PETE 'N' KEELY to Open This August Saint Michael's Playhouse

Producing Artistic Director Chuck Tobin today announced the August 3rd opening of the musical comedy Pete 'n' Keely, at Saint Michael's Playhouse (August 3 - 13). Directed by Kathryn Markey the cast features Jonathan Hadley as Pete Bartel, and Gabrielle Stavelli as Keely Stevens, with musicians Tom Cleary, Brian MacFadyen and Patrick O'Leary. Performances begin on Wednesday, August 3.

Performances are Wednesday - Saturday evenings 8/3 - 6, Tuesday - Saturday 8/9 - 13 (8pm curtain), and Saturday matinees 8/6 and 8/13 (2pm curtain).

With book by James Hindman, music by Patrick Brady, and lyrics by Mark Waldrop, Pete 'n' Keely is a recreation of a live star-spangled telecast of a 1968 television special at NBC studios in New York City. A television special that reunites one of the most famous entertainment industry couples of the 50s and 60s ... Pete 'n' Keely. Despite their big breakup at Caesar's Palace five years ago this glitzy, celebrity couple takes the audience on a dazzling and hilarious ride. Tunes, mayhem, and sparks fly as they attempt to keep their turbulent past out of the limelight while performing their greatest hits. A sparkling musical cocktail ... on the rocks.

Pete 'n' Keely was first presented Off Broadway by Steve Asher, David W. Unger, and Avalon Entertainment at the John Houseman Theater in New York City on December 2, 2000. It was directed by Mark Waldrop.

The creative team is led by director Kathryn Markey and includes Ken Goldstein (scenic design), Therese Bruck (costume design), Annmarie Duggan (lighting design), Harry Chaikin (sound design), Jennifer M. Higgins (property design).

Jonathan Hadley (Pete Bartel) most recently appeared on Broadway as "Bob Crewe" in Jersey Boys, a role he reprised for over 2000 performance on the First National and International Tours. Broadway: A Class Act. Off-Broadway: The Rothschilds, Widower's Houses, Finian's Rainbow. Tours: Into the Woods, Joseph... (with Donny Osmond), Fiddler on the Roof (with Theo Bikel) and Forbidden Broadway. Regional: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Dirty Blonde, Born Yesterday, Yiddle With a Fiddle, Loves Labors Lost. Directing credits include Much Ado About Nothing and Tartuffe for New York's Sonnet Repertory Theatre and two seasons as Interim Producing Director for the Depot Theatre.

Gabrielle Stravelli (Keely Stevens) has recently lead her jazz quartet on a US State Department-sponsored international tour in the American Music Abroad Program, and premiered Rooms of Light, a new song cycle by renowned jazz pianist Fred Hersch. She has toured the US with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, been featured in 92Y's Lyrics and Lyricists Series, at the Caramoor Festival, with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, the Cincinnati Pops and the Santa Rosa Symphony. As an actress, she has collaborated with award-winning composers and lyricists, including Tony Award winner Warren Leight and Richard Rodgers Award winners Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews.

Saint Michael's Playhouse is an Actors' Equity Association theater company operating as an auxiliary enterprise of Saint Michael's College. The Playhouse produces its productions with theater artists from Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theater nationwide, along with Vermont-based professional actors, directors and designers. Actors' Equity Association is the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. Tobin adds "We rehearse our shows here in our McCarthy Arts Center theater facility and design and build our scenery, costumes and props on location with our crew of approximately 70 professional theater artists." This season marks Producing Artistic Director Chuck Tobin's thirty-first year with the professional theater company.

Ticket prices range from $35 to $45 and may be purchased online at saintmichaelsplayouse.org or by calling 802-654-2281 or visiting the walk-up window in the lobby of McCarthy Arts Center. The Playhouse is located at McCarthy Arts Center, on Route 15, in Colchester, Vermont, a ten minute drive from downtown Burlington, Vermont. For a complete show schedule and more information contact the theater box office directly at 802-654-2281 or visit us at saintmichaelsplayhouse.org. Saint Michael's Playhouse, One Winooski Park, Colchester, Vermont 05439.

Pictured: Gabrielle Stravelli and Jonathan Hadley in Saint Michael's Playhouse production of Pete 'n' Keely. Photo by BrIan MacDonald.

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