The Tin Pan Alley Rag at Laura Pels Theatre

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced the New York premiere of the new musical The Tin Pan Alley Rag, written by Mark Saltzman, with Music & Lyrics by Irving Berlin & Scott Joplin, directed by Stafford Arima.

The Tin Pan Alley Rag will open at the Laura Pels Theatre on 14 Jul 2009, following previews from 12 Jun, and will play a limited engagement through to 6 Sep 2009. This production marks the first time a musical has been presented at the Laura Pels Theatre.

The musical will feature choreography by Liza Gennaro and musical direction by Michael Patrick Walker. The cast and full design team members will be announced shortly.

The Tin Pan Alley Rag tells the story of an imagined meeting of two of America�s greatest musicians, composer Scott Joplin and songwriter Irving Berlin. Joplin was a musical prodigy, born the son of a slave, who received a conservatory education and slowly rose to acclaim. Berlin was a Russian Jewish immigrant who couldn't read music, yet catapulted to stardom at the age of 23. Both men changed the landscape of music forever with their contributions to the first American musical genre, ragtime. Beneath Joplin and Berlin's toe-tapping, syncopated rhythms lay stories of fame, love and loss.

The score for The Tin Pan Alley Rag includes such classic songs as Irving Berlin�s 'I Love a Piano', 'Play a Simple Melody', 'Alexander�s Ragtime Band' and Scott Joplin�s 'Maple Leaf Rag' & 'The Entertainer', among others.

The Roundabout Theatre Company production is presented in association with Rodger Hess Productions, Inc.

The Tin Pan Alley Rag was most recently seen in January 2006, at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre in Jupiter, Florida.

Mark Saltzman (Author) began his career in N.Y. with Jim Henson, writing for the Muppets. His Sesame Street (including Caribbean Amphibian) earned him seven Emmy Awards. At this time he also wrote sketches and songs for cabaret shows and musicals that played at The Ballroom, Soho Rep, 13th Street Theater, and the Village Gate, where he co-wrote the long-running revue 'A, My Name is Alice.' For CBS television, Mark wrote 'Mrs. Santa Claus,' the holiday musical starring Angela Lansbury with songs by Jerry Herman. For the movies, he wrote 'The Adventures of Milo and Otis' and 'Three Ninjas Kick Back' and has written screenplays for SONY, Universal, and Disney.

Irving Berlin (Music & Lyrics). Born Israel Beilin in a Russian Jewish shtetl in 1888, he died as Irving Berlin in his adopted homeland of New York, New York, U.S.A. in 1989. Songwriter, performer, theatre owner, music publisher and soldier, he defined Jerome Kern�s famous maxim: "Irving Berlin has no place in American music. He IS American music.� Berlin wrote over 1200 songs, including 'White Christmas,' �Puttin� on the Ritz,� �Easter Parade,� �Always,� �Blue Skies,� �Cheek to Cheek,� �There�s No Business Like Show Business,� �Alexander�s Ragtime Band� and �God Bless America.� He wrote the scores to more than a dozen Broadway musicals, including "Annie Get Your Gun," and provided songs for dozens of Hollywood movie musicals.

Scott Joplin (Music & Lyrics), the 'King of Ragtime' music, was born near Linden, Texas on 24 Nov 1868. Joplin demonstrated his extraordinary talent for music at an early age. Encouraged by his parents, he was already proficient on the banjo, and was beginning to play the piano as a young child. After several years as an itinerant pianist playing in saloons and brothels throughout the Midwest, he settled in St. Louis about 1890. There he studied and led in the development of a music genre now known as ragtime--a unique blend of European classical styles combined with African American harmony and rhythm. Joplin died on 1 Apr 1917 in Manhattan State Hospital. Although Joplin's music was popular and he received modest royalties during his lifetime, he did not receive recognition as a serious composer for more than fifty years after his death.

Stafford Arima (Director) directed 'Altar Boyz,' which received the Best Musical Outer Critics Circle Award, was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Musical, and is currently running in its 5th year Off-Broadway. He directed the West End premiere of a reconceived production of 'Ragtime,' which was recognized with 8 Olivier Award nominations including Best Director and Best Musical.