Plays and Musicals

 

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

 

Audiences of all generations will enjoy acquainting — or reacquainting — themselves with the sisters:  Meg, the eldest; Jo, the high-spirited tomboy; Amy, the self-centered beauty; and gentle Beth, as well as their beloved Marmee and Father.  Together the March family learns to endure both good times and bad as they share the joys and pains of growing up. 

 

This adaptation skillfully compresses the novel while still including milestones such as Meg’s declaration of independence from the tyranny of Aunt March, Amy’s trip to Europe and even Beth’s death.  The play ends with Jo’s realization of her life’s work — the publication of her first novel.  Interlaced with warmth, family loyalty, and traditional values, all these important events provide us with a better understanding of our own lives.  Penned by Louisa May Alcott 140 years ago, this much-loved classic tale’s message is still relevant for audiences today.

BIG FISH

Turn the game Clue into a play and you have the masterfully entertaining Murder’s in the Heir!’ Almost every character in this hilarious mystery has the weapon, opportunity and motive to commit the unseen murder. And it’s up to your audience to decide who actually did it! Each of the heirs to the tyrannical billionaire Simon Starkweather has the means and the motive to do away with him.  The play’s unique ending, utilizing secret ballots gathered at intermission from the audience, determines the killer in this Billy St. John maze of murder.

 

The play was highlighted on Pioneer Drama and footage of the play can be found by clicking here. 

A Christmas Carol recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.

Set in a mythical “once upon a time” sort of land, Shrek the Musical is the story of a hulking green ogre who, after being mocked and feared his entire life by anything that crosses his path, retreats to an ugly green swamp to exist in happy isolation. Suddenly, a gang of homeless fairy-tale characters (Pinocchio, Cinderella, the Three Pigs, you name it) raid his sanctuary, saying they’ve been evicted by the vertically challenged Lord Farquaad. So Shrek strikes a deal: I’ll get your homes back, if you give me my home back! But when Shrek and Farquaad meet, the Lord strikes a deal of his own: He’ll give the fairy-tale characters their homes back, if Shrek rescues Princess Fiona. Shrek obliges, yet finds something appealing–something strange and different–about this pretty princess. He likes her. A lot. But why does she always run off when the sun sets?

The show is composed of various musical parables from The Gospel According to Matthew. Jesus Christ recruits a group of followers and teaches them various lessons through song and dance. Toward the end of the second act, the show begins to follow a more linear narrative as Jesus is betrayed by Judas and eventually crucified.

A rare treasure, a show that sparkles with optimism and good tunes, featuring the famous "Trolley Song" and "Meet Me In St. Louis". The magic begins at the site of what is to be the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904, The Smith family are gathered at Shrinker Swamp to watch the groundbreaking ceremony for the Fair, the "greatest show that ever showed".

Ester has design's on her neighbor John Truitt to whom she has never spoken. The two youngest Smith sisters complicate things by getting into trouble and annoying everyone. Lon, the eldest Smith child invites his friend, Douglas Moore, a West Point cadet, to dinner and Rose falls for the handsome newcomer. He is off to Princeton and everyone is there to say good-bye. That evening Ester and John fall in love as they snuff out the candles in the Smith's house.

Mr. Smith is worried about his finances and announces that they will all have to move to New York. Their whole lives will change,, the girls will lose the only home they have ever known and Katie will only have a small kitchen to cook in. Worst of all, they will miss the World's Fair!

It is finally time to leave and the family gathers in the living room with boxes of their belongings. Mr. Smith arrives home and tries to cheer the family up with a box of bon-bons. He suddenly realizes how much the family is dreading the move. In a sudden flash of clarity, he realizes that they must stay in St. Louis. He announces to the family "We're not moving to New York And l don't want to hear another word about it!". Only in St. Louis in 1904 can such miracles occur!

Cash on Delivery

 

Anything Goes is set aboard the ocean liner S. S. American, where nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney is en route from New York to England. Her pal Billy Crocker has stowed away to be near his love, Hope Harcourt, but the problem is Hope is engaged to the wealthy Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Joining this love triangle on board the luxury liner are Public Enemy #13, Moonface Martin and his sidekick-in-crime Erma. With the help of some elaborate disguises, tap-dancing sailors and good old-fashioned blackmail, Reno, and Martin join forces to help Billy in his quest to win Hope’s heart.

 

Nicholas Nickleby is newly employed as a teacher at Dotheboys' Hall in Yorkshire thanks to his manipulative and avaricious uncle Ralph, a businessman. There he witnesses the cruel treatment of boys at the hands of despotic headmaster Wackford Squeers and his wife. In coming to the defense of one boy, Smike, Nicholas assaults Squeers. Thinking he has killed him, he escapes with Smike to London and on to Portsmouth where the pair join the Crummles Theatre Company.

Ralph uses Nicholas's sister Kate as bait further to ensnare a young and wealthy lord who is already in his debt. Learning of the abuse Kate has been exposed to, Nicholas goes to London and her aid, but even greater dangers lurk around the corner. 

 

The first collaboration of famed partners Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Oklahoma! set the American musical theatre standard. Set in Western Indian Territory just after the turn of the 20th Century, the spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provides the backdrop for the love story between Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a beautiful farm girl. The road to true love is anything but smooth, but there is no doubt that these two romantics will succeed in making a life together. As the road to romance and the road to statehood converge, Curly and Laurey are poised to spend their new life together in a brand new state: O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A - OKLAHOMA!

 

 

In 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage—until the girls who painted them began to fall ill with a mysterious disease. Inspired by a true story, Radium Girls traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she fights for her day in court. Her chief adversary is her former employer, Arthur Roeder, an idealistic man who cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumors could have anything to do with the terrifying rash of illnesses among his employees. As the case goes on, however, Grace finds herself battling not just with the U.S. Radium Corporation, but with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire. Written with warmth and humor, Radium Girls is a fast-moving, highly theatrical ensemble piece for 9 to 10 actors, who play more than 30 parts—friends, co-workers, lovers, relatives, attorneys, scientists, consumer advocates, and myriad interested bystanders. Called a "powerful" and "engrossing" drama by critics, Radium Girls offers a wry, unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsessions with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science.

 

Little Dorothy Gale of Kansas, like so many girls her age, often dreams of what may lie over the rainbow. One day a tornado hits her home town and carries her away to Munchkinland - at the end of the rainbow. The Munchkins fete Dorothy as a heroine. Dorothy wants to go home to Kansas and seeks the help of the kind Sorceress of the North. Only the great Wizard of Oz, says the Sorceress, can help Dorothy get back to Kansas. 

