Trinity Rep offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness the world premiere of a new musical: Charles Strouse's You Never Know at Trinity Rep. This new musical has an award-winning pedigree with music and lyrics by Tony and Grammy Award-winning composer Charles Strouse, and will be brought to the stage under the guiding hand of director Amanda Dehnert with choreography by Christopher d'Amboise.

A love letter to the great American musical from the composer of Bye Bye Birdie, Annie, and Applause, Charles Strouse's You Never Know is a multi-layered story within an irresistible blend of romance and suspense. The start of the story is deceptively simple, as we meet a young man who has found a musical that his grandfather wrote but never finished, and decides to bring the show to life. We travel back to that musical's setting - a swanky Miami resort in 1948

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with a colorful cast of characters - the womanizing politician, his movie-star wife, and our young songwriter hero. Charles Strouse's You Never Know opens in previews April 15th in the Chace Theater. Tickets are on sale now at the Trinity Rep box office, (401) 351-4242 and online at www.trinityrep.com.

Charles Strouse's You Never Know is sponsored by Perry and Martin Granoff Family Foundation Inc. and The Chace Fund, Inc. Trinity Rep's season is sponsored by NBC 10, with supporting sponsors Cardi's Furniture, Rhode Island Monthly, RIPTA, RISCA, and The Gatehouse Restaurant and Catering Company.

The Chaces have been sponsors of Trinity Rep's new plays since 1997, when The Chace Fund, Inc. sponsored Paula Vogel's The Mineola Twins and Anthony Clarvoe's Ambition Facing West. "We are proud to have played a part in supporting Trinity Rep's introduction of new theater works over the years and delighted to be doing so in concert with our friends at the Perry and Martin Granoff Family Foundation Inc this year."

Choosing to premiere his new musical here in Providence is a landmark decision, but one that grew from the composer and director's mutual admiration. Strouse was impressed by Trinity Rep's conceptual take on Annie and praised Dehnert's interpretation of his beloved musical, adding "I thought she was terribly inventive" and thought her vision would "match the quality of his new developing show." (Playbill)

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Director Amanda Dehnert says that she has been working closely with Strouse on the project for over a year now, stating, "Working on a new musical is a lot more hands on than working on a new play. Many parents are nurturing this new 'baby' to life - the writers, the directors, the choreographer, the designers. Charles' love for this story and connection to it is huge, and that's inspiring to us all. It's the story of a young man who is at a crossroads in his life, and has to make a decision between being an artist or taking the conservative road and becoming a lawyer like his father. At the end of the day, that is a question that a lot people can connect with. .which road leads us to happiness?"

The cast consists of a mix of New York guest artists and familiar faces to local audiences. Many of the leads boast Broadway, regional theater and touring credits. The musical's leading lady Haviland Stillwell was most recently seen on Broadway in Fiddler on the Roof with Harvey Fierstein and Gerritt VanderMeer comes to us from his much acclaimed role as Harold Hill in the recent national tour of The Music Man. Supporting guest artists include: Julio Monge whose list of Broadway credits include Jerome Robbins' Broadway, The Capeman and Fosse and was seen in last season's Trinity Rep/Long Wharf Theatre co-production of The Long Christmas Ride Home; Darryl Semira who was most recently on Broadway in Bombay Dreams and Mamma Mia! and Jay Montgomery who appeared in Falsettos. Filling the other lead roles are Trinity's Rep resident company members Fred Sullivan, Jr. (The Music Man, Annie), Rachael Warren (Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, My Fair Lady), Mauro Hantman (The Ruby Sunrise, Annie), Stephen Thorne (The Ruby Sunrise, The Henriad) and third-year Consortium student Ben Steinfeld (West Side Story, The Henriad).

Joining Dehnert in launching this world premiere is the creative team of Christopher d'Amboise (Choreography), Charles Alterman (Musical Director), David Jenkins (Set Designer), William Lane (Costume Designer), John Ambrosone (Lighting Designer), Peter Hurowitz (Sound Designer) and Dan Delange (Orchestrator).

Amanda Dehnert (Director) is Trinity Rep's acting artistic director and has directed this season's Henry IV and previous productions of Annie, Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience and My Fair Lady. Ms. Dehnert is on the faculty of the Brown/Trinity Rep Consortium. She received a 2000 Gielgud Fellowship (SDFC) and an Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director (My Fair Lady). Christopher d'Amboise (Choreographer) has worked extensively as a choreographer, director and dancer. As a Principal dancer in the New York City Ballet, he worked closely with George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins and on Broadway he co-starred with Bernadette Peters in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Song and Dance. From 1990-94 he was Artistic Director, President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Ballet. As a choreographer, he has created over 50 ballets for companies world wide.

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Charles Strouse (Composer/Lyricist) is one of the major Broadway composers to emerge after World War II and has always embraced a challenge, whether it's writing a modern chamber musical (The Future of the American Musical Theatre) penning sequels to his Annie and Bye Bye Birdie (namely, Annie Warbucks and Bring Back Birdie) or creating songs for stage versions of movies ("All About Eve" became Applause), comic books (It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman!) or children's favorites (Charlotte's Web, the musical). His shows also include Golden Boy, A Broadway Musical, I and Albert, Charlie and Algernon, Rags, Dance a Little Closer and All American, among others. He won Tony Awards for Best Score for Annie (with lyricist Martin Charnin) and Applause (with longtime collaborator Lee Adams). [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive]