Lyceum Theatre Opens Their 50th Season with THE PRODUCERS 6/2 - 6/12

The Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre's 50th Anniversary Season opens on June 2nd with the Lyceum premiere of Mel Brooks' The Producers running through June 12. Winner of a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards in 2001 including Best Musical, this outrageously funny musical tells the story of a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer (Max Bialystock), played by Dana Snyder. Dana is returning to the Lyceum stage after a 16 year hiatus during which time he has appeared in many regional theatres from Austin to Cleveland. Mr. Snyder's television credits include Brothers and Sisters and ER. His voice over work includes Cartoon Network's Chowder, Nickelodeon's Penguins of Madagascar and Master Shake in Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Most recently, Dana has been touring the country in Adult Swim's Aqua Teen Hunger Force Live!

Playing Max's mild-mannered accountant, Leo Bloom, will be Lyceum alum Keith Gerchak. Keith was last seen on the Lyceum stage in 1776 and How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying in 2006 and Sugar in 2007. Mr. Gerchak's other stage credits include Nemo's father in Disney's Finding Nemo the Musical, and Fiddler On The Roof alongside Paul Sorvino.

The Lyceum is thrilled to introduce Danielle Kelsey making her Lyceum debut as Ulla, the sexy Swedish siren. Ms. Kelsey has toured the world with rock legend Rod Stewart and danced at the Hollywood Bowl along side Joel Grey. She has also performed as one of the world famous Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall.

Other notable Lyceum alumni starring in this production are Jeffrey C. Wolf as Carmen Ghia. Jeffrey's many performances on the Lyceum stage include Sleuth (Milo), Arsenic and Old Lace (Mortimer), The Philadelphia Story (Dexter), Little Women (Prof. Bhaer), and Sugar (Joe). His New York Credits include Cloud 9, Reckless, Sundown, God & Mr. Smith.

Ron Wisniski plays the part of Roger De Bris in The Producers. Ron appeared at the Lyceum last season in Hello, Dolly!, You Can't Take It With You and The Diary of Anne Frank. Mr. Wisniski's national tours include: Beauty and the Beast (Lumiere), FDR in two tours of Annie and Tintypes (Teddy Roosevelt). His Off-Broadway credits include George Abbot's Frankie, A Most Secret War, Pillars of Society, Up Against It (New York Shakespeare Festival) and Tom Jones.

Lyceum favorite, Christopher J. Schmidt, returns to play the Nazi playwright, Franz Liebkind. Christopher's numerous Lyceum credits include Capt. Hook in Peter Pan, Oscar in A New Look At The Odd Couple and Richard Henry Lee in 1776. He has been working for the past 10 years in Orlando Florida for The Walt Disney Company and can currently be seen as Six Bits in The Hoop Dee Doo Revue.

Completing the cast are Liz Ali, Jennifer Cordiner, Katie O'Brien, Miller Tai, Lincoln Ward Meg Maley, Andrew Laudel, Gabriel Beck, Thomas Gibbons, Jermaine Blackwell, Kelley Bradshaw, Hannah Marie Duncan, Stephanie Koenig and Cailan Robinson.

The Producers is directed by Lyceum Theatre Artistic Director Quin Gresham. The production team is made up of Michael Baxter, choreographer; James Woodland, resident musical director; Dan Calandro, scenic designer; Randy B. Winder, resident lighting designer; Ryan Matthew Hall, sound designer; Evan Prizant, costume designer.

The production stage manager is Tony Dearing. Assistant stage manager is Emilee Buchheit.

"Our goal in assembling the Lyceum's 50th season was to create a fun and celebratory combination of musicals and plays befitting this major milestone," says Artistic Director Quin Gresham. "We think we have just such a line-up starting with The Producers!"

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