Dorothy persuades three friends to accompany her on the trip to the Emerald City to see the Wizard. They are Scarecrow, who lacks a brain, he thinks; the Tin Woodman, who has no heart, and the Cowardly Lion, who would like to have some courage. 

The Wicked Witch of the West vows vengeance on Dorothy and does all she can to stop the friends from getting to the Emerald City. But they do reach it and manage to see the Wizard. He will only help them, he says, if they kill the Wicked Witch of the West, an apparently impossible task. They do succeed, they get all their wishes and the Wizard accompanies Dorothy to Kansas in a rocket ship. 

The Well-known score includes some of the best-loved songs in the American musical pantheon.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

 

Guys and Dolls is a musical romantic comedy involving the unlikeliest of Manhattan pairings: a high-rolling gambler and a puritanical missionary, a showgirl dreaming of the straight-and-narrow and a crap game manager who is anything but. Set in the Manhattan of Damon Runyon’s short stories, Guys and Dolls tells of con-man Nathan Detroit’s efforts to find a new life for his illegal, but notorious, crap game. When their trusty venue is found out by the police, Nathan has to find a new home for his crap game quickly - but he doesn’t have the dough to secure the one location he finds. Enter Sky Masterson, a high-rolling gambler willing to take on any honest bet with a high enough reward attached. Nathan bets Sky that he can’t take the “doll” of Nathan’s choosing to Havana, Cuba, with him on a date. When Sky agrees to the bet, Nathan chooses uptight Evangelist Sergeant Sarah Brown, head of Broadway’s Save-a-Soul Mission. Sky thinks he’s been duped, but he’s in for even more of a surprise when his efforts to woo Sarah are so successful that he falls in love with her himself! Guys and Dolls takes us from the bustle of Times Square to the dance clubs of Havana to the sewers of New York City as it demonstrates the great lengths to which a guy will go when he truly falls in love with a “doll.” Guys and Dolls feature some of Frank Loesser’s most memorable tunes, including the hilarious “Adelaide’s Lament,” the romantic “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” the exuberant “If I Were a Bell,” and the classic “Luck Be a Lady.”

 

The final collaboration between Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II, The Sound of Music, has become a play beloved around the world. Based on the true story of the Von Trapp Family Singers, this play captures a personal tale of growth and hope amidst the horrors of World War II. The Sound of Music tells the tale of young postulant Maria Rainer, whose free spirit has trouble fitting into the rules and regulations of Nonnberg Abbey. Commissioned by the Mother Abbess to serve as the governess for seven motherless children, Maria transforms the Von Trapp family home from a place of dour rules and regulations to one filled with joy, with laughter, and with music. In the process, Maria wins the hearts of all seven children--and their widower father, Captain Von Trapp. With the Mother Abbess’ blessing, and to the children’s delight, Maria follows her heart, and Maria and the Captain marry. Upon returning home from their honeymoon, Maria and the Captain learn that their beloved Austria has been taken over by the Nazis, and the retired Captain is asked to report for immediate service in the Nazi Navy. When the Nazis show up at their door to take Captain Von Trapp away, it is a family singing engagement (wily navigated by their friend Max) that buys the family time to make their narrow escape. Their Austrian convictions compel Maria, the Captain, and the children to flee over the mountains of Switzerland to safety, taking the words of the Mother Abbess to heart: “Climb Every Mountain… till you find your dream.”

 

In the insular, Puritan community of 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, a group of young girls are found dancing in the woods and immediately fall ill. When no earthly cause can be determined, the citizens of Salem suspect that some more sinister force may be at hand. As long-held grudges turn to violent disputes, humiliating secrets are exposed and disseminated, and the line between truth and pretense becomes increasingly blurry, the citizens’ dogged determination to root out evil becomes more dangerous than the evil itself. When the burden of proof is invisible and the crime too terrible to name, everyone becomes a suspect and no one is safe. The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s remarkable 1963 play, remains as relevant as ever and carries with it a stern warning: in every community torn by suspicion, the most dangerous threat may be the community itself.

 

Based on Hans Christian Andersen's beloved story, "The Ugly Duckling," Honk! tells the story of an odd-looking baby duck, Ugly, and his quest to find his mother. Soon after Ugly is born, he is seduced away by a wily Cat who wants to eat Ugly for dinner. Eventually, Ugly manages to escape but has no idea how to return home. He embarks on an adventure in which he encounters a beautiful swan, Penny, tangled in a fishing line. After saving her, the two birds fall in love. Penny, however, must return to her flock and fly south for the winter. Determined to find his family, Ugly journeys on, only to become frozen in the snow. Eventually, Ugly's mother finds him and her warm tears manage to thaw him out. He revives, and is surprised to discover he is now a handsome swan! Soon, Ugly is reunited with Penny and two swans decide to live the rest of their days in the same pond as Ugly's loyal mother.

Inspecting Carol

 

Based on the smash-hit 1991 Disney movie and dating back to a late 18th-century classic French fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast tells the story of Belle, a beautiful and intelligent young woman who feels out of place in her provincial French village. When her father is imprisoned in a mysterious castle, Belle’s attempt to rescue him leads to her capture by the Beast, a grisly and fearsome monster, who was long ago trapped in his gruesome form by an enchantress. The only way for the Beast to become human once again is if he learns to love and be loved in return. There is a time limit, too: once a magical rose loses all of its petals, all hope will be lost and he will stay a Beast forever. The Beast’s enchanted household--populated by such beloved characters as Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Chip--watch anxiously as Belle and the Beast grow to understand and befriend one another. Their feelings grow ever deeper as the clock ticks and petals continue to fall off the enchanted rose--will they confess their love for one another before it is too late?

 

A landmark in American drama, Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Our Town tells the story of a small town, Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, in order to tell us the story of every town, the whole world over. Narrated by the “Stage Manager”, we follow the Gibbs and Webb families, residents of Grover’s Corners, through twelve years of life changes -- from the mundane in Act I, “Daily Life,” to the romantic in Act II, “Love and Marriage,” to the devastating in Act III, “Death and Eternity.” Through the young lovers Emily and George, their strong and loving parents, and the many other Grover’s Corners’ locals, Wilder delivers universal truths about what it means to be human. “Oh, earth,” Emily Webb exclaims towards the play’s end, “you’re too wonderful for anyone to realize you.” With humor, wit, and exceptionally powerful storytelling, Our Town offers a unique opportunity for audience members to make precisely that realization.

