THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, musical, Georgetown Palace, May 17 - June 16, 2013

presents




Thoroughly Modern Millie

a musical by Jeanine Tesori, Dick Scanlan and Richard Morris

directed by David Sray

May 17 to June 16
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). 
Available on-line via the Palace website.

Rated for General Audiences 

Georgetown’s Historic Palace Theatre opens Thoroughly Modern Millie on May 17 for a five-weekend fun-filled music and dance fest! With music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics by Dick Scanlan, and book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan, the stage production of Thoroughly Modern Millie is based upon the 1967 film of the same name starring Julie Andrews.

It is New York City in 1922, a New York full of intrigue and jazz – a time when the rules of love and social behavior were changing forever. Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of a small-town girl, Millie Dillmount, in search of a new life for herself. Millie comes to New York City to marry for money instead of love – a thoroughly modern aim in 1922, when women were just entering the workforce. Filled with frisky flappers, dashing leading men, and a dragon-lady of a villainess, Thoroughly Modern Millie is a perfectly constructed evening of madcap merriment.

Sara Burke (Millie) and Stephen Jack (Jimmy Smith) star in this musical romp! Sara made her first musical theatre splash sharing the coveted role of Annie in the Palace’s 2003 production with two other lucky young ladies! Her most recent triumph at the Palace was as Kathy Seldon in the Palace’s hit production of Singin’ in the Rain. Sara has performed all around the Austin area, as well: as Kira/Clio in Xanadu, Wendla in Spring Awakening, Amber in Hairspray, Serena in Legally Blonde, Cathy in Last 5 Years, and Charity in Sweet Charity. Most recently, Sara studied vocal performance with Adam Roberts. She will teach and direct for the Palace’s Theatrical Education Program this summer.

Stephen Jack (Jimmy Smith) has Austin credits that include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Blue Theatre), Standing on Ceremony (ZACH Theatre), I Love You Because (Hyde Park Theatre), Drone (City Theatre), and RENT (ZACH Theatre); his Palace Theatre credits include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Man of La Mancha, and Big River. Additional credits include numerous galas and season previews for Austin Theatre Project, Penfold Theatre, and ZACH Theatre.

A strong supporting cast includes Melita McAtee as ‘Mrs Meers’ (The Villainess!); Scott Shipman as ‘Mr. Trevor Graydon’; Nikki Bora as ‘Matilda’; Tiffany Blackmon as ‘Miss Dorothy Brown’; Lariena Brown as ‘Muzzy Von Hossmere’; and Samantha Watson as ‘Miss Flannery’!

David Sray, who has both acting and directing recognition at the Palace, directs Millie. David’s Palace acting credits include Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music, Edward Rutledge in 1776, and Curly in Oklahoma!; plus a B. Iden Payne Outstanding Cast Award-winning Austin performance in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Palace directing credits include I Hate Hamlet, Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Cheaper by the Dozen. David has the inimitable support of Clifford Butler for music direction and Jesee Smart for choreography.

Thoroughly Modern Millie plays at the Palace on weekends from May 17 to June 16. Actual production dates are May 17-19, 24-26, 31-June 2, June 7-9, and 14-16. 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 and is part of the most beautiful Town Square in Texas!


(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Mid-Life! The Crisis Musical, Tex-Arts, Lakeway, February 10 - 26

By Catherine Dribb

Mid-Life!, the Crisis Musical, presented by TexArts for only one more weekend, is a funny, witty piece about colorful characters and the crises they face. Brothers Bob and Jim Walton wrote book, music, and lyrics for this musical review with no plot other than scenes of the characters as they progress (and digress) through their mid-lives. Mid-Life! features six outstanding cast members directed by Lenny Daniel, bringing talent to Lakeway from Dripping Springs, Austin and Georgetown! If you’re able to make the scenic drive west, it’s a performance worth the trip.

Mid-Life! covers the range of emotions and crises associated with the often dreaded mid-life years -- a 37-year-old ticking time bomb looking for the perfect sperm; a 40-year-old man exhibiting Tourette’s syndrome outbursts of his father’s idioms; and a man and woman who decide turning the big five-oh isn’t so oh, oh, all that bad.

The creatively designed set is filled with stuff we’ve acquired in our lives. Mid-Life! is smoothly staged as characters come in and out of scenes carrying small props or rearranging the set items already there.

