Photo Flash: LOUIS & KEELY: LIVE AT THE SAHARA At The Geffen Playhouse Runs Thru 9/27

The show that first opened at the Geffen Playhouse in March will extend following a series of sold-out runs and the success of the recently released audio CD featuring the music of Louis & Keely: Live at the Sahara.

With lauded reviews from the local media and a near sweep of the highest honor at every major Los Angeles theater awards ceremony - Best Musical at the Ovation Awards, Best Production at the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, Best Production at the Garland Awards and Musical of the Year at the LA Weekly Theater Awards - Louis & Keely: Live at the Sahara continues to play to packed houses.

Created by Jake Broder and Vanessa Claire Smith, who also star as Louis and Keely, respectively, Louis & Keely: Live at the Sahara follows the life and love of Las Vegas' infamous onstage couple. Helmed by acclaimed Hollywood director/biographer Taylor Hackford, the current production is a revamped version of Broder and Smith's 2008 show.

Originally developed by Broder and Smith at the Sacred Fools Theatre Company in June 2008, Louis & Keely has been substantially reworked for its current production at the Geffen. Hackford, who joined forces with the creators to guide the revision process, estimates about 40 percent of the script is different from the original production. This includes the addition of seven new songs - "I Wish You Love," "Hey Boy, Hey Girl," "What is this Thing Called Love," "Night Train," "Ai, Ai, Ai" and "I Can't Believe that You're in Love with Me," as well as new characters.

Broder and Smith mine new emotional depths in the characters of Louis and Keely, and new cast members Nick Cagle and Erin Matthews play various other characters in the couple's story, including Old Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. In addition to the four actors, Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara features a seven-piece live jazz band that brings down the house as the orchestra for the play and as well as Louis Prima's Vegas band ‘The Witnesses.'

Photo Credit: Michael Lamont

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