Young Company Summer Festival Takes The Stage

The Summer Festival, August 8-18, 2019, is the culmination of 5 weeks of preparation by Young Company students and their professional Directors, Music Directors, Choreographers, Stage Managers, and Design Teams. Performed by actors in grades 4-12, The Young Company Summer Festival includes 6 fully staged productions: family friendly Freckleface Strawberry The Musical, hilarious murder mystery Curtains, and the toe tapping classic Singin' in the Rain. High School Students continue the fun with the madcap musical farce Lucky Stiff, as well as musical satire How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and finally the action-packed adventures of She Kills Monsters.

In Freckleface Strawberry The Musical, the popular books come to life to teach that anyone can be anything they want! Freckleface Strawberry can't stand her freckles and will do anything to be rid of them. Will she succeed? Or will her schoolmates help her learn to love herself, freckles and all? Come join Strawberry, her lovable friends and their wacky teacher in this delightful and heartwarming family musical. Directed by Sophie Gore, Music Directed by Jonathan Acorn, Choreographed by Annika Hileman, Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl, and Stage Managed by Emma Richmond. Music and Lyrics by Gary Kupper, Book by Gary Kupper and Rose Caiola, based on the books written by Julianne Moore and illustrated by Leuyen Pham, and conceived for the stage by Rose Caiola.

"The show must go on!" is put to the test in Curtains. In a Boston theatre in 1959, the opening night of a new musical is goes awry when the leading lady is murdered. A local detective (and musical theatre enthusiast!) locks down the theatre to conduct a thorough investigation. It's a race against the clock as the detective works to discover the murderer while the cast works to save their show. Everyone is a suspect in this wildly funny whodunnit musical. Co-Directed by Stephen Zubricki, Co-Directed and Choreographed by Alyssa Bene, Music Directed by Vanessa Schukis, Costume Design by Theona White, and Stage Managed by Demi Dicarlo. Book by Rubert Holmes, Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb, Original book and concept by Peter Stone, and additional lyrics by John Kander and Rupert Holmes.

Get ready to make 'em laugh in the cinematic classic Singin' in the Rain. It's 1927 and talking movies are all the rage! To keep up with the times, Monumental Pictures decides to apply this new technology to the next film of its biggest stars: Lockwood and Lamont. But the transition from silent film to talkie is more complicated than expected. Come inside the golden age of Hollywood in this musical comedy adapted from the critically acclaimed 1952 movie. Directed by Emily Grove, Music Directed by Lea Peterson, Choreographed by Autumn Blazon Brown, Costume Design by Kevin Morris, and Stage Managed by Katrina Skidmore. Screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, and based on the classic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Inc.

Something funny's going on in the hilarious and heartfelt physical comedy Lucky Stiff. Harry Witherspoon, an English shoe salesman, dreams of adventure. His humdrum existence gets a jolt when he inherits six million dollars from an uncle he's never met. The inheritance has one caveat; to get the money, Harry must take his uncle's embalmed body on a one-week jaunt to Monte Carlo. Don't even try to guess what happens next in this fast-paced, madcap musical farce. Directed by Sarah Gazdowicz, Music Directed by Bethany Aiken, Choreographed by Sarai Warsoff, Costume Design by Erica Desautels, and Stage Managed by A.J. Helman. Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Music by Stephen Flaherty, and based on "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo" by Michael Butterworth.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning musical How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, crafted by the team behind Guys & Dolls, follows ambitious window washer, J. Pierpoint Finch, as he makes his way up the corporate ladder by following the advice of an instruction manual called How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Inspired by an actual humorous publication from 1952, this clear-eyed musical satire hilariously sends up corporate politics and gender dynamics in the workplace in the early 1960s. Directed by Sydney Grant, Assistant Directed & Choreographed by Ceit Zweil, Music Directed by Alan Rodi, Costume Design by Kevin Morris, and Stage Managed by Liana E. Chapman. Book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser and based upon the book by Shepherd Mead.

Does Agnes have what it takes to become the Dungeon Master of her own fate? Find out in the action-packed critically acclaimed play She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen. When her sister Tilly passes away, Agnes discovers a notebook from Tilly's Dungeons and Dragons game. In order to better understand her lost sibling, Agnes enters Tilly's world. Her journey brings her face-to-face with a bevy of fantastical beings, including a homicidal faerie, a fanged cheerleader, and the Overlord of the Underworld. Along the way, Agnes will embrace her inner geek as she tries to come to terms with her sister's passing. Directed & Fight Choreographed by Sarah Elizabeth Bedard, Assistant Directed & Movement by Wanda Strukus, Sound Design by Deirdre Benson, Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl, and Stage Managed by Sam O'Brien. Recommended for audiences 13 years old and up.

Performances:

Singin' in the Rain-Thursday, August 8th at 7pm; Saturday, August 10th at 7pm; and Sunday, August 11th at 7pm. Recommended for all ages.

Freckleface Strawberry The Musical-Friday, August 9th at 12pm; Saturday, August 10th at 12pm; and Sunday, August 11th at 12pm. Recommended for all ages.

Curtains-Friday, August 9th at 7pm; Saturday, August 10th at 3pm; and Sunday, August 11th at 3pm. Recommended for all ages.

She Kills Monsters-Thursday, August 15th at 8pm; Saturday, August 17th at 8pm; and Sunday, August 18th at 12pm. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying-Friday, August 16th at 4pm; Saturday, August 17th at 4pm; and Sunday, August 18th at 8pm. Recommended for all ages.

Lucky Stiff-Friday, August 16th at 8pm; Saturday, August 17th at 12pm; and Sunday, August 18th at 4pm. Recommended for all ages.

Tickets are $15. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the Box Office at Greater Boston Stage Company at (781) 279-2200, or visit www.greaterbostonstage.org. Group sales are also available. Please contact Bryan Miner, Audience Development Manager, at bryan@greaterbostonstage.org or (781) 279-7885 x107 for more information.

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