The Theatre Company's 2010-2011 Season: "OH, OH, OH, OH, OH WHAT A SEASON!"
OPENING SHOW: The Wizard of Oz
Auditions: 29-30; Performances: Oct. 1-3, 8-10. 15-17, 2010
FUNDRAISER: Monster Bash Masquerade Ball & Fundraising Gala
Friday, October 29, 2010 (Briarcrest Country Club, 8 p.m.—midnight)
CHRISTMAS SHOW: White Christmas
Auditions: Oct. 24, 25; Performances: Dec. 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, 2010
FUNDRAISER SHOW: Esther: For Such A Time As This
Precast; Performances: January 21, 22, 23, 2011
WINTER SHOW: Follies
Auditions: January 23-24; Performances: February 25-27; March 4-6, 2011
SPRING SHOW: Annie
Auditions: April 3, 4; Performances: May 6-8, 13-15, May 20-22, 2011
SUMMER SHOW 1: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
Auditions: June 5, 6; Performances: July 8-10, 15-17, 2011
KIDS SUMMER WORKSHOP
June 20—24, 2011
SUMMER SHOW 2: Chess
Auditions: July 24, 25; Performances: August 26-28, Sept. 2-4, 2011
ANNUAL PREVIEW PARTY: July 31, 2011
SUMMER SHOW: INTO THE WOODS
Stephen Sondeheim's award-winning musical fairy tale comes to life on TTC's stage for summer 2010! Since the Broadway debut of Into The Woods, when Broadway superstar, Bernadette Peters, brought acclaim to the show with her performance as the Witch, it has become a favorite of theater actors and audiences alike! The original Broadway production garnered three Tony awards in 1988—a year dominated by The Phantom of the Opera —and two more Tonys for the 2002 Broadway revival! Inspired by Bruno Bettelheim's 1976 book, The Uses of Enchantment, the Sondheim classic interweaves the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. Using main characters from Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Cinderella, the musical is tied together by a more original story of a Baker and his wife, and their quest to start a family. The show includes references to numerous other well-known tales. It's a summertime treat that is sure to please!
Auditions: July 5-6, 2010 (7:00 p.m.)
Performances: Aug. 6-8, 13-15, 2010 
Opening Show: The Wizard of Oz
Underwritten by David M. Watson (The Principal Financial Group) and Edward Allison (Remax)
The Wizard of Oz is a musical with a book by John Kane, music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It is based on the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. It was originally presented in 1987 by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the West End, and has become a popular musical to perform by community theatres and children theatres in the United States and the U.K. The Wizard of Oz was first turned into a stage play by author L. Frank Baum himself in 1902. It first played in Chicago and moved to Broadway, and was a very loose adaptation of his novel. In 1939, the first faithful adaptation of his novel came to the screen. It won many Academy Awards, primarily for its score, so it was no surprise that in 1945 a stage adaptation of the film was presented at the St. Louis Municipal Opera. The script was adapted by Frank Gabrielson, and was also a loose adaptation of both the original novel and the motion picture, and even a new song was written for Dorothy in the Emerald City called "Evening Star". In 1986, John Kane was asked by the Royal Shakespeare Company to create a new adaptation, very close to the 1939 film, which presents almost all of the screenplay's dialogue, with a few minor changes and additions. The complete original score was presented, and restored the musical numbers "The Jitterbug", "Over the Rainbow (Reprise)" and "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead (Reprise)", cut from the original film. Even most of the underscoring has been retained, with fresh, similar sounding orchestrations from the late Larry Wilcox.
Auditions: Aug. 29-30, 2010 (7:00 p.m.)
Performances: Oct 1-3, 8-10, 15 - 17, 2010
FUNDRAISER: Monster Bash Masquerade Ball & Fundraising Gala
This year, The Monster Bash, our annual gala fundraiser moves back to Briarcrest Country Club, with all the popular events you love (live DJ and dancing, TTC performances, great food, awesome silent auction, karaoke, comedy and piano bar) and of course a costume contest—so come dressed to win!
Friday, October 29, 2010 (Briacrest Country Club, 8 p.m. - midnight)
Tickets: $40 with a season ticket package
Table: $500/table of 10 with a season ticket package
CHRISTMAS SHOW: White Christmas
Underwritten by The Greene Family; Costumes underwritten by Connie Wortham
The 1954 Technicolor version of White Christmas has nothing on TTC’s Christmas 2010 production of the old Bing Crosby/Danny Kaye classic! White Christmas is a musical based on the Paramount Pictures 1954 film of the same name. The libretto is by David Ives and Paul Blake, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. The 1954 Technicolor musical film version starred Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that features the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular "White Christmas". White Christmas, the stage musical, played a limited engagement on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre, which started in previews on November 14, 2008 running through January 4, 2009, for 53 performances and 12 previews. The production was directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Randy Skinner. The cast featured Stephen Bogardus, Kerry O'Malley, Jeffry Denman, Meredith Patterson, Susan Mansur and Charles Dean, all of whom had performed in regional productions. The musical returned to Broadway at the Marquis Theatre, in a limited engagement running from November 13, 2009 (previews) through January 3, 2010. Bobbie and Skinner again directed and choreographed. The cast featured James Clow as Bob Wallace, Mara Davi as Judy Haynes, Melissa Errico as Betty Haynes, Tony Yazbeck as Phil, David Ogden Stiers as General Henry Waverly and Ruth Williamson as Martha Watson.] This production will also have a U.S. national tour, starting in Omaha, Nebraska on November 1, 2009 and ending in Kansas City, Missouri (January 5, 2010). The popular show received two 2009 Tony Award nominations for Best Choreography (Randy Skinner) and Best Orchestrations (Larry Blank). It also received 2009 Drama Desk Award nominations for Walter Bobbie, Outstanding Director of a Musical, Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Orchestrations, Outstanding Set Design of a Musical (Anna Louizos), Outstanding Costume Design (Carrie Robbins), and Outstanding Sound Design (Acme Sound Partners).
Auditions: Oct. 24-25, 2010 (7:00 p.m.)
Performances: Dec. 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, 2010
FUNDRAISER SHOW: Esther: For Such A Time As This
Underwritten by John and Emily Jordan (Rose Rock Capital) and Wendy Workman
Esther: For Such A Time As This is a musical by TTC's Board President, Mark Taylor, with book contributions by Steele Brand II and Randy Wilson. This will be the first time for this original musical to be performed anywhere! Based on historical fact and tradition, Esther is the Biblical story of a young Jewish orphan girl in the ancient Persian citadel of Susa, who is selected to be the Queen of Persia and becomes entangled in a plot to exterminate the Jewish race within the Persian Empire. Her older cousin, Mordecai, has raised her and mentors her. Act 1 opens with a monologue by Mordecai in the city gates. The Jews, carried off into slavery by the Babylonians, are now under the reign of the Medo-Persian empire and the powerful, despotic king, Xerxes. During a military feast and banquet ("Xerxes, King of Persia"), Xerxes becomes inebriated and is taunted into ordering his current queen, Vashti, to perform inappropriately for he and his military leaders. She refuses, and Xerxes banishes her. After the Persian military campaign in Greece, Xerxes becomes depressed, and his eunuch, Hegai, proposes that a search be made for a beautiful, young potential new queen. A harem of beautiful potentials is rounded up, including a very reluctant Esther, who is instructed by Mordecai to keep her Jewish identity a secret. During her first night in the palace, she is frightened and alone, reminded of her childhood as an orphan ("I Know What It's Like To Be Alone"), but she resolves to be strong and find her purpose in life in the context of her present situation. The girls in the harem cat-fight and argue their way through a 12-month transition in which aspires to be queen of Persia, and prepares for their night with King Xerxes ("What It Takes To Be Queen"). When Esther has her night with the king, he senses that there is something different about her ("There's Just Something Different") and he chooses her to be his queen. Months later, Mordecai uncovers a plot to assassinate the king, and Esther warns the king, saving his life and crediting Mordecai, though she doesn't reveal her personal connection to Mordecai. The attempted assassination prompts Xerxes to appoint a new royal vizier, a ruthless man named, Haman, who is an enemy of the Jews. Mordecai anticipates trouble, and warns his friends that the time may be coming when the Jewish people have to stand up for themselves ("This Is The Time"). Act 1 ends with a confrontation between Haman and Mordecai, in which Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman, and Haman vows to get even by exterminating the Jews in Susa ("Choose The Day"). As Act 2 opens, Haman tricks Xerxes and his advisors into allowing him to kill all the Jews in Susa by allowing Haman to issue an edict in the king's name. Under Persian law, even kings cannot break their edicts once they are made. Xerxes is unaware that he has allowed the plot to go forward. Mordecai asks Esther to intervene, telling her that this may be the purpose for which she was placed in her position of power ("For Such A Time As This"). Meanwhile, Haman angrily complains about Mordecai's insolence, and his wife, Zeresh, encourages him to have Mordecai killed ("Die, Die, Mordecai, Die"). Esther invites Xerxes and Mordecai to a private banquet, where things begin to unravel quickly. Haman's plot is uncovered, and Xerxes sets things right ("Choose The Day, Reprise") and the chorus celebrates the sovereignty of God and His deliverance of the Jewish people ("He Is Lord").
Precast;
Performances: Jan. 21-23, 2011
WINTER SHOW: Follies
Underwritten by Shirley Borden and Robert C. Borden and Alan Bryant
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. Several of its songs have become standards, including "Broadway Baby," "I'm Still Here," "Too Many Mornings," "Could I Leave You?" and "Losing My Mind." The play was nominated for eleven Tonys and won seven. The Broadway production opened on April 4, 1971, directed by Harold Prince and Michael Bennett, and with choreography by Bennett. The production, which ultimately lost money, ran for 522 performances. Nevertheless, the piece has enjoyed a number of major revivals. In December 2007, Sondheim told The New York Times that a film adaptation of Follies was in development, with the director Sam Mendes and the writer Aaron Sorkin. Originally entitled The Girls Upstairs, Follies is set in a crumbling Broadway theatre scheduled for demolition, during a reunion for all the past members of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue (based on the Ziegfeld Follies) which played in that theatre between the World Wars. The musical focuses on two couples, Buddy and Sally Durant Plummer and Ben and Phyllis Rogers Stone, who are attending the reunion. Sally and Phyllis were both showgirls in the Follies as were many of the other guests. Both marriages are having problems. Buddy, a traveling salesman, is having an affair with a girl on the road; Sally is still as much in love with Ben as she was years ago; and Ben is so self-absorbed that Phyllis feels emotionally abandoned. Ben, in the meantime, has insecurities of his own. The two couples interact with each other and other partygoers. Throughout the first half, musical numbers from the old Follies are performed by the characters, sometimes accompanied by the ghosts of their former selves. Most of the songs are pastiches of songs by popular songwriters of the past. Losing My Mind is in the style of a George Gershwin ballad, The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues is in the style of Cole Porter and Loveland is akin to a 1920s Ziegfeld Follies serenade. The last section of the show features a string of subversive vaudeville-style numbers reflecting the leading characters' emotional troubles before returning to the theatre for the end of the reunion party.
Auditions: Jan. 23-24, 2011 (7:00 p.m.)
Performances: Feb. 25-27, March 4-6, 2011
SPRING SHOW: Annie
Underwritten by Anita and Mickey Gross, a&m Alpaca Ranch and David and Martha Lynch (In memory of Maridell Carpenter Bartscht); costumes underwritten by Brad Dressler, bcd design and marketing
There’s a reason the musical Annie ran for six years and earned seven Tony awards—folks just love it! Annie is based on Harold Gray’s popular comic strip Little Orphan Annie, and continues to steal the hearts of audiences world wide, with familiar tunes like “I Don’t Need Anything But You”, It’s A Hard-Knock Life” and “Tomorrow.” Get your season tickets now to make sure you have a seat when Annie, Sandy, Miss Hannigan, Daddy Warbucks and a host of lovable little orphans take to TTC’s stage this spring!
Auditions: Apr. 3-4, 2011 (7:00 p.m.)
Performances: May 6-8, 13-15, 20-23, 2011
SUMMER SHOW I: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
Underwritten by Roger and Donna Bligh; costumes underwritten by Donna Davenport and Jim Butler
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (251–183 BC), specifically Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus and Mostellaria, it tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. The plot displays many classic elements of farce, including puns, the slamming of doors, cases of mistaken identity (frequently involving characters disguising themselves as one another), and satirical comments on social class. The title derives from the line that vaudeville comedians often used to begin a story: "A funny thing happened on the way to the theater". The musical's original 1962 Broadway run won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Book. A Funny Thing has enjoyed several Broadway and West End revivals and was made into a successful film starring the original lead of the play, Zero Mostel. It is a popular choice for school and community theatre.
Auditions: June 5-6, 2011 (7:00 p.m.)
Performances: July 8-10, 15-17, 2011
KIDS SUMMER WORKSHOP
TTC’s 2010 Summer Kids Workshop is designed to give kids completing 3rd through 8th grade real world experience in the audition process. In this course, students will prepare a 2-minute dramatic monologue, a vocal music selection, and basic dance steps for a professional audition. Students will have a chance to experience a mock audition on the final day of class, complete with vocal auditions with live accompaniment (piano), choreography auditions, and monologue readings. Students will have a brief time each morning with the entire group, and then will break into individual classes, coming back together for lunch and Book Time, where they'll learn the stories of a few famous Broadway musicals.
June 20—24, 2011, 9 a.m. til 1 p.m. each day; lunch and course materials included
Cost: $175/child (student need to have completed 3rd grade in 2011)
Registration Form (PDF Download)
SUMMER SHOW II: Chess
Underwritten by Shirley Borden and Robert C. Borden
Chess is a musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, formerly of ABBA. The story involves a romantic triangle between two top players, an American and a Russian, in a world chess championship, and a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other; all in the context of a Cold War struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, during which both countries wanted to win international chess tournaments for propaganda purposes. Although the protagonists were not intended to represent any specific individuals, the character of the American was loosely based on chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer, while elements of the story may have been inspired by the chess careers of Russian grandmasters Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov. Following the pattern of Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, a highly successful concept album of Chess was released in 1984. The first theatrical production of Chess opened in London's West End in 1986 and played for three years. A much-altered US version premièred on Broadway in 1988, but survived only for two months. Chess is frequently revised for new productions, many of which try to merge elements from both the London and Broadway versions; however, no major revival production of the musical has yet been attempted either on West End or Broadway. Chess came seventh in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the United Kingdom's "Number One Essential Musicals."
Auditions: July 24-25, 2011 (7:00 p.m.)
Performances: Aug. 26-28, Sept. 2-4, 2011
ANNUAL PREVIEW PARTY
It’s our annual Preview Party—and you’re invited! Join us on Sunday, July 31, 2011 when we’ll roll out our 2011-2012 season! Don’t pressure Randy Wilson or any of our board members—they’re sworn to secrecy until the Preview Party because it’s just more fun when it’s a surprise! There’s no admission charge for the Preview Party, so make plans to join us when we unveil the new season's hit shows!