SPEAKER: ANDREW GERLE | ENTERTAINER: KIRSTI CARNAHAN

Must RSVP by the Friday before

$55 admission includes a three-course lunch payable at the door by cash or check only

Andrew Gerle is a composer/lyricist, librettist, pianist, and author. His works for the theatre include the musicals Meet John Doe (Jonathan Larson Award, cast album on Broadway Records), Whisper Darkly (concept album released 2024), Glory, Mississippi (Kleban Award, Richard Rodgers Award), The Tutor (three Rodgers Awards), and Prospera (with Fantasticks lyricist Tom Jones). He has served as musical director and pianist for such stars as Jennifer Holliday, Brian Stokes Mitchell, John Raitt, Kitty Carlisle Hart, and Leslie Uggams, and played in numerous Broadway pits. He is the author of The Enraged Accompanist’s Guide to the Perfect Audition and Music Essentials for Singers and Actors (both Hal Leonard/Applause Books), and just completed the book version of his popular Periodic Table of Broadway Musicals (Hachette/Union Square & Co., 2025). One of the country’s most respected theatre educators, Andrew taught for 10 years at Yale University, and was a founding faculty member of Manhattan School of Music’s Musical Theatre program, where he currently teaches. AndrewGerle.com

Kirsti Carnahan created the role of Marta in the Tony-Award nominated Kiss of the Spider Woman, playing in Toronto, London, and on Broadway with the legendary Chita Rivera and later with Vanessa Williams. She can be heard on the London cast recording with Ms. Rivera as well as the Grammy-nominated Broadway recording with Ms. Williams. Other Broadway credits include the Alan Menken & Tim Rice pop oratorio King David (original cast recording), Baby (original cast recording), and the 1984 revival of The Three Musketeers. 

Her National Tours include Fantine in Les Miserables, Grizabella in Cats, and Grace Farrell in Annie. Regional appearances include four seasons at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, three seasons at the Goodspeed Opera, and two at Connecticut Repertory Theatre, where she played Amalia in She Loves Me and Ruth in Pirates of Penzance. Kirsti has been nominated for the Helen Hayes and the CT Critic Circle Awards.