Mountain Laurel announces 2007 talent booking deal

Bushkill - CEO Richard T. Bryant of the Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts has entered an agreement Metropolitan Talent, led by industry veteran John Scher, to book MLCPA’s rock, pop, country, and comedy programming. Mountain Laurel Center and Metropolitan Talent have already begun working together on MLCPA’s 2007 summer season, which MLCPA plans to announce in April. “Mountain Laurel Center is proud and delighted to partner with John Scher and Metropolitan because of their remarkable eye for talent and extraordinary ties to the concert industry,” said Bryant. “I am personally pleased that John and I will be working together again. My history with John goes back to the opening of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center ten years ago, when I was vice president there and he booked the rock and pop programming. He is certainly one of the most respected independent concert promoters today. With John and Metropolitan Talent aboard Mountain Laurel Center has nowhere to go but up.” “Richard Bryant has done a remarkable job establishing the fiscal stability that will finally allow Mountain Laurel Center to become the national destination it was always meant to be,” said Scher. “With our expanding profile throughout the Northeast, we consider Mountain Laurel Center a perfect fit. I look forward to our collaboration with Richard Bryant and to playing a key role in Mountain Laurel Center’s future success.” Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts (MLCPA) is a nonprofit performing arts center located in Bushkill, Pennsylvania serving the Pocono Mountains and beyond. Its principal venue, the Tom Ridge Pavilion, offers 2,500 covered seats and room for 3,000 more under the stars on its comfortable lawn. Metropolitan Talent, Inc. is a multi-faceted entertainment company led by co-CEO’s John Scher and Al Cafaro. The company’s concert division, headed up by Senior Producer Ian Noble, presents live events throughout the Northeast and was also recently the tour producer of the highly successful INXS “Switched On” North American Tour. Other divisions include artist management (Bruce Hornsby, Art Garfunkel, Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir & RatDog) and independent record label Hybrid Recordings (Gin Blossoms, Assembly of Dust, Jen Chapin). John Scher and Metropolitan have a long history producing shows in eastern Pennsylvania which includes the development and production of events at the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain (originally the Montage Mountain Performing Arts Center).