 

Richard Rodgers once wrote that of all the musicals he wrote, Carousel was his personal favorite. This iconic American classic features some of the most powerful music ever written for the stage, including “If I Loved You”, “Mister Snow”, “June is Bustin Out All Over” and the iconic “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Carousel was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s second collaboration and was adapted from Ferenc Molnar’s 1909 play Lilliom. They transferred the Budapest setting of Lilliom to the New England coastline, where Carousel takes place. The story tells of a charming, roguish carnival barker, Billy Bigelow, and millworker Julie Jordan, both loners, who meet and fall in love. Their marriage ends up costing both their jobs and things go downhill from there. Billy’s desperation makes him violent against those he loves most and drives him to commit crimes in order to provide for his family. When Billy falls in with con-man Jigger Craigin, he ends up getting caught in the midst of an armed robbery and takes his own life. Billy is allowed to return to earth for one day fifteen years later, and he encounters the daughter he never knew. Louise is a lonely, friendless teenager, her father's reputation having haunted her throughout her young life. How Billy instills in both the child and her mother a sense of hope and dignity is a dramatic testimony to love’s transcendence. Voted the best musical of the 20th century by Time Magazine, Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Carousel is the classic American musical, spanning heaven and earth in its exploration of human frailty, resilience, and the power of forgiveness.

 

Tommy Turner has been married for ten years to Ellen, and he is quietly settled in a teaching job at Mid-Western University. This is the weekend of the Michigan game, and Joe Ferguson, the greatest football hero Mid-Western has ever had, comes to town and sees Ellen, his old sweetheart. In addition, Tommy is drawn into a controversy when a young intellectual writes an article in which he calls the board of trustees “fascists.” Tommy wants to read a letter to his composition class written by Vanzetti, and is about to join the ranks of the martyrs who have been fired because the trustees are shouting, “Red!” Ellen tries to dissuade Tommy from reading the letter, and he tells her to go with Joe and leave him to his books and his principles. Eventually, Tommy challenges Joe to fisticuffs after he has fortified himself with the proper courage. He steadfastly maintains his right to read the letter and to teach the young to think. Ellen sees him as a pretty good example of the male animal and stands up with him.

 

THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL is a swashbuckling action/adventure musical, based on Baroness Orczy’s famous 20th-century novel about the French Revolution and the battle for Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. With an epic, sweeping book by Nan Knighton and arousing and passionate score by Knighton and Frank Wildhorn, THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL is a colorful window into 18th century French and British history.

The show’s most popular numbers include “Into The Fire,” “When I Look At You,” “You Are My Home,” “She Was There,” and “I’ll Forget You.”

The Foreigner

 

By the acclaimed author of They Knew What They Wanted and The Silver Cord, this play opens some years after the death of acclaimed artist Christopher Bean with an exciting world in pursuit of his work and any details they can gather about his life and character. Dr. Haggett and his family of patrician New Englanders, own some of Bean's canvases and become avaricious when informed of their market value. It is Abby, the family servant, who ultimately overcomes them all: she possesses one of his greatest paintings which she cannot be persuaded into selling at any price. Her true appreciation of the art and the artist is revealed when she finally admits to having been his wife.

Oklahoma!

The Sound of Music

 

Our story begins in a faraway kingdom long ago. Due to an unhappy curse, King Sextimus is unable to speak. Meanwhile, his terror-of-a-wife, Queen Aggravain, has taken over control of the kingdom. Most importantly, in an attempt to keep Prince Dauntless single, she has decreed that only the princess that can pass her test may marry her son. Further, no one else in the kingdom may marry until Prince Dauntless does. Lady Larken and Sir Harry are extremely disturbed by this fact since Lady Larken is now pregnant with Sir Harry's baby.

Luckily, Sir Harry is able to find an amazing princess, Winnifred the Woebegone. She instantly catches the attention of Prince Dauntless, and in the end, is able to pass the Queen's supposedly impassable sensitivity test. When the Queen still tries to prevent the Prince Dauntless from marrying, he tells her to 'shut up' which ends up breaking the curse on the king. Now able to speak, King Sextimus regains his rightful position as leader of the kingdom, and all is well. Mary Rodger’s classic Once Upon A Mattress is a delightful musical that is sure to become a fan favorite in theatres everywhere!

Our Town

 

 

The Curious Savage is the story of an elderly widow named Mrs. Savage, whose husband has left her $10 million dollars. She intends to give the entire fortune away to people who wish to pursue their “foolish dreams,” but her stepchildren strongly object. To prevent her from doing away with their family’s wealth and ruining their legacy, they have her committed to a sanatorium called The Cloisters, and it is among the gentle residents there that she finds her true family. The Curious Savage is a warm comedy that compares the kindness and loyalty of psychiatric patients with the greed and hostility of so-called “normal people.” It opened in New York on Broadway in 1950 and played 31 performances with star Lillian Gish in the titular role.

 

Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular show, The Pirates of Penzance, is a rollicking, delightfully funny tale of a band of soft-tempered pirates. Mistakenly apprenticed to a pirate (instead of a pilot) by his nursemaid Ruth at the age of eight, the handsome Frederic is now twenty-one and, though quite fond of the group of joyous and fun-loving pirates, chooses to abandon his profession and “lead a blameless life henceforth,” dedicating himself instead to their eradication. Shortly after leaving them, he encounters a gaggle of beautiful maidens (one of whom, Mabel, steals his heart) and their father, the eccentric Major-General. The whole group has a run-in with the pirates themselves before escaping on the false premise that the Major-General is an orphan -- a fact these tenderhearted pirates simply cannot help but take into account, given the fact that the majority of them are orphans themselves and “know what it’s like.” Just as Frederic is ready to lead a band of lily-livered policemen to take out the Pirate King and his men, a secret is uncovered that will change his fate forever, but, naturally, all comes out right in the end. Beloved since its premiere in 1879, The Pirates of Penzance (or The Slave of Duty) is a delightful farce of a classic that is fun for all ages.

Arsenic and Old Lace

Guys and Dolls

 

This play tells in laughable style the tear-jerking story of Nellie Lovelace, an innocent country girl. Munro, the viper, has a wife in Ida Rhinegold, the belle of the New Haven Music Halls, but that does not prevent him from pursuing Nellie and tearing her from the arms of her dying mother (whom he has poisoned). Nor does it prevent him from driving Adam Oakhart, the blacksmith's son, to drink, from blackmailing rich Mrs. Asterbilt, or from bewitching her daughter, Leonie. There are a number of places in the plot where old-time songs are introduced. 