The six performers play different characters in different marriages, divorces, jobs and homes. Most of the show is comic: three women at their 30-year high school reunion discussing their divorces, for example, or the three men exaggerating their skilz on the bball court [sic] only to cut their recreation time short because wives are telephoning. From softly spoken I love yous to blatant I’ve-traded-you-for-a-younger-model announcements, Mid-Life! pokes fun at those who stay married, those who abandon marriage, and those whose marriage spawned that damn kid who just won’t leave home.

It isn’t all just fun and games. Coming out of the closet and mammogram tests aren’t all sparkles and flashing lights (though they are in this show!). In the finale a trio gently addresses the distressing responsibilities of parenting their own parents. After scenes that elicit laughs, gasps and did-they-really-just-go-there?, it’s a tender moment for the audience and actors.

That tenderness didn’t come any too soon, either. While it’s clever and funny, Mid-Life! can be hard to stomach at times, let alone watch. But at least both genders get what’s coming to them. Women in the audience had to watch the characters mock menopause and mammograms while men got to suffer through a song about that dreaded trip to the doctor that’s complete only after the rubber-gloved prostate exam.

Songs about such sensitive subjects were bearable, thanks to a strong cast. Special accolades go to Jarret Mallon and Amy Nichols. When all six performers sang together onstage, the overall blend wasn’t remarkable, but their individual performances in solos, trios and small ensembles were superb.

You will, indeed, laugh out loud at TexArts’ production in Lakeway of Mid-Life!, the Crisis musical featuring Kirk Kelso, Jarret Mallon, Melita McAtee, Amy Nichols, Rudy Roberson and Cathie Sheridan. It runs through February 26. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.

Upcoming: Side by Side by Sondheim, Actors Coop at Dougherty Arts Center, July 8 - 10

Found on-line:

presents

Side by Side by Sondheim

July 8 @ 7:30pm, July 9 @ 7:30 pm and July 10 @ 2 pm

Dougherty Arts Center , 1100 Barton Springs Road Austin, TX

The sophistication, wit, insight, heart and genius of Broadway’s most innovative and influential artist is at the center of this tribute to composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim.

This dazzling array of some of Sondheim’s best-known songs features numbers from landmark shows that revolutionized the musical theatre with their masterful craft and astounding creativity: COMPANY, FOLLIES, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, ANYONE CAN WHISTLE and PACIFIC OVERTURES, not to mention the classics written with musical theatre giants Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne and Richard Rodgers, WEST SIDE STORY, GYPSY, and DO I HEAR A WALTZ? Also included are delectable rarities from the television musical Evening Primrose, the film The Seven Percent Solution and the hit revue The Mad Show.

Tickets are $20 for general admission and are available on-line at Brown Paper Tickets or by calling 1-800-838-3006.

Starring Joe Penrod, Cathie Sheridan, Angela Davis, Rodnesha Green, Daryn Eslinger, Glenn Bagley and Melita McAtee. Directed by Barbara Schuler. Music direction by David Blackburn. Choreography by Michelle Stuckey.

Upcoming: Steel Magnolias, City Theatre, November 18 - December 19

Received directly:

Ring in the holidays with Robert Harling’s

wise-cracking and wise Southern comedy hit

STEEL MAGNOLIAS

November 18 - December 19

Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 5:30 p.m.

No performances Thanksgiving weekend

City Theatre, 3823 Airport Blvd (behind the Shell station)

Reservations 512-524-2870 or info@citytheatreaustin.org

Tickets $15 - $20. Guaranteed Front/2^nd Row Reserved $25. Students $12. Group discounts are available. Thursday all seats $10. Visit our website www.citytheatreaustin.org

The City Theatre is proud to present the opening of its 2010 – 2011 season with the holiday production of Robert Harling’s funny and moving comedy gem, Steel Magnolias. Directed by Barry Pineo, performances begin November 18 and run through December 19 at The City Theatre.

“If you can’t find anything good to say about anybody, come sit by me.”

These words of wisdom sum up Harling’s 1987 off-Broadway sensation and subsequent smash film Steel Magnolias. Set in a beauty parlor in Chinquapin, Louisiana, the hit comedy illustrates how the lives of six distinctly different women interweave via the small town gossip that shadows the unending cycle of life, love and laughter. The outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the shy yet determined Annelle and to the curmudgeonly Ouiser ("I'm not crazy, I've just been in a bad mood for forty years"), the eccentric yet sensible Miss Clairee, and the respected and admired M'Lynn and her daughter Shelby, the prettiest girl in town. Filled with hilarious Southern repartee and humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play draws on the town’s underlying strength – and love – that gives the story and the characters, the special qualities to make them truly touching, funny and marvelously amiable company, in good times and in bad.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . .

