"Roxie Rocks the Tibbits"

Chicago, the musical opens this week.  It is the most requested production in the history of Summer Theatre.  It has a long history on stage and screen.  Former Chicago Tribune reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins (left) took a play-writing course and decided to base her play on two real life murderesses in Chicago who she had reported on.  Both women had gotten off with a false pregnancy defense.  Her play, Chicago, opened on December 30, 1926 with the famed director George Abbott at the helm.  The play ran 172 performances, a very respectable run in the 1920's.  





Roxie Hart, as Watkins named the anti-heroine, was played by Francine Larrimore  (right).  These pictures are from a few years earlier, a play called Nobody's Business.  She appeared in more than 20 Broadway productions, including plays by Noel Coward and S.N. Berhrman.



The play was immediately purchased by Cecil B. de Mille's production company.
The movie, a silent, came out in
1927.  Directing credit is given to Frank Urson, but many believe de Mille himself directed the picture.  Here Roxie is played by Phyllis Haver (left and right).  While a slightly more moral tale than the play, it is not as sanitized as the next time Hollywood used the play....




It took almost twenty years for Hollywood to get back to Chicago.  This time they called it Roxie Hart and she was played by Ginger Rogers.  Here are two posters for the film:

The story is basically the same but the production code was in full effect and it is at times barely recognizable as the same story-- it's worked around to prove Roxie is truly innocent of the murder....









John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse bought the play for a musical and started to refashion the story to give equal weight to the other murderess, Velma.  She is a minor character in all the other versions.  Here are the original "merry murderesses"  Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon as Velma and Roxie (left).  It opened on June 3, 1975 and ran for 936 performances.  The original poster art is on the right.

Chicago, was revived in 1996.  It is still running on Broadway.  It has racked up 6496 performances.  

 So far.

The very successful movie version was released in 2002.

Don't miss Chicago at the Tibbits--July 12 through July 21, 2012.

                                                                                                                                  Charles Burr

                                                                                                                                  Artistic Director

BUY TICKETS

Tibbits Summer Theatre countdown is on...

3 days  before the tech crew arrives and starts work in the Tibbits shops

6 days before the first actors arrive for "Pinocchio" rehearsals

9 days before the next group of  actors arrive and begin rehearsals for "On Broadway 1956"

14 days until the opening of Popcorn Theatre with "Pinocchio"

20 days until "On Broadway 1956 opens"

Don't let too many days pass before you get your tickets. The summer will be gone before you know it and you don't want to catch yourself at the end of the summer saying "I had wanted to see that!" 

Stay tuned on this blog for the summer for more posts, interviews, and inside stories on the company and the productions. 

Week 2: Behind the Scenes

Hey, it's Paige again! I'm enjoying my second week at Tibbits even more than my first; I didn't think that was possible. I began my second week back in the office, writing another press release. This time, it was for the next Popcorn Theatre show: "Abracadabra Magic Show," featuring different magicians at each performance. Then I helped Lori (special events coordinator) make some business calls regarding business promotion letters she sent out last week. Luckily, the second day a couple businesses said they would love to help support the Tibbits Restoration Project!

On Tuesday I got the chance to sit in on one of the rehearsals for the next Summer Theatre show, "Working" by Stephen Schwartz. I went over to the Pansophia Academy gymnasium to observe the blocking rehearsal for a couple hours. Everything was moving really quickly. The actors were working on something the entire time, whether it was choreography, music, or just memorizing lines. In the two hours I was there in the morning, the cast worked its way through three or four songs. I was really impressed. The actors' voices are amazing. During the rehearsal for one of the full cast numbers I literally got goose bumps as they were singing. I came back to watch some of the evening rehearsal that night, too. By the time I left, the entire first act was blocked! I've never seen such a productive day of rehearsals.

Yesterday was the coolest day, by far. Before the matinee performance of "Out of Order" I got to watch some of the tech run throughs with the window set piece. For those of you who haven't seen the show, throughout the course of the play, the window in the hotel suite randomly slams shut on people, knocking them out momentarily. So I got to watch as each of the actors who encounter the unpredictable window took turns having the set piece fall on them. Mark is in charge of working the trigger release for the window. In addition to that, he has to time the "slap stick", which is two 2 x 4's that have been hinged together. He slaps the two wooden pieces together as the window falls to create the loud sound the audience hears as the window slams shut. When I watched this show last week from the audience, I wondered how the window operated. So watching this run through was really fascinating.

Then I was fortunate enough to get the chance to watch the entire show from backstage! But, not only did I get to watch the show, I also got a headset so I could hear the "headset chatter" between Carrie, the stage manager, and the other techies as she called out cues for lights, sound, and the window. I sat backstage the entire show, beaming from ear to ear. I'm no stranger to being backstage, but sitting through a professional show while wearing a headset was probably the coolest thing I've ever done. Every time an actor walked past me they would give me a huge smile and a thumbs up, just getting pumped up for the afternoon's performance. This experience really got me excited for a couple years down the road when I'm able to partake in professional summer theatre productions like this. The cast put on a great show yesterday, and I couldn't have been happier with my seat.

Tomorrow I'll be back in the box office for the Popcorn Theatre show in the morning, and I'm looking forward to that and the rest of the things I'll be doing to finish up my internship at Tibbits. I've really fallen in love with this institution over the past two weeks and I know that I will return to help out in any way possible for next summer's season!

Hair on Broadway or at the Tibbits

Charles Burr here:

If you watched the Tony Awards back in June, you saw Hair win Best Revival of a Musical. I was very taken with Anne Hathaway's introduction to the the company's performance of the title song. It is exactly why I chose it to be part of the 2009 line up of plays.

She said:

"As we enter a new chapter in our Nation's history, the Public Theatre's production of a powerful and controversial show about the turbulent 1960's returns to Broadway. It's questioning of authority and message of hope urges us to accept the idea that if you change your life, you can change the world."

You can start by seeing one of the last three performances.....

HAIR: 3-5-0-0 -- The End of Week 1

Hello readers. Patrick Young (Musical Director) here. Just wanted to give you a quick update on the rest of the week. It has been a very busy time, and I am excited to report a lot of great progress. On Saturday night, the cast had to work at the theater to help strike the Leading Ladies set so that we could load in the set for Hair. It went very quickly, but while they were working there, I had a chance to meet our band for the show. We are using a rock combo for this show - Electric Bass, Electric Guitar, Drums, and a Synthesizer. On Sunday, when we put the band and the cast together it was magic. Since I have heard them together, I have had all sorts of new ideas, and in listening to the music, have found some lyrics that really stick out, and I want to share some of my favorites with you.

3-5-0-0 --- Why write a song called 3-5-0-0? Through our research, we realized that this number is where many people consider the start of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. On March 8, 1965, President Johnson sent 3,500 marines (the first ground troops) to Da Ning airbase. They were greeted by Vietnamese women and 4 American advisers with a bed sheet saying "Welcome to the Gallant Marines".

Walking in Space --- This is the number in the show where Claude begins a bad trip. However there are some beautiful phrases in the song, including the writings of Shakespeare, that show just how educated the youth of the era were, and also what they were really protesting for, and why they used certain drugs. It wasn't to just get loopy, all though that is all we hear of when drugs are mentioned. One of my favorite lyrics is as follows. "WALKING IN SPACE WE FIND THE PURPOSE OF PEACE - THE BEAUTY OF LIFE YOU CAN NO LONGER HIDE - OUR EYES ARE OPEN WIDE".

So I am sure in reading this entry, if you aren't familiar with Hair already, you may be a bit surprised at all the controversial topics that are brought up in the show. Yes, we do talk about all of the following - Sex, Drugs, War, Government and Passive Resistance, Interracial Dating, and Discrimination. And for those of you wondering - we also perform the nude scene. Our director has been very clear from the first day of rehearsals that this scene must be there for a reason, and not just as an excuse to get naked on stage. I feel that the cast has done an amazing job in making an important scene very tasteful, and it shows a humans rebirth in a way that may seem shocking just thinking about it, but is beautifully done and very liberating to watch.

I hope to see you this week at the show, and as I mentioned in my last entry, on Saturday (July 25th) we invite any ticket holders to that performance to stay and talk with the cast and the artistic staff about putting the show together, as well as your thoughts on the production. EVERYBODY in the cast, crew, and artistic staff are very proud of this show, and we would love to share this story with as many people as possible.

