Support Bilingual Musical Theatre in Paris

July/ August Vacation Report 2018 -

Happy Summer everyone!

Below is photo of the MONA Awards night 2018 where we celebrated all the outstanding members and contributors to the Musical Theater Scene in Paris. It was great to see our talented members and supporters come out for this special Parisian soirée.

AMT Live! Is going into Beach Mode and we look forward to sharing more great musical theater plans for bilingual musical theatre in Paris this Fall. Our Open Mic Series will continue at “La rentrée” and there are new projects in the works.

So for now, relax, unwind and don’t forget the sunscreen!

Dear AMT Friends and Family,

Welcome to Springtime in Paris! We hope this update finds you well. We are writing to keep you abreast our most recent news. While our search for a home continues, we are offering Musical Theater masterclasses with Adam Alexander, Private vocal coaching with Devon Graves and Miranda Crispin, along with our monthly Open Mic Soirees. This spring, we have also launched a new project  - a series of weekly café concerts on Friday nights beginning in April 2018 to celebrate the re-opening of the iconic Grand Café Bataclan. Paying homage to it’s 19th century artistic roots, the soirées will feature acoustic singers accompanied by live musicians and will blend chansons françaises, jazz standards, theatrical songs from the early and mid 20th Century, and artist’s originals. These bilingual soirées welcome the public in a warm atmosphere free of charge. (Food or drink purchase required, a full menu is available for dinner).

Our MONA Awards are happening on June 11th this year at Péniche Le Marcounet in place of our regularly scheduled open mic soirée. This evening is  a special opportunity for us to acknowledge the contributions of members of our amazing musical theatre community here in Paris, and also the hard work of members of our association. Check out the list of recipients of past MONA awards, and the songs that rocked this very special night!

https://amtlive.org/2016/05/24/june-6th-2016-open-mic-mona-awards-2nd-edition/

We would like to thank all our supporters, our dedicated members and community who attend our soirées each month, as well as our students, songwriters, and singers who share their talents! The Parisian musical theater community grows stronger with your support.

All the best to you and yours, A bientôt!

Sincerely,

The AMT Live! team

Dear AMT Friends and Family,

Our most recent activities, including scholarships to our spring Musical TheatreWorkshop & Showcase and The Artist’s Way Workshop have been made possible by the support of our donors and the offerings of our teachers.

Our Monthly Open Mic community outreach soirées are hosted this season by AMT company members Miranda Crispin, Devon Graves, Jonathan Rogez, and Vinicius Timmerman, with Raphaël Sanchez and Sebastien Jurczys on piano. Most recently, we highlighted teams of local talent at the Holiday Soirée dedicated to sharing uplifting and festive themes. We have also just celebrated 5 years as a French Non-Profit organization supporting international learning and cooperation. In attendance at our December anniversary party were artists and supporters from projects throughout our five years. We were able to share photos, videos, messages of support from around the world, and a wonderful evening together in gratitude for what we have been able to create together over this time.

There is so much to be grateful for! Thanks to all those who were able to support our end of year campaign. We appreciate every kind word of support and every donation of time and financial contribution that has gone into supporting the goals of this organization.

As promised, here is another chapter in the ‘Lives Touched’ story of AMT Singer-songwriter Devon Graves - she is a company member and one of the hosts of our Open Mic. When asked about what AMT Live! Means to her she writes,

“I am so thankful for the existence of AMT Live here in Paris, and I am honored to be a part of this organization. AMT fosters a growing international collective of artists, creatives and musical theater enthusiasts and provides quality artistic opportunities for performers and thus, to the community. My role in the association includes hosting our monthly musical theater open mic nights and participating in events and productions such a "Next Thing You Know", "Crossroads", "Say Magnifique", the Female Composers Concert and the monthly Songwriters Salon. It has been a joy to work with the directors and other performers in this association and to be able to grow as an artist thanks to their attitudes and expertise."

With the financial support of GlobalGiving, members of our community can have access to masterclasses and retreats, permitting them to learn and hone their skills, and original productions can be undertaken, allowing for space rental and other necessary costs to ensure a level of excellence in AMT endeavors. I would like to say a heartfelt thanks to all who keep our community alive with their generosity”.  

So, keep a smile on your face and a song on your lips -

All the very best from the AMT Team!

Dear AMT Live! Friends and Family,

As the winds of fall usher in a new season, we are celebrating 5 YEARS of bringing musical theatre performances, classes, engagements, and community outreach here in Paris through AMT Live!

We would like to thank you for your continued interest and support and keep you abreast of current events. Our most recent activities include musical theatre masterclasses by our Artistic Director, Miranda Crispin, and by guest teachers Anne Healy from University of Texas Arlington and Laura Avery from Sam Houston State University, all made possible by the support of our donors and the offerings of our teachers. We have also been able to give individual scholarship support for our Artist’s Way Workshop Series made possible through generous donations.

Our Monthly Open Mic community outreach soirées were hosted by AMT company members Miranda Crispin, Devon Graves, Jonathan Rogez, and Vinicius Timmerman, with Raphaël Sanchez on piano. We hosted an open-theme night and a night dedicated to musicals from the 60’s and 70’s, both of which were well-attended and highlighted lots of local talent. We have added additional administrative support to make our long-term goals a reality, and we will be celebrating the milestone of 5 years as a French Non-Profit organization supporting international learning and cooperation. There is so much to be grateful for!

