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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Bevan Brunelle Bluemer
520.884.8210 Ext. 8205
LET THE SUNSHINE IN WITH 40th ANNIVERSARY OF "HAIR"
TUCSON, Ariz.
(Nov. 6, 2008) -- Arizona Theatre Company celebrates the 40th anniversary of
the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical "HAIR," Nov. 29 - Dec. 30 at the Temple
of Music and Art.
It rocked the world then. It rocks the world now. Let the
Sunshine In... I Got Life...I Believe in Love... Good Morning Starshine...It's the
dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the year is 1968, and a tribe of hippies in New
York is letting down its gleaming, streaming, long
beautiful hair. If you experienced it then, you'll want to groove to it again.
If you were too young the first time around, come discover what the fuss was
all about as ATC stages a glorious new production of HAIR to celebrate its 40th Anniversary. HAIR plays
in Tucson at the Temple
of Music and Art from November 29
through December 20, 2008.
It continues its run in Phoenix at
the Herberger Theater
Center from December 31 though January 18, 2009. The Tucson
production sponsors for HAIR are Bette and Gerald Zatuchni. Arizona Theatre
Company's season underwriters are I. Michael and Beth Kasser.
Written by Gerome Ragni and James Rado with music by Galt
MacDermot, HAIR was the first musical to give voice to the social unrest of the
1960s from the point of view of our nation's youth. Both the story and the
iconic rock/pop melodies echoed the hopes and fears, anger and aspirations of a
generation of young people faced with an overseas war, racial showdowns and a
sexual revolution. HAIR tells the story of a tribe of young hippies struggling
to express themselves and change the world. When Claude receives his draft
notice, their innocence and optimism comes face to face with the realities of war.
HAIR contains mature language and nudity.
ATC's new production of HAIR reunites the creative team from
last season's hit production of The Pajama Game. David Ira Goldstein (Director)
this year celebrates his seventeenth season as Artistic Director of ATC. He has
directed over 30 mainstage productions for ATC ranging from classics to
musicals to numerous world premieres including last year's Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde by Jeffrey Hatcher. He has been a guest director at theatres from coast to
coast and will direct the world premiere of The Kite Runner next spring at San
Jose Repertory Theatre. Patricia Wilcox (Choreographer) returns to ATC where
she choreographed and created musical staging for, among others, The Pajama
Game, The Pirates of Penzance, My Fair Lady and Blues in the Night. She is also
a co-conceiver with Mr. Goldstein of A Marvelous Party: The Noël Coward
Celebration, which began at ATC and went on to play at theatres across the
country. Christopher McGovern (Musical Director/Conductor) has worked
Off-Broadway, regionally, and on many national tours. He is the Author/Composer
of Lizzie Borden, Crash Club, Backwards in High Heels, Roswell
and many original songs. Mr. McGovern has performed in concert with Susan Egan
(national tour including Carnegie Hall), Karen Mason, Liz Callaway, Roslyn Kind
and many others.
The HAIR cast includes both Broadway veterans and local
favorites. Kyle Harris (Claude) most
recently appeared in Dream a Little Dream: The Nearly True Story of The Mamas
and The Papas at Florida Stage. Locally, he has been seen as Bobby Strong in
Urinetown, Finch in How To Succeed in Business..., Buddy Foster in Side Show and
the title role in The Who's Tommy (MAC Award for Best Actor) with Arizona
Repertory Theatre. Morgan James (Sheila) was last seen at ATC as Mabel in The
Pirates of Penzance. In New York,
she was recently a featured soloist in Leonard Bernstein's Mass with the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center. Other New
York credits include a workshop of The Addams Family
and a pre-Broadway workshop of Godspell. Michael Buchanan (Woof), appeared on
Broadway in Cry Baby, as well as in its 2007 premiere at La Jolla Playhouse. In
2006, he was honored with a Joseph Jefferson Award for the role of Bobby Strong
in Urinetown. Other credits include Mame at The Kennedy Center, Einstein in Go
Go Beach at New York Musical Theatre Festival, The Pirates of Penzance at
Guthrie Theater and I Left My Heart: A Tribute to Tony Bennett (World
Premiere). Joey Calveri (Berger) was seen most recently in Las
Vegas where he performed the role of Galileo in
Queen's We Will Rock You. He performed the roles of Double J and Tony Manero in
the national tour of Saturday Night Fever, Peter in Trip of Love in Osaka,
Japan, and in European tours of West Side Story and Grease.
