ON THE TOWN with Leonard Bernstein's Classic Score Opens 7/11 at Music Circus

The 67th Music Circus season continues with the classic Leonard Bernstein musical comedy On The Town. This will be just the third time the Bernstein masterpiece has been produced at Music Circus, and its first appearance in the Wells Fargo Pavilion; previous Music Circus productions were in 1955 and 1961. Performances of On The Town are Tuesday, July 11 through Sunday, July 16 at the Wells Fargo Pavilion.

On The Town follows the adventures of Three Sailors on a 24 hour leave from their ship docked in New York City during World War II. Join Ozzie, Chip, Gabey and the three high-spirited young women they meet as they chase love and dreams during an unforgettable day in the city that never sleeps. With a soaring score by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, songs include "Lonely Town," "I Can Cook, Too," and the iconic "New York, New York."

Sam Lips will be making his Music Circus debut as Gabey, one of the Three Sailors on a 24-hour New York adventure in On the Town. Lips played the title role in Pippin on tour, as well as appearing in the Broadway production; additional credits include Rodger + Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway, the North American premiere of Baz Lurhmann's Strictly Ballroom, and the National Tour of Wicked. Matt Loehr returns to Music Circus as Chip after last season's performance as Jimmy Winter in Nice Work If You Can Get It; his Broadway turns include The Book of Mormon as Elder McKinley, the original cast of The Producers, Elf, Mary Poppins and more. For his first Music Circus production, Clyde Alves, will play Ozzie, the role he originated in the recent Broadway revival of On the Town; he has appeared in numerous Broadway productions including Bullets Over Broadway, Wicked, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Anything Goes and The Music Man.

In addition to appearing as Babette in this season's Music Circus production of Beauty and the Beast and Jean MacLaren in the 2014 production of Brigadoon, Courtney Iventosch will be portraying Ivy Smith; her Broadway experience includes Something Rotten! and Wicked, in which she also appeared on tour. Bringing Hildy Esterhazy to the stage is Jennifer Cody, whose Broadway shows include A Christmas Story, Shrek the Musical, The Pajama Game and more, as well as extensive voice work for movies, TV and commercials including creating the voice of Charlotte La Beoeuff in Disney's "The Princess and the Frog." Appearing in the recent Broadway revival of On the Town, Holly Ann Butler returns to the show at Music Circus in the role of Claire De Loone; she has appeared on Broadway in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Grease, and was in last summer's Music Circus production of Nice Work If You Can Get It.

Previously at Music Circus in 42nd Street, Susan Cella, returns to play the role of Madame Maude P. Dilly; she has appeared on Broadway in The Graduate, Me and My Girl, Evita and On the Twentieth Century, as well as in the National Tours of Fiddler on the Roof, 42nd Street, and La Cage aux Folles. In addition to his television work, including a recurring role as Dr. Kurian on Syfy's "Z Nation," Donald Corren, playing Judge Pitkin W. Bridgework, has performed on Broadway in Souvenir and Torch Song Trilogy, and in numerous Off Broadway and regional productions. In the role of Lucy Schmeeler is Karen Hyland, who was in last summer's Music Circus production of Hello, Dolly! and has appeared on Broadway in Scandalous and Ghost, as well as Off-Broadway in Cagney and in City Center Encore's production of Anyone Can Whistle. Joseph Torello, playing Workman #1 and various ensemble roles, just appeared in the City Center Encore production of The Golden Apple, was in Live from Lincoln Center's production of Carousel with the New York Philharmonic and a Carnegie Hall benefit production of Guys and Dolls; he has appeared at Music Circus in Camelot, Fiddler on the Roof, South Pacific and The Music Man.

The cast for On The Town also includes Ashley Arcement, Ixchel Cuellar, Meghan Faddis, Jordana Grolnick, Devon Hadsell, Eric Anthony Johnson, Matthew J. Kilgore, Parker Krug, Adam Lendermon, Stephanie Maloney, Bryan Charles Moore, Elyse Niederee, Dennis O'Bannion, Sean Seymour, Cooper Taggard, Connor Wince and Jessica Wockenfuss.

On The Town will be directed by Linda Goodrich, who has directed and choreographed throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, including work at Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall and New York Music Theatre Festival, and regional theatres including Paper Mill Playhouse, Goodspeed Musicals, 5th Avenue, Pittsburgh CLO and St. Louis MUNY. Choreographer is Mark Esposito, a veteran Broadway performer who has assisted and worked with directors and choreographers including Jerome Robbins, Agnes De Mille, Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett and Jerry Zaks, in addition to choreographing a number of Music Circus productions. Musical Director Dennis Castellano, who heads the Musical Theatre program at UC Irvine, has been musical directing for Music Circus since 1981, for productions including Hair, Mary Poppins, Show Boat, Sweeney Todd and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Tickets for On The Town start at $45 and are available by phone at (916) 557-1999, online at www.Tickets.com, or in person at the Wells Fargo Pavilion Box Office, 1419 H Street in Sacramento. Evening performances are Tuesday through Saturday, July 11 - 15, at 7:30 p.m.; matinee performances are Thursday, July 13 and Saturday, July 15 at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday, July 16 at 3:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.SacramentoMusicCircus.com.

Music Circus is produced under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director/COO Scott Klier and Artistic Consultant Glenn Casale. California Musical Theatre President/CEO is Richard Lewis.

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