Musical Theatre Guild Sets 23rd Season

Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, has announced an exciting quartet of shows for their 23rd season of Broadway in Concert musicals. The MTG 2018-2019 season includes: MAME, ZORBA, MINNIE'S BOYS and SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE.

For over two decades the group has presented a wide variety of rarely seen musicals including West Coast and Los Angeles premieres from such composers as Stephen Sondheim, Jason Robert Brown, Maury Yeston and Aherns and Flaherty. In addition to their concert series, MTG, in partnership with the Los Angeles Music Center's Education Division, expands their mission of preserving the genre of Musical Theatre by presenting in-school programming to teach a new generation about this original American art form.

The actors who make up the Musical Theatre Guild company consist of some of the finest professional musical theatre talent in southern California. Among them they share over 60 Broadway shows, 79 Broadway National tours and dozens of Tony©, Ovation and Drama Desk Award nominations.

Says Elissa Glickman, CEO of Glendale Arts, where MTG is a resident company at the Alex Theatre: "When MTG pairs some of LA's most talented musical theatre performers with some the industry's most popular and/or unknown shows, what you get is pure magic on stage. Couple this with their extraordinary educational programming and it's a win/win for the Alex and the Glendale Community."

Season tickets will be available online in late June and single tickets in July through both the MTG website and the Alex Theatre Box Office, or by calling 818-243-2539 or 310-772-8178. The Alex Theatre is located at 216 N. Brand Blvd. in Glendale, CA. More information about Musical Theatre Guild can be found at www.musicaltheatreguild.com.

THE MUSICAL Theatre Guild 2018-2019 SEASON:

MAME

Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman, Book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

Based on the novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and the subsequent stage play by Lawrence and Lee

One of Broadway's most luminous characters comes to our stage to remind us that "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!" Featuring one of Jerry Herman's most tuneful and joyous scores, Auntie Mame takes us on a wild ride of life with her inherited little nephew, Patrick.

MAME premiered in 1966 starring Angela Lansbury, Bea Arthur and Frankie Michaels, who all won Tony© Awards for their performances. It was nominated for an additional 5 Tony© awards and ran for 1,508 performances. A subsequent film version premiered in 1974 starring Lucille Ball.

Sunday, September 23, 2018 - 7:00 PM - Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA

ZORBA

Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb, Book by Joseph Stein

Based on Nikos Kazantzakis's novel and the subsequent film Zorba the Greek

Prolific and ever versatile composers Kander and Ebb travel us to Greece with one of their most beautifully evocative scores. Based on the 1952 novel and 1964 classic film, we meet the exuberant and passionate Zorba as he befriends a fledgling American writer who confronts his own life choices when he falls in love with a local widow. As bluntly sung at the top of show... "Life is what you do while you're waiting to die." Earthy, practical and ultimately true.

ZORBA opened on Broadway in 1968 in a production starring Hershel Bernardi and directed by Harold Prince. It ran for 305 performances and was nominated for 8 Tony© Awards with Boris Aronson winning for his scenic design. It was revived on Broadway in 1983 starring Anthony Quinn.

Sunday, November 11, 2018 - 7:00 PM - Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA

MINNIE'S BOYS

Music by Larry Grossman, Lyrics by Hal Hackady, Book by Arthur Marx and Robert Fisher

Before Mama Rose there was Minnie, a super-Mom who was the driving force behind the famous Marx Brothers. A vaudeville performer herself, Minnie coaxed, pushed, pulled and prodded the boys into their now-famous entity. Seldom seen but dearly loved, this Larry Grossman/Hal Hackady tuneful and infectious score takes us through the zany early years of the brothers as they get their start in burlesque. You know their films, but we bet you don't how it all started.

After an unusually long preview period of 64 performances, MINNIE'S BOYS opened in 1970 at Broadway's Imperial Theatre. The musical, which played a total of 80 regular performances, was directed by Stanley Prager and starred Shelly Winters and Lewis J. Stadlen. The score includes the standout "Mama A Rainbow".

Sunday, February 10, 2019 - 7:00 PM - Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by James Lapine

The winner of the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for drama, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE is an enchanting show with a complex, beautiful and haunting score that gives us a balance of Georges Seurat's imagined journey as he creates his most famous painting: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Then in classic Sondheim/James Lapine style, it presents a second act centered around a modern-day descendant, also a George, as an artist who is blocked and wrestling with the pursuit of his creative spark in today's commercial world.

The first act of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in 1983 starring Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin and ran 25 performances. The musical transferred to Broadway's Booth Theatre (with Peters and Patinkin reprising their roles) in May of 1984 with the second act set just a few days before opening. In addition to the Pulitzer, the musical won the Drama Desk and NY Drama Critic's Circle Award for Best Musical and was nominated for 11 Tony© Awards, winning for scenic and lighting design. The musical was revived on Broadway in 2008 and 2017.

Sunday, May 5, 2019 - 7:00 PM - Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA

To schedule press interviews, photos, press seating, or for additional information, please contact Kevin McMahon at 213-924-1588, or by email at kbmpr@aol.com.

ABOUT MTG:

Musical Theatre Guild is comprised of musical theatre's finest professional artists, producing staged concert readings of Broadway's forgotten gems and undiscovered treasures.

For over twenty years, Musical Theatre Guild has produced nearly 100 shows, many of which are once-in-a-generation opportunities to be performed and seen. Per Musical Theatre Guild's mandate, performances are concert-style versions of the shows, with script in hand, and with minimal scenery and costumes. A live professional orchestra is utilized at all productions. In addition, Musical Theatre Guild is a non-profit theatre organization, whose outreach and educational programs offer an excellent introduction to this unique American treasure and hope to inspire and excite a new generation of theatre artists and audiences. In addition to an extensive in-school outreach, Musical Theatre Guild regularly provides FREE tickets to hundreds of students throughout our season. For many Southern California area students, attending a Musical Theatre Guild show at the Alex Theatre is their introduction to a lifetime of enjoying this truly American art form.

Recognitions include The Los Angeles Drama Critics Margaret Harford Award, The Actors' Equity Foundation, The ASCAP Foundation, The California Arts Council, City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, The City of Los Angeles Artistic Excellence Citation, and more.

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