Upcoming: Nunsense II, Georgetown Palace Theatre, January 8 - February 7

UPDATE: Review by Olin Meadows at AustinOnStage.com, January 27

UPDATE: Lisa Scheps and Stuart Moulton feature the full case of Nunsense II at KOOP-FM's "Off Stage and On The Air," posted January 15 (1 hr. program)

Found on-line:


Georgetown Palace Theatre
presents

Nunsense II (The Second Coming)

Jan 8 - Feb 7, 2010 Fridays & Satirdays at 7:30 p.m.and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.

MUSICAL
Book, Music & Lyrics by Dan Goggin
Featuring our 2007 Cast of Nunsense!

The sequel to the international hit musical Nunsense takes place approximately six weeks after the first "benefit performance." (It could easily be subtitled “the rest of the story.”) The same five nuns are back on stage at Mt. Saint Helen's School for what is billed as a "Thank You Program" for their supporters. Since their first time out was such a success, they have decided that they should stick to their successful variety show formula. This time they are forced to work around the set dressing of The Mikado!

Prices: General: $22; Senior(55+): $20; Student: $12
Georgetown Palace Theatre, Inc., A non-profit performing arts facility
We accept Visa and Mastercard over the web & phone (512-869-7469)
Buy Tickets
810 S. Austin Avenue, Georgetown, TX 78627
georgetownpalace@verizon.net

Nunsense, City Theatre, June 11 - July 5

This saucy, sparkling production of a popular favorite plays merrily with its basic premise: even if you're very, very good, you can laugh and dance to the joy of life.

Dan Goggin's idea is so simple that it started out as a line of greeting cards. Their immediate popularity prompted him to put his mischievous nuns on stage. He reworked a warmly received trial run (of 38 weeks!) into a longer piece that opened off Broadway in 1984 and then moved uptown for a ten-year run and 3.672 performances. Nunsense is the second-longest running Broadway musical -- surpassed only by The Fantasticks, also playing currently in Austin. Nunsense has played in 26 languages and 6000 productions worldwide, with a combined cast of about 25,000 women.

The Georgetown Palace did the show last August. That production was perky, fun and well applauded. The City Theatre version now on stage has the same energy and good humor, in the up-close intimacy of a playing space seating only a quarter the size of the Palace. Andy Berkovsky's version borrows virtually nothing from the Palace, other than the most important feature of all: its leading Reverend Mother, Mary Regina, created by Melissa McAtee.

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

Upcoming: Nunsense, City Theatre, June 11 - July 5

UPDATE: Click for ALT review, June 16



From City Theatre Austin:

NUNS OF FUN!
Madcap Musical
Nunsense
Comes to Austin This Summer
June 11 - July 5

The early summer forecast for City Theatre calls for giggles, guffaws, chortles, and good old fashioned belly laughs…and it’s all thanks to the famed Little Sisters of Hoboken. The City Theatre Company is preparing to get thee to a nunnery with Nunsense, the hit musical comedy celebrating its 25th anniversary and filled with so much sisterly love and good cheer that it has had audiences around the world rolling in the aisles. The nuns strut their stuff June 11 - July 5.

Produced by The City Theatre Company, the musical comedy will be directed by Artistic Director Andy Berkovsky (The Boys Next Door, Alice in Wonderland, Glengarry Glen Ross) with choreography by Jessica Kelpsch.

It will feature the all-star cast of Melita McAtee (Reverend Mother), Michelle Cheney (Sister Mary Amnesia), Jen Coy (Sister Robert Anne), Glenna Bowman (Sister Mary Leo), and Dorothy Mays Clark (Sister Mary Hubert).

Thursday – Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Sunday 5:30 p.m.
*Last Weekend - No show July 3 & 4. July 5 – two shows 2:30 & 5:30. Added show Wed., July 1 8:00 p.m.
General Seating $20, Seniors $18, Guaranteed Reserved Seating $25, Students $15 Thursday all seats $15, Group discounts available.

Website: www.citytheatreaustin.org

The City Theatre
3823 Airport Blvd. – east between Manor Road and 38 ½ St.
Reservations 512-524-2870 or info@citytheatreaustin.org.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .