes his summer camp experiences to the tune of Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours.” Sherman shot to fame with 3 Number One albums and performed at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, headlined in Las Vegas, sang on TV variety shows and guest-hosted The Tonight Show for a week. He recorded many more albums, wrote an autobiography, discovered and produced albums for Bill Cosby, and penned lyrics for an original Broadway musical.