Get ready for Music Theatre Louisville's 2010 summer season, which will include Broadway and Off-Broadway classics beginning in June.
All MTL performances will take place at the Bomhard Theater in the Kentucky Center for the Arts. The show 1776 will be first up in June, followed by Nunsesse in July, and Annie in August.
Season subscriptions are now on sale. Subscriptions are $75 for adults, $60 for senior citizens, $60 for students 11 years of age through college, and $30 for children aged 10 years and younger. Subscriptions can be purchased by calling Music Theatre Louisville at 502-498-2436.
1776
Just in time for Independence Day, Music Theatre Louisville will present 1776, the company's first show of the summer season.
The production takes place during the summer of 1776 and involves many of the founding fathers, including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Richard Henry Lee, and Thomas Jefferson. The founding fathers look to get the Second Continental Congress to agree on signing the Declaration of Independence, which may not be an easy task.
Performances of 1776 took place for years on Broadway in multiple theatres. The show took place from 1969-1972 at the 46th Street Theatre, St. James Theatre, and the Majestic Theatre, totaling more than 1,200 performances. The opening night cast on Broadway featured William Daniels as John Adams.
Sherman Edwards created the music and lyrics for 1776 while Peter Stone worked on the book.
The show will take place at the Bomhard Theatre from June 25-July 2 at 7:30 p.m. A show on July 3 will take place at 6:30 p.m. Matinee, shows, meanwhile, will occur on June 27 and July 3 at 2 p.m. No performance will take place on June 28.
Cast members slated to be in 1776 include Mason Stewart as Thomas Jefferson, Mark Sawyer Dailey as Ben Franklin, and Peter Riopelle as John Adams.
Nunsense
In July, Music Theatre Louisville will be filled with a lot of Nunsense.
The musical comedy starts off with the deaths of 52 sisters at the Little Sisters of Hoboken. Turns out that Sister Julia, Child of God, accidentally poisoned them during a meal. The remaining sisters realize that they are running out of burial funds and decide on doing a talent show to gain additional revenue.
Talents, and hilarity, are brought forth from the ministry, including the circus performing antics of Reverend Mother Regina, beginner ballarina Sister Mary Leo, and Sister Mary Amnesia, who lost whatever memory she had thanks to a falling crucifix.
Nunsense was an Off-Broadway hit, running from 1985-1994 at the Cherry Lane Theatre, according to the Lortel Archives. The show earned multiple Outer Critics Circle Awards in 1986, including one for best Off-Broadway musical. Dan Goggin, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics for Nunsense, also won an Outer Critics Circle Award for the production.
Nunsense will be performed in the Bomhard Theatre on July 16-25 at 7:30 p.m. Matinee performances, meanwhile will take place on July 18 and 24 at 2 p.m. No performance will take place on Monday, July 19.
Cast members slated to be in Nunsense include Kristy Calman as Mother Superior, Gayle King as Sister Mary Hubert, Samantha Lilly as Sister Robert Anne, Harli Cooper as Sister Mary-Leo, and Cindy Smith as Sister Amnesia.
Annie
Last, but not least, in the Music Theatre Louisville season is Annie, which will run in August.
In the production, the title character, an orphan during the Great Depression, attempts to find the family that abandoned her at the orphanage in New York City. To do this, she must get past Miss Hannigan, a not-too-nice woman who runs the ophanage where Annie resides. Annie starts on a journey with an intended destination to find her family but winds up at a different, and possibly better, outcome.
Along the way, Annie will come in contact with people that will change her life, including Oliver Warbucks, his secretary Grace Farrell, a mutt named Sandy, and even President Roosevelt.
Annie had two runs on Broadway, according to the Internet Broadway Database. In its first run, which lasted from 1977-1983, the musical was performed at the Alvin Theatre, ANTA Playhouse, Eugene O'Neill Theatre, and the Uris Theatre. During a revival in 1997, Annie was performed at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway.
Thomas Meehan created the book for Annie while Charles Strouse wrote the music and Martin Charmin created the lyrics. Annie is based on the comic strip Little Orphan Annie.
Cast members slated to perform in Annie include Madelyn Steurer, Dan Bullington as Warbucks, and Laura Obenauf as Grace. Annie is set to be performed from August 6-15 at 7:30 p.m. each night (except for August 9 as there will be no show on this date). Matinee shows, meanwhile, will take place on August 7, 8, 14, and 15 at 2 p.m.
As well as the shows, Music Theatre Louisville will put on camps geared towards kids aged 4 through 18.
For more information about the shows, camps, or tickets, go to the Music Theatre Louisville website at www.musictheatrelouisville.com or call 502-498-2436.
