Grab that poodle skirt, slick back your hair and get ready to rock ‘n' roll -- 50's style -- when the 2010-2011 national tour of the new Broadway production of the hit musical GREASETM makes its way to Boston's Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre and will close on Sunday, May 1. Leading the 50's fun-fest will be Eddie Mekka (Laverne & Shirley's Carmine) as DJ Vince Fontaine.
After spending a hopelessly devoted summer with Sandy Dumbrowski, the new girl in town, Danny Zuko's world is thrown upside down when Sandy appears at Rydell High on the first day of school. What follows is a rock n' roll celebration of growin' up, cruisin' with friends and goin' steady. The new production of GREASE
TM features songs from the smash hit 1978 motion picture, including "Sandy," the Academy Award nominated song "Hopelessly Devoted to You," "Grease" and "You're the One That I Want" - both of which were #1 hits on the Billboard Top 100 list. These songs will be heard in addition to the Jacobs/Casey songs made famous by the original stage production such as "Summer Nights," "Greased Lightnin'" and "We Go Together."
Eddie Mekka stars in the tour as DJ "Vince Fontaine." Eddie is best known for his role as ‘Carmine Ragusa, The Big Ragu' on the hit ABC-TV sitcom "Laverne & Shirley." He played the role of ‘Carmine' for the show's entire run. He appeared on many of the most popular TV series of the 70s, 80s and 90s, including "The Love Boat," "Fantasy Island," "Moonlighting," and "The New Rockford Files." On the big screen, Eddie played Bette Midler's cohort in Beaches. He appeared as Madonna's boyfriend in A League of their Own, as ‘Lt. Vincent Barbero' in Taking the Heat with Lynn Whitfield, and as ‘The Prophet' in Garry Marshall's film Dear God.
Eddie got his start doing musical theatre as a teenager in Worcester, MA and got his ‘big break' on Broadway in the Vietnam War-themed rock opera The Lieutenant, for which he received a Best Actor nomination from both the Tony and Drama Desk committees. Eddie also appeared in such shows as Jumpers, The Magic Show with Doug Henning, and Damn Yankees with Gwen Verdon.
Eddie's love of theatre continues today as he entertains audiences across the country with his stage roles. Eddie has taken on such roles as ‘Groucho Marx' in An Evening With Groucho, ‘Nicky Deluca' in The Right Step (a show he wrote, directed, choreographed and starred in), ‘Pseudolus' in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, and since 1993, the role of ‘Tevye' in multiple productions of Fiddler on the Roof.
Alyssa Herrera will star as "Sandy" and Matt Nolan will star as "Danny." Alyssa is a recent graduate of Wagner College. Her favorite roles include parts in High School Musical and Little Women. Matt was a finalist on NBC's "Grease: You're the One That I Want." He recently appeared in the national tour of Hairspray.
The tour also stars Patrick Cragin as "Kenickie," Audrey Filson as "Patty Simcox," Kelly Teal Goyette as "Miss Lynch," Patrick Joyce as "Sonny," Alicia Kelly as "Marty," Brad Lawson as "Roger," Ashley Rubin as "Frenchy," Lauren Elaine Taylor as Rizzo, Lauren Turner as "Jan," and Marc Winski as "Doody."
GREASE
TM originated in Chicago and made its premiere at The Kingston Mines Theater in 1971 before making its New York premiere off-Broadway at the Eden Theatre on February 14, 1972. After 128 sold-out performances, the show made the transition to Broadway taking up residence at the Broadhurst Theatre on June 7, 1972. GREASE
TM was nominated for seven Tony Awards in its spectacular initial run. On November 21, 1972, the show moved to the Royale Theatre before making its final transfer on January 20, 1980 to the Majestic Theatre. It closed as the longest running show in Broadway history after playing 3,388 performances.
In 1978, GREASE
TM became a hugely popular feature film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the lead roles. A Broadway revival opened on May 11, 1994 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre where it played 1,503 performances and won three Tony Award nominations. The new Broadway production of GREASE
TM opened on August 19, 2007 and was nominated for a 2008 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.
The film version of GREASE
TM produced one of the best-selling soundtracks in history and is the highest-grossing movie musical of all time. The two Travolta/Newton-John duets, "You're The One That I Want" and "Summer Nights" were both #1 hits. The song "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was nominated for an Academy Award (1979) for Best Music - Original Song and the film's title song, "Grease," was a #1 smash hit single for singer Frankie Valli.
GREASE
TM features book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Additional songs from the film are by Barry Gibb, John Farrar, Louis St. Louis and Scott Simon.
Directed by David John O'Brien and choreographed by Joyce Chittick, the 2010 - 2011 national tour of GREASE
TM features scenic design by Tony Award winner Derek McLane, costume design by Tony Award winner Martin Pakledinaz and lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner.
GREASE
TM plays at the Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre for eight performances: Wednesday, April 27 at 7:30 PM; Thursday and Friday evenings at 8:00 PM; Saturday, April 30 at 11:00 AM, 3:00 and 8:00 PM; and Sunday, May 1 at 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM. On Wednesday, April 27, all tickets are priced at $58.00; for all other performances, tickets are priced at $28 -98; all prices include a $3.00 facility fee per ticket. Tickets for GREASE
TM are on sale at the Citi Performing Arts Center Box Office, online at
www.citicenter.org or by calling (866) 348-9738. Discounted tickets are available for groups of 10 or more by contacting Citi Performing Arts Center Group Sales at (617) 532-1116 or at groupsales@citicenter.org
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