Tibbits Professional Summer Theatre 2009

GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES

I was amazed to learn that the Tibbits has never produced this show. It, of course, is based on the Anita Loos novella of the same name. Written in 1925, it has never gone out of print. It has been the basis of a Broadway play, a silent movie, a Broadway musical and finally a big screen Hollywood version of the musical (Well, sort of. More on that later.)

It is all about a comic gold-digger's trip to Paris where she exercises her potent claim "that diamonds are a girl's best friend." There are countless P.G. Wodehouse-type characters who provide her with the aforesaid diamonds. Loos was supposedly inspired to write the book after watching a sexy blonde turn American journalist and essayist H.L Mencken into a lovestruck schoolboy. Mencken, a close friend, actually enjoyed the work and saw to it that it was published. >Originally published as a magazine series, it was published as a book in 1925 and became a runaway best seller earning the praise of no less than author Edith Wharton who dubbed it "The great American novel."


The novella was adapted into a three act play called (surprise) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Loos and her husband, John Emerson. It opened in September of 1926 and ran for 199 performances--a very respectable run for a show in the 1920's. It featured Frank Morgan (immortalized years later as the Wizard of Oz) as Henry Spofford.



Loos spearheaded the musical adaptation in the 1940's with Broadway playwright, Joseph Fields. It was the second musical for the great composer, Jule Styne. Lyrics were handled by Leo Robin, who wrote with great comic flair. Carol Channing starred. It roared into the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 8, 1949 and stayed there for almost two years, racking up 740 performances.


Hollywood, of course, took notice. Twentieth Century-Fox bought it for Marilyn Monroe. (Don't you always think of Carol Channing and Marlyn Monroe in the same breath? (I believe I did. Once. When I had a fever of 104......) They took the surefire property--and threw out all but two songs. Updated to the 1950's, retaining only the basic story, it is still a fun film if only to see Jack Cole's musical numbers.

Lorelei Lee still had one more incarnation on Broadway. In the 1970's, instead of doing a revival, they rewrote the book, so Carol Channing could still be in it---telling the story in flash back and now called Lorelei. A couple of interesting songs were written by Styne with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, but it proved a very troubled undertaking. It has a small footnote in Broadway history for being one of the few shows to have two cast albums....one recorded before the break in tour...and then another after it, since it had changed so much...

I think it's a great old fashioned musical, a true musical COMEDY--and what a great way to start off the summer season. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes opens June 25 and plays through July 3.

Hair and Tibbits Summer Theatre

I think for the first time in the history of Summer Theatre, we will be doing a show in Coldwater at the same time that a revival of the same show is the hottest ticket in New York City. Hair is back on Broadway.

Usually the agents who license the shows to us are very protective of the rights. They want to have no other productions. If the show is on tour, they will not allow other professional theatres the rights to do the show until the tour closes. They want no competition. This is why we are still not allowed to do Chicago.

Well, for what ever reason, Tams-Witmark is letting us do Hair concurrently. You can "Let the Sunshine In" right here in Coldwater. Oh, and I'm told by the box office, that it has quite a nice pre-sale...

Tibbits Summer Theatre Gearing Up

I’m a bad person. (Well, that’s a little strong…)

I’m a bad writer. (Well, I like to think not…)

I’m a bad blogger. (Well, perhaps that’s the right term. And the right tone…)

I have not gotten into the habit of being able to record events that might be of interest to those reading this blog who are looking for potentially fun facts about how Tibbits Summer Theatre is put together.

I will go back and catch you up on some of the things I've been doing to get ready for summer, but let me say that casting is complete, the design teams are in place and I just have a few orchestra members to hire! We start in 30 days! YIKES!!!

Charles Burr--AD

End of season...

I got a letter from Ruth Scheidler that I thought I'd share as we wrap things up for the 2008 Tibbits Summer Theatre season. She wrote:

"Bop She Bops" was FANTASTIC in every way. You deserved the enthusiastic standing ovation you got Saturday night. My only regret is that I couldn't come earlier in the run, and see it TWICE.

Charles, Tiffany, Brynn, Katie, Eric, Uncle Dave (can't remember your name - sorry - I DO remember your red pants and great drum solo), Cheryl, techies and all the others who contributed so much to this production, THANK YOU. You never missed a beat, from period costumes to a mind blowing list of songs, presented by joyfully talented people. We LOVED this show. ~ Ruth Scheidler

The Goodbye Girl's Toughest Costumes!

