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- For Immediate
Release, March 29, 2001
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The Legend of
ZORRO is Born Again! - in "Z"! A Latin musical that
will make your feet dance and your spirits soar. "We are
embracing the passion and dark sensuality of the Flamenco dance
theater in "Z" explains Mr. Cilento. "An earthy,
acoustical sound in the music." "It is always exciting
heading up a creative team developing a new musical. The 'Gypsy
Kings' have the sound that we are bringing to the show. In fact
Flamenco both in dance and music originated from the Gypsies.
In our version Zorro is the grandson of a Gypsy Princess and
a Spanish Count. That - 'heritage' - explains a great deal of
what makes Zorro tick. And that. . . is passion! A man who cannot
dance - cannot love. A man who cannot love - cannot fight! Zorro
is a thief-in-the-night, who steals back the freedom of his people,
a piece at a time. And it is a very good time that we intend
to provide our audience."
Mr. Cilento is
the choreographer of the Elton John-Tim Rice Broadway musical,
Disney's Aida. Winner of the 1993 Tony Award, Drama Desk Award,
and Fred Astaire Award for Best Choreography for Tommy, Mr. Cilento
was also nominated the Tony for the hit revival How to Succeed
in Business Without Really Trying and Dream:The Johnny Mercer
Musical, which he also directed. An original cast member of A
Chorus Line, Mr. Cilento's long list of credits as a performer
include The Act, Seasaw, Perfectly Frank, Irene, Big Deal, and
his Tony-nominated performance in Bob Fosse's Dancin'. He created
the choreography for Jerry's Girls, Baby (Tony nominee), and
Off-Broadway's A Hot Minute and Angry Housewives. In addition,
he choreographed over 100 national commercials, including those
for Dr. Pepper, Burger King and McDonald's. Internationally,
he has staged shows for such diverse artists as Liza Minnelli,
Billy Joel, Chita Rivera, Barry Manilow, Donna Summer and Pete
Townsend. Mr. Cilento directed and choreographed Spirit, which
currently is on national tour.
Z, The Masked
Musical is inspired by the character of "Zorro" in
The Curse of
Capistrano, by Johnston McCulley. With a new book and lyrics
by Robert W. Cabell (Off-Broadway's Pretty Faces, Two Hearts
Over Easy), a celebrity CD of the full theatrical score was released
in 2000. Featuring Broadway talents Deborah Gibson, Ruben Gomez,
Phyllis Newman, Kaye Ballard, Marc Kudisch, Roberto Blades, Sean
McDermott, Jeff McCarthy, Christiane Noll, Robert Evan, and Michael
DeVries, the CD is now available via Amazon.com.
Produced by Rickie
Roberts, Michael Parker, and Z Entertainment, Z, The
Masked Musical is being represented by the William Morris Agency.
Sound
bytes and CD cast bios are available at ZMusical.com.
Contacts for
Z, The Masked Musical:
(856) 546-2778
Rickie Roberts, Z Entertainment
(212) 903-1170
Susan Weaving, William Morris Agency |
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NEXT MAGAZINE
- June 4, 1999 Vol. 6 issue 47-CD REVIEW
The spirit of
the legend of Zorro is stronger than ever! This recording stays
true to the Spanish theme and distills the essence of the story
musically with a symphonic score for the noble-born characters
and a more folksy, mariachi-inspired sound for the townspeople.
Seasoned pros such as Deborah Gibson, Kaye Ballard, Broadways'
Sean McDermott and Menudo-veteran Ruben Gomez interpret songs
from the musical. And if that weren't enough, look for two bonus
tracks produced by none other than Tony Moran! - Richard Tressan |
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SHOWMusic
Spring 1999 Volume
Z - THE MASKED
MUSICAL (Getzeed Productions 89762; 67:58) is the concept recording
for Robert W. Cabell's adaptation of the legend of early California's
Robin Hood, Zorro. Lavishly produced, the album features ex-Menudo
heartthrob Ruben Gomez as the lead character, Robert Blades as
Diego, Zorro's less adventuresome alter ego, Deborah (nee Debbie)
Gibson as his (their?) love interest and Kaye Ballard Phyllis
Newman, Christian Noll, Sean McDermott, Marc Kudisch, Jeff McCarthy,
Michael DeVries, and Lynn Halverson singing cameo roles. Cabell's
idea to give songs for the Spanish nobles and peasants contrasting
sounds - symphonic for the former, mariachi for the latter -
is a good one, although I'm no sure his straightforward approach
to this story is quite so successful, because it doesn't allow
for variety in the score. As Antonio Banderas illustrated in
the recent Zorro film, a little tongue tucked firmly in cheek
doesn't hurt the effectiveness of the legend. But Cabell has
some effective and attractive melodies (his lyrics have a number
of predictable rhymes) that make this well produced album quite
listenable. |
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England's
Musical Mag MASQUERADE (April) issue # 33 1999 Volume
In the light
of the recent Zorro movie it seems an opportune time to release
a musical based on the daring exploits of the hero of the oppressed
Californian peasants. And that is just what Robert W. Cabell
has done with Z - The Masked Musical. Cabell has adopted quite
an unusual approach to the project, marrying two diverse musical
styles with pop flavored show tunes sitting side by side with
music with a strong traditional Spanish feel. A sort of Frank
Wildhorn meets the Gypsy Kings. But on the whole the experiment
is surprisingly successful.
