As Fourth of July Approaches, Cast and Crew of Hot New Teen Musical 'In Your Dreams' Endorse Creation of Cabinet-Level Dept. of Peace
Underdog competitor to Disney Channel’s “High School Musical” urges Broadway, Hollywood entertainment communities to speak out in support of House Resolution 3760 over Fourth of July holiday weekend.
New York, NY (PRWEB) June 28, 2006
The cast and crew of the hot new teen musical “In Your Dreams,” the underdog competitor to Disney Channel’s “High School Musical,” issued a statement today in advance of the Fourth of July holiday urging fellow members of the Broadway and Hollywood entertainment communities to speak out in support of the creation of a Cabinet level Dept. of Peace in the federal government. http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=lJ1GTXO0U14 (http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=lJ1GTXO0U14)
A videotape summary of this announcement can be viewed at this link: http://inyourdreamsonline. com/ (http://inyourdreamsonline. com/)
The text of the announcement, as read by “In Your Dreams” creator Zeke Farrow, is as follows:
“With the Fourth of July holiday coming up, the cast and crew of ‘In Your Dreams,’ including myself personally, urges the Broadway entertainment community, and the entertainment community nationwide, to speak up on behalf of this proposal for the creation of a Department of Peace -– a proposal that currently has the support of 71a members of the U. S. House of Representatives, and two members of the U. S. Senate, and has additionally been supported by resolutions of the city councils of Atlanta and San Jose, among others.
“The Department of Peace legislation -- House Resolution 3760, Senate Resolution 1756, the 'Department of Peace and Nonviolence Act' -- would allocate $10 billion, the equivalent of just 2 percent of the national defense budget, to establish a Department of Peace. It would include a cabinet level adviser to the president and a Peace Academy similar to West Point, where students could learn conflict resolution techniques to deal with issues ranging from war to prison rehabilitation and bullying in schools.
“This effort is part of an international effort to establish departments of peace in other countries has caught on in Australia, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and Costa Rica.
"Surveys conducted in other countries of the world -- such as France, Denmark and England -- show that people in those countries believe that America is currently the Number One threat to the future stability of the globe -- putting us even ahead of Iran as a threat to peace. The creation of a Department of Peace would serve to reassure people in other countries of America’s true desire for peace.
"In conclusion, the cast and crew of 'In Your Dreams' wishes you all a happy, healthy and safe Fourth of July holiday – and we hope to hear you all speaking out in support of this important issue this coming July Fourth, our nation’s latest birthday.”
Mr. Farrow in particular personally urges some of the leading lights of the American entertainment community -- respected entertainers such as Susan Sarandon, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rosie O’Donnell, Bette Midler, Ashley Olsen, Barbra Streisand, Zac Posen, Nathan Lane, Cher, and others – to consider taking a moment during the upcoming Fourth of July holiday to speak out on this issue to raise its public profile. Celebrities who have already publicly announced their support for a U. S. Dept. of Peace include Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and actor Joaquin Phoenix, whose message of support can be heard here: http://www. thepeacealliance. org/index. php? option=com_content&task=view&id=166 (http://www. thepeacealliance. org/index. php? option=com_content&task=view&id=166)
Farrow believes that vocal support from other Young Hollywood stars like Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Zac Efron and Monique Coleman would also help raise the visibility of this important legislation. "Free speech is one of the most effective tools we can use to make positive change occur," he says. "Don't ever underestimate it."
Despite its support by 73 members of Congress, the creation of a federal Dept. of Peace is an issue that the mainstream media has failed to cover -- shortchanging the American public, which depends on these media to keep them fully informed, according to Farrow.
Among the newspapers that have failed to report on the proposal to create of a Dept. of Peace are highly respected newspapers such as USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Ft. Worth Star Telegram, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Minneapolis Star Tribune -- and the highly respected New York Times.
“This proposal for a Dept. of Peace may be a pipe-dream -- but it is a pipe-dream that the readers of these newspapers are entitled to read about in return for their weekly subscription fees,” says Farrow. "And this is true even if their subscription costs as little as $2.75 a week."
“In Your Dreams” is a large-scale, splashy, teen musical –- with just a dash of political satire. It centers around Helen, a seventeen-year-old girl who appears in three different incarnations: Black, Pink, and Blue. It opens with the bizarre introduction of Black Helen, a girl tortured by fellow students Melanie and Jordanna and secretly in love with Jared. We quickly learn that Black Helen is but a dream and as she fades and Pink Helen wakes up, we realize that Pink Helen’s life is a perfect, bubble gum musical. She is popular, she’s dating Jared, she has high hopes for a perfect day. And today is the day to beat all days. It is prom, and Helen is a front runner to win prom queen…until she learns that the “Popular Girls Caucus” has turned against her, and is even stuffing the ballot box to engineer her defeat!
