(HOLLYWOOD PRESS CORPS) — North Hollywood, CA — All Roads Theatre Company (ARTCO) will present the World Premiere of THE MUSIC THAT MAKES ME DANCE: THE SONGS OF JULE STYNE, the first-ever Musical Revue Compiling the Songs of Jule Styne with Lyrics by Sammy Cahn, Betty Comden &Adolph Green, Herb Gardner, Leo Robin and Stephen Sondheim devised and created by Scott Thompson (Director and Choreographer) and Fred Barton (Music Arranger and Conductor), to be presented for five performances only, May 1-3, 2026 on the Debbie Reynolds Main Stage at the El Portal Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Boulevard (at Weddington Avenue), North Hollywood, CA 91601. Parking is available on streets surrounding the theatre. To purchase tickets directly online, please visit: https://ci.ovationtix.com/371/production/1266809?performanceld=11771236 For further information, please visit: https://elportaltheatre.com/
Click here for a Meet The Cast Video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ny78Xfx56Ug
STARRING
ANNELIESE van der POL, NICK ADAMS, LANA GORDON,ANGEL REDA, RHETT GEORGE, NEIL STARKENBERG, And Introducing MICHAEL ZAMPINO. Music Arranged and Conducted by FRED BARTON. Directed and Choreographed by SCOTT THOMPSON (Television’s That’s So Raven and Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast, Vanities), Nick Adams (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, A Chorus Line, La Cage Aux Folles), Lana Gordon (Hadestown, Chicago and last year’s ARTCO’s critically acclaimed World Premiere Production of ONE FOR MY BABY), Angel Reda (Chicago, Wicked, The Cher Show), Rhett George (Memphis, Sweet Charity), Neil Starkenberg (Mamma Mia!, Mrs. Doubtfire), and introducing Michael Zampino (a member of All Roads Theater Company’s Training Program for Kids). The actors will be supported by Fred Barton leading ARTCO’S 10-piece band.
This production is presented in association with Knot Free Productions, Bonny Loo, Jeramiah Peah, Robert Pelletier, Maureen Gillespie, Eric Kelhoffer and Catherine McClenahan.
Scott Thompson, Director/Choreographer and ARTCO’s Producing Artistic Director and Co-Founder said: “It’s been an incredible honor to work with Jason Buell and everyone at the Jule Styne estate and with all the wonderful lyricists’ estates in creating this historic revue of Broadway’s and Hollywood’s most memorable songs. This show will not only be a fitting tribute to Mr. Styne, who could in many ways be called ‘The King of Broadway,” but also a dazzling vehicle for seven amazing triple-threat performers, creating a thrilling new song-and-dance revue that we expect will have a long life beyond our premiere engagement at the El Portal Theatre.”
Fred Barton, Music Arranger/Conductor and ARTCO’s Music Director and Co-Founder said: “Discovering the music, shows and sound of Jule Styne at the age of 14 is what made me fall in love with Broadway – and when I met him on the opening night of Gypsy starring Tyne Daly, I was able to tell him so in person. His music’s brash in-your-face directness, his philosophy of writing to his performers’ strengths, his versatility, and his combination of exuberance and romantic sensitivities defined the sound of Broadway and projected it for decades to come into the 21st century.”
Performances of THE MUSIC THAT MAKES ME DANCE: THE SONGS OF JULE STYNE will be given on Friday, May 1, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. (Preview), Saturday, May 2, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. (Preview), Saturday, May 2, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. (Opening Press Night, Special Gala), and Sunday, May 3, 2026 at both 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Tickets for THE MUSIC THAT MAKES ME DANCE: THE SONGS OF JULE STYNE range in price from $68 – $185. A Special Gala performance will be held only on Saturday, May 2nd at 8:00 p.m. for $150, which includes a dessert party and champagne toast with the cast. For tickets and more information, call the El Portal Theatre Box Office at 818-508-4200 or buy online at https://ci.ovationtix.com/371/production/1266809?performanceld=11771236 For further information, please visit: https://elportaltheatre.com/
Box Office Operators are available by phone from 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Box Office Hours are 3:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. on weekdays, and from 12 Noon until show time on matinee days.
