2013-2014 Georgetown Palace Season

2013 - 2014 Theatre Season

Season Tickets Now Available - $192 ($176 for seniors) for 8 seats that can be used for any 2013 - 2014 show

The Music Man
Book, Music and Lyrics By Meredith Willson

Weekends Sept. 27 - Oct. 27 Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m. and Sun. at 2:00 p.m.

Con man Harold Hill doesn’t know a trombone from a treble clef when he comes to River City, Iowa, to sell musical instruments and uniforms for a boys' band. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for the local librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain’s fall. Featuring favorites songs such as (Ya Got) Trouble, Seventy-six Trombones, Marian, The Librarian, and Shipoopi. The Music Man was a part of our 2004-2005 Season at the Palace and we are happy to bring it back to our stage. (Auditions July 27-29)

Tickets go on sale August 9th.

Peter Pan, The Musical
Based on the Play by J. M. Barrie; Musical by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jule Styne, Mark Charlap, Carolyn Leigh

Weekends Nov 15 - Dec. 29 Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m. and Sun. at 2:00 p.m.

Special Weekday shows at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 19, 23, 26, & 30th

New to the Palace stage, this timeless classic about lost boys, pirates, and lost innocence is one of the world's most celebrated musicals. Here is all the charm of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, the children Wendy, Michael and John, pirates and Indians, embellished with show-stopping songs, Never Never Land, I Won't Grow Up and I'm Flying. (Auditions Aug. 24-27)

Tickets on Sale Sept. 20th.

Lend Me a Tenor
By Ken Ludwig
Weekends Jan 10 - Feb. 2nd Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m. and Sun. at 2:00 p.m.
This night in September of 1934 is the biggest in the history of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company. World famous tenor Tito Morelli is to perform Othello, his greatest role. Through a hilarious series of mishaps, Tito is given a double dose of tranquilizers causing his assistant and the theatre manager to believe he is dead and setting off a chain reaction of slapstick and mistaken identity. This comedy will leave you teary eyed with laughter. First performed at the Palace in 2003 and again in 2007, we bring back Lend Me a Tenor for your enjoyment. (Auditions Oct. 19-21)

Tickets on sale Nov. 15th.

CATS

Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Weekends Feb. 14 - March 23 Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m. and Sun. at 2:00 p.m.
Come make another Memory at the Palace! A true musical theatre phenomenon, CATS opened in London and ran for a record-setting 21 years and for 18 years on Broadway. Based on the universally popular poetry of T.S. Eliot, CATS tells the story, in song and dance, of the annual gathering of the Jellicle cats at which time one special cat is selected to be reborn into a new life. The Palace is proud to bring back this hit show from our 2007 season. (Auditions Dec. 7-10)

Tickets on sale Dec. 20th.

Moon Over Buffalo
By Ken Ludwig
Weekends Apr. 11 - May 4th Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m. and Sun. at 2:00 p.m.

This madcap comedy was last performed at the Palace in 2006. The Boston Herald calls this play “nothing less than a love letter to live theater." Charlotte and George Hay are on tour in Buffalo in 1953 with a repertory consisting of Cyrano de Bergerac and Noel Coward's Private Lives, when they receive word that they might just have one last shot at stardom: Frank Capra is coming to town to see their matinee. (Auditions Jan. 18 - 20)

Tickets go on sale Feb. 14th.
Content: (click for descriptions)

Guys And Dolls
Weekends May 16 - June 15 Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m. and Sun. at 2:00 p.m.

Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, Music/Lyrics by Frank Loesser

Come for the “oldest, established, permanent, floating crap game in New York.” Stay for the Hot Box Dancers, the Havana nights and all the gamblers, dolls, showgirls and redemption you can handle. Last seen at the Palace in 2006, we hope you join us for this classic New York musical that never fails to entertain. Based on The Idyll of Sarah Brown and characters by Damon Runyon. (Auditions March 1 - 4)

Tickets on sale March 21

Buddy! The Buddy Holly Story (2014)
By Alan Janes
Weekends June 27 - Aug 3 Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m. and Sun. at 2:00 p.m.

We left you wanting more in 2011, so Buddy is back at the Palace! On February 3rd, 1959, the man who changed the face of popular music tragically died in a plane crash at age 22. Now,Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story tells the story of the three years in which he became the world’s top recording artist with a show that features over 20 of his greatest hits including Peggy Sue, That’ll Be The Day, Oh Boy, Not Fade Away, Everyday, Rave On, Maybe Baby, and Raining In My Heart. (Auditions April 12-15)

Tickets on sale May 2

The Full Monty

Book by Terrance McNally, Music/Lyrics by David Yazbeck

Weekends Aug. 22 - Sept. 21 Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m. and Sun. at 2:00 p.m.

