JOYFUL NOISE Returns To San Diego On 10/9, Ten Years After Lamb’s Players Theatre Took It To New York

Lamb's Players Theatre is closing its 2009 Season with Tim Slover's historical drama, Joyful Noise. Directed by Robert Smyth and Deborah Gilmour Smyth, the show will play October 9 – November 22.
 
In 1999, Lamb's Players produced the world premiere of this historical backstage drama, about the surprising story behind the creation of one of the greatest works of all time, Handel's Messiah. The result was a runaway hit that traveled to New York for an extended run Off-Broadway and productions at other theatres around the nation. Now for the first time in a decade, Lamb's Players is pleased to return to this witty, compelling look at the story behind one of the world's most beloved pieces of sacred music – whose journey to the stage was anything but sacred. Both George Fredrick Handel and singer Susannah Cibber are at the low point of their careers when a new libretto arrives unexpectedly on the composer's doorstep. Politics, piety, envy, scandal, and oversized egos collide and combust in this mesmerizing true story of heavenly art – and the very flawed humans who created it.
 
"After making its world premiere on our stage ten years ago, we were honored to produce Joyful Noise Off-Broadway," remembers Robert Smyth. "Now we are looking forward to introducing new audiences to this wonderful show. Joyful Noise is a compelling, true story about the creation of one of the world's most infamous musical creations, Handel's Messiah."

Co-directed by Robert Smyth and Deborah Gilmour Smyth, the cast includes Teressa Byrne as Kitty Clive, Jim Chovick as King George II, Jason Heil as Bishop Henry Egerton, Paul Maley as John Christopher Smith, Colleen Kollar Smith as Susannah Cibber, Deborah Gilmour Smyth as Mary Pendarves, Robert Smyth as George Fredrick Handel and Nick Spear as Jennens. The cast is joined by Melissa Baldwin, Patrick J. Duffy and Taran Gray who will each play servants. Scenic design is by David Thayer, lighting design is by Nathan Peirson, with costume design by Jeanne Reith. Technical direction is by Chuck Batchman and Patrick J. Duffy is also the sound designer. Chrissy Reynolds-Vögele is the properties mistress, Jillian Frost is the dialect coach and Maria Mangiavellano is the production stage manager.
 
Joyful Noise plays at Lamb's Players Theatre, located at 1142 Orange Avenue in Coronado, CA. Performances take place Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 4:00pm and 8:00pm and Sunday at 2:00pm.
 
Tickets are $22 - $58 and are available by calling the LPT Box Office at (619) 437-0600 or online at www.lambsplayers.org. For group ticket information call Susan Andrews at (619) 437-6050
ext. 26.  Discounts are available to groups, seniors, active-duty military and members of LPT's Under 30 Club.

2009 LPT Christmas in Coronado:

Lamb's Players Festival of Christmas
December 1 -27
 
Each December, Lamb's Players produces a different original Christmas play as part of our Festival of Christmas series, penned by resident playwright Kerry Meads. Lamb's Players Festival of Christmas is one of San Diego's most beloved holiday traditions and one of the most unique holiday productions in the nation. Lamb's Players' various Festivals have been set in widely divergent locales and time periods, from the Renaissance right up to the present day. This year's Festival is a world premiere, set in a recording studio built in the 1970s. Filled with the music of the season, Festival of Christmas will be enjoyed by the entire family.
 
An American Christmas
Turn-of-the-Century Feast and Celebration
December 13 - 27
 
This remarkable three-hour event is unique in the nation. As you step inside the gorgeous Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Del, you are transported back to 1908 for a Christmas celebration like noNe You've ever experienced. Your hosts are the Marshall family - a large, extended family living in the year 1909, who love to entertain new and old friends in the grand American style at their favorite destination, the Hotel del Coronado. Played by 30 versatile performers who never miss a beat, the Marshall family welcomes their guests and fills the evening with music, dance, song, and laughter, as all enjoy a delicious five-course Christmas meal in a sumptuous setting you'll never forget. Discover why visitors come from all over the nation to attend, and why countless guests come back year after year, having found that An American Christmas has come to fill an irreplaceable, magical place in their own family's holiday tradition.
 
Lamb's Players Theatre is one of San Diego's leading professional theatres.  The company produces in two of the region's premier locations: San Diego's vibrant downtown Gaslamp Quarter, and the beautiful island community of Coronado.  In the Gaslamp Quarter, Lamb's Players produces longer-running productions at the Horton Grand Theatre, a beautifully intimate 250-seat proscenium theatre located steps away from dozens of restaurants and nightspots, the San Diego Convention Center, and Petco Park.  In Coronado, the theatre presents a full subscription season in its beautiful 350-seat theatre, just a short drive over the Bay Bridge from downtown San Diego.  The company's Coronado theatre is within walking distance of numerous shops and restaurants, the Coronado beach, and the historic Hotel del Coronado.
 
San Diego's third largest theatre company, Lamb's Players Theatre is one of only a handful of artist-led Ensemble theatres in the nation.  The theatre is committed to the tradition of "repertory" theatre, maintaining both a long-term ensemble of resident actors, designers and directors, and a body of work to which they frequently return.  In addition to producing classics and lesser-known gems of the theatre, Lamb's Players is committed to the development of new work. The theatre also has a special interest in exploring spiritual issues for a diverse mainstream audience.

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