A new production of "I Do! I Do!" will be the first production to "christen" The Old Globe in San Diego's new Sheryl and Harvery White Theatre.
The production went into rehearsal last Tuesday, with Richard Jay-Alexander at the helm, choreography by James Kinney and Musical Direction by Ben Toth.
It stars real-life married couple Patrick Page and Paige Davis and will be a special event for the holidays, playing a limited 13 performances. Just prior to the opening of "I Do! I Do!" , in this brand new space, will be a one-night only fund-raiser with Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot, entitled SOME ENCHANTED EVENING. Tickets for both can be purchased at the website (www.TheOldGlobe.org). Running on the main stage is Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas!
"I Do! I Do!" hasn't had a major production in some time and came about as a discussion between Page & Davis and the artistic staff at The Old Globe, where Patrick Page has starred in a number of productions. The official Opening Night is December 12th.
The well-loved classic, by the creators of The Fantasticks, spans five decades in the life of a married couple - from the nervousness of their wedding day to the wisdom of old age. I Do! I Do! will run Dec. 11 - 20, 2009. Previews take place on Dec. 11 at 8:00 p.m. and Dec. 12 at 2:00 p.m. Opening night is Saturday, Dec. 12 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online atwww.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office.
The story of Michael and Agnes and their 50 years of marriage famously takes place around a large four-poster bed and introduced the standard, "My Cup Runneth Over." Written as a star vehicle for theater legends
Mary Martin and
Robert Preston, the original Broadway production of I Do! I Do! received seven Tony Award nominations, with Preston winning Best Actor. Since then, such luminaries as
Carol Lawrence and
Robert Goulet,
Carol Burnett and
Rock Hudson,
Lee Remickand
Hal Linden, and
Karen Ziemba (The First Wives Club) and
David Garrison have enjoyed success in the musical two-hander.
And now the Globe's "cup runneth over" as
Paige Davis (television's "Trading Spaces" and Broadway's Chicago) and
Patrick Page (The Globe's Cyrano De Bergerac and Broadway's The Lion King) take their turn at this funny and heartwarming musical about the joy, struggles, humor and passion that is every marriage.
"Through his appearances in last season's Dancing in the Dark and The Pleasure of His Company, and his spectacular turn in this summer's Cyrano de Bergerac and Twelfth Night, Globe audiences have fallen in love with
Patrick Page," said Executive Producer
Lou Spisto. "Over the past two seasons,
Paige Davis has also become part of the Globe family. In fact, Paige co-chaired our High School Musical Awards program this past April. It is a thrill to have them perform together at the Globe for the first time ever as we celebrate the opening of the new Conrad Prebys Theatre Center."
"We've been a couple for 14 years and married for eight of them, so we hope to be able to bring a special kind of truth to the marriage depicted in the show," said ‘Paige and Page.' "That, combined with the incredible immediacy of the new White Theatre, will make for an especially intimate exchange between us and the terrific Globe audience. We'd really like to share something personal with them."
I Do! I Do! is but one of the special events celebrating the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. The new Center includes the flagship
Old Globe Theatre, the Karen and Donald Cohn Education Center and Hattox Hall, the completely re-designed Copley plaza, a new seating pavilion and the state-of-the-art Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre.
Kelli O'Hara and
Paulo Szot, the stars of Broadway's South Pacific, will inaugurate the Center at the gala fundraiser, "Some Enchanted Evening," in the White Theatre on Dec. 7. The Globe will also host an Open House event featuring tours of the new complex on Saturday, Dec. 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The White Theatre will formally open with
Neil Simon's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Lost in Yonkers, Jan. 23 - Feb. 28, 2010.
Paige Davis' Broadway credits include Gloria in Boeing-Boeing and Roxie Hart in Chicago. She's toured nationally as Charity in Sweet Charity, Babette in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Roxie Hart in Chicago and in The Vagina Monologues. Her additional stage credits include Maria in The Sound of Music at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, April in Company at
Missouri Repertory Theatre, Val in A Chorus Line at Austin Music Theatre, Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Chicago Cultural Center, Hello Dolly!, with
Nell Carter, Pippin, Oklahoma!, West Side Story and Camelot. Davis enjoyed four seasons as host of TLC's "Trading Spaces" (Emmy Nomination). She has guest hosted and/or appeared on "The View," "The Tonight Show," "The Today Show," "The
Wayne Brady Show," "Good Day Live," "The
Martha Stewart Show," "The Dr. Phil Show," "Gameshow Marathon," "The
Oprah Winfrey Show" and a special primetime episode of "A Wedding Story," among many others.
Patrick Page starred in the Globe's 2009 Shakespeare Festival as Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac and Malvolio in Twelfth Night. He has also appeared at the Globe as Pogo Poole in The Pleasure of His Company, and Jeffrey Cordova in Dancing in the Dark (San Diego Critics Circle "Craig Noel" Award). His Broadway credits include Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons (Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Grinch in
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Scar in The Lion King, Decius Brutus in Julius Caesar (with
Denzel Washington), Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, Marley in A Christmas Carol and The Kentucky Cycle. Page has appeared Off Broadway in Rex and Richard II. His regional credits include Macbeth in Macbeth and Iago in Othello (
Helen Hayes Award) at The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.; Sergius in Arms and the Man at Long Wharf; Henry V, Oberon, Richard III at Pioneer Theatre Company; plus leading roles (including Hamlet, Brutus, Mercutio, Benedick, Richard II, Dracula, Antony) at Seattle, Indiana and Missouri Reps, ACT,
Cincinnati Playhouse,
Arizona Theatre Company, Oregon, New York, Utah,
Alabama Shakespeare Festivals, and many more. Playwright: Swansong (Off-Broadway, Kennedy Center, Seattle, etc.). His TV credits include "Law & Order: SVU," "One Life to Live," "All My Children" and The Substance of Fire.
