Jazz Age Comes Alive In BULLETS OVER BROADWAY At Foothill Music Theatre

Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents Bullets Over Broadway The Musical, the Tony Award-nominated musical based on Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath's screenplay for the hit film Bullets over Broadway. A love letter to the golden age of Broadway, Bullets Over Broadway The Musical brings the classic musical comedy back with a bang. Loaded with the songs that made the 1920s roar, this splashy musical features Jazz Age standards including "Let's Misbehave," "'Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do," "Tiger Rag," and "Up a Lazy River." In this madcap comedy, a young playwright finally gets his play produced on Broadway, but discovers there's a catch: the mobster putting up the funds wants a vehicle for his ditzy, talent-free girlfriend. Throw in an aging diva, dancing gangsters, and a bevy of beautiful chorus girls, and comedic capers ensue. Under the direction of Milissa Carey and music direction of Louis Lagalante, Bullets Over Broadway The Musical will play February 28- March 17, 2019 (press opening: March 1) with performances 7:30pm Thursdays, 8:00pm Fridays & Saturdays, and 2pm Sundays at the Lohman Theatre, 12345 El Monte Rd (I-280 & El Monte Road), Los Altos Hills. Tickets ($12 - $36) and information can be found at www.foothill.edu/theatre or by phone at (650) 949-7360.

Bullets Over Broadway The Musical opened on Broadway in April 2014, with direction and choreography by Susan Stroman, where it received six Tony Award nominations, six Drama Desk Award nominations, four Outer Critics Circle Award nominations and one Drama League Award nomination. USA Today called it "a sheer, shameless good time," commending its "playful wit and exuberance," while Entertainment Weekly deemed it "one of the sprightliest and most effervescent new musicals in years...Bullets captures the screwball spirit of the times while remaining entirely fresh and new." TimeOut New York says "Who knew Broadway could still be this much fun? Old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing and built to run, Bullets is high caliber and hits the spot."

Foothill Music Theatre has assembled a powerhouse cast for this splashy musical. Adam Cotugno takes on the role of David Shayne, the young playwright eager for his chance to make it on Broadway. Cotugno, who returns to Foothill Music Theatre where he was featured in 9 to 5 The Musical, has also been seen onstage at Stage 1 Theatre, Sunnyvale Community Players, Palo Alto Players, Broadway By the Bay, and Los Altos Stage Company.

Mob boss Nick Valenti is played by Steve Repetti, who returns to Foothill Music Theatre where he appeared in Ragtime. Repetti has also performed at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Hillbarn Theatre, Palo Alto Players, among others. Jocelyn Pickett plays Olive Neal, Nick's ditzy and talentless girlfriend with dreams of stardom. Returning to Foothill Music Theatre, where she starred as Fiona in Shrek, Pickett has also performed at Ray of Light Theatre, Los Altos Stage Company, Broadway By the Bay, Hillbarn Theatre, The Tabard Theatre Company, and South Bay Musical Theatre. Nick Mandracchia plays Cheech, Nick's gangster henchman with a knack for dramaturgy. Mandracchia returns to Foothill Music Theatre, where he was seen in She Loves Me and Little Shop of Horrors as well as Foothill Theatre Arts's production of The Laramie Project. He has also performed at San Jose Repertory Theatre, New Conservatory Theatre Center, City Lights Theatre Company, Marin Shakespeare Company and Dragon Productions Theatre Company.

Carla Befera plays Helen Sinclair, an aging diva eager to return to the stage after a string of flops. Befera is an award-winning actress who has appeared in many roles in the past with TheatreWorks, Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, 42nd Street Moon, among many others, and was last seen at Foothill in It Can't Happen Here (Lorinda Pike), Angels in America (Hannah/Rabbi/Doctor/Ethel Rosenberg) and Our Town (Stage Manager). Steve Anthony plays Warner Purcell, the leading man who is prone to compulsive stress eating. Also seen at Foothill Theatre Arts in Ah, Wilderness!, Anthony has performed at Woodside Community Theatre, Broadway By the Bay, West Valley Light Opera, Hillbarn Theatre, South Bay Musical Theatre, and Palo Alto Players. Caitlyn Papp plays Eden Brent, a quixotic actress in David's play. Seen in Foothill Music Theatre's productions of Sunday in the Park with George, Spring Awakening, and Damn Yankees, Papp has also performed at City Lights Theatre Company, Dragon Productions Theatre Company, Douglass Morrison Theatre, the Pear Theatre, and Broadway By the Bay.

