We’ve got another show with at least a couple Pinehurst connections coming up at Seattle Musical Theatre. The Stage Manager, Bradley Stieger and the Sound Engineer, Caleb Dietzel both live in Pinehurst. I’ve been excited about this one since I heard it was coming to Seattle Musical Theatre since I missed it on my trip to New York.
WHEN
February 11-March 5
Friday-Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sundays at 2pm
Thursday, March 3 at 7:30pm
TICKETS
$40/$35 general admission
$35/$30 students
Tickets can be purchased at http://www.seattlemusicaltheatre.org or by calling 206-363-2809
The roaring 20’s are back and funnier than ever! Seattle Musical Theatre presents the first Seattle based production of The Drowsy Chaperone February 11-March 5 at their theatre in Sandpoint Magnuson, directed by Gregory Award winner Brandon Ivie. The Drowsy Chaperone defied the odds and became a Tony Award winning smash on Broadway in 2006.
The Drowsy Chaperone is the tale of a modern day musical theater maven, known simply as “Man in Chair.” To chase his blues away, he drops the needle on his favorite LP – the 1928 madcap musical comedy, The Drowsy Chaperone. As his hi-fi crackles, the musical magically bursts to life on-stage. We learn the tale of the pampered Broadway starlet who wants to give up showbiz to get hitched, and her producer’s attempts to sabotage her impending nuptials. Hilarious antics ensue with her chaperone, the debonair groom, the dizzy chorus girl, the Latin lover and a pair of gangsters masquerading as pastry chefs. Man in Chair’s love of The Drowsy Chaperone speaks to anyone who has ever been transported by the theater.
The Drowsy Chaperone got its start as an odd thing: a wedding present at a stag party. Bob Martin (who would later become the bookwriter and star as Man in Chair) received The Drowsy Chaperone as a wedding present for he and his wife, Janet Van De Graaf (both of whom are now characters in the musical). Their friends knew of Mr. Martin’s obsession with musicals and wrote him and his wife one. It was such a hit that they remounted it at the Vancouver Fringe Festival. After transferring to a larger theatre in Canada, it was picked up by producer Roy Miller, went through rewrites, opened in Los Angeles and then transferred to Broadway. The original production won nominated for 13 Tony Awards and won five, including Best Book and Best Score, and played 674 performances.
Seattle Musical Theatre (formerly Civic Light Opera) is conveniently located in Magnuson Park, at 7120 62nd Ave NE. Parking is plentiful and free. Performances are Friday through Sunday, with one Thursday night offering. Tickets are $30-$40 with special rates for seniors, students and group sales. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.seattlemusicaltheatre.org or by calling the box office at 206-363-2809.
Starring as the central character, Man in Chair, is one of Seattle’s busiest actors, Jon Lutyens. With credits ranging from Theater Schmeater to ArtsWest to The 5th Avenue Theatre, Jon was seen this summer in Book-It’s Gregory Award- winning production of The Cider House Rules and is currently in Village Theatre’s Anne of Green Gables. Joining Jon will be a cast of established and up-and-coming Seattle musical theatre talent including: Bradetta Vines (The Group Theatre’s Falsettos, SMT’s Mama in Chicago), Danny Kam (The Yellow Wood, SMT’s SecondSeason Don Giovanni: A New Musical), Buddy Mahoney (ArtsWest’s A Tuna Christmas, Village’s The Music Man), Ada McAllister (INTIMAN’s Three Sisters), Vince Wingerter (Village’s 42nd Street), Shermona Mitchell (SCT’s High School Musical), as well as the Seattle performing premieres of Taylor Niemeyer and recent American Musical Dramatic Academy graduate Bo Mellinger as the bride Janet Van De Graaf and groom Robert Martin, respectively.
Directing the show will be Contemporary Classics Artistic Director and Gregory Award winner Brandon Ivie in his final Seattle directorial credit before relocating to New York City. “I’m so pleased to be coming back to SMT, where I had one of my first directing jobs out of college,” said Ivie. Ivie won the 2010 Gregory Award for Person to Watch and has been singled out for his productions of the contemporary musicals The Yellow Wood, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Zanna, Don’t!, as well as the popular New Voices series at ACT Theatre.
Joining Ivie on the production team is local actor and choreographer Troy Wageman (5th Ave’s Cabaret, Village’s The Full Monty), SMT’s Resident Music Director Paul Linnes, scenic designer Shaun Albrechtson, costume designer Dodi Rose Zooropa and lighting designer Richard Schaefer.
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