EDDIE MEKKA – “THE BIG RAGU” – COMING TO THE ALHAMBRA 10/23-12/1

Eddie Mekka - "The Big Ragu" - Coming to the Alhambra

Ten-Time Tony Award Winning South Pacific to feature Laverne & Shirley Star

(Jacksonville, FL) - Eddie Mekka, who played the role of Carmine Ragusa - the Big Ragu - in the hit TV series Lavern & Shirley will be featured in the Alhambra's upcoming performance of Rogers and Hammerstein's, South Pacific. Mekka follows his Laverne & Shirley cast-mate (and good friend) Cindy Williams.

Said Alhambra Managing Partner Craig Smith, "Most people don't know Eddie as a singer and a dancer. He is a really talented actor and we are grateful that Cindy recommended him for South Pacific. It will be a great ensemble cast with Eddie as the featured performer."

About the Show: The plot of South Pacific centers on an American nurse stationed on a South Pacific island during World War II who falls in love with a middle-aged expatriate French plantation owner. This story is intertwined with a secondary romance, between a U.S. lieutenant and a young Tonkinese woman.

The original Broadway production enjoyed immense critical and box-office success and became the second-longest running Broadway musical to that point (behind Rodgers and Hammerstein's earlier Oklahoma!). Because of its exploration of racial and social issues of the day, the show won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950. Several of its songs, including "Bali Ha'i", "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair", "Some Enchanted Evening", "There Is Nothing Like a Dame", "Happy Talk" and Younger Than Springtime" have become popular standards.

The production won 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score, and it is the only musical production to win Tony Awards in all four acting categories. Its original cast album was the bestselling record of the 1940s, and other recordings of the show have also been popular. The show has enjoyed many successful revivals and tours, spawning a 1958 film and television adaptations. The 2008 Broadway revival won seven Tonys, including Best Musical Revival.

About Eddie Mekka: Mekka was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. In the early 1970s, Mekka headed the Worcester County Light Opera, teaching young people how to sing. After performing on Broadway in The Lieutenant, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award, he moved to Los Angeles. He landed the role of Carmine for Laverne & Shirley in 1976, acting on the series until it was canceled in 1983. His recent television credits include 24, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Bold and the Beautiful, and as Detective Murdoch in the Fox television movie Catch Me If You Can. On stage, he has performed in Hairspray at the Luxor in Las Vegas, Nevada and in a national tour of Grease with Cindy Williams. Mekka returned to off-Broadway on July 15, 2008, starring in Steve Solomon's long-running comedy "My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm In Therapy!" at the Westside Theatre.Mekka reunited with his Laverne & Shirley co-star Cindy Williams in a November 2008 regional production of the It Had to Be You. Mekka starred as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof at the John W. Engeman Theater in Northport, New York, from April 29, 2010, until June 20, 2010.

South Pacific will run at the Alhambra October 23 through December 1, 2013. Show time is 8:00 PM for evening shows Tuesday through Sunday. Doors open at 5:45 PM and dinner will be served until 7:30 PM. Matinees on Saturday are at 1:15 PM. Doors open at 11:00 AM and brunch starts at 11:15 AM. Sunday matinee is at 2:00. Doors open at noon and the meal start at 12:15 PM. Group sales are available. Preview night pricing for the first two nights is available for $38. Regular pricing for tickets starts at $46 for adults and $35 for children. Ticket price includes dinner, show and parking. Call the box office at 904.641.1212 or www.alhambrajax.com.

About the new Alhambra Theatre & Dining

The Alhambra Theatre is the nation's longest continually operating professional dinner theatre and the only professional resident theatre between Atlanta and Miami. Opened in 1967, The Alhambra has hosted legends such as Tony Curtis, Claude Aiken, Sid Cesar and Cesar Romero, and, recently, Loretta Swit, Barry Williams, Jamie Farr, Sally Struthers and Joyce DeWitt. The Alhambra was the place of Betty Grable's final acting role. The Alhambra is also home to former Miss America, Orange Park native Leanza Cornett who started at the Alhambra when she was 15. In November 2009, the Alhambra was purchased by Theatre Partners, LLC, headed by Jacksonville entrepreneur and Alhambra patron, Craig Smith as way to give back to Jacksonville and preserve what he believes is one of its cultural jewels.

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