Music and dancing and all that jazz!
CHICAGO
Things are beginning to steam up in Ivoryton as we get ready to open CHICAGO – June 29th – July 24th. (Book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse – Music by John Kander – Lyrics by Fred Ebb). Winner of six 1997 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival, CHICAGO has everything that makes theatre great; a universal tale of fame, fortune and all that jazz; one show-stopping song after another and the most energetic dancing you’ve ever seen!
Set in Prohibition-era Chicago, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins based on actual criminals and crimes. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the “celebrity criminal.” – as timely today as it was when it first opened on Broadway in 1975.
CHICAGO was revived on Broadway in 1996 and holds the record as the longest-running musical revival and the longest-running American musical in Broadway history, and is the second longest-running show in Broadway history, behind “The Phantom of the Opera”. The London revival ran for nearly 15 years, becoming the longest-running American musical in West End history.
Christopher Sutton* returns to Ivoryton in the role of Billy Flynn and will be accompanied by his wife, Lynn Philistine* in the role of Roxie Hart. CCC award winning actress, Sheniqua Trotman*, also returns to Ivoryton – this time in the role of Mama Morton. She was last seen here as Effie in DREAMGIRLS. Stacey Harris* will be playing Velma Kelly; Z. Spiegel is Mary Sunshine and Ian Shain is Amos Hart.
The production is directed and choreographed by Todd Underwood and musical directed by Paul Feyer, with set design by Martin Marchitto, lighting design by Marcus Abbott and costume design by Elizabeth Cipollina. Executive Producers are Michael A. Dattilo and Frank Perrotti
Whether you’ve seen it before and want to recapture the magic or you’ve been thrilled by the Academy Award-winning film, CHICAGO always delivers. Don’t miss the experience of this show live on stage at the Ivoryton Playhouse.
CHICAGO opens at the Ivoryton Playhouse on June 29th and runs through July 24th, 2016. Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm.
Tickets are $50 for adults; $45 for seniors; $22 for students and $17 for children and are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org
(Group rates are available by calling the box office for information.) The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.
*denotes member of Actors Equity
Members of the press are welcome at any performance. Please call ahead for tickets.
Generously sponsored by: First Niagara; Guilford Savings Bank, Middle Oak and The Shops at Saybrook Country Barn
The Ivoryton Village Farmers Market turns 5! The Ivoryton Green will once again be bustling with vendors showcasing CT grown products and prepared foods, creations from local artisans and crafters, and live music every Saturday. Each week seasonal produce, meats, fish, cheeses, milk, ice cream, garlic, maple syrup, honey, coffee, flowers, shrubs, jams and jellies, bakery items and more will be available. Families are invited to visit Ivoryton, shop the market and enjoy live bands playing each week in the Gazebo.
Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have The 39 Steps, a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre! This 2-time Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning treat is packed with nonstop laughs, over 150 zany characters (played by a ridiculously talented cast of 4), an on-stage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers and some good old-fashioned romance!
The first version of the play was written by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon for a cast of four actors and funded by a £1,000 Yorkshire Arts Grant. It premiered in 1995 at the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond, North Yorkshire, before embarking on a tour of village halls across the north of England. In 2005, Patrick Barlow rewrote the script, keeping the scenes, staging and small-scale feel, and in June 2005 this re-adaption premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. In 2006, it opened in the West End and in 2008 it premiered on Broadway to rave reviews. The New York Times proclaimed, “Theatre at its finest!… Absurdly enjoyable! This gleefully theatrical riff on Hitchcock’s film is fast and frothy, performed by a cast of four that seems like a cast of thousands”
This production introduces Ivoryton audiences to the husband and wife team of Dan Fenaughty* and Larissa Klinger*, who have both performed these roles before in the national tour. The clowns are played by Ivoryton favorite, David Edwards* and Jonathan Brody*, making his Ivoryton debut. The play is directed by Erik Bloomquist, a two-time Emmy nominated writer/director/producer and former Top 200 Director on Project Greenlight. Erik is currently in post-production on the television adaptation of The Cobblestone Corridor, a seriocomic mystery series based on his internationally acclaimed short film of the same name. The set design is by Dan Nischan, lighting design by Marcus Abbott and costume design by Cully Long.
The 39 Steps opens at the Ivoryton Playhouse on June 1st and runs through June 19th 2016. Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm.