Photo Flash: Andrew Lloyd Webber's TELL ME ON A SUNDAY at New Line Theatre
By: A.A. Cristi Aug. 11, 2016
New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," closes its 25th anniversary season with Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman, one-act rock musical TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, running August 11-27, 2016, in the company's new home, the Marcelle Theater, the new blackbox theatre space in Grand Center, St. Louis' arts district.
The one-woman show stars New Line veteran performer Sarah Porter as Emma, the young English woman with a terrible romantic track record. Sarah has appeared onstage with New Line in bare, High Fidelity, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Cry-Baby, Night of the Living Dead, Rent, Bonnie & Clyde, Jerry Springer the Opera, and The Threepenny Opera.
The production will be directed by Mike Dowdy, New Line's associate artistic director, with music direction by Nate Jackson, scenic and lighting design by Rob Lippert, costume design by Sarah Porter, and sound design by Benjamin Rosemann.
New Line is proud to present this rarely seen, one-woman, one-act, rock musical, a forgotten gem from the composer of Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita (both of which New Line has produced), Phantom of the Opera, Joseph, Cats, and other shows. Tell Me on aSunday was presented on Broadway as the first half of Song & Dance, with Bernadette Peters, and featuring the breakout pop hit, "Unexpected Song." New Line presents the local premiere of this one-act musical.
This pop-rock song cycle follows a young English woman newly arrived in New York, brimming with optimism, and her journey through America and the perils of ill-advised romance. As she seeks out success and love, she weaves her way through the maze of New York and Hollywood social life, and through her own anxieties, frustrations, and heartaches, and she begins to wonder whether there are better choices to be made.
The show was originally conceived by Tim Rice, Lloyd Webber's early writing partner, who intended to develop it into a cycle of television shows with Lloyd Webber. It was to be a small, intimate project for the team after finishing the large-scale Evita. But the composer turned instead to lyricist Don Black, who went on to write Aspects of Love and Sunset Boulevard with Lloyd Webber, as well as Bonnie & Clyde with Frank Wildhorn (which New Line produced in 2014).
TELL ME ON A SUNDAY premiered at Lloyd Webber's famous Sydmonton Festival in 1979, followed by a recording that same year, and a special one-hour BBC television broadcast in 1980. The cast album reached #2 on the UK charts, while the single "Take That Look Off Your Face" reached #3. In 1982, Lloyd Webber combined Tell Me on a Sunday, with his Variations for cello and rock band, to form the two-act Song & Dance, which opened on Broadway in 1985.
Tell Me on a Sunday contains adult content.
TELL ME ON A SUNDAY runs August 11-27, 2016, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, at 8:00 p.m., at the new Marcelle Theater, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive, just three blocks east of Grand, in Grand Center. (See our website for directions.) August 11 is a preview. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students/seniors on Fridays and Saturdays; and $20 for adults and $15 for students/seniors on Thursdays. Tickets are on sale now through Metrotix, 314-534-1111 or Metrotix.com. For other information, visit New Line Theatre's full-service website at www.newlinetheatre.com. All programs are subject to change.
ABOUT NEW LINE THEATRE
New Line Theatre is a professional company dedicated to involving the people of the St. Louis region in the exploration and creation of daring, provocative, socially and politically relevant works of musical theatre. New Line was created back in 1991 at the vanguard of a new wave of nonprofit musical theatre just starting to take hold across the country. New Line has given birth to several world premiere musicals over the years and has brought back to life several shows that were not well served by their original New York productions. Altogether, New Line has produced 77 musicals since 1991, and the company has been given its own entry in the Cambridge Guide to American Theatre and the annual Theater World. New Line receives funding from the Regional Arts Commission and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.
Sarah Porter as Emma in Andrew Lloyd Webber's TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, New Line Theatre, 2016. Photo credit: Jill Ritter Lindberg.
Sarah Porter as Emma in Andrew Lloyd Webber's TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, New Line Theatre, 2016. Photo credit: Jill Ritter Lindberg.
Sarah Porter as Emma in Andrew Lloyd Webber's TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, New Line Theatre, 2016. Photo credit: Jill Ritter Lindberg.
Sarah Porter as Emma in Andrew Lloyd Webber's TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, New Line Theatre, 2016. Photo credit: Jill Ritter Lindberg.
Sarah Porter as Emma in Andrew Lloyd Webber's TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, New Line Theatre, 2016. Photo credit: Jill Ritter Lindberg.
Sarah Porter as Emma in Andrew Lloyd Webber's TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, New Line Theatre, 2016. Photo credit: Jill Ritter Lindberg.
Sarah Porter as Emma in Andrew Lloyd Webber's TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, New Line Theatre, 2016. Photo credit: Jill Ritter Lindberg.
Sarah Porter as Emma in Andrew Lloyd Webber's TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, New Line Theatre, 2016. Photo credit: Jill Ritter Lindberg.
Sarah Porter as Emma in Andrew Lloyd Webber's TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, New Line Theatre, 2016. Photo credit: Jill Ritter Lindberg.
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