September - October 2009
The stage play was written by Robert Harling. It was originally staged off-Broadway. All of the action takes place on one set -- Truvy's beauty salon, which is part of her house. There are six characters (all female) that appear on stage. There is the voice of a DJ on the radio that is heard during the play. The original stage production opened at the WPA Theatre, In New York City, on March 28, 1987. The film opened in 1989.
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November - December 2009
is a musical written by brothers Robert Reale - music and Willie Reale - book and lyrics - based on the Frog and Toad children's stories written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel. The musical follows the woodland adventures of two amphibious friends, a worrywart toad and a perky frog, with their assorted colorful hopping, crawling and flying companions, over the course of a year. The show broke new ground by bringing professional children's theatre to Broadway, sparking the interest of the age 3-to-10 set. Arnold Lobel's daughter, Adrianne Lobel, commissioned a musical based on her father's characters. She also designed the set, based on her father's writings. Her husband, actor Mark Linn-Baker, adapted the stories into a theatrical script, and later played Toad in the musical's Broadway debut.
January 29 - February 28, 2010
is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt, lyrics by Tom Jones, produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" ("Les Romanesques") by Edmond Rostand, concerning two fathers who put up a wall between their houses to ensure that their children fall in love, because they know that children always do what their parents forbid. After the children do fall in love, they discover their fathers' plot and they each go off and experience things in the world. They return to each other and the love they had. Elements of the play are drawn from the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, its story winding its way through Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore and Rostand's play. The show's original production off-Broadway ran for 17,162 performances, becoming the world's longest-running musical, for 42 years. The poetic book and breezy, hummable score, including such familiar songs such as "Try to Remember," help make this show so durable.
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April 30 - May 30, 2010
is a musical, with the music and lyrics written by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure", two short stories by Damon Runyon. It also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories, most notably "Pick the Winner". The musical premiered on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre, opening on November 24, 1950 and directed by George S. Kaufman. It starred Robert Alda, Sam Levene, Isabel Bigley, and Vivian Blaine. The play ran for 1,200 performances, winning five 1951 Tony Awards, including the award for Best Musical. Decca Records issued an original cast recording on LP; it was later reissued on CD by MCA. The original London production opened at the London Coliseum on May 28, 1953 and ran for 555 performances. On November 3, 1955 the film version was released, starring Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, and Jean Simmons, with Vivian Blaine reprising her role.
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August 13 - September 5, 2010
is the story of a young man from Chicago (Ren) forced to move with his mother to a puritanical, small town after his father abandons the family. To Ren’s shock, dancing and rock 'n' roll are forbidden. Through tenacity and clever use of the bible, Ren manages to convince Reverand Moore to let the town’s high schoolers dance again.