New Musical HAZEL, Starring Klea Blackhurst, Begins Tonight at Drury Lane

Drury Lane Theatre kicks off the 2016 - 2017 Season with the world-premiere production of HAZEL, a musical maid in America.

Directed and choreographed by Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Joshua Bergasse, HAZEL is written by Lissa Levin and features music by Ron Abel and lyrics by Chuck Steffan. HAZEL runs tonight, March 31, through May 29, 2016, and Opening Night is set for Wednesday, April 6 at 8 p.m.

"From the moment I heard the score from Chuck and Ron, it was wonderful, contemporary and full of many different styles to make it feel modern," says Bergasse. "The writing is smart and clever; while staying true to the original vision of the iconic HAZEL, Lissa has written a script that's incredibly funny and fresh. I'm thrilled to be able to bring this show to the stage with this talented cast and design team, who so effortlessly capture the energy, charisma, and humor that HAZEL embodies."

The musical, inspired by the comic by Ted Key, is brought to life by a talented cast and ensemble, featuring: Klea Blackhurst in the title role as the vivacious maid, HAZEL Burke, Ken Clark as George Baxter (Off-Broadway: Natasha, Pierre, and Great Comet of 1812; Camelot at Drury Lane), Summer Smart as Dorothy Baxter (First National tour of Wicked; Sweet Charity at Drury Lane-Jeff Award for Best Actress), Casey Lyons as Harold Baxter (A Christmas Carol at Drury Lane), Ava Morse as Benedetta Bomicino (Billy Elliot and LES MISERABLES at Drury Lane; NBC's Chicago PD), Rowan Moxley as Reuben Steuben (Bye Bye Birdie at Drury Lane; A Christmas Story at Theatre at the Center), Davu Smith as Scotty Ferber (Mothers and Sons at Northlight Theatre; Porgy and Bess at Lyric Opera of Chicago), and Ed Kross as Bonkers Johnson (The Jungle Book at Goodman Theatre and Huntington Theatre; Animal Crackers at Goodman Theatre).

The ensemble for HAZEL features Bill Bannon, Johnson Brock, Courtney Cerny, Brian M. Duncan, Rhett Guter, Terrance Martin, Tyler Martin, Shari Mocheit, Megan Murphy, Kristen Noonan, Gerard Salvador, and Holly Stauder.

The design team includes musical direction by Jeff Award winner Roberta Duchak (vocal coach to Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe for the film LES MISERABLES; Billy Elliot at Drury Lane), scenic design by Jeff Award winner Kevin Depinet (National Tour of Ragtime; LES MISERABLES at Paramount Theatre; Billy Elliotat Drury Lane), costume design by Sully Ratke (Moby Dick at Lookingglass Theatre; American Dead at Northwestern University), lighting design by Jeff Award nominee Lee Fiskness (Billy Elliot and Camelot at Drury Lane; Resident designer for thirteen years at Santa Fe Opera), sound design by Jeff Award winnerRay Nardelli (The Tempest at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Miss Saigon at Drury Lane), projection design by Christopher Ash (La Traviata at the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Bye Bye Birdie at Drury Lane), and wig and hair design by Rick Jarvie (Over 15 productions at Drury Lane; 20 years with Lyric Opera of Chicago).

The character of HAZEL first appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1943 in a single-panel cartoon by Ted Key, which ran until the publication went out of print in 1969. Academy Award-winner Shirley Booth brought the vivacious maid to life in the 1960's television show, which ran for five seasons. In 2010, Abel, Steffan and Levin came together to begin creating the musical version -- reimagining HAZEL once again. Together with Bergasse and Blackhurst, the production receives its world-premiere production at Drury Lane.

It's the 1960's, a time of great change for America, but not all of the Baxter family is on board. And what George Baxter finds not so funny about his wife joining the workforce and his maid taking over his household and his life-is a laugh riot. HAZEL asks the question: can a simple maid debone a turkey, save a marriage, uncover a matter of national security and lead a conga line? She can if she's HAZEL!

Tickets for HAZEL are on sale now by calling the Drury Lane Theatre box office at 630.530.0111, TicketMaster at 800.745.3000 or by visiting DruryLaneTheatre.com. The performance schedule is as follows: Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. ($45), Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. ($45) and 8 p.m. ($55), Fridays at 8 p.m. ($60), Saturdays at 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ($60), and Sundays at 2 p.m.($60), and 6 p.m. ($55). Student group tickets start as low as $30 and Senior Citizens start at $40 for matinees. Dinner and show packages are also available.

Drury Lane Theatre's season continues with Deathtrap (June 9 - August 14, 2016) by Ira Levin; Smokey Joe's Café(September 1 - October 23, 2016) with music and lyrics by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller; Crazy for You(November 3, 2016 - January 8, 2017), with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin and book by Ken Ludwig; and the regional premiere of Saturday Night Fever (January 19 - March 19, 2017), by Sean Cercone and David Abbinanti.

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