The 5th Avenue Theatre Hosts Pre-Broadway World Premiere of PRINCESSES
August 9 - 28, 2005
Performances: August 9 — 28, 2005
Opening/Press Night: August 17, 2005 7:30 p.m.
Spotlight Night: June 7, 2005 7:00 p.m.
SEATTLE — Tickets go on sale Friday April 22, 2005 for the new musical comedy PRINCESSES. The 5th Avenue Theatre proudly hosts the PRINCESSES world premiere August 9-28, 2005. The show will open on Broadway in the Fall of 2005 with the same Seattle cast.
Brent Barrett is scheduled to star as the sexy movie star father Kevin Finch. Barrett is currently giving audiences the "Old Razzle Dazzle" as Billy Flynn in CHICAGO on Broadway. His charming stage presence, magnetism, and booming voice have landed him countless leading roles in musicals opposite such stars as Melanie Griffith, Reba McEntire, Cathy Rigby, Sandy Duncan, Debbie Allen, Cyd Charisse and Rachel York. Jenny Fellner will play his rebellious teenage daughter Miranda, and Donna English plays the eccentric and unappreciated music teacher Ms. Nibbey. Other private school students include: Sierra Boggess, Mary Faber, Sarah Jayne Jensen, Anne Letscher, Moeisha McGill, Lindsay Mendez, Dequina Moore, Patti Murin, Anisha Nagarajan, Marissa Perry, Jacqui Polk, Sarah Spradlin-Bonomo, Kelly Stensland.
Produced by The 5th Avenue Theatre by special arrangement with Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley, this new musical enjoyed a successful workshop run at The Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut. Just as with HAIRPSRAY and next season's THE WEDDING SINGER, Seattle's own 5th Avenue Theatre was selected as the perfect venue to host the PRINCESSES out-of-town tryout. The entire cast and creative team for PRINCESSES will arrive in Seattle mid-July, 2005 to begin rehearsals. Together with dozens of set, costume, hair, make-up, lighting and sound designers, The 5th Avenue Theatre will be a "beehive of activity" all summer in anticipation of Seattle's big opening.
For an early taste of what's to come, members of the PRINCESSES creative team will visit Seattle on June 7, 2005 to participate in The 5th Avenue Theatre's FREE, SPOTLIGHT NIGHT. At this one-night-only event, authors David Zippel, Matthew Wilder and Bill and Cheri Steinkellner will offer their insights into the "making of this new musical."
In this sensational new musical comedy, a group of jaded private school girls reluctantly stage a production of the beloved Victorian novel A Little Princess. The show is a disaster until America's hottest action hero arrives on the scene to direct it. The boy-crazy teens are wild for him, except for one ã his daughter. She's the star of the play, but in real life, feels more like a supporting character. Will she finally have her father back, or will he rush off to Hollywood when he gets a better offer? The fresh, hip score blends contemporary pop and traditional theater tunes in this innovative musical-within-a-musical, developed by a multi-award-winning creative team — acclaimed for such popular hits as Disney's Mulan and Hercules, Broadway's City of Angels and TV's Cheers.
The creative team for PRINCESSES is a blue-chip roster of talents. The book is by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner, writers and creators for such notable TV series as Cheers, The Jeffersons, The Facts of Life and Benson. The concept, direction and lyrics are by David Zippel, whose lyrics have won him the Tony Award for City of Angels, two Academy Award nominations for Hercules and Mulan, as well as several Grammy nominations, and more. Zippel is also noted for having written the Tony nominated musical The Goodbye Girl with Marvin Hamlisch and Neil Simon. Rob Ashford (2002 Tony Award for Choreography Thoroughly Modern Millie) William Ivey Long (2003 Tony Award for Costumes Hairspray) Douglas W. Schmidt (Set Design 42nd Street, Into the Woods) Ken Billington (1997 Tony Award for Lighting Chicago) Jonathan Deans (Sound Ragtime, Follies, Fosse) bring their experience. And rounding out the team is Matthew Wilder, a songwriter and performer who has written and produced for such artists as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson and P. Diddy. As a composer, producer and singer for Disney's animated feature Mulan, Matthew Wilder was nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Score in a comedy or musical and Best Song.
