CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, ASSASSINS, THE JUNGLE BOOK and More Set for Fountain Hills Theater's 2016-17 Season
By: BWW News Desk Mar. 18, 2016
Fountain Hills Theater is proud to announce the 2016-17 Season for its Mainstage, Mainstage Too! and Youth stages as well as our Sizzlin' Summer Show. Call 480-837-9661 x3 or visit www.fhtaz.org for more information.
SIZZLIN' SUMMER 2016:
Lend Me a Tenor: The Musical
June 24 -July 10, 2016
The riotous tale of mistaken identities and unexpected romance explodes in this brand new musical comedy based on the Tony award-nominated play. It's 1934 and Opera virtuoso Tito Merelli is about to revive Otello for the ten-year anniversary of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company. When Tito becomes unexpectedly incapacitated, a suitable replacement must be found. Max, the Opera Director's sheepish assistant, is charged with the daunting task. Who is cavalier enough to replace him? With the help of a menacing soprano, a tenor-struck ingénue, a jealous wife, and the Cleveland Police department, mayhem, lunacy and shear panic ensue, but in the end the show must always go on.
Book and Lyrics by Peter Sham, Music by Brad Carroll, Based on the play by Ken Ludwig.
Presented by Special Arrangement with Steele Spring Stage Rights
MAINSTAGE 2016-17 SEASON:
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
September 2 - 18, 2016
Fantas-magorical!
Take a fantastic musical adventure with an out-of-this-world car that flies through the air and sails the seas! Based on the beloved 1968 film version of Ian Fleming's children's book, and featuring an unforgettable score by the Sherman Brothers (Mary Poppins), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is one family-friendly blockbuster that audiences will find "Truly Scrumptious". An eccentric inventor, Caractacus Potts sets about restoring an old racecar from a scrap heap with the help of his children Jeremy and Jemima. They soon discover the car has magical properties including the ability to float and take flight. Trouble occurs when the evil Baron Bomburst desires the magic car for himself. The family joins forces with Truly Scrumptious and batty Grandpa Potts to outwit the dastardly Baron and Baroness and their villainous henchman, the Child Catcher.
Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-541-4684 Fax: 212-397-4684 www.MTIShows.com
The Glass Menagerie
October 14-30, 2016
Time is the Longest Distance
An American classic, written by Tennesee Williams. Amanda Wingfield is a faded, tragic remnant of Southern gentility, who lives in poverty in a dingy St. Louis apartment with her son, Tom, and her daughter, Laura. Amanda strives to give meaning and direction to her life and the lives of her children, though her methods are ineffective and irritating. Tom is driven nearly to distraction by his mother's nagging and seeks escape in alcohol and the world of the movies. Laura also lives in her illusions. She is crippled, and this defect, intensified by her mother's anxiety to see her married, has driven her more and more into herself. The crux of the action comes when Tom invites a young man of his acquaintance to take dinner with the family.
Produced through special arrangement with Dramatist's Play Service.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
January 20 - February 5, 2017
Any Dream Will Do
The Biblical saga of Joseph and his coat of many colors comes to vibrant life in this delightful musical parable. Joseph, his father's favorite son, is a boy blessed with prophetic dreams. When he is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and taken to Egypt, Joseph endures a series of adventures in which his spirit and humanity are continually challenged. He is purchased by Potiphar where thwarting advances from Potiphar's wife lands him in jail. When news of Joseph's gift to interpret dreams reaches the Pharaoh (wryly and riotously depicted as Elvis), Joseph is well on his way to becoming second in command. Eventually his brothers, having suffered greatly, unknowingly find themselves groveling at the feet of the brother they betrayed but no longer recognize. After testing their integrity, Joseph reveals himself, leading to a heartfelt reconciliation of the sons of Israel. Set to an engaging cornucopia of musical styles, from country-western and calypso to bubble-gum pop and rock 'n' roll, this Old Testament tale emerges both timely and timeless.
Lyrics by Tim Rice | Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-541-4684 Fax: 212-397-4684 www.MTIShows.com
Leading Ladies
March 10 - 26, 2017
A Gender Bender
In this hilarious comedy by the author of Lend Me A Tenor and Moon Over Buffalo, two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, find themselves so down on their luck that they are performing "Scenes from Shakespeare" on the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. When they hear that an old lady in York, PA is about to die and leave her fortune to her two long lost English nephews, they resolve to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash. The trouble is, when they get to York, they find out that the relatives aren't nephews, but nieces! Romantic entanglements abound, especially when Leo falls head-over-petticoat in love with the old lady's vivacious niece, Meg, who's engaged to the local minister. Meg knows that there's a wide world out there, but it's not until she meets "Maxine and Stephanie" that she finally gets a taste of it.
Written by Ken Ludwig and produced through special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
April 21 -May 7, 2017
Nothin' Dirty Goin' On!
This happy- go-lucky view of small town vice and statewide political side-stepping recounts the good times and the demise of the Chicken Ranch, known since the 1850s as one of the better pleasure palaces in all of Texas. Governors, senators, mayors, and even victorious college football teams frequent Miss Mona's cozy bordello until that puritan nemesis Watchdog focuses his television cameras and his righteous indignation on the institution.
Book by Larry L. King and Peter Masterson, Music and Lyrics by Carol Hall. Based on a story by Larry L. King
*Adult themes and language
MAINSTAGE TOO 2016-17 SEASON:
30 Years: Fountain Hills Theater Retrospective!August 19 - 28, 2016
Celebrating 30 Spectacular Seasons
A nostalgic celebration of the past 30 years of productions at Fountain Hills Theater. Thirty of our finest performers will present a musical revue of three decades of award-winning shows. Enjoy this trip down memory lane.
Assassins
November 4 - 20, 2016
Everybody's Got the Right to be Happy
Assassins lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or tried to assassinate the President of the United States, in a one-act historical "revusical" that explores the dark side of the American experience. From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, writers Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman bend the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish roller coaster ride in which assassins and would-be assassins from different historical periods meet, interact and inspire each other to harrowing acts in the name of the American Dream. A multiple Tony Award-winning theatrical tour-de-force, Assassins combines Sondheim's signature blend of intelligently stunning lyrics and beautiful music with a panoramic story of our nation's culture of celebrity and the violent means some will use to obtain it, embodied by America's four successful and five would-be presidential assassins. Bold, original, disturbing, and alarmingly funny, Assassins is perhaps the most controversial musical ever written.
*Adult themes and language
Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-541-4684 Fax: 212-397-4684 www.MTIShows.com
A Christmas Carol, The Musical
December 2-18, 2016
A Holiday Tradition!
We've taken the spirit of the season, wrapped it in beautiful original melodies and tied it with all the holiday magic and wonder of your childhood. Fountain Hills Theater is proud to present a new musical adaptation, 'A Christmas Carol'. Based on the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol tells the tale of curmudgeonly miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by the ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future hoping to change his destiny and save his soul. This delightful musical, an original adaptation written by Fountain Hills Artistic Director Peter J. Hill, with music and lyrics by Peter J. Hill and Jay Melberg, follows Scrooge through a series of strange and magical journeys, where he ultimately discovers the true spirit of the holiday season.
Love Letters
January 6 -15, 2017
No One Forgets Their First Love
Love Letters is a funny and poignant tale of what could have been, of friendship that sustained through the years, and an affirmation of the adage that first love is the hardest to forget. Two friends, rebellious Melissa Gardner and straight-arrow Andrew Makepeace Ladd III have exchanged notes, cards and letters with each other for over 50 years. Through these messages we follow them from second grade, through summer vacations, to college, and well into adulthood and discover that though they have spent a lifetime physically apart, perhaps, they are spiritually as close as only true lovers can be.
Written by A.R. Gurney and produced through special arrangement with Dramatist's Play Service.
4 on the Floor
May 12-28, 2017
Pedal to the Metal!
Four mechanics dream of making it big, but all they truly know is cars! Featuring the greatest hits ever penned about cars and chrome like 409, Little Deuce Coupe, Hot Rod Lincoln, Sittin' in the Backseat and many, many more! This is a terrific feel-good musical that really burns rubber! First presented in 1994, and winner of Best Original Musical, 4 on the Floor came about when author Peter J. Hill heard a human interest news report that stated that the number one subject for American music is, of course, love - in all its forms - falling in love, falling out of love, etc. What was surprising was that the number two subject for the American songbook was cars! Well, he thought, there are hundreds of musicals about love, but not a one about our American obsession with our autos!
