Tucson: ATC presents THE PAJAMA GAME

From: Arizona Theatre Company [mailto:aztheatreco@aztheatreco.pmailus.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 12:23 PM
Subject: NOTHING'S QUITE THE SAME AS THE PAJAMA GAME


For Immediate Release
November 13, 2007

Bevan Brunelle Bluemer, Public Relations Manager: 520.884.8210 Ext. 8205

NOTHING’S QUITE THE SAME AS THE PAJAMA GAME

ATC brings a joyous Broadway classic to life for Arizona audiences

Bright, brassy and jubilantly sassy, THE PAJAMA GAME is a rollicking celebration of love, life and sleepwear. Full of jazzy songs, hot dance and exuberant laughter, this brand-new production of the beloved musical comedy soars on high style and retro flair. Featuring a cast with a wealth of Broadway experience, THE PAJAMA GAME is being stitched together by the same creative team that delighted ATC audiences with the sold-out hits My Fair Lady and The Pirates of Penzance.  THE PAJAMA GAME is based on the novel “7½ Cents” by Richard Bissell, with book by George Abbott and Richard Bissell and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross.  It plays in Tucson at the Temple of Music and Art from November 24 through December 15. It continues its run in Phoenix at the Herberger Theater Center from December 31 through January 20. The Tucson production underwriters for THE PAJAMA GAME are Bette and Gerald Zatuchni and the Phoenix production underwriter is SRP. Arizona Theatre Company’s season underwriters are I. Michael and Beth Kasser.

It’s the 1950’s in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and there’s unrest at the Sleep Tite pajama factory. When the workers at the factory demand a 7½-cent raise, it puts Sid, the handsome factory supervisor, on the opposite side of the negotiating table from Babe, the firecracker who heads the Union Grievance Committee. But soon the headstrong couple is head-over-heels in love. As everyone at Sleep Tite chooses sides, a rambunctious pillow fight of complications leads to a happily-ever-after ending. The Pajama Game is a hit parade of irresistible classic Broadway songs including “Steam Heat,” “Hernando’s Hideaway” and “Hey There, You with the Stars in Your Eyes”.

“It’s no surprise that THE PAJAMA GAME had audiences storming the box office in 1953 and still inspires such passionate enthusiasm today,” said ATC Artistic Director and PAJAMA GAME director David Ira Goldstein. “The names associated with the original production became legends. Bob Fosse, Jerome Robbins, Hal Prince, George Abbott and Frank Loesser all had a hand in creating the show. It was the first Broadway show to ever feature simultaneously the number one and number two songs on ‘The Hit Parade’. Along with a dynamic cast and great designers, we have had a ball creating a fresh look at this joyful, colorful and buoyantly youthful musical comedy about the attraction of opposites.”

David Ira Goldstein (Director) this year celebrates his sixteenth season as Artistic Director of Arizona Theatre Company. He has directed over 30 mainstage productions for ATC ranging from classics to new plays to musicals including the world premieres of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, Inventing van Gogh, Rocket Man, Private Eyes, Over The Moon and Dracula by Steven Dietz and For Better or Worse by Geoff Hoyle.  He has been a guest director at theatres from coast to coast including Seattle Rep, Berkeley Rep, The Pasadena Playhouse, Kansas City Rep, Florida Stage, the Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis, Northlight Theatre, Geva Theatre, Mixed Blood and many others. Last year he won both the Jeff Award in Chicago and the LA Drama Critics Award for A MARVELOUS PARTY. He received the 2003 Governor’s Arts Award as Individual Artist for his contributions to the arts in Arizona.

Patricia Wilcox (Choreographer) returns to Arizona Theatre Company where she choreographed and created musical staging for The Pirates of Penzance, My Fair Lady, HMS Pinafore, Little Shop of Horrors, Scapin, The Fantasticks, Much Ado About Nothing and Blues in the Night. She is also a co-conceiver of A Marvelous Party, which began at ATC as Oh Coward! and went on to play at Geva Theatre Center, Northlight Theatre (Jeff Award) and The Laguna Playhouse (L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award), among many other venues.  Christopher McGovern (Musical Director/Conductor) has worked Off-Broadway on That’s Life (Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Jazz Singer, Sheba, The Fishkin Touch, Identical Twins and Totie, on the national tours of Fame and The Presidents with Rich Little and internationally as arranger for Disney Worldwide (The Lion King/Hong Kong and Aladdin/Tokyo). He is the Author/Composer of Lizzie Borden, Crash Club, Backwards in High Heels, Roswell and many original songs.

