Winter 2011
A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens

Directed by Kristin Aitchison

Summer 2011
The Sound of Music

Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

The final collaboration between Rodgers & Hammerstein was destined to become the world’s most beloved musical. When a postulant proves too high-spirited for the religious life, she is dispatched to serve as governess for the seven children of a widowed naval Captain. Her growing rapport with the youngsters, coupled with her generosity of spirit, gradually captures the heart of the stern Captain, and they marry. Upon returning from their honeymoon they discover that Austria has been invaded by the Nazis, who demand the Captain’s immediate service in their navy. The family’s narrow escape over the mountains to Switzerland on the eve of World War II provides one of the most thrilling and inspirational finales ever presented in the theatre. The motion picture version remains the most popular movie musical of all time.

Directed by Kristin Aitchison

2009
Hello, Dolly!

Book by Michael Stewart
Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman

HELLO, DOLLY! is an ebullient and irresistible story of the joy of living, glittering with happy songs, shining with loving scenes, and alive with the personality of one of the most fabulous characters on the musical stage. It’s the story of Mrs. Dolly Levi’s efforts to marry Horace Vandergelder, the well-known half-a-millionaire, and send his money circulating among the people. Along the way she also succeeds in playing matchmaker to a host of other couples.

Dolly tracks Vandergelder from Yonkers, to New York, then out into the streets of the city, and finally to the most elegant and expensive restaurant in town, the Harmonia Gardens. There, Dolly is greeted by the waiters, cooks, doormen and wine stewards in one of the most famous songs in the history of American musical comedy, Hello, Dolly!

What happens in the end? Dolly gets her man, of course. Even makes him glad she caught him. Dolly leaves the stage at the end of Act II with a wink to the audience as she takes a peep into Vandergelder’s bulging cash register, and promises that his fortune will soon be put to good use.

Directed by Mike Nazal

2008
Urinetown, The Musical

Book and Lyrics by Greg Kotis
Music and Lyrics by Mark Hollmann

One of the most uproariously funny musicals in recent years, URINETOWN is a hilarious tale of greed, corruption, love, and revolution in a time when water is worth its weight in gold. In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity’s most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides he’s had enough, and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom! Inspired by the works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, URINETOWN is an irreverently humorous satire in which no one is safe from scrutiny. Praised for reinvigorating the very notion of what a musical could be, URINETOWN catapults the “comedic romp” into the new millennium with its outrageous perspective, wickedly modern wit, and sustained ability to produce gales of unbridled laughter.

Directed by Dana Kelly

2007
Fiddler on the Roof

Book by Joseph Stein
Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick

Attempting to live a normal life filled with Jewish traditions in early twentieth century Russia, Tevye, a dairyman, is searching for appropriate husbands for his three eldest daughters – Tzeital, Hodel and Chava. In a break of tradition, his daughters refuse to accept the wishes of the matchmaker, Yente, and their father. Instead, they marry men that they love. Meanwhile, Russians are instigating terrible pogroms against the Jewish people in Russia. In the end, the Jews of Anatevka are forced to leave their homes and Tevye is determined to start a better life in a new land.

Directed by Dana Kelly

2006
The Music Man

By Meredith Wilson

An affectionate paean to Smalltown, U.S.A. of a bygone era, The Music Man follows fast-talking traveling salesman Harold Hill as he cons the people of River City, Iowa into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys’ band he vows to organize – this despite the fact he doesn’t know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain’s fall.

This award-winning, critically acclaimed Broadway classic is an all-American institution, thanks to is quirky characters, charmingly predictable dramatic situations, and one-of-a-kind, nostalgic score of rousing marches, barbershop quartets and sentimental ballads which have become popular standards. By turns wicked, funny, warm, romantic and touching, “The Music Man” is family entertainment at its best.

Directed by Dana Kelly

2005
Into the Woods

Book by James Lapine
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

An ambivalent Cinderella? Little Red Ridinghood in a wolfskin cloak? A Prince Charming with a roving eye? A Witch…who raps? They’re all among the cockeyed characters in James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s charming fractured fairy tale. When a Baker and his Wife learn they’ve been cursed with childlessness by the Witch next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell, a white cow, a red cape, a golden slipper, and hair as yellow as corn. The faces and names are familiar. Jack (of beanstalk fame), Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and others inhabit a neighborhood near the woods in which witches and bakers are next-door neighbors, handsome princes from once-parallel fables are competitive (and equally vain) brothers, and all the stories intersect through unexpected new plot twists. What begins as a lively irreverent fantasy becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.

Directed by Dana Kelly

2004
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Lyrics by Tim Rice
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

The Biblical saga of Joseph and his coat of many colors comes to vibrant life in this delightful musical parable. Joseph, his father’s favorite son, is a boy blessed with prophetic dreams. When he is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and taken to Egypt, Joseph endures a series of adventures in which his spirit and humanity are continually challenged. He is purchased by Potiphar where thwarting advances from Potiphar’s wife lands him in jail. When news of Joseph’s gift to interpret dreams reaches the Pharaoh (wryly and riotously depicted as Elvis), Joseph is well on his way to becoming second in command. Eventually his brothers, having suffered greatly, unknowingly find themselves groveling at the feet of the brother they betrayed but no longer recognize. After testing their integrity, Joseph reveals himself leading to a heartfelt reconciliation of the sons of Israel. Set to an engaging cornucopia of musical styles, from country-western and calypso to bubble-gum pop and rock ‘n’ roll, this Old Testament tale emerges both timely and timeless.

Directed by Dana Kelly

2003
Small Actors

By Stephen Gregg

The story of Emily who desperately wants to play the lead in her high school’s production of Romeo and Juliet. Instead, she gets a one-line, four-word role. None the less, she tells her parents (who will be out of town during the performance) that she got the lead, and suddenly, things spin way out of control. Mom and Dad cancel their vacation plans and invite every relative they can round up to come visit and see their daughter play Juliet. This outlandishly funny and very touching play is about the roles we all play—in theatre and in life.

Directed by Kari Steinbach

2002
April Fish

By Ted Pezzulo

The scene is in a tenement in New York’s “Little Italy,” the home of the family of Assunta and Fortunato. It so happens that there is an enormous hole in their bathroom wall, and Assunta has summoned the detested Pietro (an excellent plasterer) to fix it—but Fortunato has just spent all of the family’s money on a magnificent gold tooth. The answer: “April Fish”—a traditional bit of Italian trickery in which the word is passed that Fortunato has died, and he is suitably laid out, amidst mourners and candles, when Pietro arrives. Certainly, in such a situation, no one would be so heartless to speak of money! Unfortunately the ruse fails to work quite as well as hoped, and what with the rising hubbub of assembled neighbors and friends, the situation grows increasingly frantic—and hilarious—until the good Padre Peggio arrives to set matters right and give the perpetrators their comeuppance.

Directed by Kari Steinbach

2001
Bernice Bobs Her Hair

Based on the story by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Dramatized by D D Brooke.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, the foremost chronicler of the 1920s, created this classic short story of young people, their charm and underlying sadness. Bernice, an insecure young woman of 18, is visiting her popular cousin Marjorie. At a series of country club dances, Bernice is, at first, a wallflower. Marjorie tries to help her gain popularity and succeeds beyond the wildest expectations of either girl. When Bernice wins Yale man Warren away from Marjorie, Marjorie exacts a terrible revenge. Bernice, learning from the experience, turns the tables in a surprise ending.

Directed by Kari Steinbach