MEDIA CONTACT: Polly Burks
561-297-2595, pburks@fau.edu
Lineup Includes Popular Broadway Show, Classic Drama and Musical Revue
BOCA RATON (May 25, 2006) – Florida Atlantic University’s School of the Arts has announced the summer productions in its 2006 Festival Repertory Theatre. This year’s line up includes the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Oklahoma!,” Tennessee Williams’ drama “Streetcar Named Desire,” and a musical revue entitled “An American Songbook: Cole Porter Musical Revue.” The series, which opens Friday, June 23 and closes Saturday, August 5, takes place in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters on FAU’s Boca Raton campus, 777 Glades Road, with two bonus shows of the musical revue in the Maltz Theatre on FAU’s Jupiter campus at 5353 Parkside Drive. A full schedule can be found at www.fauevents.com. Ticket prices are $20 for one show and $50 for all three shows. (Early bird pricing of $16 per show and $45 for all three shows is in effect through May 31). Children 12 and under may receive entry for $10, and FAU faculty, staff, students and alumni may purchase tickets for $16 with ID. Group rates are available for 10 or more people.
There will also be a VIP reception on Saturday, July 1 at 6 p.m. The cost for the reception and that evening’s performance of “Oklahoma!” is $45. Further information on the reception is available at 561-297-3606.
TooJay’s Restaurant is offering a special package deal of $39.95 for dinner and a show for any of the performances. The package includes a dinner entrée, beverage, dessert, tax and gratuity.
“’Oklahoma!’ is a perennial favorite for young and old and ’Streetcar’ is a well known classic,” said Richard Gamble, artistic director for this year’s Repertory, and chair of FAU’s department of theatre. “We also had great success with our musical revue last year and so we are adding two more presentations of the revue at our Jupiter campus this year.”
“Oklahoma!,” which will take place in FAU’s University Theatre and is directed by Tim Dial, was the first collaboration between Rodgers and Hammerstein – the legendary team who went on to create “The King and I,” “South Pacific,” and “The Sound of Music.” The show includes such memorable songs as “Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’” and “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top.” It is a musical that the whole family can enjoy.
”A Streetcar Named Desire,” which will take place in FAU’s Studio One Theatre and is directed by Jean-Louis Baldet, won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for drama. It is the story of the determined yet fragile Southern lady, Blanche Dubois, and her fall from grace when she is forced to move into the squalid apartment that belongs to her sister Stella and her animalistic brother-in-law Stanley.
The Cole Porter musical revue, to be shown in the University Theatre on the FAU campus and the Maltz Theatre on the Jupiter campus, will include such well known favorites as “Night and Day” and “I get a Kick out of You.”
FAU’s Festival Repertory Theatre features the talent of FAU graduate and undergraduate actors, complemented by the acting of professional or Equity actors. This year’s Equity actors are Roxanne Wellington, Scott Matthew Harris and Kathryn Johnston. All three actors appear in each of the plays. Wellington has appeared in several off-Broadway shows in New York and many regional theatres, including the Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival and others. Harris has also appeared in several off-Broadway productions and appeared in national tours of “Victor/Victoria” and “Sheila the Great.” Kathryn Johnston has appeared in several films including “City of Ghosts” and “Private Victories” and on television in “Spin City” and “Welcome to New York.” She has also appeared at the Caldwell Theatre, the New Theatre and other local venues.
Festival Rep 2006 is presented by Ed Morse Delray Toyota, TooJay’s Restaurant, Marta and Jim Batmasian, and Madelyn Savarick, with additional support from The Palm Beach Post, WXEL, the Palm Beach County Cultural Council and Palm Beach County.
Tickets may be obtained by calling FAU’s School of the Arts box office at 800-564-9539 or by going online to www.fauevents.com. For more information about the shows, call FAU’s department of theatre at 561-297-3810.
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