Conversations with Broadway’s The Bridges of Madison County Stars Kelli O’Hara & Steven Pasquale for the New York Performance Community

March 19, 2014

NEW YORK (March 19, 2014) – On Thursday, March 20, The New School for Drama, SAG Foundation, and BroadwayWorld.com will present a 90-minute career Conversations with Kelli O’Hara and Steven Pasquale, starring together in Broadway’s The Bridges of Madison County. Moderated by BroadwayWorld.com’s Richard Ridge, O’Hara and Pasquale will share experiences from their careers on stage and screen and their current collaboration with a packed house of more than 400 union actors and drama students at The New School’s John L. Tishman Auditorium.

“We are so fortunate to be working with BroadwayWorld.com and The New School for Drama to provide stellar programming for union performers and future union performers in New York City,” said Jill Seltzer, Executive Director of the SAG Foundation. “We are honored to have Kelli O’Hara and Steven Pasquale join the long list of celebrated Broadway performers who have participated in our Conversations series.”
The event will take place at The New School’s brand new John L. Tishman Auditorium, part of the 16-story University Center that opened its doors on January 23, 2014. The New School’s University Center now provides thousands of new square footage for academic and recreational endeavors to its entire student body.

“The New School for Drama is honored to be partnered with the SAG Foundation and BroadwayWorld.com to host these joint events in our new University Center. This is an extraordinary opportunity for our students to participate in a conversation with two amazing artists who have so elegantly broken boundaries between musicals and dramatic theater, which perfectly reflects the mission of our school” said Pippin Parker, Director of The New School for Drama.

Over the last two years, the SAG Foundation and BroadwayWorld.com have partnered on several successful Conversations events featuring prominent theatre actors, including Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, Ellen Burstyn, David Hyde Pierce, Judy Greer, Cherry Jones, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jim Parsons, Keith Carradine, Michael Urie, Billy Porter and more.

“Ask anyone who’s been to one of the previous events, and they’ll tell you that they were once in a lifetime experiences. Today’s can’t miss event at The New School for Drama will again provide access and unparalleled information from two of Broadway’s brightest stars and the theatre world’s most engaging host,” said Robert Diamond, CEO/Editor-in-Chief of BroadwayWorld.com.

For those unable to attend, the event will be filmed and uploaded to the SAG Foundation’s YouTube channel (www.sagfoundation.org), and a thirty minute segment will be available for viewing on BroadwayWorld.com (Backstage with Richard Ridge).

Media interested in attending, must RSVP with Caroline O’Connor, SAG Foundation Director of Communications, at (213) 400-8401 or coconnor@sagfoundation.org. Only CONFIRMED media will be able to attend.

What: Conversations with Broadway’s “The Bridges of Madison County” stars Kelli O’Hara & Steven Pasquale

When: Thursday, March 20, 2014 from 3:15 – 4:45 p.m. Media must check-in by 2:45 p.m.

Where: The New School, The John L. Tishman Auditorium at the University Center, 63 Fifth Avenue (between 13th & 14th Streets), New York City

Synopsis

One of the most romantic novels ever written is now Broadway’s most irresistible love story. Four-time Tony(r) nominee Kelli O’Hara stars with Steven Pasquale in the most romantic musical Broadway has seen in years. This stunning new musical features a gorgeous, soulful score by Tony Award(r)-winning composer Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Last Five Years). Directed by two-time Tony(r) winner (South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza), THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY is the unforgettable story of two people caught between decision and desire, as a chance encounter becomes a second chance at so much more.

