Broadway's Melissa Van Der Schyff to Star in Development Production of 'ROCKET BOYS' Musical
(PRWEB) March 27, 2015 -- Multiple Award Nominee Melissa Van Der Schyff, star of hit Broadway shows "BONNIE & CLYDE" and "BIG RIVER," has been tapped by "ROCKET BOYS" to portray the iconic role of Elsie Hickam in the official developmental run in Atlanta.
"I am incredibly excited to be working on this thrilling new musical with Homer Hickam and such a talented creative team," says Melissa. "With soaring melodies and heartfelt book and lyrics, [it] is incredibly inspiring, as it challenges us all to search beyond our circumstances and reach toward our greatest potential."
Homer Hickam, author of the New York Times #1 Best-Selling novel Rocket Boys and lead character of the same Universal Pictures film, "OCTOBER SKY" (starring Jake Gyllenhaal) is heading up the musical. He, along with a team of Broadway veterans, are assembling the puzzle pieces for an expected New York run.
"ROCKET BOYS" the multiple award-winning musical, is based on the book about a misfit coal-miner’s son who recruits some skeptical friends to join him in his quest to build rockets and conquer space. Following three successful regional productions, it will now be produced this Spring by Atlanta's Legacy Theatre, a professional regional house which also developed "Jane Eyre," among others.
The music and lyrics are composed by Dan Tramon and Diana Belkowski, the team behind the award-winning musical "FLYER," which has played regionally around the country. Hickam co-authors the show’s book with Broadway's Carl Anthony Tramon.
Homer Hickam, a former NASA engineer, is the author of 14 best-sellers published in multiple languages around the globe, with Rocket Boys/October Sky being one of the most read books on school and community reading lists everywhere. A winner of many writing awards, his next novel "Carrying Albert Home," published by Harper Collins, is set to release this October.
"ROCKET BOYS" at the Legacy Theatre runs from April 17th - May 10th, 2015. For more information, go to http://www.RocketBoysTheMusical.com or http://www.TheLegacyTheatre.org.
Burke Allen, Allen Media Strategies, http://www.allenmediastrategies.com, +1 (703) 589-8960, [email protected]
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