LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE Sweeps into The Fabulous Fox Theatre, St Louis, 10/24

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, a new musical based on the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder series of classic American books, will arrive on November 24 at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. Melissa Gilbert, who rose to fame as a child playing ‘Laura' in the hugely successful NBC television series "Little House on the Prairie" during the 1970's, now continues her legacy ‘on the prairie' by taking on the role of Ma. LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE will also star Steve Blanchard as Pa and Kara Lindsay as Laura. Tickets for the St. Louis engagement of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased by calling 314-534-1111, online at www.metrotix.com, or by visiting the Fox Theatre box office.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, THE MUSICAL with Gilbert, Blanchard and Lindsay,
had its world premiere production in August, 2008 at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, where
it shattered all box-office records and sold-out for 12 consecutive weeks. Initiated for the stage by
Adrianne Lobel (Frog and Toad) and Francesca Zambello, the show is directed by Zambello
(Disney's The Little Mermaid), with music by Academy Award® winner Rachel Portman
(Emma), lyrics by Donna di Novelli and a book by Tony Award® winner Rachel Sheinkin (The
25TH Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee). Michele Lynch is choreographer and Kevin Stites is
musical supervisor.

The producers of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, THE MUSICAL are Ben Sprecher,
Amy Sprecher, Louise Forlenza, Bob Boyett, Jay Harris, William Franzblau, Tony Fusco, Larry
Feinman, Peter W. Bezemes, Friendly Theatrical LLC, Jon B. Platt, Wendy Federman, Michael
Filerman, Marc Schwartz, Karl Sydow and Nelle Nugent, in association with Bob Reich and
Sharon Carr.

The production includes scenic design by Adrianne Lobel, lighting design by Mark McCullough,
costumes by Tony Award winner Jess Goldstein, sound design by Carl Casella and wig/hair design
by Charles LaPointe. Richard Carsey serves as music director, orchestrations are by Larry
Hochman and dance and incidental music arrangements are by Michael Dansicker, with
additional vocal and incidental music by Kevin Stites.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, THE MUSICAL is the uplifting story of an American
family forging a new life amidst the mighty challenges, heartbreaks, joys and triumphs that face
them in the newly-settled heartland. It is also the story of young Laura Ingalls, as she begins her
life as a young woman, finding purpose, and finding love. Above all, it is the celebration of the
pioneering spirit and the core values on which this country was founded - a spirit that still
resonates today.

Melissa Gilbert (Caroline "Ma" Ingalls). Theatre: Off-Broadway: A Shayna Maidel (Outer
Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards); Regional: Love Letters (Canon Theater, LA); The Glass
Menagerie (Chautauqua Theater Company); The Miracle Worker (Royal Poinciana Playhouse,
Palm Beach); Bus Stop and Love Letters (Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville); Little House on the
Prairie, the Musical (Guthrie). Television: Series lead in "Little House on the Prairie," starred in
more than 40 movies for television, including Emmy Award-winning The Miracle Worker, and
more than a dozen television series, including "Nip/Tuck," and "Sweet Justice." Ms. Gilbert
served as President of the Screen Actors Guild from 2001-05, and is currently the Standing Board
Chair and Spokesperson for the Children's Hospice and Palliative Care Coalition. Ms. Gilbert is
also a New York Times best-selling author with the recent publication of her autobiography,
Prairie Tale - A Memoir, from Simon & Schuster.

Steve Blanchard (Charles "Pa" Ingalls). Broadway: Beauty and the Beast, Camelot, A
Christmas Carol, The Three Musketeers; Off-Broadway: Frankenstein, Johnny Guitar, An Oak
Tree; National tours: Camelot, Phantom of the Opera, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to
the Forum; Repertory Theatre of St. Louis: Esmeralda; Baltimore's CenterStage: Sleep of Reason;
Charles Playhouse, Boston: The Threepenny Opera; Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C.: Hot
Mikado, Godspell; Guthrie: Little House on the Prairie, the Musical; Paper Mill Playhouse:
Chess; Theatre Under The Stars, Houston: Chess. Film/Television Law at Randado, Rapmaser
Ronnie, Warlords 3000, "Third Watch," "Law and Order," "Ed," "Police Story," "Sunset Beat,"
"One Life to Live," "Guiding Light," "Another World."Original cast recordings Johnny Guitar,
Sundown, Frankenstein; debut solo CD Northbound Train.

Kara Lindsay (Laura Ingalls). Theatre: Denver Center for the Performing Arts: Quilters;
Guthrie: Little House on the Prairie, the Musical; 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle: Lone Star Love;
West Virginia Public Theatre:Thoroughly Modern Millie, Beauty and the Beast, Cats, Hello,
Dolly!; Carnegie Mellon University: Side Show, After Miss Julie, Hello Again,
Oresteia. Training B.F.A., Acting/Musical Theater, Carnegie Mellon University.