Network with us on Instagram @all_roads_theatre_co and on Facebook @AllRoadsTheatreCompany Learn more at https://allroadstheatreco.org
More About The Cast and Production Staff of THE MUSIC THAT MAKES ME DANCE: THE SONGS OF JULE STYNE:
Anneliese van der Pol is a popular television performer for the millennial generation, known for portraying ‘Chelsea Daniels,’ Raven-Symoné’s best friend, on Disney Channel’s record-breaking series, That’s So Raven and its spinoff Raven’s Home. On Broadway, van der Pol was the final actress to play ‘Belle’ in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast alongside Donny Osmond when it closed at The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 2007. Other New York and regional theatre credits include: ‘Kathy’ in Vanities (Second Stage) where she originated the song “Cute Boys with Short Haircuts,” ‘Millie’ in Thoroughly Modern Millie (Prism Theatre, TX), ‘Esther’ in Meet Me in St. Louis (Theatre Under The Stars), ‘Laurey’ in Oklahoma! (Austin Musical Theatre), and ‘Eva Peron’ in Evita (Buena Civic Light). Van de Pol has recorded numerous songs with Sh-K-Boom Records as well as her favorite single “Over It” with Radio Disney. She has spent the last four years touring the world with fellow Broadway alums in Disney Princess: The Concert.
Nick Adams is a veteran Broadway, film and television actor. He most recently starred in the smash hit Drag: The Musical, for which he won the 2025 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in an Off-Broadway Musical. He starred as Cooper in the Emmy Award®-nominated feature film Fire Island, for which he received a Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast. Notably, Adams originated the role of Adam/Felicia in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which earned him an honor from the American Theater Hall of Fame, two Broadway Audience Choice Awards, and an Astaire Award nomination for Best Dancer on Broadway. He received national critical acclaim for his portrayal of Whizzer in the North American Tour of Lincoln Center Theater’s Broadway revival of Falsettos, directed by James Lapine. Adams was the final actor to star as Fiyero in the first national touring production of Wicked. He originated the role of Alexis Gilmore in the Queerty and Broadway World Award-winning World Premiere of Drag: The Musical in Hollywood, and can be heard on the both the Live and Studio Cast Recordings. Other Broadway credits include: A Chorus Line, Guys and Dolls, Chicago, La Cage Aux Folles and The Pirate Queen. Television/Film highlights include the upcoming final season of The Comeback (HBO), FBI: Most Wanted (ABC), The Holiday Exchange (Peacock/Amazon), Dallas Drake on The Other Two (Max), Sex and the City 2, An Englishman in New York, Still Waiting In The Wings, As the World Turns, Guiding Light, Go-Go Boy Interrupted, and It Could Be Worse.
Lana Gordon recently starred on Broadway as Persephone in Hadestown, and as Velma Kelly in Chicago, also touring the shows across North America and Europe. For ARTCO she dazzled audiences last season at Panama Jones in the World Premiere Harold Arlen Musical One for My Baby, receiving a www.BroadwayWorld.com Award Nomination as Best Performer In A Musical. She began her career as a dancer with Alvin Ailey, Dunham Company and Donald Byrd/The Group before making her Broadway debut in the original cast of The Lion King. Gordon also appeared in the Broadway revival of Jesus Christ Superstar. Starring roles in international tours include Sister Act, Summer of Love, Anita in West Side Story and Hair, to name a few.
Angel Reda has appeared as both Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly in Chicago,on Broadway and in the National Tour. She appeared in the Original Broadway Casts of The Cher Show and War Paint. In Los Angeles and on tour: Wicked (Elphaba), Follies, Sweet Charity, and Hugh Jackman in Performance. Regional roles include: Schmigadoon (Countess) at The Kennedy Center, The Sound of Music (Elsa) at the Engeman Theatre, Damn Yankees (Lola) at Goodspeed Opera House, Victor, Victoria (Norma) at Theatre Under The Stars, Intimate Apparel (Mrs. Van Buren) at the Pasadena Playhouse, and The Wild Party (Queenie) at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where she won the Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best Actress. Television/Film credits include: Kiss of the Spiderwoman, The Undoing, HBO, Power Book II: Ghost, STARZ, Stepford Wives, Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The 73rd Annual Tony Awards. Reda holds a BFA from UC-CCM and serves on the board of the Reda Educational Foundation. Rhett George has appeared on Broadway in the original Broadway companies of Wicked, Memphis, Aida and The Little Mermaid. In the Broadway revival of Sweet Charity starring Christina Applegate, Goerge played the featured role of Daddy Brubeck singing “Rhythm of Life.” National Tour and regional credits include Tyrone in Fame, Simba in The Lion King, Benny in In the Heights, and many more. His television and film appearances include featured and starring roles in That 90’s Show, Call Me Kat, Bust Down, American Gangsta, Sex and the City and Bootyology, to name a few. His solo recordings include: Something Better and The Music Will Save My Life. He can also be heard on the Original Broadway Cast recordings of Wicked, Memphis, Sweet Charity and Fame.
