Hey Everyone,

What a year! Working with the most amazing co-producer in the country, Adam Friedson, we just finished over 90 concerts all over the USA! It was an amazing time, getting to meet so many wonderful Broadway music lovers in California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Jersey, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and of course, New York!

We played to over 200,000 people and got to meet most of you after each show. What a treat!

There is plenty more exciting news as well concerning my composing career:

I’m trilled to announce one of my most important shows EVER! Thursday, April 30th at 8pm, we’ll be bringing my show “Neil Berg’s 100 Years of Broadway” to the Hard Rock Café in Times Square for a fundraising concert benefiting World Hunger Year! The concert will feature Broadway’s Rob Evan (Jekyll and Hyde), Rita Harvey (Phantom of the Opera), Steve Blanchard (Beauty and the Beast), Carter Calvert (Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues), Danny Zolli (Jesus Christ Superstar) and Gerard Canonico (Spring Awakening). The show will be introduced by Charles Grodin with more special guests to be announced.

Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster by clicking here.

I hope to see you all there for a great time, benefiting a truly wonderful cause!

As most of you know I am the composer of the new Broadway musical version of GRUMPY OLD MEN, which just had a major reading in New York this past October, and it went spectacularly well. What a cast!

Academy Award winner, F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus) and Emmy and Tony Award winner George Hearn (Sweeney Todd, La Cage Aux Folles) led the “too good to be true” cast. Also featured was Marilu Henner (Chicago, LA Story, Taxi), Carol Kane (Taxi and a zillion other things), Ken Page (Ain’t Misbehavin’), Vicki Lewis (what a talent!), Josh Molina (The West Wing), and the timeless Conrad John Schuck (MASH, Star Trek) as Grandpa!

We were also fortunate to have some of Broadway’s most incredible character actors rounding out our cast.

David Holcenberg (from Mamma Mia) was our Musical Supervisor and Wendy Bobbitt Cavett (from Mamma Mia as well) was our Musical Director. Both did a phenomenal job! We are currently in negotiations with several theatres for an out-of-town tryout and cannot WAIT to bring it to Broadway!

I also recently finished up my fully-orchestrated CD of my musical version of THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, which features two of Broadways top leading men, Mark Kudisch and Brian d’Arcy James, in the leading roles.

This CD also stars Mandy Gonzalez (star of the hit Broadway musical In The Heights), and Judy McLane (Drama Desk nominee). The CD is available for purchase here on my website under the “Store” section. I truly believe this is my best work ever up to now, and I can’t wait for people to hear it. Book and Lyrics by DJ Salisbury, arrangements/musical supervision by Wendy Bobbitt Cavett, and Orchestrations by Larry Hochman (Spamalot, Fiddler on the Roof, etc.)

Pulitzer Prize winner, Robert Schenkkan and I have been collaborating on my new show THE TWELVE which begins where Jesus Christ Superstar leaves off. This is a high-energy rock show that should be touring sometime next year!

Many more projects to be announced soon, but in the meantime, please check in from time to time at my website, http://www.neilberg.com. You can check out all upcoming shows, both public and private, and it gets updated all the time.

Please call Joe D’Urso/Leftfield Productions at 845-353-2407 if you think you or your organization would love to bring in the best Broadway talent for an unforgettable evening!

Look forward to seeing you soon!

Best,
Neil

This Week’s Events

Monday, March 2

Jeffrey Sachs on Engineering and Sustainable Development
Speaker: Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Time: 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Morningside Campus, Schapiro CEPSR Building, Davis Auditorium
Contact: Earth Institute Events, events@ei.columbia.edu

Tuesday, March 3

Columbia Water Center Seminar Series: Water for Profit - An Industry Perspective
Speaker: Gregoire Landel, SEAS 2005 Professor of Engineering; Water and Sanitation International Consultant
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Morningside Campus, 750 Schapiro CEPSR Building
Contact: Columbia Water Center, watercenter@columbia.edu or call (212) 851-5695
RSVP: Register

Wednesday, March 4

LDEO Joint MG&G and SG&T 2009 Seminar Series: Marine Gas Hydrates in Thin Sands that Mop Up Biogenic Methane
Speaker: Alberto Malinverno, Senior Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Time: 12:10 to 1:10 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Marine Biology/Seismology Building, Seismology Seminar Room, 2nd Floor
Contact: Timothy J Crone, tjc2129@columbia.edu

Thursday, March 5

IGERT Joint Program Spring Colloquium: Intensities of Precipitation and Extratropical Storms Under Climate Change
Speaker: Paul O’Gorman, Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.)
Time: 2:45 to 3:45 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Morningside Campus, Seeley W. Mudd Building, Room 214
Contact: Jennifer Cho, jc2305@columbia.edu
Web Site: http://www.appmath.columbia.edu/igert

Earth Institute Seminars on Sustainable Development: Greening the Urban Economy
Speakers: Elliott Sclar, Director, Center for Sustainable Urban Development, The Earth Institute at Columbia University; Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University; Patricia Culligan, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science; Joan Fitzgerald, Director, Law, Policy and Society Program, Northeastern University; Jack McGourty, Director, Center for Technology, Innovation and Community Engagement (CTICE), Columbia University; Associate Dean, Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, Columbia University; Robert Crauderueff, Policy Director, Sustainable South Bronx; Nilda Mesa, Assistant Vice President, Environmental Stewardship, Columbia University; Adjunct Professor, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Janna Olson, Executive Director, Win-Win Campaign, Envirolution
Time: 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Morningside Campus, International Affairs Building, Room 1501
Contact: Scott Andrews, sandrews@ei.columbia.edu or call (212) 854-1298

Friday, March 6

IRI Seminar: Towards the Probabilistic Earth-System Model
Speaker: Tim Palmer, European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Lamont Campus, Monell Building Auditorium
Contact: Maria Rise C Fullon, mrf2102@columbia.edu

LDEO Earth Science Colloquium: The Greenhouse Gas Increases in Recent Millennia Were NOT Natural
Speaker: William F. Ruddiman, Professor Emeritus, Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia
Time: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Monell Building Auditorium
Contact: Natalie Boelman, nboelman@ldeo.columbia.edu
Web Site: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/news-events/earth-science-colloquium/2008-2009

Saturday, March 7

Earth Class (E2C) Workshops for Teachers: An Introduction to Global Climate Models
Speakers: Michael Revidi, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; Michael J. Passow, Adjunct Associate Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Lamont Campus, Marine Biology & Seismology Building, Seismology Seminar Room, 2nd Floor
Contact: Michael Passow, michael@earth2class.org