Pittsburgh CLO's GYPSY Opens Tonight

Join one-of-a-kind mother, Rose, and her two talented daughters as they search for fame in Pittsburgh CLO's production of GYPSY, tonight, July 10, through July 19 at the Benedum Center. This entertaining musical is complete with memorable performances, mother-daughter struggles and the hardships of show business life, all while set during the infamous vaudeville era.

Featuring one show-stopping song after another such as "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "You Gotta Have a Gimmick" and "Let Me Entertain You," GYPSY truly is "the greatest of all American musicals" (The New York Times). Based on the real-life memoirs of burlesque mega-star, Gypsy Rose Lee, GYPSY tells the story of the mother behind the curtain, Rose. Blinded by her own ambition, Rose pushes her two daughters to pave the way to stardom on vaudeville's legendary circuit. Do not miss this "mother" of a big, Broadway musical!

Kim Zimmer (Rose) attended Hope College for her undergraduate and continued her education at The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. She's best known for her portrayal of Reva Shayne on "Guiding Light" for which she received four Lead Actress Daytime Emmy Awards along with 11 Nominations. Ms. Zimmer recently wrapped up her record-breaking tour with the First National Company of WICKED. Some of her favorite Regional and Off-Broadway credits include: Four Dogs and a Bone, Love, Loss, And What I Wore, Blood Brothers, Gypsy, Sunset Boulevard, Dirty Blonde, Curtains, Shirley Valentine and Lost Boy Found at Whole Foods. Other television credits include: "Seinfeld," "Designing Women," "Models, Inc.," "MacGyver," "One Life to Live," "The Doctors" and "Santa Barbara." Film credits include: 23 Blast, Body Heat, Freshmen Father, Keeping Secrets and Trench Coat in Paradise. Zimmer's experience in Daytime T.V. spans 32 years and is chronicled in her best-selling memoir "I'm Just Saying!" available on Amazon.com.

Robert Newman (Herbie) is perhaps best known for his 28-year run as Joshua Lewis on the longest-running program in broadcasting history, "Guiding Light." The role garnered him two Daytime Emmy nomina­tions for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He has recently guest starred on "Homeland," "Criminal Minds," "NCIS" and "Law and Order: SVU." Film credits include "Amazing Spider-Man 2," "Dracano" and the short film "Deadline." Off-Broadway Credits include Perfect Crime, She's of a Certain Age, Sessions: the Musical and Quiet on the Set. Regional credits include Other Desert Cities at Cape May Stage; Gypsy opposite Tovah Feldshuh at BRT; Fiddler on the Roof, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Deathtrap, Peter Pan, Shenandoah and Man of La Mancha at the Barn Theatre; Curtains at Paper Mill Playhouse and TUTS; Annie at NCT; Nine at NSMT; and A Little Night Music and The Full Monty at Pittsburgh CLO. Other stage credits include Picnic, Barefoot in the Park, Romantic Comedy, Sylvia (which he also di­rected) and The Glass Menagerie.

Susan Cella (Tessie Tura/Miss Cracthitt) returns to Pittsburgh CLO after appearing in Mary Poppins and Man of La Mancha this season. Broadway: The Graduate, Crazy He Calls Me, Me and My Girl, Evita, On the Twentieth Century, Allegro, Lady in the Dark. National tours: Fiddler, Hairspray, 42nd Street, La Cage aux Folles, Me and my Girl, Can-Can. Off-Broadway: Hello Muddah..., Mayor, Jacques Brel. Regional: over 35 productions. Film/TV: "Person of Interest," "Law and Order," "The Sopranos," "All my Children," "Hi Honey I'm Home," "The Tavern," "The Astronaut's Wife," "Follies," "A Sondheim Celebration."

Jeffrey Howell (Uncle Jocko/Phil) recently performed with Virginia Musical Theatre in Gypsy and with the REP in Souvenir. Some favorite Pittsburgh CLO shows include 42nd Street, Singin' in the Rain, Sunset Boulevard, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jekyll and Hyde, A Musical Christmas Carol (Bob Cratchit), Beauty and the Beast, Bells are Ringing, Pajama Game, The Most Happy Fella. Other credits include Candide, Tigers Be Still, Chicago and Tribute to Lerner and Loewe with Marvin Hamlisch and the PSO.

