The Production Company have announced their season for 2014 with three Broadway classics, Guys and Dolls, Show Boat and La Cage Aux Folles.
Described as “a triumph and a delight”, “a work of art” and the “perfect musical comedy” Guys and Dolls brings Damon Runyon’s much loved New York underworld to life. Gangsters, gamblers, evangelists and showgirls inhabit this musical fable of Broadway which features the much loved songs: Luck Be A Lady, Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat, I’ve Never Been in Love Before and Adelaide’s Lament (A Person Can Develop a Cold).
Sky Masterson (Martin Crewes), a gambler loses a bet and his heart, to Sarah Brown (Helpmann Award winner, Verity Hunt-Ballard), an idealistic Salvation Army Missionary. Nathan Detroit (Adam Murphy) is the proprietor of the ‘oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York’ and the cabaret singer, Miss Adelaide (Chelsea Plumley) is his long suffering fiancée.
Showered with Tony, Drama Desk, Olivier and Helpmann Awards since its debut, this new staging will be directed by Gale Edwards (Chess, Gypsy), Musical Director is the distinguished Guy Simpson (Gypsy), Choreographer is Nathan M. Wright (Rocky Horror Show, Sochi Winter Olympics, Avenue Q) with costumes by Academy Award winner Tim Chappel, scenery by Shaun Gurton.
Hammerstein and Kern’s masterpiece, Show Boat marked a turning point in the development of the Broadway musical. With themes of racial prejudice and tragic love, it follows the lives of actors, stagehands and dock workers on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi river show boat.
Show Boat is famous for its soaring melodies and classic songs: the exquisite Make Believe, Bill, Life Upon the Wicked Stage, Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man and the wonderfully haunting Ol’ Man River.
The story traces the lives of a family of show boat performers over three decades, focusing particularly on the story of Magnolia (Alinta Chidzey), the daughter of the show boat captain and her love for the gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Gareth Keegan) and the tragic decline in the fortunes of the beautiful Julie (Christina O’Neil).
Directed by Helpmann Award winner, Roger Hodgman (Grey Gardens, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), Musical Director Kellie Dickerson (Wicked, Grey Gardens), Choreography by Dana Jolly (Grey Gardens, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), and Design Team of Christina Smith (Set) and Isaac Lummis (Costumes) with lighting by Matt Scott.
Winner of six Tony Awards in its first season and two for Best Revival, Jerry Herman’s La Cage Aux Folles features an unforgettable score including the touching You On My Arm, The Best of Times and the proud and defiant anthem I am What I Am. Writer Harvey Fierstein’s credits include Torch Song Trilogy, Newsies and the current Broadway smash hit Kinky Boots.
La Cage Aux Folles stars Todd McKenney as Albin who is the brilliant drag performer, Zaza, and Simon Burke as his partner Georges. Simon starred in this role on London’s West End. Georges and Albin have happily lived together for twenty years above their St Tropez nightclub La Cage Aux Folles. It’s the imminent engagement of George’s son to the daughter of a bigoted, right-wing politician that creates the comedy and the heart-warming drama of this award winning musical.
The creative duo who brought you Anything Goes, The Producers and The Pirates of Penzance – Director Dean Bryant and Choreographer Andrew Hallsworth will create this new production. Musical Director is Mathew Frank, scenery is by Dale Ferguson and costumes by Owen Phillips.
Guys and Dolls (16 – 27 July) and Show Boat (16 – 24 August ) will be performed in the State Theatre, while La Cage Aux Folles (22 November to 7 December) will be performed in the Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne. Subscriptions for all three shows are now available, with single ticket sales available from 5 May 2014.
For more information, visit: www.theproductioncompany.com.au for details.
Image: Todd McKenney as Zaza