Parade
September 15, 2003
at the Alex Theatre

Book by Alfred Uhry
Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown

Winner of 1999 Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score, PARADE tells the life-affirming story of a man wrongly accused of murder in 1913 Atlanta and the campaign his extraordinary wife launches to save him. With a brilliant book by the author of "Driving Miss Daisy" and memorable tunes by one of Broadway’s most promising young composers, USA TODAY declared the limited-run Lincoln Center production "The #1 theatrical high of the year -PARADE fulfills every promise implied by "West Side Story", "Company" and other ambitious musicals!" "A milestone" echoed NEW YORK MAGAZINE’s John Simon. CALIFORNIA PREMIERE!

Dear World
November 3, 2003
at the Alex Theatre

Book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee
Music & Lyrics by Jerry Herman

Based on THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT by Jean Giraudoux

While overshadowed by "Hello Dolly!" and "Mame", DEAR WORLD arguably provides us with Jerry Herman’s most lyrical score. And, with its infectious title song, the vital "I Don’t Want to Know" (now a cabaret standard) and a triple counter-point mad tea party scene that would even make Puccini jealous, it is certainly his most thrilling. DEAR WORLD is based on the classic, yet still timely, "The Madwoman of Chaillot" which tells the tale of a wise old woman who saves the earth from greedy oil barons, all the while sheltering a pair of young lovers. It won the 1969 Tony Award for its original star, Angela Lansbury.

Little Mary Sunshine
February 9, 2004
at the Alex Theatre

Book, Music and Lyrics by Rick Besoyan

Set at the Colorado Inn, high in the Rocky Mountains, LITLE MARY SUNSHINE harkens us back to a time when "good meant good, bad meant bad, virtue was all and justice always triumphed". A hysterical and tuneful spoof of such classic operettas as "Rose Marie" and other Nelson Eddie/Jeanette MacDonald vehicles, its original 1959 Off-Broadway production ran over 1,100 performances. Walter Kerr exclaimed, "I felt pain: pain that I almost never see anything so easy and foolish and delightful on Broadway any more." Catch it now before the show’s scheduled Broadway revival ties up performance rights!

Lady in the Dark
March 29, 2004
at the Alex Theatre

Book by Moss Hart
Music by Kurt Weill

The first musical ever written about psychoanalysis (has there been a second?), 1941’s LADY IN THE DARK racked up 550 performances with star Gertrude Lawrence. Centered on a successful fashion magazine editor who can’t make up her mind – about men or magazine covers – the show’s music comes in three major dream sequences (The Glamour, Wedding and Circus Dreams). Featuring such showstoppers as "The Saga of Jenny", "My Ship", "(you’ve only) One Life to Live" and the ultimate list-song, "Tchaikovsky" (which launched the career of Danny Kaye), LADY IN THE DARK is a seminal work that is truly fun to experience.

I Can Get It For You Wholesale
May 17 & May 23, 2004
at the Alex Theatre, Glendale & Scherr Forum Theatre, Thousand Oaks

Book by Jerome Weidman
Music & Lyrics by Harold Rome

Based on Weidman's best-selling novel

Now remembered as the show that introduced a then unknown Barbra Streisand to Broadway audiences, I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE is actually much more – a musical with one of the most tuneful yet underrated scores of the 1960’s. Driven by the melodies of Harold Rome ("Fanny" and "Destry Rides Again"), the story is set in the New York Garment District during the Depression and covers the rise-and-fall of a young man (originally Elliot Gould) who is charming, unscrupulous and, yet, adoring of his Mother. I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE captures the idealism and opportunism of the 1930’s with richness, wit and a most hummable score.