Daniel Krell (Weber/Cigar) has appeared in more than 35 productions with Pittsburgh CLO and has acted in major roles in the area's professional theatres such as the Public, City Theatre, Quantum, Bricolage, PICT and The Rep, to name a few and in regional theatres such as Clarence Brown Theatre, PlayMakers repertory and Gateway Playhouse among others. Dan is also a veteran of many films, commercials, industrials and voice-overs. Up next: The Diary of Anne Frank at Pittsburgh Public.

Mallory Michaellann (June) is entering her senior year in the BFA Musical Theatre program at the University of Michigan. Credits: Singin' in the Rain, Legally Blonde, Footloose, Mary Poppins (Pittsburgh CLO), Cabaret, The Music Man (UofM).

Felicia Niebel (Baby Louise) is excited to be back on stage with the Pittsburgh CLO. She most recently appeared in A Musical Christmas Carol. Other Pittsburgh CLO productions include Annie (Molly) and Jesus Christ Superstar. Felicia studies at the CLO Academy and is member of the CLO Mini Stars.

Amma Osei (Mazeppa) is making her Pittsburgh CLO debut. Broadway: Rock of Ages (Justice). National/International Tours: Rock of Ages (Justice), Fame (Ms. Sherman). Regional Credits: Crowns (Wanda), Seussical (Sour Kangaroo), Big River (Alice), Ain't Misbehavin' (Armelia), All Shook Up (Sylvia), Little Shop... (Ronette), The Who's Tommy (Acid Queen), A Christmas Carol (Ghost of Christmas Present).

Dallas Padoven (Pastey/George) returns to Pittsburgh CLO after appearances in Singin' in the Rain, Legally Blonde and Footloose last year. Other credits include Hands on a Hardbody at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, CINCY KINGS at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, South Pacific and Tommy at West Virginia Public Theatre and many other regional productions.

Paul Palmer (Pop) is a Pittsburgh CLO veteran. Gypsy is this actor's 59th Pittsburgh CLO production over 35 summer seasons, harkening all the way back to 1975.

Gavan Pamer (Phil) counts the following among his credits: Tours: CATS (Mungojerrie), A Chorus Line, 42nd Street. Pittsburgh CLO: 42nd Street (Andy Lee), Joseph... (Reuben), Carousel (Heavenly Friend), Me and My Girl (Bob Barking), Crazy for You (Custus Perkins), Jesus Christ Superstar (Annas), Forever Plaid (PSM), My Way (Choreographer). PPT: A Grand Night for Singing (Martin). LPPAC: Jesus Christ Superstar, White Christmas, My Way. Playhouse: Big River, Drood. WVPT: Dames at Sea, Oklahoma!, George M!. PMT: Chicago, Blood Brothers, Peter Pan.

Ruth Pferdehirt (Electra) counts among her many credits: Brooke in Noises Off and Dolly in One Man, Two Guvnors (Rep Theatre of St. Louis); Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Merry-Go-Round), Dory in Finding Nemo: The Musical; shows at The St. Louis MUNY such as Hello, Dolly!, Les Miserables and The Producers; Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Lina in Singin' In The Rain.

Amanda Rose (Louise/Gypsy Rose Lee) returns to Pittsburgh CLO after last being seen as Betty in Sunset Blvd. Broadway/National tours: Wicked (Nessarose), Dr. Dolittle starring Tommy Tune, Oklahoma! (Laurey). Favorite recent regional: The Full Monty (Pam), 9 to 5 (Judy), A Chorus Line (Kristine), Sunset Blvd. (Betty) Gypsy (Louise), Miss Saigon (Ellen), Curtains (Nikki), Singin' in the Rain (Kathy), Les Miserables, Swing!, West Side Story, 42nd Street at Papermill Playhouse, Sacramento Music Circus, Goodspeed Opera House, Walnut St. Theatre, Houston TUTS, Maine State, Atlanta TOTS, Fulton Theatre and Ogunquit Playhouse.

