FROM:            TODD BRODGINSKI/LATHUM NELSON

ACCLAIMED SINGER AND BROADWAY ACTOR

 TOM WOPAT

TO RELEASE NEW CD CELEBRATING THE WORK OF
COMPOSER HAROLD ARLEN;

‘DISSERTATION ON THE STATE OF BLISS’
TO HIT STORES IN CONJUNCTION WITH ARLEN’S 100^TH BIRTHDAY
AND WOPAT’S ‘OVER THE RAINBOW’ TOUR

            Critically acclaimed and Tony-nominated singer and actor TOM WOPAT will celebrate the 100^th birthday of composer Harold Arlen with the February 22 release of DISSERTATION ON THE STATE OF BLISS, a collection of Arlen favorites and rarities.  WOPAT is set to embark on a 33-date national tour January 12 in West Palm Beach, FL which will wrap February 20 in Palm Desert, CA.  The “Over The Rainbow” tour will feature Arlen’s songs from The Wizard Of Oz, among others, and makes a stop at New York City’s Carnegie Hall February 14.

            Meanwhile, WOPAT is currently on Broadway as the lead in “Chicago,” and will return to Broadway in March for his first dramatic role there, starring alongside Alan Alda, Jeffrey Tambor and Liev Schreiber in David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross.”

            On the new album DISSERTATION ON THE STATE OF BLISS–his sixth overall–WOPAT delivers infectiously jazzy interpretations of Harold Arlen songs including “Accentuate The Positive,” “Over The Rainbow,” “Come Rain Or Come Shine” and “If I Only Had A Brain.”  “The performance is all about the song,” says WOPAT.  “It’s not about me.  The singer’s job is to establish the mood and tell the story of the song.”

WOPAT first started singing and dancing in high school musicals, and studied music at the University of Wisconsin before making his television debut in 1978.  He starred in–and directed several episodes of–the popular “Dukes of Hazzard,” playing Luke Duke in the show, which ran from 1979-85.  After the series ended, WOPAT made his triumphant return to Broadway (“Annie Get Your Gun,”) and continued to appear on TV (“Cybill” and hosting his own show on TNN).

WOPAT’s recording career started in 1983 with his self-titled country album.  Since then, he released three other country albums before the 2000 album The Still Of The Night, which introduced fans to his love of standards.

            In a New York Times review (1/19/02) of his cabaret show “Arci’s Place,” Stephen Holden said, “…he applies his virile baritone to popular standards with a quiet, open-hearted deliberation.  On the cabaret stage, Mr. Wopat conveys the same laid-back, utterly unaffected naturalness that makes his album so appealing…[Wopat] clearly knows whereof he sings.”  In the New York Observer, Rex Reed said, “With his warm, strong baritone and easy soft-spoken manner, Mr. Wopat is no longer a roughneck from ‘The Dukes of Hazzard.’  Cleanly shaved, trendy and tailored in black, he’s still rugged but clean-cut, manly but sensitive, and ready to explore the more intimate and romantic side of his likable personality…With Tom Wopat, you get cool tunes, manly grace…and Gary Cooper getting in touch with his delicate side in ‘High Noon,’ all rolled into one.  That’s more than I’ve seen on one cabaret stage in many a donkey’s year.  Do not miss him.  This is a real revelation.”

            Dates for the “Over The Rainbow” tour are below.

 DATE                           CITY                                        VENUE

Wed     1/12                 West Palm Beach, FL              Kravis Center for the Perf. Arts

Thu      1/13                 Naples, FL                                  Philharmonic Center for the Arts

Fri        1/14                 Gainesville, FL                            Curtis M. Phillips Perf. Arts Center

Sat       1/15                 Daytona Beach, FL                    Mary McLeod Bethune Perf. Arts Ctr.

Sun      1/16                 Melbourne, FL                             Maxwell C. King Center

Tue      1/18                 Panama City, FL                         Marina Civic Center of Panama City

Thu      1/20                 Greenville, SC                            Peace Center for the Perf. Arts

Fri        1/21                 Atlanta, GA                                 Theater of the Arts

Sat       1/22                 East Lansing, MI                        Catherine Herrick Cobb Great Hall

Sun      1/23                 Kalamazoo, MI                           James W. Miller Auditorium

Mon     1/24                 Milwaukee, WI                            Uihlein Hall – Milwaukee Perf. Arts Ctr.

Tue      1/25                 Skokie, IL                                    North Shore Center for the Perf. Arts

Wed     1/26                 Wausau, WI                               Grand Theatre

Fri        1/28                 Overland Park, KS                   Yardley Hall Carlsen Center

Sat       1/29                 Overland Park, KS                   Yardley Hall Carlsen Center

Sun      1/30                 St. Louis, MO                           Blanche M. Touhill Perf. Arts Center

Tue      2/1                   Springfield, OH                          Kuss Auditorium

Wed     2/2                   New Wilmington, PA                W.W. Orr Auditorium

Thu      2/3                   Bradford, PA                            Bradford Area High School Auditorium

Fri        2/4                   Wilmington, DE                        Grand Opera House

Sat       2/5                   Stony Brook, NY                      Staller Center for the Arts Main Stage

Sun      2/6                   Purchase, NY                           Purchase College Concert Hall

Tue      2/8                   Orono, ME                               Hutchins Concert Hall

Thu      2/10                 Schenectady, NY                     Proctor’s Theatre

Fri        2/11                 Hershey, PA                             Hershey Theater

Sat       2/12                 Greenvale, NY                         Tilles Center for the Performing Arts

Sun      2/13                 New Brunswick, NJ                 State Theatre

Mon     2/14                 New York, NY                           Carnegie Hall

Tue      2/15                 Rockville, MD                           Strathmore Hall Arts Center

Wed     2/16                 Richmond, VA                        Camp Theatre-Univ. Of Richmond

Fri        2/18                 Tucson, AZ                               Centennial Hall-Univ. of Arizona

Sat       2/19                 Prescott, AZ                             Yavapai College Performance Hall

Sun      2/20                 Palm Desert, CA                      McCallum Theatre for Performing Arts

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