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Monmouth University Center for the Arts Presents "Calling All Divas" On July 11th

originally published: 05/29/2019

(WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- Academy Award-winning songwriter Franke Previte (Dirty Dancing) returns to his Jersey Shore roots this summer to host a “Divas Night Out” and debut his new all-star musical, CALLING ALL DIVAS, a pop, rock, soul, and country hit parade that joyously celebrates music, friendship and the power of sisterhood, with the promise you’ll “Have The Time of Your Life!”  The show comes to Monmouth University Center for the Arts in West Long Branch on Thursday, July 11 at 8:00pm. Tickets range from $38 to $78.

CALLING ALL DIVAS stars four very different and remarkable women, years apart in ages and backgrounds, but whose talents have no division. The “Un4gettable” Divas are led by Broadway performer and Radio City Rockette Lisa Sherman, Philadelphia R&B vocalist Carol Riddick (Jill Scott, Will Downing), Nashville siren Trenna Barnes (Cowboy Crush, Ring of Fire) and introducing from NBC’s The Voice, Alessandra Guercio as the blossoming subway singer.

The show also features Frank Dicopoulos, another Jersey Shore guy best known for his 22 years on the soap opera Guiding Light (Frank Achilles Cooper Jr.), as the club owner.

Together, the four women reveal “there’s a star in all of us,” as they bring audiences to their feet through an inspiring journey of musical empowerment jam-packed with timeless hits of the past five decades, from Etta James to Kelly Clarkson. Proving that everyone is a diva, and every woman is special inside, CALLING ALL DIVAS transports audiences on a magical musical journey as these women compete to become the world’s next female singing superstar in a last-ditch effort devised by a hopeful hit songwriter, desperate to save a legendary nightclub.

The affirmation is delivered through the journey of Frankie, the struggling songwriter, as he scours the city to find that next “Un4gettable” female voice. Along the way, he astonishingly finds far more than he could have ever imagined. True to the show’s musical design, the journey of Frankie is in many ways the journey of its creator – the “real” Franke Previte – from aspiring New Jersey songwriter to Academy Award and Golden Globe winner for “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” a song that some 30 years on, remains one of the most frequently played in the world.




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“I wanted to develop a hybrid ― a concert that morphed into a play with a thread of a storyline that empowers these girls in ways that allow the audience to relate to each of them,” says Previte. “We have a Broadway rocker, a country girl, a gospel singer, and a young subway singer, and it’s just incredible to watch them seamlessly meld together into a group we call The Un4gettables. Each one is at the top of their own game, even this little subway singer. What blows me away, is the combination of their instant sisterhood and individual and collective power.”

“I am so excited about the amazing singers you will all see and hear and the platinum songs they deliver with such passion,” says executive producer Dennis D’Amico, who has produced Sir Paul McCartney as well as a wide variety of concerts, theater, film, and hit recordings throughout the U.S. and the world. “It has been an honor working with Franke Previte, one of the nicest guys in the biz, our director, Michael La Fleur, and my other partners, Frank Dicopoulos and Randy Alexander, not to mention these four incredible women, as they find a wonderful common denominator, that together they are stronger, joyous and unforgettable! Be prepared for an uplifting experience.”

You’ll have “The Time of Your Life!”

CALLING ALL DIVAS is co-created and produced by Franke Previte. Director is Michael La Fleur (Las Vegas, Disney, Universal, Celine Dion, Sarah Brightman). Executive producer is Dennis D’Amico (Sir Paul McCartney). Musical director is Henry Aronson (Rock of Ages, Rocktopia). Assistant Director is Thomas Ryan Ward.

Monmouth University Center for the Arts is located at 400 Cedar Avenue in West Long Branch, New Jersey.




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