STAGE TUBE: In Rehearsal with ZORRO The Musical at Hale Center Theatre

Hale Centre Theatre (HCT), Utah's Premiere Family Theatre, has brought Spanish and theatrical flair to the United States with premiere of Zorro. The production opened on Feb. 15 and runs through April 11. Click below to go inside the rehearsal room and hear from the production's team!

HCT's production of the musical, which made its debut on London's West End and in subsequent productions in 10 countries to date, will feature dramatic effects, flamboyant sets and costumes and a versatile cast of strong vocalists, dancers and athletes. Zorro features music from The Gipsy Kings, authentic Flamenco dancing, Spanish guitar, illusion, mystique and romance.

HCT's set is designed around Zorro's prominent themes of fire, flying and magic. The HCT technical crew collaborated with pyrotechnics experts and Las Vegas illusionists to design and develop sets, props and effects that accentuate the musical's strong story. This includes torches, fireballs, flying and grand entrances with dramatic flames.

Following HCT's eight-week run of Zorro, the original London production of the musical will play at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta and at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles and will then embark on a 90-week tour beginning in 2013, including a three-month stay on Broadway.

The musical is a prequel to the events of the original Zorro story and features numerous references to other works, including the 1998 film "The Mask of Zorro" starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The script, by Stephen Clark and Helen Edmundson, is based on the 2005 mock biography "Zorro," written by Isabel Allende.

In Zorro, a young Diego runs from his responsibility of leadership in a Los Angeles Spanish pueblo to the wilds of a Gypsy band in Spain in the early 1800s. There he learns to be a gypsy entertainer - full of magic and fire. He is sought out to return home to save his father, home and the love of his youth. Diego becomes Zorro.

HCT's "Zorro" is directed and choreographed by David Tinney, with specialized Flamenco choreography by Solange Gomes, fight choreography by Brad Schroeder and musical direction by Kelly DeHaan. The show stars Casey Elliott and Derek Smith as Zorro, Preston Yates and Paul Cartwright as Ramon, and Megan Heaps and Jacquelyne Jones as Luisa.

The musical features costume design by Tamara Clayton; hair and makeup design by Trisha Ison; technical direction and scenic design by Kacey Udy; lighting design by Michael Handley; assistant technical direction and sound design by Dan Morgan; production assistance by Melanie Budge; and props by Michelle Jensen.

For tickets and more information, visit www.halecentretheatre.org. 

To post a comment, you must register and login.