THE BERENSTAIN BEARS LIVE! Cancel All Weekend Performances

Due to severe weather reports for this weekend the critically-acclaimed family musical based on the classic book series, The Berenstain Bears LIVE! in Family Matters, the Musical have canceled all of this this weekends performances. Ticket holders may exchange their tickets for any other performance through October 30, 2011 by calling Ovation at 866 811 4111.

A show Time Out New York says is filled with "Hilarious, side-splitting escapades. This spirited and perfectly-paced production will resonate across generations." The Berenstain Bears LIVE! in Family Matters, the Musical will now play through October 30, 2011 on Saturdays at 2pm and 4:30pm, and Sundays at 2pm at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center (MMAC), 248 West 60th Street between Amsterdam and West End Avenue. This celebrated new musical is presented by Matt Murphy.

Adapted from the classic children's book series by Stan and Jan Berenstain, The Berenstain Bears LIVE! in Family Matters, the Musical brings everyone's favorite bear family to life in a thrilling theatrical experience that kids as well as their parents will treasure for many years to come. The newest Off-Broadway musical for Mamas, Papas, and Young Cubs in NYC, The Berenstain Bears LIVE! will give boys and girls of all ages the chance to fall in love with these characters, just as their parents did when they were growing up. The Berenstain Bears LIVE! features an original score by Michael Borton and a book by Borton and Michael Slade.

"Ticket sales have been off the charts, exceeding all expectations, and the response to the show from kids, parents, and critics alike has been phenomenal. The Bears are happy to continue serving up quality family entertainment to the New York metro area, and I would like to thank the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center for making room at their state-of-the-Art Theatre for our extension," says producer Matt Murphy.

The Berenstain Bears LIVE! in Family Matters, the Musical
Written by Michael Borton and Michael Slade
Directed and Choreographed by Devanand Janki
NOW THROUGH OCTOBER 30th, 2011
Performance Schedule: Saturdays at 2PM and 4:30PM; Sundays at 2PM
MMAC is located at 248 West 60th Street
UPDATED PRICING: Tickets: $34.95 (Rear Section), $44.95 (Front Section),
and a $59.95 V.I.B. Package (Very Important Bears!)
Each performance features a FREE Berenstain Bears post-show celebration that
includes dancing, face painting and photos with the cast after the show.
Tickets can be purchased at www.BerenstainBearsLive.com or by phone at (866) 811-4111
Running Time is 55 minutes

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

Devanand Janki (Choreographer) directed and choreographed the hit Off-Broadway show Zanna, Don't! (Winner of the Lortel, Callaway, & GLAAD Media Awards). Other New York credits include: Junie B. Jones (Lortel nominations), Cupid & Psyche, Henry & Mudge (Lortel nomination), and John Patrick Shanley's Romantic Poetry (MTC). Broadway concerts: Director for Hair with an all-star cast, featuring Jennifer Hudson (Grammy Nomination), Choreographer for Funny Girl featuring 16 Fanny Brices, including Whoopi Goldberg, Bebe Neuwirth, and Jane Krakowski; associate for Dreamgirls and Seth Rudetsky's Broadway 101 (The Actors' Fund). Lincoln Center: Amahl and the Night Visitors, Babes in Toyland, Anything Goes in Concert (assoc.). Dev served nine years as an Artistic Associate for Broadway Bares, which benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. As a performer, Dev appeared on Broadway in Miss Saigon, Cats, The King & I, Side Show, and tours of A Chorus Line and West Side Story. www.devanandjanki.com

Michael Borton (Composer/Lyricist, Co-Book Writer). After two years of working on this production with the Berenstain family, Michael is thrilled to see that The Berenstain Bears in Family Matters, the Musical will be entertaining children all across the nation on its upcoming tour. Michael lives in the Philadelphia area and works as a composer, performer, music director, and private instructor. He has written music for American Family Theatre for Youth and the Walnut Street Theatre, including several of their outreach shows and annual A Christmas Carol. As a performer, some of the companies Michael has worked for include Central City Opera, Opera Delaware, Walnut Street Theatre, and the Arden Theatre. He has been a music director at the Walnut Street Theatre, La Salle University, and Theater Horizon.

Michael Slade (Co-Book Writer) wrote the book for ten family musicals produced by Theatreworks/USA, including Superfudge, Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, and The Three Pigs. He also contributed the book to Pokemon Live! which premiered at Radio City Music Hall before touring nationally and internationally. His first children's novel, The Horses of Central Park (Scholastic Hardcover/Apple Paperback) was awarded the 1992 ISAR Award for Children's Literature. And a Child Shall Lead. Bye, Bye Big Guy opened at the Lucille Lortel Theatre as part of the 2007 NYC International Fringe Festival. His new musical Wheatley's Folly (music by Joseph Thalken, lyrics by Mark Campbell) will premier at The Signature Theatre in Washington, DC spring, 2011 under the direction of Eric Schaeffer. NYC's Roundabout Theatre recently produced a reading of his play, Under a Red Moon, starring Kate Burton and Billy Crudup. A reading of his romantic comedy, Garden Politics starred Kathleen Turner, Holland Taylor, and Bob Dishy. Mr. Slade was nominated for an Emmy as a writer of One Life to Live and a Writers' Guild Award for Another World. He has also written for Passions and Days of our Lives.

Matt Murphy (Producer) is currently on the producing team of the new Broadway musical Memphis at the Shubert Theatre, and he is the producer of an original musical for today's texting, blogging, Facebooking generation called Virtually Me!, which was recently profiled on Fox News and My9 News for its efforts to educate students about the increasingly challenging issue of cyber-bullying. He was a producer of the Tony-nominated Broadway production of Thurgood starring Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Jacobs' Impressionism starring Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons, and he made his New York producing debut with the hit musical Altar Boyz. Murphy recently acquired the stage rights to Michael Blake's 1986 best-selling novel Dances with Wolves, which he intends to adapt into a dramatic musical for the Broadway stage. www.mattmurphyproductions.com

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