To round out its 65th season, Music Circus presents Hair, the groundbreaking musical that defined a generation and introduced rock 'n' roll to Broadway. Set against a backdrop of the Vietnam era, a group of late 1960s youth join a social revolution and "Let the Sun Shine In." Featuring hit songs such as "Aquarius," "Let The Sun Shine In" and "Easy To Be Hard," Hair is an exhilarating and emotionally intense ride that Variety calls "a rock musical that communicates viscerally with its audience. The score's vigorousness and variety are remarkable."
Performances of Hair are tonight, August 18 through Sunday, August 23. Tickets range from $40-$83 and are available by phone at (916) 557-1999, online at Tickets.com, or in person at the Wells Fargo Pavilion Box Office, 1419 H Street in Sacramento. Evening performances August 18-23 are Tuesday through Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Matinee performances are Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. For more information, visit SacramentoMusicCircus.com.Stephanie Mieko Cohen, who got her start on Broadway as Young Cosette in LES MISERABLES and has recently been seen on ABC Family's "Switched at Birth" as Darla, is making her Music Circus debut as Jeanie. After appearing in the national tour of Hair Laura D'Andre, who just finished playing Theresa/Dr. Zimmerman in the world premiere of Triangle at TheatreWorks, is revisiting Hair at Music Circus as Sheila. Playing Crissy in her second Music Circus production will be Lizzie Klemperer, who toured in The Addams Family and Little House on the Prairie and performed in New York in A Christmas Story, The Musical, The Most Happy Fella and Fiorello!. Playing Woof will be James Michael Lambert, who is a member of the award-winning Troubadour Theater Company and recently starred as Eugene Morris Jerome in Biloxi Blues at People's Light.
Bryonha Marie Parham will debut at Music Circus as Dionne after appearing on Broadway in After Midnight, Porgy and Bess as Serena and Ragtime as Sarah's Friend. Peter Saide played Bob Gaudio in the Las Vegas production of Jersey Boys and the Prince opposite Lea Salonga in the international tour of Cinderella, and will be joining the Hair cast as Berger. Banzai from the national of tour of The Lion King and featured in this season's Music Circus productions of My Fair Lady and Big River, Sacramento's own Omari Tau plays the role of Hud. Claude will be played by one of the U.K's leading musical theatre performers, Oliver Thornton, whose extensive credits in London's West End include Pricilla Queen of the Desert as Adam/Felicia, Children of Eden as Adam and Rent as Mark.Ward Billeisen has been seen on Broadway in Anything Goes, Curtains, and Fiddler on the Roof and performed in the NBC production of "The Sound of Music" starring Carrie Underwood. LaVance Colley performed with Diana Ross at the Tsunami Benefit broadcast on NBC and recently made his musical theatre debut as Victor in Smokey Joe's Café. Sacramento native Jessica Crouch returns to California Musical Theatre after performing as Allison in Bingo! The Winning Musical and has toured the country in We Will Rock You and All Shook Up. Merissa Czyz played Jeanie in the national tour of Hair and has performed off-Broadway at Signature Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre and Theatre Row. Seth Danner played Greg in the national and Japanese tour of A Chorus Line and has extensive regional theatre experience, including performances in On the Town, The Full Monty, South Pacific and Smokey Joe's Cafe.
Chanel Edwards-Frédérick made her Music Circus debut this season in My Fair Lady and Big River. Thay Floyd has performed on Broadway in A Christmas Story, The Musical, in the national tour of The Producers and regionally in Damn Yankees, Cats and Kiss Me, Kate. Devon Hadsell made her Music Circus debut in this season's Bye Bye Birdie and has performed regionally in West Side Story and Mary Poppins. Brittany Rose Hammond toured the U.S., Canada and Japan in Hair and has performed regionally in Singin' in the Rain, Seussical starring Cathy Rigby and My One and Only. Adam Lendermon has toured nationally in Cats, internationally in West Side Story and sang Children of Eden in concert at the John F. Kennedy Center. Lisa Rohinsky has appeared on Broadway in Gypsy starring Patti LuPone and in the national tours of Irving Berlin's White Christmas and Hello, Dolly! starring Sally Struthers.
James Shackelford is a member of the USO Show Troupe and has performed regionally in The Little Mermaid, Hairspray and A Chorus Line. Kimber Sprawl has performed regionally in Memphis as Felicia, Chicago as Velma Kelly and Legally Blonde as Pilar, and appeared on TV in MTV's "Taking the Stage." Steven Strafford was seen in Spamalot as part of the original Las Vegas cast and is the author of and performer in Methtacular! Danielle Moné Truitt, the voice of Georgia in Disney's "The Princess and the Frog," hails from Sacramento and will be performing her one-woman show 3: BLACK GIRL BLUES at the United Solo Theatre Festival this fall. Leigh Wakeford is coming to Music Circus after a busy summer of performing as Bert in Mary Poppins at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and as Don Lockwood in Singin' in the Rain at Musical Theatre West.
The Director for Hair, Glenn Casale, has been Artistic Director for California Musical Theatre since 2008 and has directed more than 50 productions for Music Circus and Broadway Sacramento over the past 20 years. Choreographer Dana Solimando has won awards and merited nominations for her inspired choreography of Swing!, Miss Saigon, Parade, Damn Yankees and Jesus Christ Superstar and has performed on Broadway in Peter Pan, Cats and Swing! Dennis Castellano has been a regular musical director at Music Circus since 1981, and when he's not conducting at regional theatres, he's teaching students at UC Irvine where he is head of the musical theatre program.
Music Circus is produced under the leadership of Artistic Director Glenn Casale and Executive Producer Scott Klier. California Musical Theatre President and CEO is Richard Lewis.
