Northwest Musical, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, Plays Oregon Territory's 5th Avenue Theatre
Male-Dominated Cast Receives Direction from
Female-Dominated Creative Team
Performances: December 3 - 28, 2008
SEATTLE - Washington became its own territory in 1859; but in 1850 when the big, brawling rollicking musical SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS is set, the vast Pacific Northwest was simply referred to as The Oregon Territory. In keeping with the exhilarating timber-loving pioneer spirit that makes the Northwest great, The 5th Avenue Theatre is thrilled to celebrate this holiday season with a high-kickin', foot-stompin' "home-territory" holiday presentation of SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS December 3 - 28, 2008.
Based on the Academy Award-Winning 1954 MGM film by Stanley Donen, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS is considered a timeless classic with songs by Johnny Mercer and Gene DePaul. Now it returns to The 5th Avenue stage for the first time in more than 25 years. This rip-roarin' musical comedy classic begins when Adam, the eldest of seven brothers, goes to town to get a wife. He miraculously convinces Milly to marry him that same day and she immediately starts reforming her six rowdy brothers-in-law. Clever, spunky Milly whips those rough 'n tumble boys into shape. And in a curious case of life imitating art, The 5th Avenue Theatre's all-female creative team also whips the male-dominated Seattle cast into shape for a much-anticipated holiday run.
Allison Narver (director), Patti Colombo (choreographer) and Valerie Gebert (music director) are the three female creative team leaders who bravely banded together to take on this testosterone-filled musical. Together they have brilliantly commanded weeks and weeks of exhausting rehearsals so the 29 person cast (19 males 10 females) can get their kicks high, their stompin' loud, and the famous daredevil dancin' barn-raisin' dance jaw-droppingly spectacular. Infectious songs like "Bless Your Beautiful Hide," "Goin' Courtin'" and "Wonderful Wonderful Day" assure that Northwest families will be humming those beloved tunes around the Christmas tree this year in addition to "Jingle Bells" and "Frosty the Snowman."
In The 5th Avenue's production of SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS Edward Watts plays the oldest brother Adam Pontipee and Laura Griffith plays his bride Milly. Luke Longacre, Demian Boergadine, Karl Warden, Kyle Patrick Vaughn, Wes Hart and Mo Brady play the brothers Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frank and Gideon respectively. The brides are Meaghan Foy, Brittany Jamieson, Shanna Marie Palmer, Sara Christine Parish, Amanda Paulson and Maya RS Perkins. Additional cast members include: David Alewine, Jeffrey Alewine, Neil Badders, Logan Benedict, Eric Chappelle, Ross Cornell, Daniel Cruz, Christian Duhamel, Michael Ericson, Ann Evans, Hannah Lagerway, Justin Ramsey, James Scheider, Robertson Witmer and Vickielee Wohlbach
SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS has music by Gene de Paul, lyrics by Johnny Mercer (who penned the movie songs), and a book by Lawrence Kasha and David S. Landay. The Seattle production's female-dominated creative team includes: Allison Narver (director), Patti Colombo (choreographer), Valerie Gebert (music director) and Anna Louizos (set designer), Tom Sturge (lighting) and Geof Alm (fight director).
Cast member Laura Griffith will join in the holiday fun and perform at the 20th annual Westlake Center tree lighting celebration, Friday, November 28, beginning at 4:30pm.
EDWARD WATTS (Adam) Tours: Enjolras - Les Miserables, Adam - Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (IRNE award nomination - Best Actor.) NY Theatre: Joe - The Most Happy Fella (New York City Opera), Alex Maitland - The Day Before Spring (York Theatre), Peter Forbes - 50 Million Frenchmen (French Institute), Tomas - The Girl in the Frame (Manhattan Theatre Club). Regional: Goodspeed Opera, Papermill, Northshore, Music Theatre of Wichita, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Theatre of the Stars, Baltimore Centerstage, TUTS, Kansas City Starlight, Stages St. Louis. Leading roles: Thomas Jefferson - 1776, Miles Gloriosus - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Capt. Von Trapp - Sound of Music, Frank Butler - Annie Get Your Gun, Beast & Gaston - Beauty and the Beast, Trevor Graydon - Thoroughly Modern Millie, Harold Hill - The Music Man, Lancelot - Camelot. TV: recurring roles on The Sopranos and All My Children.
