Cast and Crew of Hot New Teen Musical 'In Your Dreams' Wish Islamic, Jewish Religious Communities a Happy Ramadan and Rosh Hashanah, Respectively

Leading competitor to Disney’s blockbuster cable movie “High School Musical” sees surging interest in stage and screen production in wake of genre’s explosive cable network success.

New York, NY (PRWEB) September 22, 2006 -- The cast and crew of the hot new teen musical “In Your Dreams,” the leading competitor to Disney’s Billboard-topping teen hit “High School Musical,” issued a statement today wishing the Islamic and Jewish communities a happy Ramadan and Rosh Hashanah, respectively.

“The two religious holidays do not always fall on the same day each year,” notes Miramax-linked Zeke Farrow, the co-creator of the hot new teen musical. “But this year the arrival of Ramadan and Rosh Hashanah finds members of both religions looking forward to annual renewals of faith.”

Ramadan is marked by Muslims with a month-long series of fasts and prayer sessions, and begins at sundown today. For Jewish congregations and organizations, Rosh Hashanah brings an annual renewal and re-commitment to prayer.

“It is only once every 30 years that these two important religious festivals coincide,” says Farrow. “Significantly, both religions worship the god of Abraham, and both are highly cognizant of Moses.”

The active part of Ramadan is to really get closer to God and to feel content, to feel inner peace, notes Farrow: “To try to go out of your way to teach others, to help others." Meanwhile, notes Farrow, Rosh Hashanah is a time for reflection where individuals look back on what they did this past year and realign themselves with what their purpose and mission in life is in order to improve in the forthcoming year.

Among the most popular Rosh Hashanah prayers in the television community, notes Farrow, is the blessing for fruit, Borei Pri HaEtz, followed by the words "Yehi Ratzon ... shetehadesh allenyu shanah tovah umetukah."

“Which means, ‘May it be Your will to renew for us a good and sweet year,’" Farrow says. “It was a favorite prayer of Aaron Spelling, may he rest in peace.”

Farrow’s main competitor in the teen musical category, Disney Channel’s “High School Musical,” has coincidentally scheduled its U.K cable release to coincide with the propitious Sept. 22nd commencement of Ramadan and Rosh Hashanah. “In many ways, the huge success of ‘High School Musical’ mirrors the trajectory of these two highly influential religions,” says Farrow. “Except it is only Disney that is planning a sequel."

Indeed, notes Farrow, since premiering on the Disney Channel in the U.S. earlier this year, the all-singing, all-dancing “High School Musical” has become nothing short of a phenomenon, setting records around the world.

“Not since ‘Fame’ or ‘Grease' or ‘Hairspray’ has a musical had such impact," says Farrow. "Like my own musical, ‘High School Musical’ is rollicking and squeaky-clean, geared for a young and lucrative audience.”

So far, notes Farrow, Disney’s “High School Musical” has been seen by over 40 million people, and it has earned a Guinness World Record for the most successful songs from a song track. With its popular songs and frenzied toe-tapping, “High School Musical” has become the most popular Disney Channel movie ever, says Farrow. “And we anticipate the same bright future for our own teen musical, 'In Your Dreams.'”

Directed by the man behind "Dirty Dancing," “High School Musical” took America by storm, landing six Emmy nominations, and is anticipated to do the same in the U.K. Says Farrow: “It kept singer James Blunt off the top of the U.S. album charts, outsold ‘Saturday Night Fever,’ and has become the biggest selling television soundtrack since the '80s hit ‘Miami Vice.’”

Like “High School Musical,” Farrow’s “In Your Dreams” is a large scale, splashy, teen musical -- with a dash of political satire. It centers around Helen, a 17-year-old girl who appears in three different incarnations, Black, Pink, and Blue. Farrow has sealed a deal with Jason Eagan from Ars Nova, the New York City performance center, for a performance date this summer to showcase the songs. That highly anticipated showcase will take place October 9th and 10th. http://broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=9263

"Zeke and Lucian (Piane) have written a gallant high school musical that kids will take their parents to," says Eagan, who is excited about the possibility of eventually working with Farrow to mount a full production of the musical.

What is helping to fuel the “In Your Dreams Express” is the fact that “In Your Dreams’” 13 songs have already been professionally recorded on a CD with performances by a number of top Broadway singers, including “Hairspray’s” Leslie Kritzer, “Wicked’s” Laura Bell Bundy, “Les Miserable’s” Jodie Langel, “Little Shop of Horror’s” Kerry Butler, “Thoroughly Modern Millie’s” Gavin Creel, “Hairspray’s” Jackie Hoffman, “The Full Monty’s” Sloan Just, and Anika Larsen, Danny Rocket and Anthony Rapp from “Rent.” Rhythm and blues artist Shayna Steele is also a contributor.

On the filmed entertainment side, Farrow has just registered a scripted version of “In Your Dreams.” The script is being represented by the highly respected Brad Rosenfeld of Preferred Artists.

And there's more, says Farrow. “Close observers of the ‘In Your Dreams’ saga will be pleased to note that we have made a number of additions to the script -- including the addition of a number of kittens to the plotline,” he says. “One thing I think all of us in the entertainment industry have learned from the recent career trajectories of Nina Jacobson and Tom Freston is this: You can never have too many kittens in your product!”

According to Farrow, cats and kittens appearing in a filmed version of "In Your Dream" are likely to be similar to these seen below:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iV6DQuEh4UQ

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DbK1eCt97ag

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BHJ9eUkjWgY

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vRXgpR2lzo4

http://youtube.com/watch?v=a-gW3RbJd8U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9JveYOtb-s&NR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bIuAWSp1Ic

Among those in the entertainment community with a growing awareness of the significant market value that a theater-distributed rival to Disney Channel’s cable based “High School Musical” has to offer are Tony DiSanto, Nathan Lane, Josh Haygood, Shane Nickerson, Rosie O’Donnell, Dualstar, Penny Marshall, Bette Midler, Julie Pizzi, Michael Scott King, Laurence Mark, Ross Whedon, Ashley Olsen, Barbara Walters, Matthew Broderick, Cheryl Horton, Emma Roberts, Ken Mok, Marc Hirschfeld, Kim Cowin, Margot Lyon, Marc Platt, James Johnston, Nina Diaz, Marty Richards, Luca Platt, Amy Sedaris, Geraldine Laybourne, Kevin Mackall, Deitch Projects, Arthur Jones, Mary Kate Olsen, Garry Marshall, Greg Spotts, James Stengel, Joel Gallen, Kevin Lee, Stephen Colbert, Bonnie Hammer, Frank Rich, Kay Koplovitz, Night Agency, Brad Kuhland, Scott Marshall, Ross Wedon, Jordyn Blum, David Safaii, José Wolf, and Sarah Jessica Parker and Vanessa Taylor at Pretty Matches Productions, which is currently producing “The Washingtonienne,” an HBO sit-com about a morally amphibious Senatorial intern who is disdainful of a Washington insider.

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