Boiler Room Theatre to Revive LE MIZ! A Tale of Two Cities, Opens 8/13

The Boiler Room Theatre (BRT), Williamson County's residentprofessional theatre company, continues its 10 th season with Les Miz! A Tale of Two Cities opening August 13, 2010 at the theatre, located in the historic Factory at Franklin, 230 Franklin Rd., Building Six, in Franklin, Tenn. for a run through September 4.

From the creators of McBeth! The Musical Comedy, which was revived on theBoiler Room stage in 2002 garnering critical acclaim, comes this hysterical musicaladaptation of Charles Dickens' novel "A Tale of Two Cities," performed by the colorfuland crazy characters that inhabit the fictionAl Rosencrantz Theatre.

This wacky musicalemploys parody to poke fun at a plethora of Broadway shows including My Fair Lady, Oliver! Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miserables and many others. The musical premiered at Nashville's former Avante Garage! Theatre in 1993 and was the final installment of aseries of "Rosencrantz" musicals.

The show was preceded by McBeth! and Hamlet! The Melancholy Dane!, both of which received major book and music revisions for their revivals at BRT in 2002 and 2004, respectively.Les Miz! A Tale of Two Cities features original book, music and lyrics by Jamey Green, Michael Bouson, Joe Correll and Kathy Shepard. New music and lyrics for the 2010 revival are by Green.

When the show debuted at the Avante Garage!, it was billed with its original French title, Les Miserables de Deux Recit Du Villes. Due to guestconfusion that the show might be a serious classical play by Moliere, the title wasreworked for the 2010 BRT revival. "This show was the final show written by us at the Avante Garage! (Bouson,Correll, Green, and Shepard) that takes place at the fictitious Rosencrantz Theater.

It may also be the most irreverent," said co-author and Director Jamey Green. "It follows thestory of ‘A Tale of Two Cities' (and actually does a pretty good job telling that story!) but it does so by using a parody of the musical Les Miserables as a template. Part of thefun is spotting the Les Miserables song send-ups in Les Miz!, but also identifying songsfrom My Fair Lady, Jesus Christ Superstar, Phantom of the Opera, and A Chorus Line -it is funny. A bit surreal at times, but very funny I think. The cast certainly seems to think so. This is very likely the last time anyone is going to be able to participate in or see a ‘Rosencrantz' show.

The cast is perfect."Les Miz! stars Corey Clark (American Idol Season 2 finalist) as Charles Darnay, Lisa Gillespie as Madame Defarge, Scott Rice as Sydney Carnton, and Laura ThomasSonn as Lucy. Jeffrey Williams picks up the drag torch and carries on the tradition ofplaying the gravel-voiced brash and boisterous Blanche Rosencrantz, played by LewisKempfer in the BRT revivals of the Rosencrantz shows, and originally created and portrayed by Joe Correll.The large cast also includes Stephanie Benton, Christina Candilora, Megan (Murphy) Chambers, Emily Cullum, Hope Dyra, Luke Dyra, Taylor Green, Stephen Henry, Bill Jones, Anthony Just, Dan McGeachy, Phil Perry, Pat Street, Vicki White, Lane Wright, and Bethany Woelber.

Musical direction isby Jamey Green, choreography by Lauri Gregoire, and costumes by Melissa Cannon. Corbin Green is the show's Technical Director and Set Designer. Performances will be held on Tuesday, Thursday (Aug. 26, Sept. 2 only), Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m., with one discount Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. on Aug. 22.

Ticket prices are $25 for adults, $23 for seniors (age 60 and up) and students (age13 through college with valid ID), and $19 for children ages 3 through 12. The show israted PG for instances of adult language. Matinee prices are $2 less respectively. All Tuesday shows are two-for-one ($25 for two tickets; no other discounts apply). Tickets may be purchased by calling the Boiler Room Theatre at 615-794-7744 or ordered online at BoilerRoomTheatre.com

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