Greetings Tibbit's Fans!
This is Melissa Swanson, costume designer for Room Service and The Bop She Bops. Today I wanted to share with you the toughest challenge we costumers had while constructing for our current show, The Goodbye Girl. This challege was, of course, the Giant Food Costumes! For those of you who have seen our production, I am referring to the dancing rib-eye steak, french fries, and ice cream cone.

Em Rossi, the designer for The Goodbye Girl, developed a strategy to construct these mascots out of ordinary foam mattress pads, headliner foam, a bit of wire, and lots and lots of hot melt glue.
Pictured here is the inside of the ice cream. I built a wire skeleton for the ice cream scoop in order to keep its shape while Katie Lemos was dancing in it.








This process kept us stuck inside these costumes for many hours while gluing each piece together.

After gluing everything together we spent a day in a mist of spray paint behind the opera house.










Lastly, we added the finishing details with some acrylic paints, and lots of glitter.

All three of us built one. Em Rossi made the fries, while Kat Reid (popcorn designer) built the rib-eye, and I tackled the delicious ice cream cone.

So far in the season these costumes were the toughest to build, and yet the most fun. But perhaps not for our diets, considering they caused many ice cream and french fry cravings (not so-much for raw meat).

If you have not seen these costumes in action there are still three more performances; tonight, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm.

The next show will be The Bop She Bops, designed by me. Here is a sneak peak of the costumes for Tibbits last summer performance.

Room Service Performance, Shows One and Two

Prior Reports:
Day 1 - Sunday, 29 June: Read-Through and Act One Blocking
Day 2 - Monday, 30 June: Act Two and Act Three Blocking
Day 3 - Tuesday, 1 July: Act Three Blocking, Publicity, and Working Act One
Day 4 - Wednesday, 2 July: Working Act Two and Meet the Cast
Day 5 - Thursday, 3 July: Run-Through and Meet the Cast
Day 6 - Friday, 4 July: Run-Through and Meet the Cast
Day 7 - Saturday, 5 July: Work Session and Designer's Run
Day 8 - Sunday, 6 July: Load-In*, Hang and Focus, and Running Lines
*Including one-minute timelapse video of the set going up!
Day 9 - Monday, 7 July: Costumes, Props, and Adjusting to the Stage
Day 10 - Tuesday, 8 July: Stage Management, Box Office, and Dress Rehearsal
Day 11 - Wednesday, 9 July: Final Dress Rehearsal

Thursday, 10 July: Opening Day Double Run

Hello! I'm Eric Silvertree, taking you behind the scenes into life in regional professional theater, with a day-by-day weblog covering Room Service, the third production in Tibbits Summer Theatre's forty-fifth season, from the first day of rehearsals to the last day of performance.

The rehearsal process is over now, and today we hit the stage and performed for an audience for the first time - and the second time. Today was a double run, meaning we had both a 2pm matinée and an 8pm evening performance. Our volunteer ushers had their work cut out for them preparing enough program flyers for the day.

First, though, for the morning session. I'm also performing in The Tortoise and the Hare and Other Fables by Aesop, part of the Tibbits Popcorn Theatre series for children. We have two more shows Friday and Saturday morning, but we haven't done the show since last week. To refresh our memories - and make sure that the set changeover from Little Women to Room Service hasn't created any problems for us - we had a brush-up rehearsal Thursday morning. It went great, and we'll have no problems re-opening the show tomorrow.

On to the afternoon. The stage manager of a show determines what time the cast is due to report in for a performance. That check-in time is referred to as call. Call times vary with the needs of the show. If the whole cast is in very elaborate costumes, or special makeup, or in a musical that requires time to warm up the voice, call may be an hour or more before the curtain goes up. Room Service has fewer pre-show demands on the actors, so Justin set our call at half an hour.

We're free to show up early, of course, and an actor who doesn't appear on stage until late in the show may be given a call time later than the rest of the cast. We each, by now, have a pretty good idea how long we personally will need to get ready, and we each have different ways of using the time. Some actors prefer to arrive early and get ready long before curtain time, then spend the extra time relaxing in the dressing room or greenroom. Some actors would rather get everything done just in time to hit the stage, because extra time spent waiting makes them nervous and jittery.