Also featured are Lauren Lebowitz (Jeanie) who most recently
performed Off-Broadway in To Paint the Earth at 37. Other credits include the
national tours of Godspell (cast recording) and Footloose; and Rosa
in Wallenberg at New World Stages/New York Musical
Theatre Festival. Kyle Taylor Parker's (Hud) regional credits include the title
role in The Wiz, Mereb in Aida, Hud in HAIR, Wickersham in Seussical and
Maxwell in Urban Sound Underground. Sal Sabella (Dad/Margaret Mead) performed
in the Broadway national tour of Phantom of the Opera, as well as in the
national tours of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Godspell (cast
recording). Rashidra Scott (Dionne) appeared on Broadway in Avenue Q. Other New
York appearances include The Rockae at The New York
Musical Theatre Festival and readings of Musing Hughes at The Classical Theatre
of Harlem, Can-Can at The Old Globe, R-E-S-P-E-C-T with New York Stage and Film
and Rejoice!. Erica Sweany (Crissy) performed in the national tour of Cats and
the international tour of The Who's Tommy. Her regional credits include Cats at
Houston's Theatre under the Stars,
Cabaret at Arena Stage and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
at Arvada Center
for the Arts and Humanities.
Local actors and members of the HAIR Tribe include Stefanie
Brown, who appeared in Beauty and the Beast at Phoenix Theatre, as well as
playing Hope in Urinetown, Cunegonde in Candide and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
with Arizona Repertory Theatre; Tamika Lawrence played Helen Robinson in To
Kill a Mockingbird at ATC and is a currently a student at the University of
Arizona; Jacqueline Rez was recently seen as Penelope Pennywise in Arizona
Repertory Theatre's production of Urinetown. Rebecca Spigelman's work with
Arizona Repertory Theatre includes roles in Urinetown and Candide; Stephen
Turner performed the roles of Captain in Anything Goes and Trace in Murder on
the 19th Hole at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre.
Other members of The Tribe include Melvin Bell, III, who
performed the role of Angel in the national tour of Rent. Off-Broadway, he was
a Lead Singer in Black Nativity and a soloist in The Jay Alan Zimmerman Show.
Matt DeAngelis has appeared in the New York
productions of Songs for a New World, Prospect Theatre's
The Flood and The Rockae. Miles A. Johnson has appeared in the national tours
of Rent, Miss Saigon and a workshop for the First National Tour of Urban
Cowboy. His regional credits include The 60's Project at Goodspeed Opera House,
Babes in Toyland at Lincoln Center
and Jesus Christ Superstar at North Shore Music Theatre. Meghan Murphy most
recently sang on European cruises by Norwegian Cruise Lines. Among her favorite
credits are the roles of Patti in Smokey Joe's Café, Velma in Chicago
and Charity in Sweet Charity. Alexis Sims has performed in Runaways in Concert
and Langston in Harlem at The Public Theater, Once on
This Island and The 60's Project at Goodspeed Opera House and Jelly's Last Jam
at Alliance Theatre. Jake Wilson is the creator and star of the online series
The Battery's Down. His favorite roles include Skimbleshanks in Cats at
Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Jimmy in Reefer Madness! and Prez in The Pajama
Game.
The design team includes John Ezell (Scenic Designer) who
has designed for Broadway, New York Shakespeare Festival and The Public
Theater, as well as Roundabout Theatre Company, Crossroads Theatre Company and
Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Other regional credits include the The Old Globe, Coconut Grove Playhouse,
Asolo Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and Milwaukee,
Indiana, St. Louis,
and Missouri Repertory Theatres. Kish Finnegan (Costume Designer) has been with
Arizona Theatre Company since 1989 and is the Costume Design Manager. Her ATC
designs include Touch the Names, Molly's Delicious, Tuesdays with Morrie and 2
Pianos 4 Hands, among many others. Michael Gilliam (Lighting Designer) returns
to ATC where he designed George Gershwin Alone, The Fantasticks, Play On!, The
Mystery of Irma Vep and Blue. He has designed lighting on Broadway, The West
End, Off-Broadway and regionally at such theatres as Arena Stage, Mark Taper
Forum, and Seattle Repertory Theatre. Among the awards he has garnered Los
Angeles Ovation Awards, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, Dramalogue
Awards, Garland Awards, Robby Awards and the 1999 Career Achievement Award from
the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle. Abe Jacob (Sound Designer) returns to ATC
where he was Sound Designer for The Pajama Game, The Pirates of Penzance, The
Fantasticks, The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm and My Fair Lady, among others.
His original designs for musical theatre include the original Broadway
productions of HAIR, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin, Chicago,
The Rocky Horror Picture Show, A Chorus Line, Evita, Cats and Black and Blue. A
native of Tucson, his initial
contribution to the performing arts was the creation of the concert sound for
such legendary artists as Jimi Hendrix; The Mamas and the Papas; Peter, Paul
and Mary; and the historic rock celebration, The Monterey Pop Festival. Casting
is by Telsey + Company. Production Stage Manager is Glenn Bruner.
Arizona Theatre Company offers accessibility services for
patrons with disabilities for select performances. Audio Description provides
patrons with vision loss a running audio description of the movement and
activities onstage through an infrared broadcast system. Audio-described
performances are offered on December 17 at 2 PM
and December 18 at 2 PM. Interested
patrons may request a tactile tour one hour prior to curtain. American Sign
Language interpretation is presented by professional theatrically-trained
ASL-interpreters for people who have deafness or hearing impairment. An
ASL-interpreted performance is offered on December 18 at 7:30 PM. Open-captioning allows patrons to read the play's
dialogue on an LED screen as the play progresses. An open-captioned performance
is offered on December 18 at 2 PM.
For open-captioned or ASL-interpreted performances, patrons should request
seats best suited to ASL interpretation or captioning when purchasing tickets.
Large Print and Braille playbills and Infrared listening amplification devices
are also available at every ATC performance with reservation. TTY access for
the box office is available in Tucson
at (520) 884-9723 or via Arizona Relay at (800) 367-8939 (TTY/ASCII).
Tickets start at $31 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). Ten Dollar Tuesday for HAIR is December 2. Balcony seats for this preview
performance are available for a suggested $10 donation. (Tickets must be
purchased at the ATC Box Office starting at 11
AM on September 16. Seating is first-come, first served and is not
guaranteed. Cash only, please. Two tickets per person maximum.) For discounts
on groups of eight or more, call (520) 884-8210 x 8204.
ATC GETS THE CELEBRATION STARTED EARLY!
When patrons buy tickets during the week of November 10
through 14, 2008, for select performances of HAIR, they'll get a free HAIR
T-shirt!
Select performances include:
Saturday, November 29 at 8 PM
Sunday, November 30 at 7 PM
Tuesday, December 2 at 7:30
PM
Wednesday, December 3 at 7:30
PM
Thursday, December 4 at 7:30
PM
Friday, December 5 at 7:30
PM
Saturday, December 6 at 2 PM
Patrons may call the ATC Box Office at (520) 622-2823 for
tickets and a T-shirt. The ATC Box Office is open 10
AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday.
The Fine Print
One T-shirt per ticket purchased. Phone orders and
walk-up purchases only. T-shirts must be
picked up in person at the ATC Box Office by Friday, November 14, 2008. This
offer may only be combined with subscriber discount; no other discounts apply.
Offer good while supplies last.
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Photography/B-Roll for Media Use
High resolution production photos will be available on
November 18, and television quality B-Roll footage will be available on
December 5. Please contact Bevan Brunelle Bluemer via email at
bbluemer@arizonatheatre.org for a media link to these photos or to request a
copy of B-Roll.
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