FOUNTAIN HILLS YOUTH THEATER:
Charlotte's Web
September 23 - October 9, 2016
Help From Above!
Musical version of the classic story by E. B. White. All the enchanting characters are here: Wilbur, the irresistible young pig who desperately wants to avoid the butcher; Fern, a girl who understands what animals say to each other; Templeton, the gluttonous rat who can occasionally be talked into a good deed; the Zuckerman family; the Arables; and, most of all, the extraordinary spider, Charlotte, who proves to be "a true friend and a good writer." Determined to save Wilbur, Charlotte begins her campaign with the "miracle" of her web in which she writes, "Some pig." It's the beginning of a victorious campaign which ultimately ends with the now-safe Wilbur doing what is most important to Charlotte. This is a beautiful, knowing play about friendship.
Book by Joseph Robinette, Music & Lyrics by Charles Strauss.
Presented by special arrangement with Dramatic Publishing.
Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells
December 2 - 18, 2016
Ho, Ho...Uh, oh!
FHT Youth Theater reprises last season's holiday hit! Junie B. Jones, First-Grader, is super-excited about the upcoming Holiday Sing-Along and Secret Santa gift exchange at her school. Too bad tattletale May keeps ruining all of Junie B.'s fun. So when Junie B. draws May's name for Secret Santa, she comes up with the perfect plan to teach her nemesis a lesson! But will the Christmas spirit of peace and goodwill interfere before she can give you-know-who what she deserves? A hilarious and endearing tale based on the best-selling book series by Barbara Park.
Written by Allison Gregory based on the book Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smell! (P.S. So Does May) by Barbara Park and Produced through special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.
Doctor Dolittle, Jr.
February 10 - 26, 2017
Talk to the Animals!
The classic tale of kindness to animals trots, crawls and flies onto the stage in Doctor Dolittle JR. All of the characters we've come to love through the stories of Hugh Lofting and the magical movie musical are given new life in the stage version.The musical tells the classic tale of a wacky, but kind, doctor who can talk to animals, taking the audience on a journey from the small English village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh to the far corners of the world. When Doctor Dolittle attempts to help a seal named Sophie, he's wrongly accused of murder and stands trial before General Bellowes. Once pronounced innocent, Dolittle is free to continue with his search for the Great Pink Sea Snail - the oldest and wisest of the creatures on earth.
Book, Music & Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).
All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-541-4684 Fax: 212-397-4684 www.MTIShows.com
Anne of Green Gables
March 31 - April 16, 2017
A Timeless Family Classic
The classic tale of an orphan girl, Anne, who rises from destitution to happiness in the farm country, entirely by virtue of her pluck and personality. Anne's adventures at Green Gables, the farm owned by her new caretakers, are both comical and heartwarming.
From the Novel by L.M. Montgomery, Book by Joseph Robinette.
Presented by Special Arrangement with Dramatic Publishing.
Disney's The Jungle Book, Kids
June 2 - June 18, 2017
The Jungle is Jumpin'!
Adapted from Disney's beloved animated film and the works of Rudyard Kipling, the "man cub." Mowgli, bounds through the jungle and learns what it means to be human. The jungle is jumpin' with a jazzy beat in Disney's The Jungle Book KIDS. Specially adapted from the classic Disney animated film, Disney's The Jungle Book KIDS features a host of colorful characters and your favorite songs from the movie.Banished by the ferocious tiger, Shere Khan, a human boy named Mowgli and his panther friend, Bagheera, are on the run in the deepest parts of the jungle. On their journey, the two meet a sinister snake named Kaa, a herd of elephants and a giant bear named Baloo, who teaches them the swingin' musical rhythms of the jungle. After surviving a dangerous encounter with a band of monkeys led by King Louie, Mowgli and Bagheera are forced to run for their lives. When Shere Khan returns, our heroes must rally their fellow animals into battle and restore peace throughout the jungle.
Music & Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, additional lyrics by Marcy Heisler, Book adapted by Marcy Heisler.
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