Allie Townsend plays Ellen, playwright David Shayne's longtime girlfriend. Returning to Foothill Music Theatre, where she was seen as spitfire secretary Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5 The Musical, Townsend has also performed with Los Altos Stage Company, Pacifica Spindrift Players, Stage 1 Theatre, and Redwood City Community Theatre. Aaron Hurley plays Julian Marx, a producer who believes in David. Hurley returns to Foothill Music Theatre, where he performed in The Sound of Music (Max), 9 to 5 The Musical (Franklin Hart), and Damn Yankees, and he has also been seen at local theatres including Los Altos Stage Company, South Bay Musical Theatre, Palo Alto Players, Sunnyvale Community Players, and Woodside Community Theatre.

The cast also features a stellar ensemble including Annika Diekgers, John Duarte, David Evans, Dieyla Dopp, Katelin Foley, Jacob Gunter, Kimberly Kay, Kayvon Kordestani, Tim Lynch, M.C. Mendonca, Joey Montes, Nick Nakamura, Amanda Nguyen, and Mikey Wieland.

Milissa Carey (Director) joined the Foothill faculty in 2003 and teaches in both the Theatre and Music Departments. Carey has directed Foothill Music Theatre productions of Spring Awakening, Little Shop of Horrors, South Pacific, Sunday in the Park with George, All Shook Up, Working, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, She Loves Me, Side Show, Shrek The Musical, 9 to 5 The Musical, and most recently The Sound of Music. Other directing credits include Kiss Me Kate and Almost, Maine. She has directed projects at RADA (The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London), the American Conservatory Theater M.F.A. Program, Broadway By the Bay, Los Altos Stage Company, California Conservatory Theatre, Opera Academy of the West, among others. An award-winning Bay Area actress, Carey has performed leading roles with many Bay Area theatre companies including TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Center Repertory Theatre of Walnut Creek, San Jose Repertory Theatre, American Musical Theatre of San Jose, CentralWorks, and 42nd Street Moon. She was in the cast of the 25th Anniversary Broadway National Tour of Evita under the direction of Hal Prince. Carey is on the faculty of the M.F.A. program at American Conservatory Theater and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Louis Lagalante (Music Director) is a San Francisco based music director and composer. Returning to Foothill Music Theatre where they were the associate music director of 9 to 5 The Musical, Lagalante has music directed dozens of productions throughout the Bay Area, including In the Heights (Custom Made Theater Company), Avenue Q (Coastal Repertory Theater), and James and the Giant Peach (Bay Area Educational Theater Company). They also worked on the music team for the Bay Area premiere of The Christians by Lucas Hnath (San Francisco Playhouse). As a composer, Lagalante has written two musicals. Infinite, a satire of tech and media culture, played in concert at Little Boxes Theater in October 2017 and was featured (with a book by Julia Grace Scanlon) in the Musical Café Showcase in Berkeley in June 2018. Lagalante's other show, Mirror Image - a story about the lives of three artists across ten years of their lives, with a book by Patty Kim Hamilton - was produced at Stanford University in March 2015 and was featured in a concert at the New York Musical Festival in July 2015.

Woody Allen's (Book) prolific career as a comedian, writer, and filmmaker has spanned more than six decades. Mr. Allen's first screenplay was What's New Pussycat?, which was released in 1965. He has written and directed more than 45 feature films, including Annie Hall, Manhattan and more recently, Midnight in Paris and Blue Jasmine. His many awards include four Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Allen is the author of Without Feathers and Side Effects, among other books.

Foothill Music Theatre has won Bay Area Theatre Critics' Circle Awards for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Ensemble Production, and Best Direction, among others. The company has also garnered numerous awards from the Los Angeles-based Drama-Logue, and kudos from myriad Bay Area critics for its sharp, handsomely mounted productions of The Sound of Music, 9 to 5 The Musical, Shrek The Musical, Side Show, She Loves Me, South Pacific, Little Shop of Horrors, Damn Yankees, Spring Awakening, The Producers, Bat Boy: The Musical, The Pajama Game, Sweeney Todd, and many other musicals.

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