Showtunes! to Present On the Twentieth Century in Concert

Showtunes! Theatre Company will end its 2005-2006 debut season of Musicals in Concert! at the Kirkland/> Performance/> Center/>/> with the classic musical On the Twentieth Century. The Tony award winning 1978 musical comedy will play two performances only, Saturday April 8th at 8pm and Sunday April 9th at 2pm, at KPC.

On the Twentieth Century is directed by Claudia Zahn, with musical direction by David Close, and musical staging by Sam Petit. The principal cast includes Eric Polani Jensen as Oscar Jaffe, Anna Lauris as Lily Garland, Ellen McClain as Letitia Primrose, John Patrick Lowrie as Oliver, John Deveney as Owen, and Ian Lindsay as Bruce. Featured in the ensemble are Maggie Stenson, Jason Kappus, Natalie Backman, David-Edward Hughes, Charissa Bertels, Patricia Britton, Mo Brady, Casey Craig, Timothy Glynn, and Marcus Wolland.

The 1978 Broadway production of On the Twentieth Century was the first of two Broadway collaboration's between the eminent Broadway composer Cy Coleman (Wildcat, Sweet Charity, Seesaw) and Broadway and Hollywood's legendary comic geniuses Betty Comden and Adolph Green (On the Town, Bells are Ringing, Subways are for Sleeping) who penned the show's book and lyrics. Based on the popular 1930's stage and film farce Twentieth Century by Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur and Bruce Millholland, Coleman, Comden and Green teamed with celebrated, award winning director Hal Prince to bring to the musical stage the zany tale of down on his luck Hollywood producer Oscar Jaffe, scheming to reunite professionally and personally with his one-time discovery and paramour turned mega-star, Lily Garland. The entire show takes place in the course of a 16 hour train trip on the old 20th Century Limited, between Chicago and New York, with Oscar's cronies Oliver and Owen, Lily's hambone actor/boy toy Bruce Granite, and dotty faux heiress and religious nut Letitia Peabody Primrose all along for the ride.

Coleman's witty operetta pastiche musical score, Comden & Green's zany book and hilarious lyrics received Tony awards that season, as did leading men John Cullum as Oscar, Kevin Kline as Bruce, and scenic designer Robin Wagner, and was nominated as Best Musical as well. The Broadway version ran 460 performances, toured successfully (with Rock Hudson as Oscar Jaffe) and has had something of a renaissance the past few years as a musical in concert, including a high profile fundraiser for the Actor's Fund in fall of 2005 at Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre starring Marin Mazzie, Douglas Sills, and Joanne Worley. On the Twentieth Century is also notable for the making Judy Kaye a Broadway star when she replaced Madeline Kahn early in the show's run.

Tickets are $24 for Adults and $15 Students/Seniors, and with group rates also available through the Kirkland Performance Center Box Office at 425-893-9900 or online at www.kpcenter.org. Kirkland/> Performance/> Center/>/> is located at 350 Kirkland Ave/>, Kirkland/>, WA

Showtunes 2005-2006 season also included concert mountings of Fiorello! and Flora, the Red Menace. More information about Showtunes! Theatre Company is on the web at www.showtunestheatre.org.