Francesca Zambello (Director). Theatre Broadway: Disney's The Little Mermaid;
London: Royal Albert Hall: Showboat; West End: Napoleon; Raimund Theater, Vienna: a new
musical based on Rebecca; Seattle Children's Theatre: Tibet Through the Red Box; Bregenz's
floating stage: West Side Story; Guthrie: Little House on the Prairie, the Musical. Old Globe:
First Wives Club, Skylight Music Theater: artistic director, 1984-91; Opera: Metropolitan Opera:
An American Tragedy (world premiere), Cyrano de Bergerac (with Placido Domingo), Les
Troyens; Teatro alla Scala: Cyrano; Washington National and San Francisco Operas: The Ring,
San Francisco Opera: artistic advisor; Royal Albert Hall: La Bohème; The Bolshoi: Fiery Angel;
Chicago Lyric Opera: Salome; Royal Opera House: Carmen, Don Giovanni; Paris Opera: Boris
Godunov, War and Peace, Billy Budd, William Tell; Film War and Peace (ORF), Amahl and the
Night Visitors (BBC), The Little Prince (BBC/PBS). Awards: Three Olivier Awards; two Evening
Standard Awards for best musical and best opera; two French Grand Prix des Critiques; Japanese
Golden Prize; Helpmann Award; Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres; Russian Federation's medal for
ServIce To Culture; the Palme d'Or in Germany; the Golden Mask in Russia. Education: Colgate
University; Moscow University. www.francescazambello.com
-
Rachel Portman (Music). Theatre: Little House on the Prairie, the Musical. Film: Grey
Gardens, The Duchess, Emma, The Cider House Rules, Chocolat, Infamous, The Manchurian
Candidate, Oliver Twist, The Lake House, Nicholas Nickleby, Hart's War, The Human Stain, Life
is Sweet, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Beloved, Home Fries, Addicted to Love, Marvin's Room,
Only You, The Road to Wellville, Sirens, Benny & Joon, The Joy Luck Club, Used People, Smoke,
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, Where Angels Fear to Tread.
Opera/concert: The Little Prince, The Water Diviner's Tale. Awards: Academy Award for Best
Original Score for Emma; Academy Award nominations for The Cider House Rules and Chocolat;
British Film Institute's Young Composer of the Year Award.

DONNA DI NOVELLI (Lyrics). Musical Theater/Opera: Little House on the Prairie, the
Musical (lyrics); Florida (book and lyrics) Lyric Opera Cleveland, Public Theater's New Work
Now, New York City Opera's VOX; No God but Yearning (book and lyrics) Public Theater's New
Work Now, Joe's Pub. Theater: The First Eff (stage play) Mark Taper Forum, Duende Arts.
Dance: Twelve Dancing Princesses (text) Los Angeles Modern Dance and Ballet. Commissions:
San Francisco Opera; Chanticleer; BBC. Publications New Monologues For Women by Women
(Heinemann Press), NuMuse, Brown University. Awards: Manhattan Theatre Club Fellowship,
Rockefeller Foundation residency in Bellagio, Italy; National Musical Theater Conference
residency, the Mac Dowell Colony and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Professional Affiliations:
ASCAP, Dramatists Guild. Teaching: Bookwriting, Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at
NYU Tisch School of the Arts; Playwriting, National Theater Institute, Eugene O'Neill Theater
Center; Visiting professor, Brown University. Training: M.F.A., Graduate Musical Theater Writing
Program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts (Ira Gershwin Fellow); A.M., Brown University.

Rachel Sheinkin (Book) Recent work includes Broadway: The 25th Annual Putnam County
Spelling Bee (Tony, Drama Desk awards); Off Broadway: Striking 12 (Lucille Lortel nomination),
off-off: Serenade. Regional: Guthrie, Little House on the Prairie, the Musical; Center Theater
Group, Sleeping Beauty Wakes (Los Angeles Ovation Award); London: Blood Drive. Residencies,
fellowships, commissions include: Eugene O'Neill National Theater Center, Baryshnikov Dance
Foundation, MacDowell Colony, Manhattan Theatre Club, Deaf West, McCarter Theatre,
Playwrights Horizons. Rachel is a volunteer mentor for TDF's Open Doors program, a visiting
instructor at Yale School of Drama, and adjunct faculty member of NYU's Graduate Musical
Theater Writing Program.

Michele Lynch (Choreographer). Paper Mill Playhouse: Happy Days. Broadway: The Coast
of Utopia (Choreographer), Hairspray and The Full Monty (Associate Choreographer),
Urinetown (Asst. Choreographer). Off-Broadway: Everyday Rapture (Second Stage), NYMF:
Idaho; Yale Rep: Rough Crossing; Guthrie: Little House on the Prairie; Asolo Theatre: Pride &
Prejudice; Mark Taper Forum: 13; St Louis MUNY: Breakfast at Tiffany's; Stanford Center for
the Arts: Empire; North Carolina Theatre: South Pacific; Ford Center: Leading Ladies; has
traveled around the world setting companies of Hairspray and The Full Monty. Film: CAMP.
Awards: Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Happy Days at Goodspeed Opera House; Garland
Award for 13.

Kevin Stites (Music Supervision, Additional Vocals, Incidental Music). Broadway: Tale of
Two Cities, Color Purple, Titanic, Sunset Boulevard, Pamela's First Musical, Children and Art,
Les Misérables, Threepenny Opera, Fiddler, Nine, Oklahoma!, On the Town. National tours:
Color Purple, Martin Guerre, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Titanic. Guest
conductor: Grant Park Symphony, Guys and Dolls and Les Miserables at Hollywood Bowl.
TV/Film: "Rosie Live," Reefer Madness and others.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, THE MUSICAL will play the Fabulous Fox Theatre
November 24 - 29. Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:30 pm; Friday and
Saturday at 1 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sunday at 1 p.m. Ticket prices range from $21-$55 and are
subject to change. Please visit www.fabulousfox.com for current pricing information. Tickets are
on sale now and are available at the Fox Theatre box office, all MetroTix outlets, online at
www.metrotix.com or call 314-534-1111. Group orders of 20 or more may be placed by calling 314-
535-2900. LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, THE MUSICAL is a special offering of the
U.S. Bank Broadway Series and is sponsored by American Airlines.

To post a comment, you must register and login.