The Longwood Players

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Songs I Sang on My Summer Vacation

Songs I Sang on My Summer Vacation

A Summer Artist Spotlight

Featuring April Pressel, Paul Giragos and Lauren Basler

Music Direction and Accompaniment by Todd Gordon

Thu Aug 10 and Fri Aug 11 at 8pm

Chelsea Theatre Works
189 Winnisimmet St., Chelsea

Long-time Longwood favorites April Pressel and Paul Giragos join Lauren Basler and Todd Gordon on stage for the first production of our 20th season and our inaugural production at Chelsea Theatre Works in Chelsea, Massachusetts! Music direction and accompaniment by Todd Gordon.

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About the Performers

Todd C. Gordon is a voice instructor and a vocal coach currently teaching at UMass Boston, Emerson College, and his private studio in the pretigious Steinert Building. (toddgordonvocalstudio.com)  He has served as music director for productions with New Repertory Theatre, Publick Theatre, Gloucester Stage, Charles Play House,  Brandeis Theatre Co., Stoneham Theatre, and Emerson Stage.  For his musical direction Todd has received 2 (two) IRNE awards from the Independent Reviewers of New England and 5 (five) IRNE nominations. His educational degrees are in voice from the University of Arkansas and the New England Conservatory of Music.  His students have been seen in local high school/community/regional theatre productions, as well as off-broadway, broadway and national tours.
Paul Giragos has been acting and singing since 2004. He has appeared in numerous cabarets with Longwood Players and as Claudine in their production of La Cage aux Folles. Other performances: with New Repertory Theatre (Ragtime; Cabaret; and Wild Party); SpeakEasy Stage (Kiss of the Spider Woman); Reagle Players (Beauty and the Beast). He is currently working on a children’s web series with PolliNanni Productions, where he plays an Italian flower puppet named Paulie. Paul works as an executive coach and corporate trainer, helping business people improve their communication, management, and leadership skills, often with theater exercises and techniques. More at www.giragoscommunications.com.

April Pressel was last seen at The Longwood Players as Sarah in Guys and Dolls, Amalia in She Loves Me and Sally in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.  Other area credits include Vera in Distracted (Underground Railway Theatre), Young Heidi in Follies (Lyric Stage), Becky U/S in Becky Shaw (Huntington Theatre) and numerous One-Act Play Festivals and Cabarets. Other New York and Los Angeles credits include H.M.S. PinaforeFalling LightlyInto the Woods, and Hello Again.  Her television credits include ScrubsMonk, Sex in the City, Bernie Mac, and Dragnet.  She earned her B.F.A. at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.  By day April is a personal trainer and the proud mother of two little girls.
Lauren A. Basler is a current vocal student of Todd C. Gordon, Lauren is new to the Boston stage! Credits include Violet Bick in It's A Wonderful Life (Moonstruck Theater Company) and Fighting Prawn in The Footlight Club's upcoming production of Peter and the Starcatcher. A native of New York, Lauren received her BFA in Musical Theater from SUNY Fredonia in 2005. In the stretch since then, she has lived in Philadelphia where she sang with the Philly Pops! Orchestra and Phanstormed for the Philadelphia Phillies, and in 2012 moved to Boston to pursue her Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Drama Therapy. As a Drama Therapist, Lauren has used her theater skills to connect with a wide variety of populations and is currently the Director of Life Enrichment at Standish Village Assisted Living in Dorchester.