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Cast and Crew of Hot New Teen Musical In Your Dreams Salutes Black...



#8211; The cast and crew of the hot new teen musical 's8220;In Your Dreams,'s8221; which is taking on Disney Channel's8217;s record-breaking 's8220;High School Musical's8221; for its share of the $170 billion teen entertainment market, issued a statement today congratulating the members of the singing group Black Eyed Peas (BEP) for their recent deal to promote the Snickers candy bar by Masterfoods.



's8220;The Peas's8217; sound is a lively, buoyant style of hip hop that melds Will'ss rapid-fire rhymes and Fergie'ss wavering singing,'s8221; says Zeke Farrow, the Miramax-linked creator of the hot new teen musical, In Your Dreams. 's8220;The songs are usually playful or lusty. 's8216;My Humps,'s8217; for instance, is a dialogue between a man and a woman about the power of a curvy figure -- which is perfect for a partnership with Snickers. As their song goes: 's8216;What you gonna do with all that junk All that junk inside your trunk's8217; It's8217;s delightful.'s8221;



The hip-hop group has teamed up with Snickers for a series of digital films designed to attract teen buyers. The five digi-sodes will feature BEP members will.i.am, Fergie, Taboo and apl.de.ap posing as Snickers factory workers by day and a collective of old-school Hip-Hop defenders known as Instant Def by night. The group inherited their superpowers after coming in contact with Snickers after an incident in the plant.



's8221;The first digi-sode will premiere June 5 exclusively on InstantDef.com's8221; says Farrow. It is fresh. It is about people who live seemingly ordinary lives during the day 's8211; but go on to pursue their dreams at night. They don's8217;t wait for the world to kneel at their feet, they don's8217;t wait for the world to give them a sign, they are ready to fight so they can live in their dreams. This is tomorrow -- all the way.



Although it's8217;s hard to choose a single Peas favorite, Farrow says that the most-played Peas song on his own i-Pod is the unity ballad, 's8220;Where's8217;s the Love.'s8221; 's8220;In many ways, this song reminds me of the unity ballad in my own musical, a song called 's8216;In Your Dreams.'s8217;'s8221; But he also likes 's8220;That Heat,'s8221; the unlikely combination of Sergio Mendes, soul vocalist Erykah Badu and will.i.am.



's8220;I even love their ringtones 's8211; for as you know, Black Eyed Peas was the first group to hit the 2 million mark in ringtones sold,'s8221; says Farrow. With parental role models such as the singer Madonna refusing to let their children watch TV, says Farrow, ringtones may be the only way to reach these parentally-cloistered children with important product information in the future. 's8220;And the Black Eyed Peas have paved the way,'s8221; says Farrow.



Notably, the Peas were one of the first acts to have their music (Hey Mama) featured in a campaign for the Apple iPod., says Farrow. The group was tapped to headline this year'ss sixth annual Honda Civic tour, a 35-city tour deal that encompassed a BEP-created custom Honda Civic Hybrid, proving that the group makes strategic impressions in a marketing world that exists outside of traditional radio and video outlets. Their music has also been used by Adidas, Dr. Pepper, Verizon, Best Buy, and others.



But BEP definitely has a major charitable side, says Farrow. 's8220;Although Paris Hilton sings that 's8216;Stars Are Blind,'s8217; it is clear that the Black Eyed Peas are not, says Farrow. 's8220;Taboo, Fergie, will.i.am and Apl.de.ap spent the recent Memorial Day weekend in South Africa visiting impoverished townships, conducting workshops with children and playing a free concert for more than 30,000 people in Johannesburg Sunday.'s8221; Admission to the concert was free, with money raised through a cell phone text-message campaign and VIP after party going to charity. The band members also met with former South African President Nelson Mandela.



Says Farrow: 's8220;As Oxygen'ss Geraldine Laybourne recently told the Wall Street Journal, 's8216;If you are used to managing your brand on TV, it is about worrying how big your logo is and how it's8217;s represented. This new medium, the web, is all about the participation of the audience. It's8217;s not about how slick stuff looks. It's8217;s about how authentic it is. Marketers have to be willing to mess around. We all need to dance a different way.'s8221;



The 13 songs of Farrow's8217;s 's8220;In Your Dreams's8221; have been attracting their own share of interest from potential sponsors seeking to co-opt their artistic message, Farrow notes. 's8220;A major pill company has committed to sponsoring our soon-to-be launched web site, which will be on the web at inyourdreamsthemusical.com's8221; says Farrow. 's8220;And we's8217;ve also been talking with an overnight delivery company that is similar to FedEx, called MedEx, or rather, Mederal Express. And the 's8216;m's8217; in their name stands for 's8216;moderate.'s8221;