For the first time at the Palace, we bring you this hilarious and moving musical version of the Academy Award-nominated 1997 film. Six unemployed steelworkers try to make some quick cash by becoming a team of male strippers. Their unlikely new job strengthens their self-esteem and friendships. As the guys work through their fears, self-consciousness and anxieties, they find strength as a group and overcome their inner demons. FOR ADULT AUDIENCES. (Auditions June 7-10)

Tickets on sale June 27

Upcoming: Dearly Beloved by Jones, Hope and Wooten, Georgetown Palace Theatre, January 11 - Feburary 3, 2013

presents


DEARLY BELOVED
by Jones, Hope and Wooten
directed by Mary Ellen Butler
January 11 - February 3, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

To brighten the winter months, Georgetown’s Historic Palace Theatre presents on the Springer Memorial Stage the live production of Dearly Beloved. This rib-tickling Southern comedy is from Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, & Jamie Wooten, the writing team that brought you last season’s hit The Dixie Swim Club. Directed by the Palace’s Artistic Director, Mary Ellen Butler, Dearly Beloved is the hilarious story of yet another dysfunctional but lovable Texas family in a predicament of life-sized proportions! The Futrelle sisters of Fayro, Texas, are caught up in one sister’s quest to plan her daughter’s antebellum-inspired wedding. Will the wedding be free from scandal, gossip, and skin-tight gold lamé? You will have to see it to believe it!

Dearly Beloved plays at the Palace on weekends from January 11 through February 3, 2013. Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday shows are at 2:00 p.m. Ticket prices are $24 General Admission, $22 Seniors (55+), $14 Students (10-22) and Active Military, and $10 Children (9 and younger). Rated for General Audiences

The Palace seats about 295, with reserved seating paid for in the ticket price. The Palace office in the lobby of the theatre is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. (except for some holiday dates). Purchase tickets and select seating on-line at www.georgetownpalace.com or by calling (512) 869-7469 or (512) 869-5081. (Please call ahead regarding special needs seating.) Visa, Master Card, and Discover Card are accepted.

The Historic Palace Theatre is located at 810 South Austin Avenue in downtown Georgetown (click for map)and is part of the most beautiful Town Square in Texas!

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Auditions in Georgetown for You Can't Do That, Dan Moody!, July 21 - 22

The Georgetown Palace Theatre announces auditions for You Can't Do That, Dan Moody! by Ken Anderson and Tom Swift, directed by Mary Ellen Butler. 

Dan Moody & friends (Wm.Cty Museum)

In September 1923, Williamson County tried and convicted the Ku Klux Klan for the first time ever in the United States. This year, in the Williamson County Courthouse, the Palace Theatre and the Williamson Museum once again present the play based on this historic trial, performed in the newly renovated, historically accurate courtroom in which the trial was held 89 years ago.

Initial auditions will be held Saturday, July 21, and Sunday, July 22, 2012, at the Georgetown Palace Theatre at 810 South Austin Avenue in Georgetown (click for map). Performance dates are September 14-16, 21-23, and 27-30 (with other added dates possible). Please go to www.georgetownpalace.com for more audition information. About 30 talented individuals of all ages are needed. Come on out and join the fun! 

[AustinLiveTheatre note: click to view the ALT review of the seventh production of this script at the Williamson County Courthouse in September, 2009 as well as performance images]

From the director, Mary Ellen Butler: “I can promise that You Can't Do That, Dan Moody! will be a great experience. With a fascinating script from Tom Swift and Ken Anderson, new projections woven into the story by Rich Simms (who did the projections and movie sequence for Singing in the Rain), professional level costuming and the great Palace production support, this promises to be an amazing experience. Once again it will be held in the Georgetown courtroom that housed the original trial in 1923.”

The Georgetown Palace Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community theatre, and does not offer any financial compensation to actors. The Productions Office can be reached at 512-591-7825.

Upcoming: The Dixie Swim Club, Georgetown Palace, April 6 - 29

presents

The Dixie Swim Club

by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten

directed by Mary Ellen Butler

April 6 - 29, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

Georgetown Palace Theatre, 810 S. Austin Ave. (click for map)

Tickets for reserved seats are available on-line are $24 General Admission, $22 Seniors (55+), $14 Students (13-22) and Active Military, and $10 Children (12 and younger). The Palace office in the lobby of the theatre is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. (except for some holiday dates). Purchase tickets and select seating on-line at www.thegeorgetownpalace.org or by calling (512) 869-7469 or (512) 869-5081. (Please call ahead regarding special needs seating.) Visa and Master Card are accepted.

