Musicals Tonight! the Obie-winning company dedicated to the revival of neglected musicals kicks off its 16th NY season with Cole Porter'sMexican Hayride (October 8 - 20) directed by Thomas Sabella-Mills, with music direction by James Stenborg.
The season includes
Marvin Hamlisch's Smile (October 22 - November 3) directed by
Thomas Sabella-Mills, with music direction by
David Bishop;
Will Holt'sCome Summer (March 4 -16) directed by
Thomas Sabella-Mills, with music direction by
James Stenborg; George &
Ira Gershwin's For Goodness Sake (March 18 - 30) directed by
Thomas Sabella-Mills, with music direction by
David Bishop; and
Rodgers & Hart's America's Sweetheart (April 1 - 13) directed by
Thomas Sabella-Mills, with music direction by
James Stenborg.
Under the leadership of Founder/Artistic Director
Mel Miller,
Musicals Tonight! performs two-week runs Tuesday through Sunday at the Lion Theatre at Theatre Row Studios, 410 West 42nd Street. Single tickets go on sale September 3. Tickets are $25 (plus $1.25 facility fee) and available through Telecharge at 212-560-2186 or
www.telecharge.com. For more information visit
www.musicalstonight.org.
Musicals Tonight! also hosts the popular At This Performance! concert series designed to showcase talented Broadway standbys and understudies to sing their shows' current musical hits. The 2013-24 series dates of At This Performance! are October 14, 27, March 10, 23, and April 7 at 7pm at the Lion Theatre. Tickets are $25.
Cole Porter's Mexican Hayride features a book by Herbert and
Dorothy Fields with music & lyrics by
Cole Porter. The show opened on January 28, 1944 at the Majestic Theatre and ran 481 performances. Produced by
Michael Todd, with a cast of 99, Mexican Hayride starred
Bobby Clark and
June Havoc. Joe, a small-time American racketeer in Mexico on the run from the FBI, tries to elude the local authorities (and his wife) but runs afoul of a female bullfighter - Montana, her manager - Lombo, and Latin singer - Lolita. Songs include: "A Humble Hollywood Executive"; "He Certainly Kills the Women"; "There Must Be Someone for Me"; "Sing to Me Guitar".
Smile features a score by
Marvin Hamlisch (his penultimate Broadway show) and book and lyrics by
Howard Ashman. Smile is loosely based on the 1975 film of the same title, and chronicles the backstage dramas of the fictional California Young American Miss beauty pageant. Starring
Marsha Waterbury,
Jodi Benson and
Jeff McCarthy, Smile opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre November 24, 1986 and received one Tony Award nomination and two Drama Desk Award nominations. Songs: "Disneyland"; "Smile"; "In Our Hands"; "Very Best Week of Your Lives"; "Dear Mom".
Come Summer, based on the 1954 novel "Rainbow on the Road" with book and lyrics by
Will Holt and music by
David Baker, opened March 18, 1969 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre starring
Ray Bolger (his final Broadway production),
Margaret Hamilton,
David Cryer and
Cathryn Damon. It marked the last Broadway show directed by
Agnes De Mille. The show's set in New England 1840 when towns were visited by itinerant peddlers, painters and the like - long on charm but short on responsibility to those women they practiced their charm on. Songs: "Think Spring"; "Skin and Bones"; "Wild Birds Calling"; "Goodbye, My Bachelor"; "Good Time Charlie"; "Fine, Thank You, Fine".
For Goodness Sake, starring Fred and
Adele Astaire, opened on March 21, 1922 at the Lyric Theatre and later debuted in London under the title Stop Flirting. For Goodness Sake was a pivotal achievement for both Gershwins and led to a long-standing working relationship between the Gershwin brothers and the Astaire siblings. The book is by
Fred Jackson with lyrics by
Arthur Jackson, music by
William Daly and
Paul Lannin and "additional music" by
George Gershwin and "additional lyrics" by Arthur Francis (
Ira Gershwin's early nom de plume). Songs: "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise"; "Oh, Gee, Oh, Gosh"; "The Whichness of Whatness".
America's Sweetheart has a score with music by
Richard Rodgers, lyrics by
Lorenz Hart and book by
Herbert Fields. Directed by
Monty Woolley, the cast of 95 starred
Jack Whiting and
Ann Sothern. The musical, which opened in February, 1931, at the Broadhurst Theatre, was the last of the "early" Rodgers and Hart musicals, and the team's final stage collaboration with
Herbert Fields, with whom they had created such smash hits of the twenties as Peggy-Ann, A Connecticut Yankee, and Dearest Enemy. Two young lovers hitchhike to Hollywood to make their mark in silent films where she hits it big and he doesn't - until talkies appear and the tables are reversed. It all ends happily, however. Songs: "I've Got Five Dollars"; "A Lady Must Live"; "I Want a Man"; "Innocent Chorus Girls of Yesterday"; "You Ain't Got No Savoir Faire".
For more information on the season, tickets and subscriptions,
www.musicaltonight.org.
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