"MAMALEH!" is based on the friendship of the playwright's mother, Florence, and her two best friends: Shirley Quiat and Kate Lorber. They all grew up as little girls in New York City and now they are all grandmothers and are still very close. So close, in fact, that Florence grew up to marry her best friend's brother! "All my life I had been hearing stories about my mother and her two best friends," said playwright Uscher.

"The women in the show aren't my mother, Shirley and Katie exactly, but there are definitely traits of them in the characters." Uscher says that all three women have seen the show and have been touched by it. "I have seen them laughing and sitting with tears in their eyes," he said. "There are a lot of emotions involved."

MITCHELL USCHER: (Book and Lyrics) is delighted that this show, which is based on the lifelong friendship of his mother and her two best friends, has been seen everywhere from Off Broadway to California, and that it won the prestigious Queens Theater in the Park "Shows Your Mother Would Love" Playwriting Competition and the "Best Theater Album" honor at the prestigious International JPF Music Awards.

Mitch has also written the Off Broadway comedy Life on the Third Rail and the musical The Third Violet. His musical revues have been seen at The Duplex Cabaret in Manhattan and at theaters and clubs throughout the New York metropolitan area. His writing has been published by "Playbill Magazine" and many other publications.

ROY SINGER: (Composer) is exceedingly proud of the score he composed for Mamaleh! and is overjoyed that the Mamaleh! album has won the "Best Theater Album" Award given by Just Plain Folks Music, an organization of more than 25,000 people in the music business. In addition, the song "Boca!" from Mamaleh! was recognized in the "Best Cabaret Song" category.

Singer was the youngest student ever accepted by Wiktor Labunski, Director of the Conservatory of Music of Kansas City and brother-in-law of Arthur Rubinstein. He studied composition at the Philadelphia Musical Academy and toured both Europe and the U.S. as a musician. He is the recipient of multiple Meet the Composer grants and has written chamber music pieces as well as scores for theatre, film and dance.

His musicals include Natasha and Vladimir, Frozen Assets, and The Third Violet, which was the centerpiece of the landmark Stephen Crane Festival. Singer, now a resident of New York's Catskills, performs with the Swing Shift Orchestra and accompanies his wife, vocalist Donna Singer. He continues to write chamber music, songs, and (most enthusiastically) musicals with Mitchell Uscher.

Filled with laughter and tears, the marvelous musical "MAMALEH!" tells of the lifelong friendship between women of different generations (the song "Mamaleh").

"MAMALEH!" tells the story of Frieda, a suburban wife and mother, and her relationships with her mother Sonya; her daughter Debra, who has just had a baby of her own; and her three best friends.

These friends include: Maddy, a thrice-divorced advertising executive in Manhattan; Jenny, a recent widow; and Doris, a chronically late woman whose hobby is plastic surgery. These friends grew up as little girls and now they still get together to play cards, eat, and-most importantly-schmooze ("It's Really Nice to Know That You're Around").

The ladies remember a Florida vacation they all took in a rousing song-and-dance number ("Boca!"). Frieda recalls how she used to watch her mother and aunts play cards and how much that feeling of togetherness has meant to her ("The Card Game"). The ladies also discuss the fine art of giving guilt to their children ("Guilt").

Frieda and her friends reminisce about growing up on the old block ("Bryant Avenue"). Frieda's daughter, Debra, has a unique and funny perspective as she remembers her big Bat-Mitzvah celebration ("The Bat-Mitzvah"), while grandmother Sonya reflects that she was never able to have such a ceremony ("In My Day").

In a hilarious scene, the ladies "do lunch" and exasperate their waitress by having to know "every item on the menu" before they order. Frieda, whose husband has just retired and wants to move to Florida, is uncertain about what to do. She calls her Auntie Vy for some comical advice concerning Florida ("The State of the State") and then sings about her feelings in the exciting Act One finale ("The Second Cup of Coffee").

Act Two begins with a big number about the joys and romances of the Catskill Mountain resorts in their hey-day ("Grossinger's, Concord, Brown's and the Pines"). Then Jenny, a widow, and Maddy, a divorcee, reflect on how difficult it is to be alone ("No Crime to Be Lonely").

Maddy goes to the beauty salon and gossips with her very opinionated hairdresser. The problems of daughters-in-law ("The New House") and the joys of grandchildren are discussed.

Sonya reminisces about her own grandmother in a very touching song ("Grandma's Hands"), and the ladies sing about how hard it is to pass down what they know to the younger generations in a very lively number ("Mishegoss").

Sonya has been creating a scrapbook to remind her new great-granddaughter, Rose, about "all of the wonderful women who came before her." Looking at the book makes the ladies realize how much they have been through in a beautiful ballad ("The Winds of Life").

The ladies get some unexpected news about their friend, Doris ("Light a Candle"). This causes them to think about their lives and make decisions about the future.

Still no matter where they go or what they do, the ladies of "MAMALEH!" know they will always remain friends. They reaffirm that their lives will go on in the stirring finale ("I Won't Sit in the Dark Anymore").

"MAMALEH!" won the "Best Theater Album" honor at the International JPF Music Awards that are given by some of the top Internet music companies in the world. The CD from "MAMALEH!" received five JPF Award nominations and was selected from more than 10,000 albums and 100,000 songs from all over the globe.

In addition, the song "Boca!" from "MAMALEH!" received a second place award in the "Best Cabaret Song" category. The other songs nominated from "MAMALEH!" were "The Card Game," "It's Really Nice to Know That You're Around," and "Grossinger's, Concord, Brown's and the Pines."

When the prestigious Queens Theatre in the Park sponsored the "Shows Your Mother Would Love Competition," there was a deluge of scripts. After reading hundreds of plays, "MAMALEH!" won this major New York playwriting competition. As a result, a concert version of "MAMALEH!" was presented at the acclaimed Queens Theatre in the Park in New York City.