Zach Trimmer (Tulsa) is very proud to be making his Pittsburgh CLO debut in Gypsy. Selected Credits: Hairspray (Brad, Corny u/s - Nat'l Tour; Link - TBTS), Avenue Q (Princeton/Rod u/s - Nat'l Tour, Ogunquit, Gateway), The Bard-y Bunch (Greg - Off-B'way), West Side Story and South Pacific (Tony/Lt. Joe Cable - Westchester B'Way), La Cage aux Folles (Jean-Michel - North Shore, TBTS), Grease (Danny - TBTS), The Fantasticks (Matt - WV Public).

Lucia Williams (Baby June) returns to Pittsburgh CLO for her seventh show including: Annie, Fiddler on the Roof, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and A Musical Christmas Carol. Ms. Williams is a seventh grader at St. Louise de Marillac. She is also a CLO Academy student and CLO Mini Star.

GYPSY is complete with a talented ensemble, including Danny Bevins, Ben Bogen, Lindsey Bracco, Melessie Clark, Kevin Clay, Ixchel Cuellar, Kate Johnson, L'ogan J'ones, Brooke Lacy, Alle-Faye Monka and Kevin Paul. They will be joined by CLO Academy students, including Blake Altman, Madeline Dalesio, Gianni DelMastro, Maddie Dick, Jacob Epstein, Trisha Holmes, Madison Liberatore, Caroline Lucas, Mia Lynch, Alaina Parr, Will Sendera, Jonah Steele, Halle Surgil, Ellie Tongel, Gracie Vensel and Mario Williams.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

Charley Repole (Director) is a Pittsburgh CLO veteran. Pittsburgh CLO: 42nd Street, Jesus Christ Superstar, Annie Get Your Gun, Curtains, White Christmas, Annie, Copacabana and Carousel. NYC/Broadway: Dubarry was a Lady, Call Me Madam, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation Benefit (Carnegie Hall) and Lyrics and Lyricists 25th Year Celebration (92nd Street "Y"). Kennedy Center: Where's Charley? Broadway performance credits: Doubles, Whoopee! and Very Good Eddie (Tony nomination, Theatre World Award). Mr. Repole is Chairman of the Drama, Theatre and Dance Department at Queens College.

Michael Lichtefeld (Choreographer) has choreographed six Broadway musicals: The Secret Garden, The Sound of Music, Sweeney Todd and Little Women; nine off-Broadway musicals and several shows at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Recently he directed/choreographed How to Succeed..., Guys and Dolls, Sweet Charity and Evita for the Drayton Festival, Canada. He won IRNE awards as Best Director for North Shore Music Theater's Bye Bye Birdie and 42nd Street. His choreography has been nominated for three Outer Critic Circle Awards, as well as The Drama Desk Award and The LA Ovation Award. His collaboration with Susan H. Schulman began in 1984 and continues today.

Tom Helm (Music Director) returns for his 20th season with Pittsburgh CLO. His theater credits include the Broadway productions of Souvenir, LES MISERABLES, Me and My Girl, Cats and Brigadoon. He has also contributed his talents to television programs such as "Crazy For You" and the "Today Show." Mr. Helm has conducted at Radio City Music Hall, Paper Mill Playhouse and many other regional and national theaters.

Andrew David Ostrowski (Lighting Designer) counts the following among his national credits: The National High School Musical Theater Awards in NYC, The Asolo, NSMT, George Street Playhouse, TheatreWorks, Philadelphia Theatre Company, New York Theater Institute, The Blumenthal Center, Spoleto Festival USA, Madison Opera, DSM, TOTS. Local credits include productions for PPT, City Theatre, Pittsburgh CLO, CLO Cabaret, Pittsburgh Opera, PSO, PBT, PICT, THE REP, Barebones Productions, as well as others.

HISTORY OF THE SHOW

GYPSY is loosely based on the memoirs of the famous striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee. It is the ultimate backstage story, featuring her overbearing mother Rose. Work on the musical began after legend Ethel Merman and David Merrick read a chapter of Lee's memoirs in Harper's Magazine. The team of Merman, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim collaborated to bring Lee's story to life on stage. The musical opened on Broadway May 21, 1959, starring Merman as Rose. The production garnered eight Tony Award nominations and high praise from critics.