When will they know for sure It'ss unclear. 's8220;As Oxygen's8217;s Geraldine Laybourne recently told the Wall Street Journal, 's8216;We have no leverage. The only thing we can do is be charming. And be a great partner.'s8221; http://myspace.com/inyourdreamsthemusical



To do that, the management of the musical has asked Debbie Reynolds to help them launch their site during her June 4th performance in New York City. 's8220;We are hopeful of receiving a response shortly,'s8221; says Farrow, who says that tickets are still available for that June 4th performance. http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfmcolid=9942



And Farrow notes that interest in his new teen musical continues to pour in from other sectors, as well. 's8220;We have a meeting scheduled for June with DualStar Entertainment, which is the management vehicle for teen stars Ashley Olsen and Mary Kate Olsen, and also for the Sprouse twins,'s8221; says Farrow. 's8220;The Olsen Twins would be great for either a live feature or an animated film. What people forget is that the Olsen Twins actually have a number of music CDs that have gone multi-platinum and the most powerful distribution channel in the world -- it'ss called Wal-Mart. So we are awaiting this meeting with much anticipation and confidence. Something always seems to pop up out of nowhere.'s8221;



Farrow adds that Sarah Jessica Parker's8217;s Pretty Matches production company, which has a two-year exclusive production agreement with HBO, is still a contender for production rights. 's8220;Sarah Jessica was a child star herself, and she still has the joy of childhood within her. She is a leading light in the New York entertainment community, and she is still out there for us.'s8221;



Unlike Black Eyed Peas, which is a hip-hop band separate in themes and vibe from the gangsta scene that long dominated rap, 's8220;In Your Dreams's8221; is a large-scale, splashy, teen musical 's8211;- 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.



What is helping to fuel the 's8220;In Your Dreams Express,'s8221; according to Farrow, are its 13 ingeniously lyrical songs, performed by a number of top Broadway singers, including 's8220;Trailer Park's8217;s's8221; Drama Desk-nominated Leslie Kritzer, 's8220;Wicked's8217;s's8221; Laura Bell Bundy, 's8220;Les Miserable's8217;s's8221; Jodie Langel, 's8220;Little Shop of Horror's8217;s's8221; Kerry Butler, 's8220;Thoroughly Modern Millie's8217;s's8221; Gavin Creel, 's8220;Hairspray's8217;s's8221; Jackie Hoffman, 's8220;The Full Monty's8217;s's8221; Sloan Just, and Anika Larsen, Danny Rocket and Anthony Rapp from 's8220;Rent.'s8221; Rhythm and blues artist Shayna Steele is also a contributor.



The stage version of 's8220;In Your Dreams's8221; will see a showcase production at Ars Nova, the famed Manhattan performance incubator, later this summer, says Farrow. http://broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfmcolid=9263



Among those in the entertainment community with a growing awareness of the significant market value that a theater-distributed rival to Disney Channel's8217;s cable based 's8220;High School Musical's8221; has to offer are Dawn Buskin, Dawn Buskin, Zipatoni, Matt McQueen, Arc Worldwide, Suzanne Kyba, Door Number 3, Rob Sorcher, Jon Kamen, Radical Media, Ken Kaess, Jeff King, 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, Nathan Lane, David Apicella, OgilvyInteractive, Ogilvy One, Penny Marshall, Scott Marshall, Rosie O's8217;Donnell, Heidi Browning, James Kim, Mark Kingdon, Organic B, neo@OgilvyOne, Ant Farm, Michael Koziol, Melissa Hunabach, Jacques-Herve, MRM Worldwide, Reuben Hendell, Media Contacts, Don Epperson, Martin Reidy, Brian Powley Dani Nadel, Modem Media, Scott Sorokin, Nigel Morris, Toby Gabiner, Ron Belanger, Karim Sanjabi, Isobar, Norman Lehoulier, Nick Pahade, Grey Digital Marketing, George Gallate, Sergio Caruso, Gavin Coombes, Alex Bonibeck, Arnaud de Bayhast, Michael Emerson, Pam Larrick, FCBI, Jack Nolan, Graham Mills, Laura Lang, George Tannenbaun, Digitas, Clark Kokich, Avenue A/Razorfish, Don Scales, David Eastman, Agency.com Ryan Kavanaugh of Gun Hill Road; Thomas Tull and Scott Mednick of Legendary Pictures; Oliver Obst; Melrose Investors; and Vanessa Taylor at Pretty Matches Productions, which is currently producing 's8220;The Washingtonienne,'s8221; an HBO sit-com about an amphibious Senatorial intern who becomes entangled with a Washington Insider -- Mr. Limpet meets West Wing.






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