 

Even though Jimmy Smith has become a millionaire, due to his Bible publishing business, his wife, Sue, remains frugal and has little desire for money. Her main concern is raising their adopted daughter, Nanette, into a respectable lady. Since he's filthy rich, however, as has nothing to do with his wealth, Jimmy bankrolls the lives of three beautiful women. Jimmy realizes how bad it could be if Sue found out and got the wrong idea about his relationship with these three women. He enlists the help of his lawyer friend, Billy, to help him get out of the pickle in exchange for a generous sum. They make plans to meet all three girls in Atlantic City to have a little fun -- and also break off all further contact. Meanwhile, young Nanette, who has an untapped wild side, sneaks off to Atlantic City to has some fun before she settles down with her beloved, Tom Trainor. When Nanette runs into Tom on her travels, she is shocked -- and he is even more upset. Meanwhile, Sue and Billy's wife, Lucille, have -- unbeknownst to their husbands -- planned a quiet weekend away, and run into their husbands, along with the three girls. Chaos breaks loose -- the threat of scandal looms large, threatening to end love affairs and even marriages -- but ultimately everything is cleared up, and all is well as the curtain falls. With a delightful score that includes the famous "Tea for Two" and "I Want to Be Happy," the lighthearted ' No, No, Nanette was once called "The Happiest Show In Town."

Inspecting Carol

 

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s enchanting adaptation of the timeless fairytale, Cinderella, was their only musical originally composed for television. When the television program, starring Julie Andrews as Cinderella, first aired in 1957, it was the most widely viewed program in the history of the medium at that time. Since then, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella has continued to charm audiences in productions on stage and on television. Based upon the classic fairy tale, and particularly the French version Cendrillon ou la Petite Pantoufle de Verre, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s adaptation brings new life to the story of a young woman forced into servitude who dreams of – and achieves – a better life. Cinderella features some of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most beloved songs, including “In My Own Little Corner,” “Impossible,” and “Ten Minutes Ago.”

Anything Goes

Music Man

 

The biblical story of Joseph and his coat of many colors comes alive in the musical retelling. Joseph -- the favorite son of Jacob -- is blessed with vivid dreams that foretell the future. Sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, Joseph endures a series of adventures that challenge him to his core. Soon he finds himself belonging to Potiphar, whose wife makes advances toward Joseph and ultimately land him behind bars. However, news of Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams sparks the interest of the hilariously Elvis-like Pharaoh. Soon, Joseph is out of jail and well on his way to second-in-command. Eventually, Joseph’s brothers find themselves unknowingly groveling at the feet of the brother they betrayed. As they fail to even recognize him, Joseph tests their integrity. He ultimately reveals himself and the brothers are reconciled. A truly timeless Old Testament tale, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is set to a multitude of musical genres, spanning from country-western and calypso to bubble-gum pop and rock and roll.

Oklahoma!

Wizard of Oz

 

Rough-and-tumble Annie Oakley is the best shot around. A backwoods gal, Annie uses her skill to support her family by selling the game she hunts. When she’s discovered by Buffalo Bill and persuaded to join his Wild West Show, Annie is plucked from obscurity and becomes the toast of Europe. Annie meets her match in Frank Butler, Buffalo Bill’s leading man and star marksman. She falls head over heels for Frank, but soon eclipses him as the main attraction in the show. Her success with a gun makes trouble for Annie’s chance at romance. Annie Get Your Gun follows the journey of Annie and Frank, revealing their competitive natures as they vie for best shot - and each other’s hearts. This fictionalized version of the life of real-life sharpshooter Annie Oakley and her romance with Frank Butler boasts a score of Irving Berlin gems including “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, “I Got Lost in His Arms”, “I Got the Sun in the Mornin’”, “Anything You Can Do,” and “They Say It’s Wonderful.”

 

In 1790, Mary Girard is committed to an asylum. After Mary became pregnant by another man, her husband had her declared legally insane. Now, Mary sits in a chair as the "furies" dance around and impersonate people from her past. By the end of this haunting and highly theatrical piece, she has grown rather convincingly into her diagnosis. In 1790, Mary Girard is committed to an asylum. After Mary became pregnant by another man, her husband had her declared legally insane. Now, Mary sits in a chair as the "furies" dance around and impersonate people from her past. By the end of this haunting and highly theatrical piece, she has grown rather convincingly into her diagnosis.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

 

The Elephant Man is based on the life of John Merrick, who lived in London during the latter part of the nineteenth century. A horribly deformed young man – victim of rare skin and bone diseases – he becomes the star freak attraction in traveling sideshows. Found abandoned and helpless, he is admitted to London’s prestigious Whitechapel Hospital. Under the care of celebrated young physician Frederick Treves, Merrick is introduced to London society and slowly evolves from an object of pity to an urbane and witty favorite of the aristocracy and literati, only to be denied his ultimate dream – to become a man like any other.

Pirates of Penzance

 

Lucy Seward, whose father is the doctor in charge of an English sanitorium, has been attacked by some mysterious illness. Dr. Van Helsing, a specialist, believes that the girl is the victim of a vampire, a sort of ghost that goes about at night sucking blood from its victims. The vampire is at last found to be a certain Count Dracula, whose ghost is finally laid to rest in a striking and novel manner. The play is intended for all who love thrills in the theater and is appropriate for all groups.

 

Jesus Christ Superstar traces the last seven days of the life of Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas Iscariot. Judas fears that the compassionate movement with Jesus at its head has become a personality cult with many of Jesus' statements being taken up and twisted by his followers. Jesus must be stopped! Jesus is regularly ministered to by a street woman, Mary Magdalen but what is worse, he is being hailed as the Messiah. Judas meets with the Priests of Judaea and resulting from the meeting agrees to betray Jesus for which he will receive 30 pieces of silver in payment. Meanwhile, Jesus preaches throughout the land offering riches in the after-life - but not here on earth.

Pontius Pilate, a Roman Officer, dreams of a strange Galilean whose path will cross his own and cause Pilate to be despised. Jesus throws out the traders in the Temple and has a last supper with his followers when he lets Judas know he is aware of the coming betrayal. At Gethsemane, Jesus prays for strength for the coming ordeal but also for the deliverance that he knows is not possible.

When Judas brings the soldiers to Gethsemane Jesus does not resist arrest. When he is brought before Pilate, he is recognised as the subject of Pilate's own dreams. Pilate refuses to convict him and send Jesus to Herod. Judas, meanwhile, has committed suicide by hanging himself.

Back in Pilate's court, Herod, too, has refused to convict Jesus, but the rabble insists. Jesus is convicted and crucified.

