Andrew Lippa-Led THE LIFE OF THE PARTY Opens Tonight at TheatreWorks

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's 47th season will feature American Premiere of the surprise London hit, THE LIFE OF THE PARTY, running tonight, August 24, through September 18, starring Tony Award-nominated composer Andrew Lippa.

THE LIFE OF THE PARTY was co-conceived by Menier Chocolate Factory Artistic Director David Babani, and Andrew Lippa, is directed by David Babani, and stars Lippa alongside Damian Humbley, Sally Ann Triplett and Teal Wicks.

Having debuted at Menier Chocolate Factory, this delightful mash-up from the mastermind behind The Addams Family, Big Fish, and The Wild Party is a collection of songs that tell stories, from raucous to piquant, engaging, frothy, hilarious and even somber, the show includes music from Lippa's varied career, ranging from "Be The Hero," "I Don't Need A Roof," and "Fight the Dragons" (Big Fish), "Let Me Down", "An Old Fashioned Love Story," and "Poor Child" (The Wild Party), to "I Do What I Do" and "To The Gods" (from Lippa's work in progress The Man in the Ceiling) and "Love Somebody Now" and "Are You Here" (the Harvey Milk oratorio).

ABOUT THE CAST:

Damian Humbley is making his TheatreWorks debut. Mr. Humbley is well known in London for his work on Stephen Sondheim musicals, including the critically acclaimed production of Merrily We Roll Along (Charley Kringas), and the recent London production of Putting It Together. Other West End credits includeLend Me a Tenor (Max), The Woman In White (Walter Hartright), Fiddler on the Roof (Perchik), Forbidden Broadway, and Dickens Abridged. Other London credits include the UK Premiere of The Last 5 Years, the Menier Chocolate Factory's The Life of the Party, and most recently Songs for a New World at St. James Theatre. His recordings include Lend Me a Tenor(Original Cast Recording), Fiddler on the Roof (2009 London Cast Recording),The Symphony of Australia (Sydney Symphony Orchestra), and Merrily We Roll Along (DigitalTheatre.com).

Andrew Lippa is an award-winning American composer, lyricist, actor, conductor, and producer. His musical A Little Princesspremiered at TheatreWorks, and he has been a frequent participant in the New Works Festival and the Writers' Retreat. Broadway credits include Big Fish, The Addams Family, and The Farnsworth Invention. Other credits include The Wild Party, John & Jen, Asphalt Beach, andYou're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. Mr. Lippa wrote the hit song "Evil Like Me," from Disney'sDescendants, for Kristin Chenoweth, and the soundtrack rose to #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and the iTunes and Billboard soundtrack charts. Mr. Lippa has garnered Tony and Grammy nominations and shared an Emmy award for Nickelodeon's The Wonder Pets. He currently serves as president of the Dramatists Guild Fund.

Sally Ann Triplett is making her TheatreWorks debut. She appeared on Broadway in Finding Neverland (Mrs. DuMaurier),Carrie (Sue Snell), and The Last Ship (Peggy White). On the West End she has been seen in Follies(Young Phyllis); Grease (Rizzo);Jolson (Ruby Keeler); Anything Goes (Reno Sweeney); Chicago(Roxie Hart); Guys and Dolls(Adelaide); Mamma Mia! (Donna); and Viva Forever! (Lauren). International credits include Next to Normal(Singapore), My Judy Garland Life (Nottingham), and Damsel in Distress(Chichester).

Teal Wicks is making her TheatreWorks debut. She has starred on Broadway in Wicked(Elphaba), Jekyll & Hyde (Emma Carew), and most recently in Finding Neverland (Mary Barrie) opposite Mathew Morrison. She appeared Off-Broadway in Piece of My Heart: the Bert Berns Story at Signature Theatre, The Blue Flower at Second Stage, NY City Center Encores! Stairway to Paradise, and Fahrenheit 451 at 59E59. Ms. Wicks played Elphaba in the Los Angeles and San Francisco productions ofWicked. She starred in the national tours ofJekyll & Hyde and Pippin. Regionally Ms. Wicks has starred in productions for American Repertory Theatre, Bay Street Theatre, as well as three seasons with Goodspeed Opera House. She has been a guest star onElementary and The Good Wife.

Since its founding in 1970, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has become one of the nation's leaders in cultivating and producing new musicals and plays, developing and premiering more than 66 works by new and veteran artists and over 160 regional premieres. The company's New Works Festival and Writers' Retreat programs attract authors and composers of national stature (Beth Henley, Paul Gordon, MarSha Norman, Henry Krieger, Stephen Schwartz, Duncan Sheik, Joe DiPietro, and Andrew Lippa, among many others), providing an artistic home in which America's theatre artists can create new works. In addition, the company has developed scores of works which have gone on to both regional and Off-Broadway productions. A home for artists developing new works, it was at TheatreWorks that Memphis, the 2010 Tony Award-winning musical, was first workshopped and received its world premiere.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is an Equity/LORT theatre, producing eight shows annually, playing to more than 100,000 patrons a year. TheatreWorks continues its dedication to the Bay Area community with increased audience services and subscriber benefits, Wednesday discussion nights, and opening night celebrations in which the community is invited to mingle with writers, cast, and crew. In addition, TheatreWorks offers many public services such as the costume rental program, and the education outreach program that reaches some 25,000 students annually with in-class workshops, student matinees, summer camps, the Young Playwrights Project, the touring assembly Oskar Trilogy, and The Healing Project at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

For more, visit www.theatreworks.org.