Neil Starkenberg has appeared on Broadway and on National tours in Mamma Mia! He has also toured in Mrs. Doubtfire and Peter Pan. Regional roles include: Danny Zuko in Grease, Red in Footloose, Eric in The Little Mermaid, Bert in Mary Poppins, Link Larkine in Hairspray, Brad in Rocky Horror Show, plus appearances in Show Boat!, Sugar (Sacramento Music Circus), Gideon in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (McCoy/Ribby), Hello! My Baby (Rubicon Theatre), and Violet, Spamalot, A Chorus Line, Cabaret, 9 to 5, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Wedding Singer, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and many more. On television Starkenberg has appeared in Instinct and How I Met Your Mother.Michael Zampino discovered his passion for dance at the age of eight, inspired by Michael Jackson, and became an award-winning competitor in Jazz, Hip-Hop, Tap, Contemporary and Ballet. His television debut came at the age of nine in Kids Say The Darndest Things, impressing Tiffany Haddish. By the age of 12 he was cast in the ensemble of Oliver! at the Thousand Oaks Civic Plaza, where he found his love for acting and singing. His stage credits include: The Lythgoe Family Panto: Peter Pan and Tinkerbell at the Scherr Forum and The Diary of Anne Frank, at the La Mirada Performing Arts Center, as well as short films like The Last Condom on Earth, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025. He is also a member of the All Roads Theatre Company’s ARTCO All-Stars.
Scott Thompson (Director/Choreographer) is the Co-Founder of ARTCO and an award-winning producer, director and choreographer who has produced and directed a “Who’s Who” of today’s Broadway talent at theatres around the United States. The over 150 professional productions that he has directed in his eclectic career include Mack & Mabel starring Dermot Mulroney, Gypsy starring Broadway legend Betty Buckley, Oliver! starring Tony Award winner Stephanie J. Block, and Tom Eyen’s notorious classic play, Women Behind Bars, which enjoyed a successful run in Los Angeles at the Montalbán Theatre starring Traci Lords and Eureka O’Hara, now streaming on Broadway HD. His 30th Anniversary production of Dames at Sea won many awards, including the Ovation Awards for “Best Musical” and “Best Director,” and was seen both in San Francisco at the Marines Memorial Theatre and at the world-famous Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut. His new musical One For My Baby (co-written with Fred Barton and produced by ARTCO) received rave reviews and won a number of www.BroadwayWorld.com Awards last season, including “Best New Play or Musical” and Thompson won as “Best Director of a Musical.” Plans are underway for One For My Baby to be seen on London’s West End.
Fred Barton (Conductor/Arranger): Barton’s symphony arrangements are played regularly at Carnegie Hall and by orchestras nationwide. He debuted at age 23 as co-creator of the international hit Forbidden Broadway, also arranging and playing the Off-Broadway hit revue Spamilton (including both shows’ hit Los Angeles productions). At age 24, Barton created his one-man musical theatre piece Miss Gulch Returns!, still produced by theatres nationwide into 2026. Broadway/National Tour conducting credits: Anthony Quinn in Zorba, Hal Prince’s Cabaret revival, Cy Coleman’s City of Angels,and Robert Goulet in Camelot. Television Composer/Arranger/Conductor credits include: The Magic School Bus (Emmy Award), HBO’s Cathouse: The Musical, Wonder Pets! (Emmy Award), and Olivia. His musical direction for the hit musical One For My Baby (which he co-wrote and orchestrated) just won him the Los Angeles www.BroadwayWorld.comAward for Best Musical Direction.