 

Cabaret takes place from 1929-1930, a time when Berlin, in the midst of a post-World War I economic depression, is transitioning from a center of the underground, avant-garde cultural epicenter to the beginnings of Hitler’s totalitarian regime and the rise of the Nazi Party. Into this world enters Clifford Bradshaw, a struggling American writer looking for inspiration for his next novel. On his first night in Berlin, Cliff wanders into the Kit Kat Klub, a seedy nightclub overseen by the strange, omniscient and gender-bending Master of Ceremonies, “the Emcee.” Here, Cliff meets Sally Bowles, a vivacious, talented cabaret performer, and an utterly lost soul. Sally and Cliff begin a relationship, which blossoms unexpectedly into a dream-like romance. As time passes, however, the situation in Berlin changes from exciting and vital to ominous and violent; Ernst, Cliff’s first German friend, turns out to be an up-and-coming member of the Nazi Party, and Herr Schultz, a fellow boarder at Fraulein Schneider’s guest house (and Schneider’s fiancee), is the victim of an Anti-Semitic hate crime. When he finds out that Sally is pregnant, Cliff decides that they must leave for America at once, before things get any worse. Sally, afraid, confused, and unsure that she’ll ever really be able to trade the sexy, illicit cabaret lifestyle for motherhood, gets an abortion, and tells Cliff that he must leave without her. With a distinctly Brechtian dose of provocation and a score featuring songs that have become classics of the American Musical Theater, Cabaret is a fierce, meaty musical that pushes the boundaries of the form and literally holds “the mirror up to nature.”

Godspell 

 

Edna and Mel are a struggling, middle-aged couple living in New York City. Mel has just lost his job, the walls of their apartment are much too thin, and the city is in the middle of a heatwave. Their troubles escalate when Mel suffers a nervous breakdown. Mel becomes slightly paranoid, the apartment is robbed, and their neighbors, well, they don’t help matters much. Throughout it all, Edna does her best to support her husband, even getting a job of her own after Mel is fired. Her efforts aren’t enough, however, and Mel’s siblings are called in as backup. Quickly, in a crowded apartment in the most crowded city in the world, all hell breaks loose, and it becomes apparent that the only thing Mel and Edna can rely on are the people closest to them.

 

The plot concerns Joe and Jerry, unemployed musicians in 1929 Chicago, who inadvertently witness a gangland shootout and have to run for their lives. The only way out of town they can find is to shave their legs, put on wigs, and join an all-female band heading for Miami. Joe/Josephine soon falls in love with the gorgeous blonde singer, Sugar. Meanwhile, Jerry/Daphne tries to avoid the advances from millionaire Osgood Fielding.

 

A cascade of comedy and a solid hit on Broadway, this affair takes place inside an American embassy behind the Iron Curtain. An American tourist – a caterer by trade – and his wife and daughter rush into the embassy two steps ahead of the police who suspect them of spying and picture-taking. It’s not much of a refuge, for the ambassador is absent and his son, now in charge, has been expelled from a dozen countries and the continent of Africa. Nevertheless, they carefully and frantically plot their escape, and the ambassador’s son and the caterer’s daughter even have time to fall in love.

 

A study about the effect that the hero-worship of an American athlete has on its victim and his family.

Published in Three Dark Comedies (Plus 5 One-Act Plays And 13 Mini Plays).

 

Successful Long Island businessman Joe Benjamin is a modern-day ‘Job’ with a demanding wife, ungrateful children, and wise-cracking household employees. Just when it seems things couldn’t get any worse, he is visited by Sidney Lipton, a.k.a. A Messenger from God (and compulsive film buff) with a mission: test Joe’s faith and report back to “the Boss.” The jokes and Tests of Faith fly fast and furious as Neil Simon spins a contemporary morality tale like no other in this hilarious comedy.

 

This musical follows the exploits of Molly Brown, whose feisty determination to rise out of poverty leads her from the backwoods of Hannibal, Missouri, to the palaces of Europe. Along the way, she marries a lucky prospector (Johnny), enters the highest echelons of Monte Carlo society, survives the sinking of the Titanic and, most importantly, earns the approval she so desperately seeks of those “Beautiful People of Denver.”

 

It is the evening before Gar's departure to Philadelphia, and he shows his joyfulness at the way he dances with his housekeeper, Madge. When he moves to his room, he begins having a conversation with Private Gar. They act out exaggerated, imagined scenarios about his future life in America. However, his cheerful mood takes a turn after his father, S.B., calls for him. Public responds gruffly out of habit. As Private and Public continue to converse in his bedroom, Public begins reminiscing about his mother, Maire, and his ex-girlfriend, Kate.

The scene flashes back to when Kate and Gar decided to get married, but as Gar was waiting to ask Senator Doogan for her hand in marriage, he finds out that she has a more financially stable suitor waiting for her, leading him to flee in embarrassment and insecurity at his own life. Madge calls him out for tea, and Gar sits down at the table with S.B. Private gives a witty but harsh commentary making fun of the way S.B. lives his life so predictably. As they eat their tea, Gar's old schoolteacher, Master Boyle, enters the room. He comes to give Gar a book of poems and gives him some advice about how to act in America. Despite his good intentions for visiting, he ends up asking Gar for money to buy a drink at the pub. As he is leaving, though, he tells Gar that he'll miss him, causing Gar to become emotionally affected and have doubts about leaving Ballybeg.

Gar is lying on his bed, and Private is keeping up a frantic chatter to distract Public from having thoughts about staying in Ballybeg. Gradually, the conversation turns to Aunt Lizzy, Gar's aunt who invites him to stay with her in Philadelphia. The scene turns back to the past when Aunt Lizzy, her husband Con, and their friend Ben visit Gar. Lizzy is a very erratic woman, taking charge of the conversation while Ben and Con remain silent for the majority of the time. She reveals that she is unable to have children of her own, and begs Gar to come live with them in America. When the scene flashes back to the present, Gar's group of friends, Ned, Tom, and Joe come to visit. Gar tries very hard to get them to show a sign that they'll miss him, but no one except Joe brings up his departure. As the Boys get ready to leave, though, Ned gives Gar a belt. Kate visits soon after, but the sight of her brings up emotions in Gar, causing him to rant about how much he wants to leave Ballybeg.

Gar, Madge, and S.B. are reciting the rosary. Private Gar is not paying attention and instead begins recalling a pleasant memory of him and S.B. on a boat when he was younger. When Public asks S.B. about it, they are interrupted by the Canon's arrival. The Canon is the parish priest in Ballybeg. He and S.B. begin playing a game and have a very mundane conversation. Private Gar complains about how the Canon is supposed to be a guiding figure but instead does not do his job.

