2007 Press Releases
The U.S. Ambassador welcomes Broadway musical theater performers to Riga
Riga, April 16, 2007. – On Thursday, April 19, at the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence at 11:00 a.m. the U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Catherine Todd Bailey, the Minister of Culture Helena Demakova and the director of Daile Theater Aivars Linis will hold a joint press conference on the coming project – Broadway musical concert on May 11 in the Dailes Theater.
In only three weeks, the famous Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz will be here to teach a series of master classes to Latvian dramatic artists on the techniques of the Broadway musical, and the culmination of his visit will be a concert on May 11 in the Dailes Theater of some of his greatest songs sung by a group of veteran Broadway musical theater performers.
Stephen Schwartz has composed such hits as Godspell, and Mr. Schwartz's most recent musical, Wicked, opened in the fall of 2003 and is currently running on Broadway and in London. Mr. Schwartz received two Academy Awards and a Grammy for his music in the film Pocahontas. He also provided songs for the film, The Prince of Egypt, for which he won another Academy Award for the song "When You Believe".
He has been nominated for five Tony Awards, Broadway’s equivalent of the Oscar, and is the only composer in history to have three musicals run for more than 1500 performances on Broadway, that is performances every day for over four years.
The Ambassador Catherine Todd Bailey states: “I am very excited about the concert, and I would like to thank Minister Demakova for her vision in supporting this project and to the director of the Dailes Theater for managing all of the details big and small to make this project happen. For me, the most important part of this project is that by the time Stephen and his friends leave Latvia, the Dailes Theater will be able to produce its own Broadway musical extravaganzas. I wish the cast and crew the very best, and I hope to see you all at the Dailes Theater on May 11.”
Click here to see excerpts performances on Broadway from Latvian TV show "Tāda ir dzīve".
U.S. Embassy, Riga, Public Affairs Section
Smilsu iela 7
Riga, LV 1050
Phone: 371 750-9022
Internet: http://riga.usembassy.gov
Media specialist's e-mail: dilanes@state.gov, lubinad@state.gov