For the last five years, countless people have been involved with launching and helping the association to thrive. We have many words of gratitude to offer those who, near and far, have made this success possible. We want to thank our founding members and overseas supporters and every performer who has shared their passion and talents with our dedicated audiences. Merci to every director, teacher, musician, administrator, intern, journalist, restaurateur, composer, lyricist, choreographer, and lighting designer who has helped us shine, and that is only a start to the list.

Currently, several of our members are building on their experiences at AMT to create artistic exchange both in Paris and abroad.  Here is just one story of a member in his own words. “My story with AMT Live! Paris is life changing. Four years ago, at a masterclass with Adam Kantor, I met the AMT team and members. It was clear that the passion I felt for musical theatre was bubbling in every one of these artists, and that they were proactively creating artistic and learning opportunities. I felt both at ease and artistically inspired. Eager to get involved, I helped turn the AMT occasional open mic soirées into a monthly event in Paris. (To see that these evenings are still continuing each month is an immense gift.) With the organization, I took classes and intensive trainings, including a scholarship to attend the Artist's Way Workshop, which changed me for the better. These opportunities helped me have the willpower to move forward in my art and career. After starring in the 2015 Paris premiere of Next Thing You Know with the AMT company, I returned to my home in Lausanne, Switzerland and helped launch the Swiss debut of the musical The Last Five Years. Now two years later, I have finished a Master's degree in musical theatre from one of the most prestigious performing arts schools in England, and just performed the lead role in the UK premiere of Alan Menken’s musical The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. A new chapter of my life has begun and I would not be where I am now if my path had not included my time with AMT!”   -   Frédéric Brodard.

If you enjoy hearing about our organization updates, we welcome you to register for our monthly newsletter.

Sincerely,

Andrea Offner

Project Leader and Advisor to AMT Live!

Links:

• For more information, click on this link -

AMT Live! is Feeling the Sizzle of Summer

As our 2016/17 season comes to a close, AMT Live team would like to wish you a wonderful summer. We have been busy working on our next season and wanted to let you know what is coming up!

Thanks to the dedicated work of our members and staff, and to supporters like you, this fall we will celebrate our fifth anniversary - stay tuned for details and invitations to toast the occasion with us in Paris. We are planning a gala event with performances from the past five years and behind-the-scenes videos for our members, collaborating artists, community partners, and benefactors.

More details on our upcoming season will be appearing throughout the summer on our website, and the line-up include our Broadway Chez Nous concert series, the return of our monthly open mic soirée along the Seine, and a new series of our Studio training classes, for starters.

Plans for creating the first Franco-American Musical Theater Center are still in the works as we continue to garner support for this special effort. To that end, and thanks to your championing of our projects, we have recently brought on board Vincent Merval (featured) as our new administrator. A part of the AMT Live family for four years, Vincent’s sincerity, talent, and wonderful personality are a delight to have on the team. Together we are taking the next steps to be able to secure our very own space in Paris.

We would like to thank you for your contributions this past season. As always, we rely on your donations to make all these things possible. This season alone, the generosity of our donors has helped to provide scholarships for arts training, produce professional musical theatre performances, invite community members and travelers to a monthly open mic soirée along a Parisian péniche, and encourage cultural and linguistic exchange around musical theatre. We have also recently launched a monthly roundtable event to support songwriters in new creation and development of music. Again, we are truly grateful for your support.

Take a look at the photos below! They are the work of ©Christine Coquilleau, our excellent AMT photographer. Included are winners of the annual AMT Live MONA Musical Theatre Awards, presented in July 2017 to Professor Thomas Bulle, Jean-Luc Jelery (Author of Le Musical - Propos Sur Un Art Total), The Staff at Musical Avenue France, and AMT Live members Baptiste Judge and Stanislas Clément. Followed by a shot of Miranda Crispin (Artistic Director, Jonathan Rogez (Open Mic Coordinator and Co-Host), Andrea Offner (President of the Board), and Audience Choice Performance Winners for the 2017-18 Open Mic season, Stéphanie Lambert, Alex Klarth, and Brian Park. Next, is a shot of our members of the 2017 spring Studio AMT Live musical theatre class in rehearsal for their showcase performance: Pauline Servant, Baptiste Soubrié, Claire Butard, Gwenda Guthwasser, Sandra Laville, Tim Path, and Brigitte Labadie with teaching artist Adam Alexander. Our last shot is of the members of the 2016-17 AMT Live Company Andrea Offner, Vinicius Timmerman, Kim Laband, Loaï Abdel Rahman, Jonathan Rogez, Quentin Moriot, Raphaël Sanchez, Tolgay Pekin, Devon Graves, Marion Préïté, Miranda Crispin, Adam Alexander, Vincent Gilliéron, Amélie Foubert, Jeanne Jerosme, and Baptiste Juge.

Thanks so much from all of us at AMT Live and we look forward to seeing you in the fall!

Sincerely,

Andrea Offner, President of the Board of Directors

Miranda Crispin, Artistic Director