ABOUT SHOW ME REAL

 The lives of three present-day modern dancers intersect and collide with those of a coterie of 1920s Ziegfeld Follies-era chorus girls in this original dance-theater piece. From learning those tricky tap steps as a child to leaving her small town to move to the Big Apple, hustling from job to job, some things have not changed much for a girl trying to 'make it' as a performer. Contemporary dance, original song, narrative, and video projection combine to reveal how much past is in our present.

SHOW ME REAL
Conceived and choreographed by Clare Cook
Original Music and Lyrics by Amy Burgess
Dramatic Text and Lyrics by Gena Oppenheim
Direction by Mason Beggs
Lighting Design by Mike Inwood
Costume Design by Liam O'Brien
CAST - Lori Byargeon, Clare Cook, Claire Glassford, Dana Hunter, Julia Kelly, Courtney Pruden

PERFORMANCE HISTORY

May 2011 -- SHOW ME REAL excerpt presented at Fête de l’Hurricane / The Red Bean Studios

March 2012 -- Clare Cook Dance Theater presents SHOW ME REAL / Tada Theater, NYC

July 2012 -- The New York Musical Theatre Festival presents SHOW ME REAL / PTC Performance Space, NYC

 Check out some SHOW ME REAL preview press from our 2012 performances.

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SHOW ME REAL
DANCERS & COLLABORATORS

Lori Byargeon - Performer 
Lori Byargeon holds an MFA in Dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where she performed pieces by Deborah Jowitt, Camille A. Brown, and Kay Cummings as well as choreographed her own work. Byargeon, a native of Louisiana, graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.A. in French and a minor in dance. While in Louisiana she danced with Twin City Ballet Company and Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre, and also choreographed and performed for the LSU Dance Ensemble. After working as company manager for David Dorman Dance, she now serves as office manager for Design Brooklyn.  Lori also serves on the Dance/NYC Junior Committee. Lori dances with colectivodoszeta / carlos a. cruz velázquez, Clare Cook Dance Theater, and Choreo Theatro Company.  

Halley Cianfarini - Performer
Halley Cianfarini is thrilled to be a part of Show Me Real!  Originally hailing from the Berkshires, she completed her BA, Theatre/Dance, at Muhlenberg College. She most recently performed in Annie at Millbrook Playhouse (Sophie/Annette/Boylan/Usherette), Cats at Ocean City Theatre Company (Rumpleteazer), and at Dance New Amsterdam and Ballet Arts in Alden LaPaglia's Where the Wild Thangs Are.  Original cast: Angelina Ballerina; The Musical (swing) in NYC; film debut: Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock; performed with Berkshire Theatre Festival, toured nationally with Chamber Theatre Productions, taught musical theater and improve with Barrington Stage Company.

Claire Glassford - Performer
Claire Glassford is thrilled to be in this cast of talented performers. She is currently a student at New York University studying at the New Studio on Broadway for Musical Theatre where she is pursuing Drama and a minor in Business of Entertainment and Media Studies. Past roles have included Maisie (The Boy Friend) at NYU and Jacky's mother (Jacky-Ursle) at Playwrights Horizons. She is thankful for this opportunity and sends love to all those that support her.

Merrill Grant - Performer
Merrill Grant has sung Cinderella at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall with the Little Orchestra Society.  She has also sung at the Kennedy Center and various concerts for the New York Ziegfeld Society around New York. Merrill's solo cabaret act on Shirley Temple and the leading ladies around her at Twentieth Century Fox in the 1930's received rave reviews at The Metropolitan Room in New York, and the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland where she won a "Best of Fest" award.   She enjoys working with composers and has originated lead roles in staged readings of over 20 new musicals in New York as well as roles at both the New York Fringe and New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF).  Lead roles in regional productions include:  West Side Story, The Fantasticks, Guys and Dolls, Chorus Line, Wizard of Oz, The Mikado as well as operetta concerts in Austria.   Merrill has studied at Butler University, University of California Berkeley, the American Institute of Musical Studies in Austria, and the Yale Cabaret program.