What is helping to fuel the “In Your Dreams Express,” according to Farrow, are its 13 ingeniously lyrical songs, performed by a number of top Broadway singers, including “Trailer Park’s” Drama Desk-nominated Leslie Kritzer, “Wicked’s” Laura Bell Bundy, “Les Miserable’s” Jodie Langel, “Little Shop of Horror’s” Kerry Butler, “Thoroughly Modern Millie’s” Gavin Creel, “Hairspray’s” Jackie Hoffman, “The Full Monty’s” Sloan Just, and Anika Larsen, Danny Rocket and Anthony Rapp from “Rent.” Rhythm and blues artist Shayna Steele is also a contributor. http://myspace. com/inyourdreamsthemusical (http://myspace. com/inyourdreamsthemusical)
The stage version of “In Your Dreams” will see a showcase production at Ars Nova, the famed Manhattan performance incubator, in early October, says Farrow. http://broadwayworld. com/viewcolumn. cfm? colid=9263 (http://broadwayworld. com/viewcolumn. cfm? colid=9263)
Among those in the motion picture industry with a growing awareness of the significant market value that a theater-distributed rival to Disney’s cable-based “High School Musical” has to offer are Joss Wedon; Ryan Kavanaugh of Gun Hill Road; Oliver Obst; Melrose Investors; Ray Lawrence's Richard Kelly, Bob Osher; Andrea Arnold Steve Bing; Paul Federbush Jeff Skoll; Tom Jacobson; Nathan Lane; Philip Anshutz; Mark Platt; Michael Patrick King, Daniel Battsek, Margot Lion, Elizabeth McCann; Adam Shankman, Gus Gustawes and Kevin Morris of Just Keep Living; Dawn Buskin, Zipatoni, Ann Gurrola, Matt McQueen, Arc Worldwide, Suzanne Kyba, Door Number 3, Rob Sorcher, Jon Kamen, Radical Media, Ken Kaess, Jeff King, Susan Wayne, Euro RSCG, Steve Wax, McKinney & Silver, Hank Wasiak, The Concept Farm, Gregg Wasiak, Campfire, Chelsea Films, Tom Nelson, Gardner Nelson Partners, Kevin Roddy, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Wunderman Interactive, David Sable, Tina Miletich, Andy Rutberg, Jason Kuperman, Jeremy Pagden, Tequila, Matt Freeman, Tribal DDB, RMG Connect, Philip Greenfield, Kevin Wassong, Ken Hamm, Bob Greenberg, R/GA, Carla Hendra, Bill Gray, Jan Leth, Chris Wall, David Apicella, OgilvyInteractive, Ogilvy One, Penny Marshall, Garry Marshall, Rosie O’Donnell, Heidi Browning, James Kim, Mark Kingdon, Organic B, neo@OgilvyOne, Ant Farm Personal Income Inc., Michael Koziol, Melissa Hunabach, Jacques-Herve, MRM Worldwide, Reuben Hendell, Media Contacts, Don Epperson, Martin Reidy, Night Agency, Brian Powley, Dani Nadel, Modem Media/Personal Spending, Scott Sorokin, Nigel Morris, Toby Gabiner, Ron Belanger, Karim Sanjabi, Isobar, Norman Lehoulier, Bette Midler, General Mills, Nick Pahade, Grey Digital Marketing, George Gallate, Sergio Caruso, Gavin Coombes, Alex Bonibeck, Nathan Lane, Gary Kagawa, Michael Emerson, Pam Larrick, FCBI, Jack Nolan, Junichiro Koizumi, Dasatinib, Adelphia, Comcast, Time Warner, Consumer Confidence Index Inc., Wimbledon, Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index Inc., Graham Mills, Laura Lang, George Tannenbaun, Digitas, Clark Kokich, Dennis Kucinich, Avenue a/Razorfish, Ryan Kavanaugh of Gun Hill Road; Thomas Tull and Scott Mednick of Legendary Pictures; and Vanessa Taylor at Pretty Matches Productions, which is currently producing “The Washingtonienne,” an HBO sit-com about a Congressional mailroom employee who dreams of bigger things.
But to date the film rights remain unsold. “Ryan Markowitz and Mark Kaufman at New Line Cinema continue to pass, as does Christina Aguilera,” says Farrow. “And the woman at MTV remains vitriolic in her rejection of it.”
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