West Virginia Public Theater Announces 2009 Summer Season

West Virginia Public Theatre's Founder and Executive Director Ron Iannone has announced the lineup for the 2009 summer season, which runs June 23 through August 9, 2009. WVPT will be celebrating its 25th anniversary season and has, once again, lined up another summer filled with Broadway's best productions.

Broadway favorite My Fair Lady begins the summer season and runs June 23rd through June 28th. This Lerner and Loewe musical tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins so that she can pass as a lady. Higgins then takes credit for Eliza's success, but she realizes that she can now be independent and does not need him. Debuting on Broadway in 1956, My Fair Lady has spurred a major motion picture starring, numerous revivals, and features such memorable musical numbers as 'I Could Have Danced All Night,' 'Wouldn't It Be Loverly,' and 'On the Street Where You Live.'

Audrey II, the man-eating plant, returns to WVPT after a fifteen year absence in the Broadway comedy/thriller Little Shop of Horrors, which runs June 30th through July 5th. This musical favorite written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken - the team behind such Disney favorites as Aladdin and The Little Mermaid tells the story of a nerdy florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical was based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman. The music, composed by Menken in the style of 1960s rock and roll, doo-wop and early Motown, includes several show-stoppers including "Skid Row (Downtown)", "Somewhere That's Green", and "Suddenly, Seymour", as well as the title song.

Making its WVPT debut is the teen musical sensation Disney's High School Musical, which runs for two weeks at the Creative Arts Center: July 8th through July 12th and July 15th through July 19th. This musical phenomenon with life both on screen and on stage is a story about two high school juniors from rival cliques. Troy Bolton, captain of the basketball team, and Gabriella Montez, a beautiful and shy transfer student who excels in math and science. Together, they try out for the lead parts in their High School Musical, and as a result, divide the school. Despite other students' attempts to thwart their dreams, Troy and Gabriella resist peer pressure and rivalry, inspiring others along the way not to "stick with the status quo." High School Musical features such memorable numbers as Bop to the Top and 'We're All in this Together.'

Continuing WVPT's commitment to educating audiences through the presentation of legendary American plays, Doubt, A Parable will be presented in the Gladys Davis Theatre at the Creative Arts Center from July 14th through July 19th. This Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play by John Patrick Shanley, details the struggle of Sister Aloysius, a Bronx school principal, who takes matters into her own hands when she suspects the young Father Flynn of improper relations with one of the male students. Directed by WVPT Producer Ron Iannone.

The third straight WVPT debut will be the Tony Award nominated musical The Wedding Singer running from July 21st through July 26th. Based on the 1998 film of the same name starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, this Matthew Sklar musical chronicles the story of rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart: New Jersey's favorite wedding singer. He's the life of the party - until his own fiancee leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own. Enter Julia, a winsome waitress who wins his affection. Only trouble is Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark, and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of the decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. Set in 1985 the score features music that harkens back to the Reagan-era in such numbers as It's Your Wedding Day, 'Saturday Night in the City,' and 'Come Out of the Dumpster.'

Returning to the WVPT stage from July 28th through August 2nd is the American musical classic Fiddler on the Roof. Last seen in 2001 starring Broadway and opera legend Spiro Malas, this Harnick and Bock musical narrates the tale of Tevye, the milkman and his attempts to maintain his family and religious traditions while outside influences encroach upon their lives. He must cope with both the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters each daughter's choice of husband moves progressively further away from established customs and with the edict of the Tsar that evicts the Jews from their village. Fiddler features such classic Broadway songs as 'If I Were a Rich Man,' Sunrise, Sunset, 'Tradition,' and 'Matchmaker.'

Wrapping up the 25th anniversary season and returning for the second time in four season is WVPT's biggest hit: the Andrew Lloyd Webber dance musical Cats, which runs August 4th through August 9th. Once the longest running musical in Broadway and London history, the Tony Award winning Cats puts to music and dance the poems of T.S. Eliot. The cats of the Jellicle tribe gather to see who will be chosen to journey to the 'Heavyside Layer.' Webber's score features Broadway favorites such as 'Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats' and 'Memory.'

West Virginia Public Theatre's lineup is as follows: My Fair Lady: June 23-June 28; Little Shop of Horrors: June 30-July 5; Disney's High School Musical: July 8- July 12 and July 15th-July 19; Doubt, A Parable: July 14-July 19; The Wedding Singer: July21-July 26; Fiddler on the Roof: July 28-August 2; and Cats: August 4-August 9. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00 P.M., with matinees Wednesday and Sunday at 2:00 P.M.

Season tickets are available along with single tickets. Discounts for students and children are also available. For tickets, call (304) 291-4122 (or toll free at 1-877-999-WVPT) or visit the WVPT box office in the Waterfront Place Hotel between 8:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. Monday through Friday. WVPT performs at the WVU Creative Arts Center, which is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible. More information can be obtained from WVPT's website: www.wvpublictheatre.com.