Kelli O’Hara
Broadway: Nice Work If You Can Get It (Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, OCC Nom), South Pacific (Tony, Drama Desk & OCC Nominations), Pajama Game (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC Nominations), The Light in the Piazza (Tony & Drama Desk Nominations), Sweet Smell of Success, Follies, Dracula and Jekyll & Hyde. Regional/Off Broadway: Far From Heaven (Playwrights Horizons and WTF), King Lear (Public Theater), Bells Are Ringing (City Center Encores),Sunday in the Park with George (Reprise), My Life With Albertine (Playwright’s Horizons). Concerts span from Carnegie Hall to Capitol Hill. Film/TV credits: Sex & The City 2, Scorsese’s The Key to Reserva, “Blue Bloods,” “Alexander Hamilton,” “Numb3rs” and the animated series “Car Talk.” She is a frequent performer on PBS’s live telecasts and the Kennedy Center Honors. Her solo albums, Always and Wonder in the World are available on Ghostlight Records.

Steven Pasquale

Steven Pasquale is thrilled to be making his Broadway musical debut in The Bridges Of Madison County. Broadway: reasons to be pretty (Tony nomination – Best Play) Off Broadway: Far From Heaven (Playwrights Horizons), Tony Kushner’s The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism… (Public), Soldier’s Play (Second Stage), Fat Pig (MCC), A Man of No Importance (LCT, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations), Beautiful Child (Vineyard),Spitfire Grill (Playwrights Horizons), Spinning Into Butter (LCT), Wild Party (MTC). Originated the role of Fabrizio in Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza. Film/TV includes “Rescue Me,” “Six Feet Under,” Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, “Platinum,” Aurora Borealis, “Up All Night,” “Marry Me, “Coma,” “Do No Harm,” and the USA pilot “Over/Under.” His debut solo album, Somethin’ Like Love, is available on PS Classics.
About the Screen Actors Guild Foundation
The Screen Actors Guild Foundation provides vital assistance and educational programming to the professionals of SAG-AFTRA while serving the public at large through its signature children’s literacy programs. Founded in 1985, the SAG Foundation is a national non-profit organization, independent from SAG-AFTRA, and relies solely on support from grants, corporate sponsorships, and individual contributions to maintain its programs and create new ones. For more information, visit sagfoundation.org. Follow SAG Foundation on Twitter (twitter.com/SAGFoundation), Facebook (facebook.com/SAGFoundation), YouTube (youtube.com/SAGFoundation) and Instagram (instagram.com/sagfoundation).

About BroadwayWorld.com
BroadwayWorld.com is largest theatre site on the Internet covering Broadway, the West End and beyond including 100 US cities, and 30 countries worldwide. The site delivers complete up-to-the-minute Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional theatre news, in-depth interviews, extraordinary photo coverage, entertaining video features, lively message boards, ticket discounts, reviews, and much more. For more information, visit broadwayworld.com.

About The New School for Drama – The creative home for the future of performing arts

Agile. Engaged. Innovative. Multidisciplinary. The New School for Drama is home to a dynamic group of young directors, writers, actors, creative technologists, and award-winning faculty. With a core belief in rigorous creativity and collaborative learning, our programs embrace civic awareness across performance disciplines to create work imbued with professionalism, imagination, and social context. At the MFA level, we are a generative center of practice and production for a select ensemble of forward-thinking emerging professionals and dedicated faculty who are helping to define the future of performing arts.

With multiple pathways through the offered curriculum, the BFA provides students with a high level of artistic training, project-based learning, consistent performance opportunities and, as important, knowledge and reasoning skills that can be applied to a variety of 21st-century career challenges and choices. Offering a shared graduate and undergraduate faculty and learning environment in the historic Westbeth Artists complex in Greenwich Village, access to top design, music, liberal arts, and social science divisions across the university, and connections to excellent downtown theater companies, The New School for Drama offers unparalleled opportunities for courageous and engaged theater artists and performers. Visit: newschool.edu/drama

Founded in 1919, The New School was born out of principles of academic freedom, tolerance, and experimentation. Committed to social engagement, The New School today remains in the vanguard of innovation in higher education, with more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students challenging the status quo in design and the social sciences, liberal arts, management, the arts, and media. The New School welcomes thousands of adult learners annually for continuing education courses and calendar of lectures, screenings, readings, and concerts. Through its online learning portals, research institutes, and international partnerships, The New School maintains a global presence. Learn more at newschool.edu.