In the early morning, S.B. is sitting at the dining table and staring at Gar's door. Gar emerges and takes up the conversation of the boat with him again. However, S.B. does not remember the boat, causing Gar to run into the shop. When Madge appears, S.B. reveals that he remembers another happy memory of the two, where a young Gar had declared that he wanted to work in his father's shop instead of going to school. He and Gar never manage to show each other their emotions. When S.B. leaves, Gar comes out to meet Madge. They say goodnight to each other, and as Madge walks away, Private asks Public why he has to leave, to which Public replies that he doesn't know.

Guys and Dolls

 

See How They Run is set in the idyllic village of Merton-cum-Middlewick, England during the 1940s. It's World War II, and the village inhabitants are preparing themselves for the imminent threat of Nazi invasion. Meanwhile, resident spinster, Miss Skillon, becomes convinced that her beloved vicar's actress wife is having an affair and attempts to expose her. Add an escaped German prisoner of war, a handsome actor, the visiting Bishop of Lax, a rotund locum priest, and some meddling neighbors and hilarious confusion and mayhem result.

 

Set against the dramatic background of an idyllic South Pacific island during WWII, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific intertwines the themes of romance, duty, and prejudice to create a story that is all at once hilarious, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking. Based on the anecdotes of a real-life U.S. Navy commander who was stationed on an island, the musical follows two intercultural love stories: Nellie, a spunky nurse from Arkansas, falls in love with Emile, a French plantation owner on the island who has two children from his late Polynesian wife; at the same time, U.S. Lieutenant Cable falls for a beautiful island native named Liat. Both Americans find themselves struggling to reconcile their own cultural prejudices with their amorous feelings, all the while under the dark cloud of a war that is coming ever closer to their island paradise.

 

Among the comic obstacles facing Miss Burgess in producing her first play at the high school are a grouchy janitor, disappearing scripts, crossed up romances, a stage-struck heroine and her bewildered boyfriend, an actor with a swollen head, a disgruntled athlete who feels out of place on stage, a flamboyant professional actress with advice, a banker's daughter driven to theft and, perhaps most unexpected of all, a romance for Miss Burgess herself! The solution to the mounting complications sets forth a worthwhile theme that will further satisfy any audience.

Carousel

Up the Down Staircase

"Hi, Teach!" are the first words to greet attractive Sylvia Barrett. There's a special happiness in walking into the still-empty classroom and for the first time writing her name on the blackboard. Students pour into the classroom—cautious, testing, challenging. Simultaneously, there's a blizzard of paperwork, warnings, contradictory orders, indecipherable instructions. Frantic, Sylvia begins to fear she doesn't even understand the language. An experienced teacher translates: "Keep on file in numerical order" means throw in the wastebasket. "Let it be a challenge" means you're stuck with it. "Interpersonal relationships" means a fight between kids. And "It has come to my attention" means you're in trouble. Soon Sylvia finds herself the most involved person in the school—involved in the start of a romance and in a near war with a discipline-over-everything administrator, but, most of all, involved in the unexpected, sometimes heartbreaking problems of her students. The simple stage arrangement makes the play easy to produce and serves to convey a sense of the whole school. One critic said, "Seldom has a humorous work been at the same time so important."

Music Man

 

This classic comedy opens in Oscar Madison’s slovenly apartment as a group of his friends is deep into a game of poker. It is no wonder that Oscar is divorced if the condition of his apartment is any indication. The last of the group, Felix Ungar, arrives late and depressed: he and his wife have recently separated and he is trying to hold it together. He is a desperate sort of man,  and his friends fear for his mental state. Since Felix has nowhere to go, Oscar invites him to move in with him until he has a chance to figure things out.

At first, Felix’s love of order is the perfect answer to Oscar’s messy house, careless spending, and gambling problems. But soon his fussiness and hypochondriac ways prove extremely annoying to those around him, especially Oscar, who has to decide whether to let his friend stay and drive him crazy or throw him out to retain his sanity. Hilarity ensues as these two very polar-opposite friends have to figure out how to reconcile their differences.

 

It’s a typical day in wretched and picturesque Dogpatch, USA, and the local yokels are up to their usual tricks: brewing moonshine, cuddling pigs, and collecting unemployment. Beautiful Daisy Mae is pining after strong handsome Li’l Abner, an unsentimental youth who escapes her pursuit to go fishing. But when Dogpatch is chosen for an atomic test site, and Daisy Mae is claimed in marriage by dirty wrestler Earthquake McGoon, Li’l Abner has to step up and fight for the things he doesn’t know he loves. Guided and guarded by traveling preacher Marryin’ Sam, Li’l Abner travels to Washington, DC, where he tangles with a gaggle of goofy scientists, unscrupulous capitalist General Bullmoose, and scheming minx Appassionata Von Climax. Experience the suspense of a Cornpone Meeting, the romantic free-for-all that is the Sadie Hawkins Day race--where the girls put on their running shoes to catch themselves a groom--and the shenanigans that ensue when a snooty Washington, DC, engagement party is invaded by Hillbillies. Based on Andy Capp’s beloved comic strip, with a clever book by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, and catchy score by Johnny Mercer and Gene de Paul, Li’l Abner is a rousing, bombastic, tuneful American musical, which is equal parts slapstick comedy, knowing government satire, and the tale of young love.

 

Struggling sculptor Brindsley Miller and his fiance, Carol, are having a party with the aim of impressing Carol's bombastic father, Colonel Melkett, and millionaire Georg Bamberger. They hope the two men might purchase some of Brindsley's sculptures. Without permission, they have borrowed the furniture and effects of their fussy neighbor, Harold, to make their own flat more presentable. Just before the guests arrive, the main fuse blows, plunging the flat into darkness. What follows is a frantic romp with unexpected visitors, mistaken identities, and surprises lurking in every dark corner! Only we, the audience, can see the action that ensues in the dark. As you might expect, the results are chaotic, disastrous “ and very funny, indeed! This Peter Shaffer one-act is often performed as a double-bill with another one-act he wrote, entitled The White Liars.

 

Jerry Herman’s energetic Hello, Dolly! is a musical filled with charisma and with heart. Matchmaker Dolly Levi is a widow, a matchmaker, and also a professional meddler --but everything changes when she decides that the next match she needs to make is to find someone for herself. Set in New York City at the turn of the century, Hello Dolly! is boisterous and charming from start to finish. Hello, Dolly! features such memorable songs as “Before the Parade Passes By,” “It Only Takes a Moment,” “Put on Your Sunday Clothes,” and - of course - the title number, “Hello, Dolly!” Dolly herself is one of the strongest and richest starring roles for a woman ever written for the musical theatre, and famous Dolly Levis have included Carol Channing, Ethel Merman, Pearl Bailey, Mary Martin, Barbra Streisand, and most recently, Bette Midler and Bernadette Peters.