Following its Broadway debut, Warner Bros. released a film version of "Gypsy" starring Rosalind Russell as Rose and Natalie Wood as her daughter Louise. The film was nominated for three Oscars and several Golden Globes, including Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, which Rosalind Russell won. "Gypsy" was introduced to a new generation in 1993 when CBS released a made-for-TV version starring Bette Midler.

After a pair of National Tours, GYPSY opened in London in 1973 starring Angela Lansbury. Subsequent Broadway revivals were mounted in 1974, 1989 (starring Tyne Daly), 2003 (starring Bernadette Peters) and 2008 (starring Patti Lupone). Across the multiple revivals and original productions, GYPSY has brought in a staggering 26 Tony Award nominations.

ABOUT THE ORIGINAL CREATIVE TEAM

Arthur Laurents (Book) was approached by David Merrick and Leland Hayward, producers of the musical, to write the book. Laurents was considered by many as a prolific stage director and screenwriter, whose additional credits include the books for the musical, West Side Story (1957) and the screenplay for "The Way We Were" (1973). In the early 1960s, Laurents introduced a then-unknown Barbra Streisand to the world in the Broadway musical, I Can Get it for You Wholesale, only to provide her with the script for one of her biggest box-office hits, "The Way We Were," a decade later. Less than five years later, he followed with the screenplay for the Oscar-nominated film, "The Turning Point" (1977), and in 1983 directed the Broadway smash hit La Cage Aux Folles.

Jule Styne (Music) wrote the score for Gypsy after Ethel Merman, who collaborated with the producers and starred in the musical, only had him in mind. With the scores of such Broadway classics as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Peter Pan, Bells Are Ringing and Funny Girl to his credit, Styne ranks as one of the undisputed architects of the American musical theater. Styne's collaboration credits include: Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Stephen Sondheim, Bob Merrill, Leo Robin and E.Y. Harburg, and their combined efforts have produced such showstoppers as "The Party's Over," "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "People" and "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend." He was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972, the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981 and became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1990.

Stephen Sondheim (Lyrics) was asked by director Jerome Robbins, who had worked with him on the musical West Side Story, to write the lyrics for Gypsy. His best-known works as composer and lyricist include: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods. Sondheim has received an Academy Award; eight Tony Awards (more than any other composer, including a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre); eight Grammy Awards; a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award. He is described by Frank Rich of The New York Times as "now the greatest and perhaps best-known artist in the American musical theater."

David Merrick and Leland Hayward (Producers) co-produced the original Broadway production of Gypsy which opened at the Broadway Theatre May 21, 1959. After reading a chapter in Gypsy Rose Lee's memoirs in Harper's Magazine, Merrick approached Lee to obtain the rights, and Hayward to co-produce. Merrick's additional credits include: Oliver!, Hello, Dolly! (1964), I Do! I Do! (1966), Promises, Promises (1968), and 42nd Street (1980).The latter ran for 3,486 performances, his most enduring Broadway production to date.

Some of Hayward's most famous credits include: the original Broadway stage productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific and The Sound of Music.

Jerome Robbins (Director and Choreographer) was the creative genius behind the stage adaptation of Gypsy Rose Lee's memoir. His Broadway shows include: On the Town, Billion Dollar Baby, High Button Shoes, West Side Story, The King and I, Gypsy, Peter Pan, Miss Liberty, Call Me Madam, and Fiddler on the Roof. His last Broadway production in 1989, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, won six Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical. Among the more than 60 ballets he created are Fancy Free, Afternoon of a Faun, The Concert, Dances At a Gathering, In the Night, In G Major, Other Dances, Glass Pieces and Ives, Songs, which are in the repertories of New York City Ballet and other major dance companies throughout the world. In addition to two Academy Awards for the film West Side Story, Mr. Robbins has received four Tony Awards, five Donaldson Awards, two Emmy Awards, the Screen Directors' Guild Award and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award.

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