Musical Theatre West Announces NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, Kathy Fitzgerald, Eric Sciotto, and More to Star

What do you get when you mix a cocktail of 21 Gershwin gems, madcap comedy, and show-stopping dance numbers It's Musical Theatre West's (MTW) production of Broadway's 10-Time Tony nominated musical Nice Work If You Can Get It, coming to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center April 6-22. Tickets are now on sale at www.musical.org, by calling (562) 856-1999 ext. 4 or at the Musical Theatre West Ticket Office. Tickets start at $20.

Written by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe DiPietro (Memphis) and based on material by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, The New York Times calledNice Work If You Can Get It, "George and Ira Gershwin's hilarious screwball musical comedy." It's the Roaring Twenties, New York, where female bootlegger, Billie Bendix (Kelley Dorney), falls hard for Jimmy Winter (Eric Sciotto), a society playboy, while trying to steer clear of Duchess Estonia Dulworth (Kathy Fitzgerald) and her campaign against "demon rum." This hilarious, sparkling, Tony-winning comedy from the pen of Joe DiPietro (Memphis; I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change) is set to the timeless songs of George and Ira Gershwin, including "But Not For Me," "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," "I've Got a Crush on You" and "Someone to Watch Over Me." Fun and feisty choreography adds to the excitement of MTW's production through the talents of praised Broadway choreographer Peggy Hickey (Anastasia and Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder).

Nice Work If You Can Get It premiered on Broadway in 2012, starring Matthew Broderick and Kelli O'Hara. The show went on to receive 10 Tony Award nominations, including "Best Musical" and eight Drama Desk Award nominations, winning in three categories, including "Outstanding Book of a Musical."

Musical Theatre West's production boasts a cast of Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional actors, as well as television and musical artists. Kelley Dorney (Billie) recent credits include Carousel (MTW); Pipe Dream and Louisiana Purchase (MTW - Reiner Reading Series); Superhuman (Center Theatre Group), Lend Me a Tenor and First Date (LaMirada), for which she received an Ovation Award nomination; Oklahoma! (3D Theatricals); State Fair and Promises, Promises (Musical Theatre Guild); and national tours of Click Clack Moo and Fancy Nancy. Internationally, she appeared in London for the PBS concert A Tale of Two Cities and was part of the original workshop/concept album of Love Never Dies.

Eric Sciotto (Jimmy) most recently starred as Shakespeare in the Broadway production of Something Rotten. His additional Broadway credits include Annie Get Your Gun, Aida, Sweet Smell of Success, Sweet Charity, 42nd Street, Cry-Baby, A Chorus Line, Pal Joey, Rock of Ages, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. For the Goodspeed Theatre, he starred as Frank in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and as Drac Frenzie in the Off-Broadway productions of Attack of the Elvis Impersonators. In addition to being an accomplished actor, Sciotto works regionally as a director and choreographer.

Broadway gem, Kathy Fitzgerald (Dutchess) earned accolades for creating the role of Mrs. Gloop in the Broadway production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and for crafting the role of Shirley Markowitz in the The Producers playing opposite Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick. Additional Broadway credits include; Swinging on a Star, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination for "Best Featured Actress"; 9 to 5 as Roz, receiving an Outer Critics nomination; and the Broadway and national tour productions of Wicked as Madame Morrible, for which she received a Broadway World award. A recognizable face on television and in film, Fitzgerald can also be seen in the shows Smash, One Life to Life, and Curb your Enthusiasm and the films Our Idiot Brother and The Producers.

Another Broadway favorite, Jason Graae (Cookie), credits include A Grand Night for Singing as Jason, as Mendel in Falsettos, as Jason in Stardust, the title role in Snoopy!, and Louie in Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up His Off-Broadway credits include Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, (for which he received a Drama Desk Nomination for "Best Actor"); the recent hit Spamilton; and Forever Plaid. Graae is the recipient of the prestigious LA Drama Critics Circle Award for "Outstanding Contribution to Musical Theatre" where he appeared in the Los Angeles premiere of Ragtime and Forbidden Hollywood/Broadway (Ovation Award). An accomplished opera singer, he performed with LA Opera in The Merry Widow and The Grand Duchess. In San Francisco, he recently won the Theatre Bay Area Award for "Best Actor" for the title role in Scrooge in Love.

Gloria Loring (Millicent Miller) is a singer, songwriter, actress, and author; the recording artist of the No. 1 hit song "Friends and Lovers"; co-composer of TV theme songs for Diff'rent Strokes and Facts Of Life; and is well-known for her seven years as "Liz Chandler" on Days of Our Lives. She is the author of six books benefitting people with diabetes, two of which raised more than $1 million for diabetes research. Loring is listed in Who's Who In America.

Musical Theatre West's production of Nice Work If You Can Get It is under the direction of Larry Raben who continues his relationship with MTW, having directed Sunset Blvd. Hairspray, and The Wedding Singer among others. The winner of the LA Ovation Award for "Best Direction" for Singin' In The Rain (Cabrillo Music Theatre), Raben directed the world premiere of Tony winner Joe DiPietro's Falling For Eve Off-Broadway and countless regional theatre productions across the country.

Musical director/conductor Dennis Castellano has enjoyed a 30-year relationship with Musical Theatre West and most recently conducted its productions of In the Heights and White Christmas. He serves as the musical supervisor for the six-show summer season at the Sacramento Music Circus and is the head of the music theatre program at University California, Irvine. Castellano's other credits include Dreamgirls and The Hunchback of Notre Dame for McCoy/Rigby Entertainment; and The Light In the Piazza, A Little Night Music, and Sunday In the Park With George for South Coast Repertory.

Choreographer Peggy Hickey is fresh off of the successes of Broadway's Anastasia and A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, for which she received the Astaire and Outer Critics Circle nomination for "Best Choreography." As director and choreographer of the national tour of : A Gentleman's Guide...audiences across the country are experiencing her lively and vibrant work, as do television audiences with the "Live from Lincoln Center" production of Hansel and Gretel and the "Live from the Kennedy Center" production of Die Fledermaus. Hickey earned two MTV Award nominations for her choreography in The Brady Bunch Movie and Beck's The New Pollution.

Nice Work if You Can Get It is made possible thanks to the support of show Honorary Producers Howard and Elaine Davis and Associate Producers Avalee Wagner, Dr David Federick and Jasmine Calzada.. Season Sponsors include The Port of Long Beach, The Ackerman Family/Evalyn M Bauer Foundation, Ken & Dottie Reiner, The Schulzman-Neri Foundation, Don & Marlene Temple, and Kathy Baker Cambell and KC Wilson. Youth Performance Underwriters are Larry & Shari Nemirow and Dr. Ron & Sylvia Hartman.. Paul Garman serves as Executive Producer/Director of Musical Theatre West.

To post a comment, you must register and login.