 

Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy focusing on a pair of newlyweds, Corie and Paul, as they begin married life in a tiny, 5th-floor walkup apartment in a Manhattan brownstone. Paul is a strait-laced attorney; Corie has a far more spontaneous, free spirit. As the young couple contends with a lack of heat, a skylight that leaks snow, several long flights of stairs, oddball neighbor Victor Velasco, and Corie's well-meaning mother, they must also reconcile their own personal differences in how they approach life's challenges. Adjusting to married life isn't so easy!

 

The greatest star, the ultimate people person…. the story of beloved comedienne Fanny Brice begins with her irrepressible youth in New York’s Lower East Side, where the stage-struck teenager clowns her way through burlesque and vaudeville, with dreams of making it big. despite the discouragement of her friends and neighbors, who tell her that she isn’t pretty enough for the stage. Fanny, with her powerhouse voice and incredible ambition, knows better. After meeting Nick Arnstein, a handsome and charismatic gambling man with a gentle side, Fanny immediately falls in love. And with her big break in the Ziegfeld Follies on the horizon, the stardom she has always longed for is within her grasp. Her only problem….. the elusive Nick Arnstein, ignorant of her affection, is always leaving town on some “business” venture. After a romantic meeting in Baltimore, Nick and Fanny finally confess their feelings, and Fanny boldly abandons the Follies to follow Nick across the ocean. When Nick wins a bankroll, the newly-wealthy couple happily marry. No honeymoon lasts forever, though, and Fanny has to choose between the brilliant show business career she loves or the adored husband who increasingly resents her success. A triumphant story of starry success and a bittersweet story of love, Jule Styne and Bob Merrill’s Funny Girl is a musical theatre classic that celebrates the exuberant and elegant flavor of Broadway in the 1910s and 20s and the comic genius of Fanny Brice. Featuring such beloved songs as “People”, “Don’t Rain on My Parade”, and “Sadie, Sadie.”

Don't Drink the Water

 

Bringing Charles Dickens’ beloved novel to life, Lionel Bart’s Oliver! takes audiences on a wild adventure through Victorian England. Join young, orphaned Oliver Twist as he navigates London’s underworld of theft and violence, searching for a home, a family, and - most importantly - for love. When Oliver is picked up on the street by a boy named the Artful Dodger, he is welcomed into a gang of child pickpockets led by the conniving, but charismatic, Fagin. When Oliver is falsely accused of a theft he didn’t commit, he is rescued by a kind and wealthy gentleman, to the dismay of Fagin’s violent sidekick, Bill Sykes. Caught in the middle is the warm-hearted Nancy, who is trapped under Bill’s thumb, but desperate to help Oliver, with tragic results. With spirited, timeless songs like “As Long as He Needs Me,” “Food, Glorious Food,” and “Where is Love,” Oliver! is a musical classic.

The Odd Couple

West Side Story

 

The story is written using the method of framing: the narrator tells a bit about his meeting with his friends, and one of them tells him a story about another man. These two stories are held in the plot. The main events take place in 1931, and the frame story – some years later. It begins with the narrator’s meeting with his 2 school friends: Rutherford and Wyland. Their conversation accidentally comes to the event which took place some years ago: an unknown man stole a plane with 4 passengers and hid in an unknown direction. When the narrator and Rutherford stayed alone, Rutherford said that one of the passengers – Hugh Conway – a man, whom both of them knew long before. And Rutherford said that he saw him after this accident - in a hospital in China. He gave the narrator the written story, where he described all adventures which Conway told him about. Here the second, main, story begins.

Hugh Conway, a 37-year-old member of the British diplomatic service, flies with 3 people in the plane: Mallinson, his young coadjutor; an American, Barnard; and a British missionary, Miss Brinklow. They are evacuated from India to Pakistan. But during the flight they notice that their route is wrong: the pilot goes completely in the other direction. Mallinson starts to panic, as for the others – they stay quite calm. Mallinson goes to the pilot’s room and sees that the pilot isn’t that man who was to be there.

The passengers understand that they’re in a trap. The pilot brings them to the wild mountainous place in Tibet and trying to land there he doesn’t manage it: the plane gets into the crash and the pilot dies. But before he says some words in Chinese, which only Conway understands, ‘cause he’s the one who knows this language. The man says to find a shelter in Shangri-La. Sometime later they meet Chang and his people – they escort them to the lamasery Shangri-La. Conway and his friends are surprised that Chang, who lives in the wilderness, far to civilization, perfectly knows English, is very polite and “modern”. They’re surprised much more when they come to the lamasery – they find the central heating, modern baths, musical instruments and other conveniences of the modern world there. While Mallinson is angry for all this situation and wants to go back home as early as possible, Conway and other heroes feel themselves good there: Conway is amazed by the nature of the valley, the local mountain Karakal (“blue moon”), people and their mentality; Barnard, as it turns out sometime later, isn’t actually Barnard, but Chalmers Bryant – the famous impostor, who is wanted by the police of many countries, so staying in Tibet, he is in safe; miss Brinklow thinks that it’s her calling – to bring Christianity to this godless place.

Mallinson insists on their coming back to civilization, and Chang says to him that nobody from the village wants to escort them so far, the only way out is to wait for porters who bring them goods from the outer world from time to time. This waiting may last for some months, but there are no other variants for the heroes. So, they wait. They get acquainted with local culture, people and philosophy. As for the actual “authorities” of the settlement – the Lamas, they don’t meet guests, this honor is just for enlightened people. But in some time Chang says to Conway that the High Lama wants to see him, what is exceedingly strange and honorable. During this meeting Conway gets to know a lot about the structure of the settlement (what stayed in secret for the four heroes before), about the Lama himself: he occurred to be a European warrior, who came there near 250 years ago. The Lama tells Conway about the philosophy of the lamasery – they don’t appreciate time as much as Europeans do, they do everything moderately, and that is their key to happiness, to longevity (the Lamas live for hundreds of years there). After this meeting, there are a lot of meeting between them, which affect Conway more and more greatly. Except this, he meets here a beautiful Chinese girl – Lo-Tsen – and falls in love with her, but she seems to not answer him the same.

