THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS (THE MUSICAL!) Opens Tonight at Peoria Center for the Performing Arts

Theater Works - Peoria Center for the Performing Arts Resident Theatre Company - invites you to experience a hilarious and sassy production, The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) - a musical about...musicals, opens tonight, Friday, March 15, 2013.

The Musical of Musicals presents five acts with each vignette beginning in a familiar way: June (the ingénue) can't pay the rent and is threatened by her evil landlord (the villain)....and hilarity ensues. New York Magazine declared this show "Charming! Funny! ...Hits the targets with sophisticated affection! Refreshing!"

"This production is a valentine to classic Broadway musicals," says the Director, Steve Hilderbrand.

"The authors and composers of the show, JoAnne Bogart and Eric Rockwell, have turned a time-honored plot, 'I can't pay the rent, you must pay the rent, I'll pay the rent,' into five one-act musicals," continues Hilderbrand. "The 'fun' of the show is in how the plot is resolved."

Bogart and Rockwell give five options, each as it might have been seen through the eyes of Broadway's greatest composers: Rodgers & Hammerstein (Oklahoma!), Kander & Ebb (Cabaret / Chicago), Stephen Sondheim (Sweeney Todd), Jerry Herman (Mame / Hello, Dolly!) and Andrew Lloyd Webber (Phantom of the Opera / Evita).

"Musical theatre aficionados will delight in the musical theatre trivial pursuit aspect of the show as they discover cleverly disguised references to classic musicals," Hilderbrand says. "For those not as well versed in the idiom, the zaniness of the characters and the lighthearted music will keep faces smiling and toes tapping."

Staring in the production are Premier VAlley Theatre favorites Sally Jo Bannow*, Camille Gribbons, Steve Hilderbrand and Brian Sweis. They play the archetypical musical theatre characters: ingénue, hero, villain, and motherly advisor. Rounding out the cast are Bill Moore, who narrates the scenic action and accompanies on the grand piano, and Zach Funk, one of Theater Works' performing Resident Deck Managers.

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) runs through April 7, 2013 at Peoria Center for the Performing Arts.

Theater Works, the resident theatre company at Peoria Center for the Performing Arts, resides in the heart of old-town Peoria, Arizona. Beginning with a group of patrons who shared a common vision, it has grown into one of Arizona's most acclaimed theatre companies. Theater Works is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, call the box office at 623.815.7930 or visit www.theaterworks.org

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