THE PAJAMA GAME cast includes seasoned Broadway veterans and local favorites.   Kevyn Morrow (Sid Sorokin) performed in London’s West End premieres of Ragtime (Coalhouse Walker Jr./2004 Laurence Olivier Award nomination) and 125th Street. He was a member of the original Broadway companies of The Scarlett Pimpernel, Dream, Smokey Joe's Cafe, and Leader of the Pack, as well as appearing on Broadway in Dreamgirls and the closing company of A Chorus Line. Regional appearances include The Three Musketeers; Five Guys Named Moe; Music of the Night; Sophisticated Ladies; Thunder Knocking on the Door; Romeo and Juliet-The Musical; The Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea; The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin; Love, Langston; Blue; Stormy Weather and Tambourines To Glory (2005 Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Actor). Kelly McCormick (Babe Williams) appeared in the national tour of Les Misérables as Fantine. Off-Broadway, she appeared in Her Song at Birdland. Regional theatre credits include Fantine in Les Misérables at Pioneer Theatre Company (regional theatre premiere), Martha Jefferson in 1776 at Pittsburgh CLO, Linda in Pal Joey at Prince Music Theater and in Children of Eden at Ford’s Theatre. She also appeared in the New York workshop production of Zhivago. Ms. McCormick has performed as a soloist with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Returning to ATC are Tony DeBruno (Hasler and Pops) who has appeared in nearly 40 roles at Arizona Theatre Company, including Matt in Talley’s Folly, Honeyman in A Walk in the Woods, Joe Gargery in Great Expectations, Hortensio in The Taming of the Shrew and Antonio in The Tempest. He has worked for the past sixteen seasons at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, performing roles such as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice; Otto Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank; Artie in The House of Blue Leaves; Gloucester in King Lear; Doc Gibbs in Our Town; Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing; and Jake Callahan in Chicago.  Bob Sorenson (Hines) appeared last season at ATC in I Am My Own Wife. Previous ATC credits also include Permanent Collection, Over the Moon, Fully Committed, Ghosts, Art, The Mystery of Irma Vep, How I Learned to Drive, Scapin, Swinging on a Star, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Noises Off. Actors Theatre of Phoenix credits include The Arizona Project, Henry V, Illuminati and Putting It Together, among others. For Phoenix Theatre, he has appeared in Annie; Mister Roberts; I Do, I Do; Rumors and Play It Again, Sam, among others.

Making their ATC debuts are Michelle Aravena (Gladys) who most recently appeared in the revival A Chorus Line on Broadway, as well as in productions at Lincoln Center and Manhattan Theatre Club. She has performed in the national tours of Mamma Mia, Les Miserables and Steel Pier. Other credits include appearances in the original company of West Side Story at La Scala Opera House in Milan.  Joel Newsome (Prez) played Leo Bloom in the Broadway and national tour of The Producers. Other Broadway and New York credits include the Tony Award-winning revival of 42nd Street, the Off-Broadway production of Kuni-Leml with The Jewish Repertory Theatre and the first workshop of Jonathan Larson's Rent..  Susan J. Jacks (Mabel), has toured nationally in Doctor Doolittle and internationally in My One and Only. Off-Broadway, she appeared in Forbidden Broadway, Nunsense, Theda Bara and the Frontier Rabbi and Flight of the Lawnchair Man (in the role she created at Goodspeed Musicals).  Emily Mulligan-Ferry (Mae) has performed with many Phoenix area theatres, including Arizona Broadway Theatre, iTheatre Collaborative and Broadway Palm West.  