Brent Barrett Broadway: Currently starring in Chicago (Billy Flynn) Annie Get Your Gun (Frank Butler), Chicago (Billy Flynn; L.A. Drama Critics Award), Candide (Maximilian), West Side Story (Tony), Dance a Little Closer (Charles). London: Kiss Me, Kate (Fred/Petruchio; Olivier Award nomination); Grand Hotel (Baron). Off-Broadway: Camelot (Arthur; Paper Mill Play House), Brigadoon (Tommy; NYC Opera), March of the Falsettos (Wizzer), Closer Than Ever. Soloist: Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Pops, BBC Concert Orchestra, Vienna Radio Symphony, London Sinfonetta, Birmingham Symphony. Recordings: The Alan Jay Lerner Album, The Kander and Ebb Album, Grand Hotel, Brigadoon, Closer Than Ever, Strike Up the Band, Dance a Little Closer, The Busby Berkeley Album. Television/Film: "Hercules," "All My Children" (Tony Barclay), Longtime Companion. www.brentbarrett.com
Donna English is thrilled to be playing the role of "Ms. Nibbey" in PRINCESSES, a role she originated in the developmental production at Goodspeed Musicals. Donna previously appeared on Broadway in Broadway as Grace, directed by George Abbott. Off-Broadway credits include Taking a Chance on Love at the York Theatre, Julie Andrews in Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back, Lucy in The Gig for The Manhattan Theatre Club, and Judy in Ruthless! (for which Donna received a Drama Desk Nomination as Best Actress in a Musical). She has also appeared in numerous regional productions including productions at the Paper Mill Playhouse and Goodspeed Musicals. Donna is a graduate of Northwestern University.
Jenny Fellner made her Broadway debut last year as bride-to-be Sophie Sheridan in Mamma Mia. Jenny is a native of the Black Hills of South Dakota and a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado. Recently, she played Dulcie in The Boyfriend, directed by Julie Andrews at Sag Harbor's Bay Street Theatre, and Miranda in the developmental production of PRINCESSES at Goodspeed Musicals. Favorite roles include Ariel (Footloose), Denise (Smoke on the Mountain) and Lucy (Jekyll & Hyde). The 5th Avenue Theatre (Producer). For more than 75 years this beautiful historic theatre has served as Seattle's premiere showplace. The 2005-2006 Season marks the 25th anniversary of The 5th Avenue Theatre Association. In 1989 the non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre Association established its own resident musical theater company and began producing as well as continuing to present top-quality live musical theater for the cultural enrichment of the Northwest community. The 5th Avenue Theatre maintains a subscription audience of 24,000 and an annual attendance of more than 300,000. Under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director David Armstrong and Managing Director Marilynn Sheldon the theatre continues to preserve and revitalize the great musicals of the past, while fostering the development and production of new musical theater works. Significant productions include the world premiere of the Tony Award wining musical Hairspray, as well as acclaimed revivals of Dreamgirls starring Frenchie Davis, A Little Night Music starring Haley Mills and Claire Bloom, Man of La Mancha starring John Cullum, Anything Goes starring Bronson Pinchot and Dee Hoty, Gypsy starring Judy Kaye, and the original productions of Yankee Doodle Dandy, Jekyll &Hyde, Hot Shoe Shuffle and Annie Warbucks. In August 2005, by special arrangement with Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley, The 5th will produce the new musical comedy PRINCESSES. In January 2006, The 5th Avenue Theatre, together with the producers of Hairspray led by Margo Lion and New Line Cinema, will produce the new musical The Wedding Singer.
Stewart F. Lane / Bonnie Comley (Producers). This husband-wife team is currently producing Fiddler on the Roof, starring Harvey Fierstein. Later this season the play In the Wings, written by Mr. Lane will be produced Off-Broadway. Other shows they have produced together are Gypsy, with Bernadette Peters (Tony Nomination) and in London Thoroughly Modern Mille (Olivier Nomination), Ragtime (Olivier Nomination), and Lobby Hero. Mr. Lane is a three-time Tony Award winning producer for Thoroughly Modern Mille, The Will Roger Follies, La Cage Aux Folles and is an eight-time Tony Nominee. As a writer Mr. Lane also wrote, If It Was Easy (Best New Play Nomination, American Theatre Critics Association). Expanding into film Mr. Lane and Ms. Comley have presented their documentary Show Business at the Tribeca Film Festival, and produced Brooklyn Rules, directed by Michael Corrente, starring Alec Baldwin, Freddy Prinze Jr., and Mena Suvari, which is scheduled for a fall '05 release. They are also producing the The Berkley Connection screenplay by Marshall Brickman. Mr. Lane is the co-owner & operator of The Palace Theater in New York, currently playing All Shook Up and partners with Robert DeNiro in the Tribeca Grill Restaurant. Visit their websites: mrbroadway.com and comley.com.
Tickets to PRINCESSES go on sale Friday April 22, 2005 and range in price from $18-$70. Subscribers can purchase tickets at a discount. Tickets are available over the phone through Ticketmaster at (206) 292-ARTS (2787), online at ticketmaster.com or in person at any Ticketmaster Ticket Center as well as The 5th Avenue Theatre Box Office, 1308 5th Avenue in downtown Seattle. There is no service charge when purchasing tickets in person at The 5th Avenue Theatre Box Office. PRINCESSES is the final show in the 2004-2005 season. The 2005-2006 season will begin in September with the National Tour of THE KING and I.
Please contact Jennifer Rice, Public Relations Manager, at 206-625-1418 with questions or to schedule individual interviews. Photos available upon request.
PRINCESSES SHOW SPONSOR: The Boeing Company
2004-2005 SEASON SPONSOR: Audi Dealers of the Puget Sound area