Broadway's DAMES AT SEA Officially Docks Tonight at the Helen Hayes Theatre

The first Broadway production of Dames at Sea opens at Broadway's Helen Hayes Theater (240 W 44th Street), tonight, October 22, 2015, at 6:30pm.

DAMES AT SEA stars John Bolton as The Captain/Hennesey, Mara Davi as Joan, Danny Gardner as Lucky, Eloise Kropp as Ruby, Laurence Olivier Award winner Lesli Margherita as Mona Kent, andCary Tedder as Dick. The original 1968 production of Dames at Sea launched the career of the young ingénue playing Ruby, Bernadette Peters. The Dames at Sea company includes Tessa Grady, Kristie Kerwin, Ian Knauer and Kevin Worley.

With a book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller, music by Jim Wise, orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, and music supervision and vocal & dance arrangements by Emmy Award winnerRob Berman (Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Finian's Rainbow), Dames at Sea is directed and choreographed by three time Tony Award nominee Randy Skinner (42nd Street, Irving Berlin's White Christmas).

DAMES AT SEA is a tap-happy gem of a show that celebrates the golden era of movie musicals with dazzling dances, spectacular songs and delightful dames! Ruby steps off a bus in Manhattan, and into her first Broadway show, but hours before the opening night curtain is to rise, the cast learns their theater is being demolished, so it is "all hands on deck" to find a stage to put on the show. Featuring rollicking tap dancing, love at first sight, joyful music and a boatload of laughs, Dames at Sea has everything you need to sweep your glooms away.

DAMES AT SEA features scenic design by three-time Tony Award nominee Anna Louizos (In The Heights, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella), costume design by two-time Tony Award nominee David C. Woolard(West Side Story, The Rocky Horror Show), lighting design by Tony Award winner Ken Billington(Chicago, Act One) and Jason Kantrowitz, and sound design by Tony Award winner Scott Lehrer (South Pacific, The King & I).

One of the most unique musicals ever created, the original production of Dames at Sea pulled off the feat of creating a magnificent musical experience with a tight, multi-talented cast of six. Dames at Sea opened Off-Broadway at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre on December 20, 1968, and became an immediate smash hit and quickly transferred to the Theater de Lys on April 22, 1969, were it went on to run for 575 performances. The Theater de Lys, now called theLucille Lortel Theatre, has the same basic stage dimensions as Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre. Dames at Seasuccessfully crossed the Atlantic twice to play the West End's Duchess Theatre in 1969 and again in 1989 to play the West End's Haymarket Theatre.

Photo by Jeremy Daniel