Jeramiah Peay (ARTCO’s Managing Director) produced his first play, Brilliant Traces in 2009, with Tony Award nominee Xanthe Elbrick, and his latest musical, ARTCO’s Mack & Mabel starring Dermot Mulroney. He was an Associate Producer on productions in Minneapolis such as Power Balladz, Celebrity Autobiography, Employee of the Year and Urban Primitive Pop. Peay has directed plays and musicals including The Turn of the Screw at Sierra Madre Playhouse and The Who’s Tommy at The Grand Auditorium. He was the Tour Manager for many Lincoln Center Education productions, as well as the Production Manager and/or Stage Manager on many Off-Broadway productions including Ruthless!, Freud’s Last Session, Zero Hour, Blind Date and Flaming Court. Peay earned his B.A. Degree from USC School of Theatre, and MFA Degree from the Actors Studio Drama School at New School.
Jule Styne (Composer) With the scores of such Broadway classics as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Peter Pan, Bells Are Ringing, Gypsy and Funny Girl to his credit, composer Jule Styne ranks as one of the undisputed architects of the American musical theater. Although he was born in London’s East End, Styne’s family moved to the United States in 1912. Young Styne showed such a talent for the piano that he had performed with the Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit Symphonies by age 10. He developed his feel for popular music working with the jazz bands of 1920s Chicago, and as vocal coach to such 1930s Hollywood stars as Shirley Temple and Alice Faye. Teaming with lyricist Sammy Cahn in the 1940s, he created a string of Hit Parade leaders including the Oscar-winning “Three Coins In The Fountain.” In addition to Sammy Cahn, Styne’s collaborators include Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Stephen Sondheim, Bob Merrill, Leo Robin and E.Y. Harburg, and their combined efforts have produced such showstoppers as “The Party’s Over,” “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “People” and “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.” Jule Styne was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972, the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981, and became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1990. On the occasion of his 25th Anniversary in show business, the following tribute was read into the Congressional Record: “The lives of Americans throughout our land, as well as the lives of people throughout the corners of the world, have been enriched by the artistry and genius of Jule Styne.”
About All Road Theatre Company (ARTCO) and Its Leadership:
All Roads Theatre Company (ARTCO) is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization with a mission of producing professional plays, musicals, concerts and new works, in venues of all sizes in the Los Angeles area, and beyond. ARTCO is also dedicated to providing educational outreach, arts training and theatre appreciation for students of all ages through classes, workshops, performance opportunities, and interactive experiences relating to the company’s professional productions.
In 2024, All Roads Theatre Company presented two fundraising events: a sold-out production of Jerry Herman’s and Michael Stewart’s Mack & Mabel,starring Dermot Mulroney, Jenna Lea Rosen and Caroline O’Connor, and Broadway Showstoppers In Concert, starring Donna Maria Asbury, Phillip Attmore, Kelly Bales, Anastasia Barzee, Sarah Uriarte Berry, Benai Boyd, Chad Doreck, Jason Graae, Damon Kirsche, Sharon Lawrence, Kerry O’Malley, Alison Porter, James Snyder, and Leslie Stevens. In 2025 the company produced the World Premiere of One For My Baby and All-Star Benefit Concert at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. This year, in 2026, the company is producing the World Premiere musical revue, The Music That Makes Me Dance: The Music of Jule Styne. Learn more at https://allroadstheatreco.org
ALL ROADS THEATRE COMPANY
IN ASSOCIATION WITH KNOT FREE PRODUCTIONS,
BONNY LOO, JERAMIAH PEAY, ROBERT PELLETIER, MAUREEN GILLESPIE,
ERIC KELHOFFER & CATHERINE MCCLENAHAN PRESENT
The World Premiere of THE MUSIC THAT MAKES ME DANCE: THE SONGS OF JULE STYNE
The First-Ever Musical Revue Compiling The Songs of JULE STYNE
With Lyrics by SAMMY CAHN, BETTY COMDEN & ADOLPH GREEN,
HERB GARDNER, LEO ROBIN AND STEPHEN SONDHEIM
El Portal Theatre
Debbie Reynolds Main Stage
5269 Lankershim Boulevard (at Weddington Street)
North Hollywood, CA 91601
Five Performances, May 1-3, 2026
