GrooveLily and Deaf West's 'Beauty Wakes' Opens in LA 4/7

According to the LA Times, the new GrooveLily musical Sleeping Beauty Wakes, which began previews March 31st at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in L.A., will open on April 7th to run through May 13th, 2007. 

"Where is that prince of mine?  After her centuries long snooze, Beauty wakes to find herself far from her fairy tale kingdom in a contemporary sleep-disorder center, where all the princes seem to have disappeared!," state press notes on the Center Theatre Group website.  "A delightful twist on Grimms' classic fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty Wakes takes us on a wild theatrical journey entwined in these two parallel worlds, as Beauty discovers the real costs of flirting with danger, the joy of living and the meaning of true love.  As they did with Big River, Director Jeff Calhoun and Deaf West Theatre craft a unique musical featuring both deaf and hearing actors along with the indie pop/rock sensation GrooveLily to create a distinctively theatrical musical event."

The show is a co-production of Center Theatre Group and Deaf West Theatre.  All performances in spoken English and American Sign Language with music, dance and song!  

The show has set design by Tobin Ost, costume design by Maggie Morgan, lighting design by Michael Gilliam, sound design by Eric Snodgrass.  The show features: Erika Amato, Deanne Bray, Clinton Derricks-Carroll, Kevin Earley, Shannon Ford, Russell Harvard, Troy Kotsur, Christia Mantzke, Brendan Milburn, Valerie Vigoda (both of GrooveLily), and Alexandria Wailes.        

"I feel like my brain is exploding.  It's a completely different and separate language, ASL versus English. It's its own poetry, its own syntax, its own art form. And it just enhances everything that we do, any words that we might put on the page," said Vigoda of the show.  GrooveLily's musical Striking 12, written with Rachel Sheinkin, previously played Off-Broadway.