The Wellsong Project: Songs and Stories of Inspiration

5/20/2016

 

Dear Friends:

 

This Monday, May 23, at 7 pm, a one-night only special event will take place at The York Theatre Company at 54th and Lexington.  This is a show filled with enormous heart, compassion and spirit.

“The Wellsongs Project: Songs and Stories of Inspiration” is a musical project created by Dr. Michael Pizzi, an occupational therapist and Equity actor, designed to inspire and empower children with special needs and their families through music and song. Dr. Pizzi has carefully chosen songwriters to work from interviews of the children and their families to create an individualized song for each child, making him/her feel special and honored.

13 original songs about and for the children with special needs will be presented.  Some of the composers of the original music will be in attendance and one of the children who is blind and autistic (with perfect pitch) will be singing the song written for him.  Several of the families interviewed for this project will also be in attendance. This event is so much in line with what the York Theatre does, giving voice to emerging writers in a very special setting, that I wanted its launch to be on our stage and under our auspices; we have been working toward making this event happen for over a year.

The songs will be performed by singers from Broadway and beyond, including Griffin Matthews, Daisy Eagan, Neal Mayer, Dana Winkle Ogilvie, Leah Horowitz, Will Reynolds, Ryan Bauer-Walsh, Jennifer Richman, Autumn Hurlbert, Jenna Pascua, Brett Boles, Elysia Jordan. Michael Pizzi will emcee the evening.  Music director is Michael Moritz and the director is Michael Unger, York’s Associate Artistic Director.