During one meeting of the High Lama and Conway lama says Conway that he is his successor and dies. But when Conway comes back to his house, there Mallinson waits for him and says that the waited porters are near the Shangri-La and the young man’s love – Lo-Tsen is already there, also waits for them. Conway understands why the Chinese haven’t answered him for his love. He doesn’t know what to do: to stay in paradise on the Earth or to go home. Mallinson persuades him to choose the second variant. Here the main story gets to its end. The narrator talks with the author of the written story – Rutherford – about his hero. They talk about his life know and both of them come together in guesses that he goes back to his paradise now.

Bye, Bye, Birdie

Alas Babylon

 

The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most famous and haunting stories to emerge from the 20th Century. The memoirs of this young Jewish girl, forced to hide for nearly two years to escape Nazi persecution, are an essential part of how we remember one of the darkest periods of our human history. Wendy Kesselman’s adaptation of the original, Pulitzer Prize award-winning script by Goodrich and Hackett draws from previously unpublished parts of Anne Frank’s real-life diary, allowing the audience to experience Anne in a way that breathes life into this passionate, complex young woman, allowing us to share her relatable experience of adolescence as a familiarly modern teenager. For nearly two years, Anne, her father, mother, and sister, joined with the Van Daan family, to hide in a secret annex space above her father’s former office in Amsterdam, as the Nazis deported the Jews of Holland to their deaths. In her secret attic, Anne comes of age: she laughs, plays, fights with her mother, and falls in love for the first time. In spite of her oppressive circumstances and the horrors that surround her, Anne’s spirit transcends, as she voices her belief, “in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.” Anne’s dynamism, her luminous spirit, and her story of resilience continue to resonate deeply, making her story as vital today as when her diary first was published.

 

Seventeenth Summer (1942) is Irish-born American Maureen Daly’s debut young-adult novel. Set during summertime in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the story follows seventeen-year-old Angeline “Angie” Morrow. When Angie is asked out on her first date by popular basketball player Jack Duluth, the two begin to fall in love. However, when Angie knows she must leave Wisconsin to attend college in Chicago, Jack decides to move to Oklahoma to help run his uncle’s bakery. Despite their feelings for each other, Angie and Jack realize they are too young to get married and their love goes unrequited. Thematically the novel deals with first love, symbolized through the growth and death of plants as summer turns to fall. Additional themes of propriety, peer pressure, social status, and coming of age are also explored.

Jenny Kissed Me

 

 

 

Sixteen-year-old Penny is walking around with a book on her head and a dreamy look in her eyes and practicing elocution with her mouth full of pebbles, preparing herself to play the star role in the movie version of a popular novel. The author is searching the country for his ideal—he's coming to town tomorrow—and Penny just knows she'll be chosen!

What Penny doesn't know is that Sally, the new maid, is a former child movie star, now grown up, whom a clever publicity agent has planted there to be miraculously "discovered" by the author. So Penny ignores Sally (who practices dance steps when no one's around), and she ignores the talent of her quiet, unselfish older sister, Mavis, who has small parts in radio. Penny and Joanna have their hands full with preparations … for Penny intends to take her girlfriend, Joanna, with her to Hollywood. Penny and Joanna give up playing in the tennis tournament with their boyfriends, Greg and Kerry. They tell them they are putting childish things like tennis behind them. Greg and Kerry confer with Gram and decide to outwit Penny and Joanna by posing as the great author and a brunette model.

They do—and the girls fall for it! A riotous scene follows in which Henri, the clothes designer, shows off his latest creation on attractive models for Penny to consider for her descent on Hollywood. But the disguised Greg and Kerry poke fun at each lovely outfit and finally kick the indignant Henri out the door. Then, just as Penny is prepared to say "thumbs down" on famous authors—Dad shows up with the real author. But the plans for the "discovery' of Sally go awry, for Sally has fallen in love with Mark, the older brother, whose one ambition is to run a chicken farm! That seems to Sally a lot more glamorous than a screen career, for she remembers the real Hollywood of hard work and disappointments. Sally and Mark plan their little white cottage, with its picket fence and roses, and about this time their first chicken triumphantly lays an egg! In the midst of all the excitement, the author does choose a star for his play—but the girl he chooses surprises everyone. But by this time, Penny and Joanna have changed their minds again and paired off for the tennis tournament with Greg and Kerry. And Gram has given the mother a piece of her mind for running about giving lectures on child-rearing when she should be looking after her own family. This is a play that has everything, youth, charm, funny incidents, and good parts for all. It is no surprise to us that it is one of the most popular plays in the country.

 

Stampeding elephants! Raging typhoons! Runaway trains! Unabashedly slapstick! Hold onto your seats for the original amazing race! Join fearless adventurer Phileas Fogg and his faithful manservant as they race to beat the clock! Phileas Fogg has agreed to an outrageous wager that puts his fortune and his life at risk. With his resourceful servant Passepartout, Fogg sets out to circle the globe in an unheard-of 80 days. But his every step is dogged by a detective who thinks he's a robber on the run. Danger, romance, and comic surprises abound in this whirlwind of a show as five actors portraying 39 characters traverse seven continents in Mark Brown's adaptation of one of the great adventures of all time.

 

Danny Churchill gets shipped out to the dilapidated family ranch in Arizona because his family thinks a year out there is just what he needs. Danny arrives in a taxi and the bill is astronomic! But how else would you get from New York to Arizona? The caretaker views Danny, appalled. Danny quickly proves he has ideas of his own. He turns the place into a swank dude ranch and soon it's lively enough with eastern girls and singing cowboys. But it's the western girl, not any of the imports, who interests Danny. Just as Molly is beginning to wonder if Danny really means it, another New York visitor arrives. Girl Crazy is packed with scenes that are almost vaudevillian in their speed and humor. Your audiences will delight in the fun of the hypnotism scene, the wonderful scene where the real Indian comes to the aid of the counterfeit Indian, and the comic dialogue in which the taxi driver makes the grim discovery of just why he has been elected sheriff. It all works out and it's fun all the way!

 

Green Valley

Our Hearts Were Young and Gay

 

 

Willoughby is a stuffy, too-dutiful young man who abides by everything his three maiden aunts tell him. Willy is his impish inner self - his true self if Willoughby would only realize it and unbend. Despite initial resistance on Willoughby's part, Willy is soon helping him to assert himself - enough to notice girls! And that's when the problems really begin. With Willy cheering him on, Willoughby manages to solve not only this problem but is even able to inform his aunts that he's going to live his life as he wants to - in fact, Willoughby and Willy become one.

One Punch Judy