Piper Theatre Offers Free Outdoor Theatre Including XANADU and ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, Now thru 7/21
By: BWW News Desk Jul. 05, 2012
Piper Theatre's free production of the musical "Xanadu" premieres at the Old Stone House tonight, July 5. This will be the first time "Xanadu" is performed in Brooklyn, and where better to have an all-rollerskating cast, belting out an ELO soundtrack, than outdoors, in a park, in summer? Second Stage will also feature an original adaptation of H.G. Wells' "Island of Dr. Moreau," premiering July 7, continuing Piper's tradition of scary stories on summer nights.
XANADU
Summer Camp - '70s style - Rolls into Brooklyn This Summer!
Roller-Skating Musical Comedy Spectacular Makes its Brooklyn Premiere Free and Outdoors
Thursdays and Fridays in July
At the Old Stone House, Washington Park - at 3rd Street/4th and 5th avenue in Park Slope (F or R to 9th St. station)
July 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20 at 8pm
Piper Theatre brings the unrestrained fun and fashions of the 1970s to the Old Stone House this July, as we proudly present the Brooklyn premiere of "Xanadu," the musical comedy adapted from the 1980 cult classic film starring Olivia Newton-John.
Piper Theatre is celebrating its seventh season of free, outdoor summer theatre at the Old Stone House's Washington Field and has chosen "Xanadu" as its first-ever main stage musical production. Washington Park's newly renovated playground and gardens now make it one of the most beautiful destinations in Brooklyn, so come see what the neighborhood is buzzing about and stay for the best free theatre in any of the five boroughs. "Xanadu"'s tongue-in-cheek humor, its soundtrack featuring classic ELO tunes *and* "Have You Never Been Mellow," and last but not least, the fact that the cast is on rollerskates for almost the entire production makes it the summertime-perfect escape for Brooklynites of every age and cultural stripe.
The musical looks back on the glittery innocence of the late 1970s with an equal mix of love and parody. The story, by Douglas Carter Beane (the award-winning playwright of "The Little Dog Laughed" and "Lysistrata Jones"), is set in Venice Beach circa 1980 and centers on Kira, a Greek muse who descends from Mt. Olympus in order to inspire Sonny, a struggling street artist, to realize his grand artistic vision and open a roller disco. As is often the case when Greek demigods are involved with mortals, star-crossed love ensues, along with plot-twisting complications from jealous Olympian relatives.
"Xanadu" is an Equity showcase directed by Piper Theatre founder/artistic director John P. McEneny and choreographed by Karen Curlee (Together In Dance). Its set and costume design painstakingly recreate the Venice Beach of the late '70s, paying homage to the street art and visual style emblematic to that place and time, a West Coast counterpart to New York City's more famous underground art scene.
If you can't make it to Fire Island this summer, no sweat - "Xanadu"'s Venice Beach is coming to you right here in Park Slope!
"The Island of Dr. Moreau"
Free and Outdoors - July 7, 14, 21 at 8pm
Piper Theatre Original Production Inspired by H.G. Wells' classic novel
Piper Theatre presents a little Gothic horror to put a chill in the night air! "The Island of Dr. Moreau" sends up enough Victorian-style shivers to keep audiences on The Edge of their lawn chairs, for this mystical and savage tale of science run amok. Piper's original adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel uses physical storytelling to heighten "Moreau"'s sense of otherworldly spookiness - as if a mad doctor, a mysterious island and strange beasts (or so they appear) weren't enough. All ages welcome.
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