All material copyright 2006-2008, Cheng / Ferrara Productions, unless it’s already owned by someone else and attributed as such, or in the public domain, or covered under the doctrine of fair use, and let’s face it, how much of this stuff do you really want to steal? Probably not much, right? And how bored are you, that you’re actually reading all of this, what with the tiny, tiny print? You ought to go see a show or something. 
 
ABOUT US Our Mission Cheng / Ferrara Productions was conceived in the spring of 2004 as a vehicle by which Jason Robert Brown’s musical The Last Five Years could be produced and staged for a community theatre audience. Thanks to the generous backing of Martha R. Gasparian and Kelsey Theatre artistic director M. Kitty Getlik, The Last Five Years served as a first step toward the group’s more general aim: to give audiences and theatre artists in central New Jersey a chance to see and participate in high quality productions of lesser-known works. The company’s founders sincerely hope that the coming years will see them achieve their other crucial goal: finding a better name for the company. Seriously, folks, your suggestions are welcome. Our Personnel Our governing structure resembles a constitutional monarchy, except we have no constitution, no monarch, and make most of our key decisions via the ancient art of Roshambo. Specifically, we are: Nicholas Cheng Executive Producer Principal Musical Director Broadway: Dracula: The Musical (Music Assistant), The Actor’s Fund’s On the Twentieth Century (Music Preparation). Regional: The World Premiere of Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy’s Waiting for the Moon (Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center, Marlton, NJ). Notable Musical Direction credits include: The Sound of Music, Cats, Drood, Annie, Joseph... Dreamcoat, The Rocky Horror Show, Fame, Oliver!, and Cats; also, The Last Five Years, The Who’s Tommy, Dracula: The Musical, Elegies: A Song Cycle, The Full Monty, The Rocky Horror Show (again), and For the Glory: The Civil War Musical, all with Cheng/Ferrara Productions. During the day, Nick runs the company of and is assistant to Frank Wildhorn, composer of Whitney Houston’s 1988 international hit, “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?”, as well as the Broadway musicals Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War, Dracula: The Musical, and Victor/Victoria. He has been fortunate to work with singer Linda Eder as the Album Coordinator on her most recent albums: Broadway My Way and Storybook. As a musician, Nick has had many opportunities to play at prominent cabarets in New York, most notably performing with Marla Schaffel (Tony-nominated for Jane Eyre). Frank Ferrara Producer Principal Director Frank Ferrara is the co-founder of Cheng/Ferrara Productions, for which he has directed the musicals The Last Five Years, The Who’s Tommy, the nonequity premiere of a revised version of Frank Wildhorn’s Dracula: The Musical, For the Glory: The Civil War Musical, Elegies: A Song Cycle, The Full Monty, and The Rocky Horror Show, all at Kelsey Theatre. Other directing experience includes The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Baker’s Wife, Oliver!, Once on this Island, The Fantasticks, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Kelsey Theatre), Into the Woods, Jekyll & Hyde, and The Secret Garden (Open Air Theatre of Washington Crossing State Park), and Once on this Island and Aida (Allentown High School). He also served as Assistant Director to Martha Gasparian for Playful Theatre Productions’ Camelot at the OAT. Onstage: ...Millie (Graydon), Cats (Old Deuteronomy), Honk! (Drake), The Rocky Horror Show (Riff Raff), ...Forum (Hero), Drood (Neville Landless), The Music Man (Charlie Cowell), Fiddler on the Roof (Mendel), Titanic (Rogers/Stevedore), The Fantasticks (Mortimer), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey II - Manipulation), and the NJ debut of The Legend of Redwall Abbey (Cluny the Scourge). Frank is a Senior Writer in the Department of Medical Information for ImClone Systems Incorporated, and a costumed superhero by night. Not really on the superhero thing. Shannon Ferrara Associate Producer Associate Musical Director Shannon Ferrara has assisted in some way, shape, or form on each of the past Cheng/Ferrara shows, whether it be vocal direction, stage management, running spotlights, finding props, or signing the checks. Musical direction credits include: Beauty and the Beast, Honk!, Oliver!, Once On This Island, The Baker’s Wife, Into the Woods, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Jekyll & Hyde, and the New Jersey premeire of The Legend of Redwall Abbey. Onstage:The Full Monty (Joanie Lish), Miracle on 34th Street (Cleo), Charlotte’s Web (Chorus Member #3), Drood (Ensemble), and Godspell (“Learn Your Lessons Well” and “By My Side”). Shannon has a BA in Music Education and is a 5th grade band director in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School district. She is also a member of the Central Jersey Musician’s Union (French Horn.) Jillian Potash Principal Choreographer Jill Potash has worked with Cheng/Ferrara Productions on six productions; previous credits include The Rocky Horror Show, The Full Monty, Elegies: A Song Cycle, For the Glory: The Civil War Musical, Dracula: The Musical, and The Who’s Tommy. Other choreography credits include: Once on this Island and Fame (Perry Award nominee). Offstage, Jill is a dance instructor at a local studio where she teaches ballet and tap, as well as working towards her M.A. in Education.
cheng / ferrara Productions Performing at Kelsey Theatre 1200 Old Trenton Rd. West Windsor, NJ chengferraraproductions@gmail.com Photo Galleries Click herehttp://www.kelseyatmccc.orgmailto:chengferraraproductions@gmail.comshapeimage_10_link_0shapeimage_10_link_1