LAURA GRIFFITH (Milly Bradon) was previously been seen in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Janet), A Little Night Music (Anne) and The Secret Garden (Rose). She has appeared on Broadway in South Pacific (Lincoln Center Revival), The Light in the Piazza (Lincoln Center Original Cast), Sweet Smell of Success and Oklahoma! (2002 Revival). She played the role of Franca Naccarelli in the national tour of The Light in the Piazza and received a Helen Hayes nomination for her performance at the Kennedy Center. In the Washington DC area, Laura had the honor to perform Songs for a New World with composer Jason Robert Brown for the Signature Theatre at the Strathmore Hall. In Europe, she was seen as Maria in West Side Story at prominent opera houses including Deutsche opera in Berlin and the Alte Opera in Frankfurt . Her regional credits include Les Miserables (Cosette) at the California Musical Theatre/Sacramento Music Circus, Oklahoma! (Laurey) at the Music Theatre of Wichita, West Side Story (Maria) at the Bass Hall/Casa Manana in Texas and The Road to Hollywood (Dorothy) at the Goodspeed Opera House. She can be heard on the cast recordings of South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza, and Sweet Smell of Success as well as Jason Robert Brown's album "Wearing Someone Else's Clothes." She has sung in concerts and readings for Adam Guettel, Jason Robert Brown, Tony Kushner, and James Lapine.
ALLISON NARVER (Director) has directed the world premieres of BUST (Lauren Weedman); 1984 (Wayne Rawley); Vera Wilde (Chris Jeffries); G-d Doesn't Pay Rent Here (25 Questions for a Jewish Mother) by Judy Gold and Kate Moira Ryan; Texarkana Waltz by Louis Broome; and Valley of the Dolls, all at Seattle's Empty Space Theatre where she was Artistic Director for five seasons. Recent credits include: Eurydice and The Clean House at ACT Theatre (Seattle), Bluenose and One Hundred Dresses at Seattle Children's Theater Memory House and Bad Dates at The Seattle Repertory Theatre; BUST at Boise Contemporary Theater; Little Women at Book It Repertory Theatre (Seattle) and Leaving Queens at Portland Stage Company (Portland ME). Other credits include the world premieres of The Fatty Arbuckle Spook House Revue, Radio Pirates, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and I See London, I See France (Chris Jeffries) and Glen Berger's Bessemer's Spectacles. In New York, she was Resident Director for Julie Taymor's Broadway production of The Lion King and directed the off-Broadway productions of Texarkana Waltz (Kirk Theater) and Leaving Queens (Women's Project). Allison earned her MFA in directing from Yale University where she also served as the Artistic Director of The Yale Cabaret.
PATTI COLOMBO (Choreographer) received Emmy, American Choreography and Ovations Award nominations for Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby that aired on A&E, she also choreographed the Tony-nominated (Best Revival) Broadway production. Her choreography of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers received a Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Best Choreography at the Goodspeed Opera House and The Elliot Norton Award (Boston) for the National Tour in 2007. She received an Ovation Award for Radio Gals and Ovation nomination for the revival of Can-Can - both at Pasadena Playhouse. Drama-Logue Awards for Drood (West Coast premiere), On the Town, Most Happy Fella and West Side Story. Patti just completed Kiss Me Kate at Paper Mill Playhouse, White Christmas at Denver Center, and Mask at Pasadena Playhouse.
