Photo Flash: Music Theatre of Wichita's BETTY BLUE EYES, Opening 7/24

Music Theatre of Wichita will present the U.S. Premiere of the new musical Betty Blue Eyes. The first new musical produced by LES MISERABLES and Phantom of the Opera producer Cameron Mackintosh in more than a decade, Betty Blue Eyes celebrated a critically acclaimed run in London in 2011. Music Theatre of Wichita is the first North American theatre to be licensed for performance of the musical, and the first professional theatre anywhere to stage the show since its West End closing. Check out a first look at the cast below!

Based on the British film "A Private Function" starring Maggie Smith, the musical tells the story of a small town in post-WWII Britain preparing for the upcoming marriage of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and an ambitious couple who kidnap a pig named Betty, which is being secretly raised by local corrupt officials to provide the main course at a celebratory banquet.

The libretto for the stage musical, which the London Times called "A Brand New Smash Hit!," is by the Emmy Award winning writing team of Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman ("An Early Frost," "Sisters"). Betty Blue Eyes is their first musical play.

However, it was the musical score by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe (Mary Poppins, Honk!) which initially attracted the attention of MTWichita Producing Artistic Director Wayne Bryan. Bryan, who is both producing and directing the production, explains "our friendship with authors Stiles and Drewe began when MTWichita produced Honk! in 2001, and then solidified when we created the American Cast Album. I believe our audiences will be delighted by the comic invention in this new musical. All the hard-scrabble characters foster lavish fantasies about how their lives might be different, and each fantasy is the basis of a terrific musical sequence. And the songs in the show are just as tuneful and clever as the songs our patrons loved in Honk!"

Larry Raben, Mary Stout, Tracy Lore

Tracy Lore

Monte Riegel Wheeler, Larry Raben

Monte Riegel Wheeler, Kim Corbett, Chet Norment, Larry Raben, Tracy Lore, Mary Stout,

Katie Wesler, Tracy Lore