American Heartland Theatre to Present LIFE COULD BE A DREAM, 3/8-4/21

American Heartland Theatre will present the award-winning musical LIFE COULD BE A DREAM! Written by Roger Bean (The Marvelous Wonderettes), the show is directed by STEVEN EUBANK, with musical direction by Anthony Edwards, and features a cast of both Kansas City stars (Lauren Braton, Seth Golay and NOAH WHITMORE) and New York City talent (Eddie Egan and DAVID SPADORA).

LIFE COULD BE A DREAM, winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Best Musical Award, will open on Friday, March 8th, 2013 (press opening on Wednesday, March 13th) and run through Sunday, April 21st, 2013 at American Heartland Theatre in Crown Center.

Band mates (Denny, Wally and Eugene) have BIG dreams. And they plan on making their dreams come true by entering and WINNING the "Dream of a Lifetime Talent Search" sponsored by WOPR Radio. But they have a problem; they're missing one key part of that classic doo-wop sound... until they meet a bad boy with a golden voice, Skip. Now all they need is a little polish, courtesy of beautiful song leader Lois who captures all of their hearts. With '60s doo-wop classics such as "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," "Tears on My Pillow," "Runaround Sue," "Earth Angel," "Stay," "Unchained Melody," "Lonely Teardrops," and "The Glory of Love," LIFE COULD BE A DREAM will leave you laughing, singing, and cheering "Let's hear it for the boys!"

Roger Bean (Writer) created the long-running off-Broadway hit The Marvelous Wonderettes, produced at American Heartland Theatre during the 2011 holiday season. Other musicals by MR. Bean include The Andrews Brothers, Why Do Fools Fall In Love?, Beach Blanket Bash, Route 66 and Summer of Love.

STEVEN EUBANK (Director) returns to AHT, where he previously directed The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Mr. Eubank is the artistic director for Egads Theatre Company (an evolution of Eubank Productions), where he has directed The Rocky Horror Show, Reefer Madness and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Mr. Eubank is also an actor, recently seen in Spring Awakening at Coterie Theatre.

Anthony Edwards (Musical Director/Keyboards) is AHT's resident Musical Director. Mr. Edwards has directed the music for a wide variety of shows including Backwards in High Heels, A Dog's Life and most recently Nuncrackers: The Nunsense Christmas Musical and Menopause The Musical.

Lauren Braton (Lois) returns to AHT, where she was last seen in No Way To Treat A Lady. Around town, she has most recently been seen as Princess Fiona in SHREK The Musical at the Coterie Theatre and I'll Be Seeing You: The Songs of WWII at Quality Hill Playhouse. When she isn't on stage, Ms. Braton is a voice instructor at Kansas City Young Audiences.

Eddie Egan (Skip) is making his AHT debut. A New Jersey native who now calls NYC his home, Mr. Egan recently completed a tour with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, bringing the show to large arenas around the country.

Seth Golay (Eugene) returns to AHT, where he has been seen in numerous productions including A Dog's Life, Forever Plaid, The 1940s Radio Hour and Plaid Tidings. Mr. Golay has appeared all around Kansas City, including the role of Horton in the world premiere young-audience version of Seussical at the Coterie Theatre.

DAVID SPADORA (Wally) also makes his AHT debut. Originally hailing from New Jersey, Mr. Spadora last appeared in Red Mountain Theater's Legally Blonde and has been seen on TV in One Life To Life and heard on the animated show The Wonder Pets.

NOAH WHITMORE (Denny), originally from Plattsmouth, Nebraska, now makes his home in Kansas City, and is making his AHT debut. Mr. Whitmore has appeared in the Coterie Theatre's productions of Spring Awakening and Once Upon A Mattress; Egads! Theatre's Evil Dead: The Musical, and Zombie Prom; and Eubank Productions' The Rocky Horror Show.

LIFE COULD BE A DREAM features musical accompaniment by Tod Barnard (Percussion), PHIL BRENNER (Reeds), JOE LEVENS (Guitar) and JEREMY WATSON (Keyboards). The production team includes Set Design by JASON COALE, Costume Design by SHANNON SMITH, Lighting Design by Shane Rowse, Sound Design by DONNA MILLER and Properties Design by WILLIAM CHRISTIE.

LIFE COULD BE A DREAM performances begin Friday, March 8th and continue through Sunday, April 21st. Press night is Wednesday, March 13th at 7:30pm. Interpreted performance: Wednesday, April 17th at 7:30pm. Listening devices and accessible seating are available for all performances.

Tickets range from $29 to $35 plus service fee and can be purchased at the American Heartland Theatre Box Office on the 3rd floor of the Crown Center Shops, online at www.ahtkc.com, or by calling 816-842-9999. Student, Senior and Group discounts are available. Groups of 10+ call 816- 842-0202 ext 218.

American Heartland Theatre is one of the city's leading live theatre establishments. The theatre serves over 180,000 theatregoers every year from Kansas City and surrounding states. Each season, the theatre presents six productions, including comedies, musicals, dramas and mysteries featuring local, regional and national performers. AHT operates under agreements with Actors' Equity Association in its intimate 440+ seat theatre. American Heartland Theatre is located downtown in Crown Center and is a proud member of www.kclivearts.org.