The plot thickens each year in August when the Swim Club members – whose friendships began many years ago on their college swim team – meet for a long weekend in the same beach cottage on the Outer Banks of North Carolina to recharge their relationships. The Dixie Swim Club focuses on four of those weekends and spans a period of thirty-three years. It is the story of five unforgettable women – a hilarious and touching comedy about friendships that last forever.

This will be a brief sojourn for the five Southern women who make up The Dixie Swim Club: you can catch them at the Palace for only the four weekends in April. These five – each with her own distinctive personality, quirks, and life experiences – are ready to share their stories, not only with each other, but also with you, the audience. Prepare to be charmed, enlightened, and regaled! Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten – who teamed up to write The Dixie Swim Club – knew what they were doing! And our director, Mary Ellen Butler, brings out the best (and worst, when required) in the actors who portray the members of this intriguing club.

Here are the five Southern women who make up The Dixie Swim Club: Sheree Hollinger, played by Jan Phillips, who was last seen at the Palace some years ago as Truvy in Steel Magnolias. Sheree is the practical, supportive, and energetic one of the group! Dinah Grayson, the wise-cracking cynic, is portrayed by Virginia Keeley (in Harvey, The Odd Couple, and other Palace productions). Lexie Richards, played by Trina Sherman, is a true Southern belle! (Trina was in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Evita, among others at the Palace, and writes for our Palace newsletter.) Jeri Neal McFeeley, who always sees the positive side of things, is brought to life by Kat Sparks (a newcomer to the Palace but well-heeled with credits such as her recurring principal role as Patty in The Young & the Restless). And last, but not least, is Vernadette Simms, the hard-luck case of the group. Maureen Slabaugh plays the role of Vernadette, was recently seen in A Christmas Carol at the Palace, and is now teaching a Dance Theatre class for the Palace’s education program. Read the full bios of these five wonderful actors in our Playbill when you come to see The Dixie Swim Club.

Auditions for "André" in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Georgetown Palace at the State Theatre

Received directly:

The Georgetown Palace Theater is looking for a strong actor with the ability to portray a mature gentleman with great comedic skills to replace Rick Felkins as the suave French chief of police "André" in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, directed by Mary Ellen Butler, choreographed by Rocker Verastique and Danny Herman, and musically directed by Cliff Butler.

Click to read the ALT review of the April production in Georgetown.

Auditions for the role of André will be held from 1-2pm on Saturday, July 23rd in the Georgetown Palace Theater rehearsal space, the Tin Barn (213 W. 9th St, Georgetown, TX, 78626), around back. (Click for map.) If you are unfamiliar with the space, look for signs that will direct you. Be prepared to sing a song, preferably from the show, and read some scenes. Please let us know if you would like anything from the script/score and we will make it available for you.

To audition, please send an email to auditions@thegeorgetownpalace.org with your name and contact information. Please put " DRS auditions" in the subject line. If you are auditioning for André, please indicate in your email that you are auditioning for André and you will be given a 10 min time slot from 1-2pm.

Call-backs, which will be by invitation only, will be on Sunday, July 24th from 5-7 pm. The show will be cast and posted by Sunday evening and go into rehearsal on Monday.

The production runs August 17-28th at the State Theater on Congress Avenue in downtown Austin. Most rehearsals will be held in Austin, location TBA.

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Auditions for Beehive at Georgetown Palace, July 25 - 26

Received directly:

The Georgetown Palace Theatre announces auditions

for

Beehive

the 60's Musical

directed by Mary Ellen Butler, choreographed by Danny Herman and Rocker Verastique, and musically directed by Lannie Hilbolt. This high-energy musical revue traces the coming of age of women's music through 37 popular hits of the girl groups and solo singers of the 1960's. The show features music of The Supremes, Connie Francis, Tina Turner, Lesley Gore, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and many more. Song favorites include "My Boyfriend's Back," "One Fine Day," "Where the Boys Are," "Downtown," "Proud Mary," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," and "Respect."

Singing auditions will be held Monday, July 25th from 7-10 pm and Tuesday, July 26th from 7-8pm. Auditioners are asked to sing a song from the show, or something in that style. You can find the song list at: http://beehivemusical.net/songlist.html

Click for additional information at AustinLiveTheatre.com

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Georgetown Palace, April 1 - May 1

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is set in a mythic French Riviera, a delirious paradise that seems to be populated only by rich Americans, a couple of rival American con artists, and one charmingly corrupt French police chief. It's a concept that would make the French laugh out loud. Not that they don't have their own share of nutty cinematic visions, including le vieux Far West, but because this is Cannes as the returned GIs imagined it. Or Monte Carlo as described by Ian Fleming.