Also appearing in the PAJAMA GAME are Laura Beth Wells (Brenda) who has performed at theatres across the country, from Asolo Repertory Theatre in Florida to Willows Theatre Company in California., Robert Encila (Max) who has performed locally with Borderlands Theater and is the current director of St. Francis Theatre Ensemble, Brandon Bieber, Sean Patrick Doyle, Kathryn Fraggos , Sterling Masters, Carol Schuberg, Brandon Tyler and University of Arizona School of Theatre Arts students Jeff Guilfoyle and Elizabeth Oates.

The design team includes Bill Forrester (Scenic Designer), whose many  ATC productions include Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, The Pirates of Penzance, Much Ado About Nothing, My Fair Lady, Valley Song, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Dracula. He has designed settings for many theatres across the nation, including Denver Center Theatre Company, Seattle Rep, Portland Center Stage, and Utah Shakespearean Festival.  Lindsay W. Davis (Costume Designer) most recently designed A Little Night Music for Los Angeles Opera (L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award). Previous collaborations with David Ira Goldstein include Pirates of Penzance at Arizona Theatre Company and Guys and Dolls at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. His awards include two Jeff Awards and a New York Drama Desk Award for the original Broadway production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood.  Dennis Parichy (Lighting Designer) returns to ATC having designed Twelfth Night, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, Talley’s Folly, A Streetcar Named Desire and A Moon for the Misbegotten.  His Broadway credits include Talley’s Folly (Tony Award nomination), Crimes of the Heart, As Is, Burn This, Penn & Teller: The Refrigerator Tour, Redwood Curtain (Tony Award nomination), Coastal Disturbances, The Water Engine and Fifth of July (Tony Award nomination).  He was Resident Lighting Designer for Circle Repertory Company from 1975 to 1995 where he designed numerous premieres, including many of Lanford Wilson’s works. Abe Jacob (Sound Designer) returns to ATC where he was Sound Designer for The Pirates of Penzance, The Fantasticks, 5 Guys Named Moe, The Gershwins’ Fascinating Rhythm, HMS Pinafore and My Fair Lady. His landmark designs for musical theatre include the original Broadway productions of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin, Chicago, Sgt. Pepper, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, A Chorus Line, Gilda Radner Live, Dancin’, Beatlemania, Evita, Cats, Big Deal and Black and Blue. Peter Beudert (Projections Designer) designed Wit for ATC. He is a Professor of Theatre at the University of Arizona School of Theatre Arts where he has designed scenery for many productions, including Henry IV, Parts I & II; The Cider House Rules; Cabaret; Arcadia and Sunday in the Park with George, as well as designing the projections for The Who’s Tommy. Production Stage Manager is Glenn Bruner and the Assistant Stage Manager is Bret Torbeck.

Tickets range from $31-$54 depending on date and section choice and are available at arizonatheatre.org or by calling the box office at (520) 622-2823. Discounts are available for students, seniors and active military on specific performance days. Half-price student rush tickets are available for balcony seating for all performances one hour prior to curtain at the ATC box office (subject to availability; must show ID). For discounts on groups of eight or more, call (520) 884-8210 x 8204.

ATC offers an audio-described performance for patrons who have low vision or blindness on December 12 at 2 PM and December 13 at 2 PM. Interested patrons may request a tactile tour one hour prior to curtain. Braille and large-print playbills are available upon request from the house manager. An American Sign Language-interpreted performance is offered on December 13 at 7:30 PM. Patrons who have deafness or hearing impairment will receive a biography of the interpreters, a description of the play and name signs of each character.  An open-captioned performance is offered on December 13 at 2 PM. As the play progresses, those in open-captioned seating will be able to read the play’s dialogue in large green letters on an LED. The service is for patrons with mild to severe hearing loss who may not be ASL-literate. Tickets for all performances are available through the ATC box office at (520) 622-2823 or online at arizonatheatre.org. TTY access for the box office is available via Arizona Relay at (800) 367-8939 (TTY/ASCII).
 
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Art for Arizona Theatre Company's production of The Pajama Game will be available later this week at the following link:
http://aztheatreco.org/pressroom_gallery_PAJAMA_photos.html

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