Personally, I
found that the Spanish influenced songs worked better but that
may be because I am not a major fan of the more poppy side of
musical theatre material. Consequently I felt that songs like
the swaying "Sweet Siesta", the sultry "Dance
of Love" and the vivacious "Fiesta Amor" had much
more to offer than the ballads. Oh there are a couple of worthwhile
offerings ("Ivory Tower" and "Just Close Your
Eyes") but generally they lack invention and some become
bogged down in schmaltz.
Z-The Masked
Musical is a concept album but one of the highest quality, beautifully
recorded with a fine cast and nicely packaged. The lead roles
are performed by Robert Blades (a relation of Ruben Blades of
The Capeman fame perhaps?), Deborah Gibson and Ruben Gomez in
a first class manner well supported by a large and impressive
chorus and some talented musicians.
Mind you not
all is sweetness and light. There is one ghastly song late in
the proceedings ("Twists and Turns") where a group
sing a dire lyric (in best "Carry On" tradition "the
story moves on, and one thing we predict, if Zorro captures the
Captain, he will cut of his...ay ay, ay, ay") to a dire
if very familiar tune in crass Spanish Accents. Some of the lyrics
are also a bit dodgy, the singers struggling the rhyme words
like "more" and "poor" while the recording
concludes with the dreaded "Bonus tracks", a poppy
version of earlier songs; mind you that is not a major problem
- after all isn't that what CD remote controls were invented
for?
But these are
relatively minor complaints and Z-The Masked Musical is a classy,
enjoyable and entertaining album. It is released on GZD-89762;
for more information on the project why not visit web site www.z-musical.com |
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- THE REGISTER-GUARD
ARTS & BOOKS SUNDAY JUNE 1999 Season Preview
- The world premiere
of a Broadway-bound musical about Zorro, Alfred Uhry's "The
Last Night of Ballyhoo", Steve Martin's "Picasso at
the Lapin Agile", and Paula Vogel's "How I learned
to Drive" will highlight the 1999-2000 season at Actors
Cabaret of Eugene. "It's one of the most exciting seasons
we've done," says ACE producer Jim Roberts who books the
plays. "I've been trying to get a number of these shows
since I first heard about them. They just fell into place this
year." Roberts is especially keen on "Z: The Masked
Musical," a new work by former Eugene actor-playwright Robert
Cabell.
- "To have
that caliber of a show, and to have the world premiere of it,
is really something," he said. "It's definitely a large-scale
musical. To have it scheduled to open in New York the next year
is just great." ACE got the show through its long association
with Cabell, who attended Churchill High School and performed
at the Very Little Theatre, Carnival Theatre and in Ed Ragozzino'
productions among others. Since then, Cabell has been in touring
companies of "Fiddler on the Roof," "Once Upon
a Mattress" and "Annie Get Your Gun," and has
directed and choreographed productions in major professional
theaters. His writing credits include the off-Broadway musicals
"Pretty Faces" and "Two Hearts Over Easy,"
and several concert and "Saccharine." The Eugene production
of "Z: The Masked Musical" will be from February 25
to March 4th in the South Eugene auditorium. It could be considered
an out-of-town tryout to work out the show's bugs. The musical
will be recast and restaged in New York City. "Writers don't
go to really small places like Eugene to do shows," Roberts
says. "They go to the larger regional theaters like Seattle
or Los Angeles, especially musicals. But Bob had worked with
us before and was really pleased with the work he had seen here.
- Roberts describes
the Latin-influenced musical as "the story of a sexy young
hero who joins forces with a courageous beauty to unite their
people in a battle of wit and blade against a greedy tyrant."
Mounting the musical will be an enormous task, but Roberts is
actually looking forward to an easier season. For one thing,
the Theater Company will be doing fewer shows next year - 11,
compared with 18 this season. "Doing fewer shows will give
us more time to concentrate on different aspects of the shows
and not burn out," says Robbers, who notes that tow of the
offerings, the comedy revue Parallel Lives" and the male
vocal group sendup "Forever Plaid," are ACE revivals.
- Plays getting
their Oregon premieres will be the interactive "Grandma
Sylvia's Funeral" "The Last Night of Ballyhoo,"
"Picasso at the Lapin Agile," "The Santaland Diaries"
and "Season's Greetings." The Eugene premiers are "How
I learned to Drive," the Stephen Sondheim greatest hits
musical "Putting It Together" and Steven Dietz's "Lonely
Planet."
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