This story started out as the 1964 film Bedtime Story with David Niven as Lawrence, the urbane seducer who fooled American heiresses with his false identity as a displaced royal from eastern Europe, and with Marlon Brando as a younger hustler. Brando was willing to take Niven's tutelage, then competed with him in a bet to seduce a vulnerable looking sweet thing. The 1988 remake by Frank Oz Dirty Rotten Scoundrels featured Michael Caine and Steve Martin and followed the same lines. In 2005 Lane and Yazbek turned it into a musical with John Lithgow as the more sophisticated seducer. Oh, and that's not all -- back in 2008, Hollywood actor-writer-director Steve Pink announced that he was developing a treatment with MGM for a new version. That one may come out in 2012. The scoundrels will presumably be using i-Phones, tweeting and all that.

Why keep running this tale again and again?

Because it's an American male fantasy, for one thing -- living without a care, adored for one's sophistication, looks and title, enjoying wine, women and song, the decadent best of exotic Old Europe. Plus the fact that we enjoy seeing lightweight cons succeed, thanks to their wits, and we like it even more when the pair of rascals duel with one anonther.

The publicity and the poster label Dirty Rotten Scoundrels as being "for MATURE audiences," but those are code words for the fact that there will be some sexual innuendos and bathroom jokes that will make you giggle. The music keeps it lively and there's a movie-style twist and comeuppance at the end.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Georgetown Palace, May 7 - June 6

Received directly:

The Georgetown Palace Theatre presents

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Time Rice

Weekends, May 7 - June 6
Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 p.m, Sundays at 2 p.m.
Get tickets online or by phone 512-869-7469

Prices: general admission $22; seniors 55+, $20; students, active duty military, $12, children 15 or younger, $8

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. 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.

This show is an entertaining musical of Biblical proportions that is sure to be enjoyed by the whole family. We are expecting Joseph to be a big success, so get your tickets now. In fact, the Sunday matinees are now starting to fill up! Joseph is headlined by Stephen Jack, Patty Rowell, and Sarah Kumengi and features Clifford Butler, Adam Munoz, Blake Yelavich and many more.

Annie, The Musical, Georgetown Palace Theatre, November 20 - December 30

This holiday season’s production of Annie at the Georgetown Palace is an enormous undertaking. Most principal roles are triple-cast, with actors assigned to Mango, Kiwi or Plum casts. Ensemble roles are double cast, with actors assigned to Strawberry or Blueberry casts. Palace management is proud that 106 actors appear on their stage during the course of 28 presentations, many of those shows outside the Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule usual at 810 S. Austin Avenue in Georgetown.

Running a musical comedy that way is quite a feat of theatrical logistics. Such extensive involvement builds and reinforces the community of artists and arts supporters that enables the Palace to run its vigorous and well attended season.

Anyone writing a review for you has to advise you from the first, however, that the show that unrolled before him that evening might differ from the one that you’ll see there some other evening. Codes for my Saturday night experience on November 21 were Mango and Strawberry, suggesting an interesting dessert.

Over a six-week run three Annies share those red curly wigs and two bald-pated Oliver Warbucks will be setting the Depression-era United States to rights. Two FDRs will in turn occupy that wheelchair and the three villains are embodied by six actors. Your endearing opening chorus of orphan girls could well be different from the one that introduced us to Annie's bleak orphanage.

Read more and view images at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

The Little Shop of Horrors, Georgetown Palace, May 1 - 31

The Georgetown Palace does its familiar high-gloss finish on this production with talented actors, a vigorous show orchestra, and an impressively atmospheric functional two-story set presenting Muschnik's shabby flower shop in the even shabbier surroundings of a NYC "Skid Row." The audience appeared to enjoy the goings-on and the six- and eight-year-olds sitting near me in Row B were fascinated by the puppetry for Audry II, the extraterrestrial carnivorous plant out to conquer the world from those humble beginnings.

For me it was a Grade A production of a Grade D musical play.

This story started as the campy 1960s black humor movie shot in two days by Roger Corman, with Jack Nicholson in a minor role. The 1982 success in New York of the musical The Little Shop of Horrors prompted puppeteer Frank Oz to produce a movie version in 1986. The show has made the rounds ever since, usually accompanied by the teeny and the massive versions of Audrey II provided by Character Translations in Pennsylvania, based on designs by Martin P. Robinson, a Jim Henson Master Puppeteer.

I enjoy camp and I enjoy black humor. But in order to appreciate camp, you have to know and relish the art form or the artwork that is being exaggerated to pieces. Relating to this show, one of my blind spots, not shared by the majority of the American public, was cinematic. I don't know much about horror films, alien invasion films or creature films, except for Godzilla and King Kong (in the 1928 version, please). And the other blind spot was Audrey II. When I settled in the front of the Georgetown Palace last Friday, I'd never seen the play or either of the movies. So I was a blank slate for Howard Ashman's book and lyrics, as well as for Alan Menken's music.

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com. . . .