42nd Street Moon Presents DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, Opens Halloween Night

Come Halloween, all San Francisco will see - and hear -- how the West was sung when the City's only professional musical theatre company, 42nd Street Moon (www.42ndstreetmoon.org) continues its 2009 / 2010 season with the classic western musical Destry Rides Again starring beloved local chanteuse Connie Champagne as "Frenchy", the enticing dance hall girl made famous by Marlene Dietrich in the film version. "Moon" favorite Steve Rhyne assays the title role in this classic with book by Leonard Gershe and a rousing Harold Rome score. Previews begin October 28 at the company's home venue in San Francisco's Financial District/Embarcadero, The Eureka Theatre (215 Jackson Street) with a speciAl Halloween Opening Night, 6pm Saturday, October 31. Halloween audience members in costume received ½ prIce Tickets for 42nd Street Moon's upcoming production of Jubilee.

"Destry Rides Again is one of the iconic American musicals, " said 42nd Street Moon Artistic Director Greg MacKellan. "Over the years, it's had many imitators including the classic Mel Brooks send-up Blazing Saddles with Madeline Kahn lampooning Marlene Dietrich's ‘Frenchy.' Connie Champagne makes the role all hers in an interpretation sure to win a corral full of new fans."

Destry Rides Again is a whoopin', shootin', rip-roarin' firecracker of a musical in set in the fictional town of Bottleneck - a dusty burgfilled with gamblers, bullwhip-toting bad guys, saloon girls and drunkards all intent on maintaining their wild ways. The new sheriff, Tom Destry, intends to keep the peace without using a gun. Frenchy, the dance hall girl at the Last Chance Saloon, is sent to compromise his morals and lead him astray. In a classic tangle of law vs. vice, Destry Rides Again takes a dark turn and moves toward a riveting climax. The score includes such numbers such as Are You Ready, Gyp Watson? I Say Hello, Anyone Would Love You, and Ev'ry Once in a While.

Over the last few years, San Francisco's 42nd Street Moon has earned a reputation and critical acclaim for the high quality of its musical values and approachable character of its work. 42nd Street Moon, based in San Francisco, is one of a handful of companies in the United States whose mission is to present rarely-seen musicals from the classic Broadway era of the 1910s - 1970s. Since 1993, the organization has mounted five productions every year, and serves a loyal constituency who participate with both regular audience attendance and a solid base of contributed income.

42nd Street Moon contributes to the preservation and evolution of American musical theatre by presenting these classic Broadway shows in intimate productions. The shows do not have elaborate sets but are fully costumed and staged. 42nd Street Moon does not present its work through digitally engineered sound systems. The material itself is the star. This format allows the audience to hear the work with remarkable clarity, and to use their imaginations.

"We allow our audience to participate in the here and now," said Greg MacKellan, 42nd Street Moon Artistic Director. "42nd Street Moon is the very essence of LIVE theatre."

Connie Champagne (www.conniechampagne.com) began her eclectic career with roles at San Francisco's Magic Theatre and Theatre on the Square, and holds an MFA from The American Conservatory Theatre. She was recruited by Vegas In Space director Phillip R. Ford to portray the cult heroine Neely O'Hara in his long-running stage adaptation of Valley of the Dolls, which inspired her interest in drag as a theatrical form. An "unwitting pioneer of the Cocktail Nation," Champagne was the winner of the SF Weekly Wammie Award for Outstanding Cabaret Performer for her work with Scrumbly Koldewyn in Connie Champagne and her Tiny Bubbles.

Champagne has toured extensively with swing band The New Morty Show, and recorded a CD, Morty-fied, on SlimStyle Records. Well-known for her roles portraying Judy Garland, Champagne first appeared as the legendary star in the Off-Broadway production of Christmas With The Crawfords. New York Times critic Neil Genzlinger described Champagne's performance as "a subtle masterpiece of parody and homage." Champagne again received rave notices for her performance as Garland-this time on the other side of the rainbow-in the Los Angeles production of Judy's Scary Little Christmas directed by Broadway legend Kay Cole, for which she won the Ovation Award^TM for Best Actress in a Musical. Inspired by Harry Lit of Castrobear Presents, Champagne, along with director F. Allen Sawyer and musical director Joseph Collins, created iMAGINE Judy Garland: An Evening With Connie Champagne., which played to sold-out audiences at the Empire Plush Room. The show was subsequently the recipient of the Dean Goodman Award for Outstanding Cabaret Show. Champagne has been a treasured regular at impresario Marc Huestis' Castro Theatre extravaganzas, sharing the stage with camp master John Waters and show biz legends Ann Miller and Debbie Reynolds, to name a few. In her spare time, Champagne also sings with the Mood Swing Orchestra and with vocal group, the Whoa Nellies. Mood Swing performs traditional big band tunes in the style of the 1940s, while the Nellies (led by Leigh Crow, formerly Elvis Herselvis) features pop bubblegum hits by the Mamas & the Papas, the Cowsills, Partridge Family, and their favorite-the Monkees-a perfect blend of harmony and camp.

Destry Rides Again will play at 42nd Street Moon's popular downtown venue, the Eureka Theatre: 215 Jackson Street, between Battery & Front. Performances are Wednesdays at 7pm; Thursdays & Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 6pm (with a family matinee at 1pm on November 7); Sundays at 3pm. Tickets are $34 & $44 and may be purchased online or by calling (415) 255-8207.

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