Dana Hunter - Performer 
Dana Hunter is loving Show Me Real with CCDT in NYMF!!! NYC Credits: Recently nominated "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play" by Planet Connections Theatre Festivity for Viola in Twelfth Night: Wall Street (Bleecker Street Theatre), FPSVD (NYC Fringe), Alba (Gene Frankel Theatre), Missunderstood the Musical (Emerging Artists Theatre Co); Regional: Sweet Charity (Charity), Diamond Tooth Gerties (Gertie) & her solo show Heinz 57; Film: "theACTOR Web Series", "Little Accidents" (Sundance). Dana studied Acting, Dance and Musical Theatre, respectively; at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, The Ailey School, Canadian College of Performing Arts. Much love & gratitude to the cast & creative as well as my wonderful family and friends. www.DanaHunter.com 

Julia Kelly - Performer
Julia Kelly grew up on the Virginia coast of the Chesapeake Bay and now hails from Brooklyn.  She may owe her early fascination with human expression to her mother’s piano and the American movie musical.  Julia holds a B.A. in Dance and Theater, summa cum laude, from Barnard College, Columbia University, and a certificate from the Professional Studies Program of the Limón Institute.  She has had the good fortune to dance the work of Martha Graham and Paul Taylor and professionally perform the work of Doris Humphrey, Anna Sokolow and José Limón – in solo performance and recently on the Limón Dance Company’s inaugural tour to China.  Julia is a company member with Riedel Dance Theater and with Benn Rasmussen’s Ardent August.  She has also enjoyed contemporary projects with Geraldine Cardiel, Alan Danielson, Propel-her Dance Collective, VIA Dance Collaborative, and with Clare Cook, including the opera they learned in a week. She thanks the team for all the times she was welcome to put in her two cents during rehearsals.

Courtney Pruden - Performer
Courtney "Coya" Pruden - Coya is originally from Long Island, NY. She spent many summers at the Joffrey Ballet School (NY), danced with Florida West Ballet Company, and graduated from the University of South Florida with a BA in theater and a minor in dance studies. Theater credits include Moya Dolan in "The Shaughraun", Erma (Bonnie) in "Anything Goes", Aphrodite in "Metamorphoses", and the lead in the original musical "Inertia." Dance credits include Come and Get the Beauty of it Hot (Rooftops and Stairwells), Swan Lake (Odette), and Napoli (Teresina). Much love to my wonderful family and the CCDT family!

Amy Burgess - Composer
MFA Musical Theatre Writing, NYU, BM Composition, Pacific Lutheran University. Her work has been seen at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Berkshire Playwright’s Lab, Sharon Playhouse, Goodspeed Musicals, and various NYC venues. Selected musical works: THE SNOW QUEEN, THE GUN PLAY, SWEET CASSANDRA: A GREEK ROCK OPERA, and WELCOME TO REALITY!: A MUSICAL SATIRE.  As a performer: SOUTHERN COMFORT (Lincoln Center Songbook Series), POP! (Valerie Solanis, Richmond-Shepard Theatre, 2008). As a musical director: Celebrate the Holidays with Brian Stokes Mitchell and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall (for the Camp Broadway Chorus, December 2010) OKAY! (Second Generation 2008), FOLLIES (music assistant, City Center Encores! 2007), and numerous cabarets, readings, workshops, studio demos, and concerts in NYC and beyond. Amy also plays and sings in the indie folk band Two Sheets To The Wind (www.reverbnation.com/twosheetstothewind) with band mate Joel Waggoner. Thanks to the remarkable Clare Cook for her talent, versatility, dedication, and friendship over the development of this piece! From Tada! to NYMF in 3 months! Also special thanks to Gena, Mason, Julia, Lori, Dana, Claire, Courtney, Mike, Tiff, and Liam for all of their beautiful work. It’s been a pleasure.