VALERIE GEBERT (Music Director) has been the Musical Director/Conductor for a number of touring Broadway productions, as they traveled throughout North America, Europe, and Japan, most recently helming both tours of Disney's The Lion King throughout the USA. Her career has taken her from Berlin to Bangkok and back to Broadway with productions of West Side Story, Hello, Dolly!, A Chorus Line, I Do! I Do!, The Sound of Music, The Fantastiks, Cabaret, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Valerie was the first full-time music director for the prestigious Musical Theater program at the U of M in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She makes her home in New York City where she often plays keyboard at Disney's The Little Mermaid.
ANNA LOUIZOS (Set Designer). Broadway: In the Heights (2008 Tony nomination); Curtains (Drama Desk, Nomination); High Fidelity (2007 Tony nomination); Avenue Q, (incl. National Tour, Las Vegas and London productions); To Be Or Not To Be, (Biltmore); Steel Magnolias (Lyceum); Golda's Balcony (H. Hayes). US tours: White Christmas (multiple cities), Disney Live Winnie the Pooh; Off- Broadway: Crimes of the Heart (dir. by Kathleen Turner) Speech and Debate (Roundabout); Based on a Totally True Story, (MTC); Birdie Blue (Second Stage); The Altar Boyz; The Foreigner (Roundabout); Jonathan Larson's tick, tick... BOOM! (Jane St) Regional: Vanities, the Musical, Pasadena Playhouse; Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (Goodspeed); Seven Brides, The Baker's Wife (Paper Mill); Much Ado About Nothing, Beyond Therapy (Old Globe). Me and My Girl (Goodspeed) and many regional theaters. Art Direction film/TV: "Sex and the City" (HBO)Feature Film: The Secret Lives of Dentists.
Tickets to SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS are priced from $22 - $81. Higher-priced prime seating may be available for select performances. Tickets are available over the phone by calling 206-625-1900 / toll-free 888-5TH-4TIX (584-4849), online at www.5thavenue.org or in person at the box office at 1308 5th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101. There is no service charge when purchasing tickets in person at The 5th Avenue Theatre Box Office.
The 5th Avenue Theatre is Seattle's premier musical theater. In 1980, the non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre began producing and presenting top-quality live musical theater for the cultural enrichment of the Northwest community. The 5th Avenue Theatre maintains a subscription audience of nearly 24,000 and an annual attendance of more than 287,000. It ranks among the nation’s largest and most respected musical theater companies. The Theatre is committed to encouraging the next generation of theatergoers through its Educational Outreach Program which includes: The Adventure Musical Theatre Touring Company, The 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards, the Student Matinee Program and Spotlight Nights. Unique in its Chinese-inspired design, the exquisite theater opened in 1926 as a venue for vaudeville and film. Today, under the leadership of Managing Director Marilynn Sheldon and Producing Artistic Director David Armstrong, The 5th Avenue Theatre continues to achieve the highest standards in all aspects of artistic endeavors and facility operations, while preserving its artistic, architectural and historic legacy. Visit www.5thavenue.org.
SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS
December 3 - 28 , 2008
(Previews: Previews Dec. 3 & 4)
No performances on Dec. 24 & 25.
- Tuesday Evening 7:30 pm
- Wednesday Evening 7:30 pm
- Thursday Evening 8:00 pm
- Friday Evening 8:00 pm
- Saturday Matinee 2:00 pm
- Saturday Evening 8:00 pm
- Sunday Matinee 1:30 pm
- Sunday Evening 7:00 pm
*Extra Performance: Monday Dec. 22 7:30 pm, benefitting the Seattle Times Fund for the Needy
ASL Performance: Friday, December 26 at 8:00pm
Audio Described Performance: Saturday, December 13 at 2:00pm
Please contact Erin Vargo, Interim Public Relations Manager, at (206) 625-1418 with questions or to schedule individual interviews.
2007-2008 SEASON SPONSOR: The Boeing Company, US Bank
SHOW SPONSOR: Puget Sound Energy