Either way, we're kept on track by Justin, who makes regular announcements of the time remaining before the show begins. One important timing mark comes just under a half-hour before curtain, when we hear that the house is open - meaning the ushers have begun showing the audience to their seats in the auditorium. The final announcement comes at two minutes to curtain time, when the stage manager calls us to take our places for the beginning of the show.

Then the house lights go dark, the stage lights come on, the curtain rises - and we begin. I'll talk more about what goes on backstage during a performance in later reports. Today, I'd like to tell you about some of our friends in the community of Coldwater, Michigan, and the special things they did for us on opening day.

The good folks at the United Methodist Church have a kind spot in their hearts for the Tibbits company, and on the days when we have two back-to-back performances they take special care of us by having the whole company over for dinner between shows. After washing off the makeup and changing back into our own clothes, we walked three blocks over to the church, where they had a great buffet with chicken casserole, tacos, rolls, salad, fresh fruit, iced tea, orange juice, coffee and dessert laid out for us. They've hosted meals for us on double-run days for many years now, and besides being grateful for the food, those of us who return to the Tibbits season after season are always happy to see them again. It's a delightful time spent catching up with friends. In the photo above, we raise our glasses to United Methodist volunteers Linda Luce, Diane Godfrey, MaryAnne Bair, Jerry Welborn, Carol Tinervia, and Marianne Hodson. Thanks again for your love and support!

We're just as grateful to the Northwoods Coffee Shop and owner Michelle Milnes, who started a new tradition this year. On opening nights, Northwoods re-opens late after the show, and we have the chance to relax and mingle with some of the folks who've just seen us on stage. It's wonderful to be able to meet and chat with the audience in such a pretty and comfortable place, and both the coffee and the food are excellent. Many of us at Tibbets make Northwoods a regular stop during the day, and the opening night receptions are a special treat - Michelle gave us each a beverage and dessert of our choice on the house!

As for the shows themselves, we couldn't be more pleased with how much the audiences enjoyed themselves. A lot is said about how much actors like the sound of applause, but there's one thing we love even more - the sound of a whole houseful of people helpless with laughter. Our double run on opening day left us very tired, but very very happy. We hope you'll come down and share the fun!

Room Service Rehearsal, Day Eleven

Prior Reports:
Day 1 - Sunday, 29 June: Read-Through and Act One Blocking
Day 2 - Monday, 30 June: Act Two and Act Three Blocking
Day 3 - Tuesday, 1 July: Act Three Blocking, Publicity, and Working Act One
Day 4 - Wednesday, 2 July: Working Act Two and Meet the Cast
Day 5 - Thursday, 3 July: Run-Through and Meet the Cast
Day 6 - Friday, 4 July: Run-Through and Meet the Cast
Day 7 - Saturday, 5 July: Work Session and Designer's Run
Day 8 - Sunday, 6 July: Load-In*, Hang and Focus, and Running Lines
*Including one-minute timelapse video of the set going up!
Day 9 - Monday, 7 July: Costumes, Props, and Adjusting to the Stage
Day 10 - Tuesday, 8 July: Stage Management, Box Office, and Dress Rehearsal

Wednesday, 9 July: Final Dress Rehearsal

Hi! I'm Eric Silvertree, one of the cast of Room Service opening Thursday, 10 July at Tibbits Opera House in Coldwater, Michigan.


Well, our final dress rehearsal is over. All the last-minute details have been seen to, all the choices have been made, everything about the show - from the sets to the props to the costumes to the lines to the blocking to the bowl of fruit snacks backstage to keep our energy up - are ready.

Other than to thank all of you for joining me backstage by reading the blog, there's little left to say before the curtain goes up. I'll be back with more reports as the show continues its run, but for now I'll leave you with a little gallery of photographs taken during one of our final pre-dress rehearsals by my partner, Rhett Ramirez. Hope to see you at the show!

Room Service Rehearsal, Day Ten

Prior Reports:
Day 1 - Sunday, 29 June: Read-Through and Act One Blocking
Day 2 - Monday, 30 June: Act Two and Act Three Blocking
Day 3 - Tuesday, 1 July: Act Three Blocking, Publicity, and Working Act One
Day 4 - Wednesday, 2 July: Working Act Two and Meet the Cast
Day 5 - Thursday, 3 July: Run-Through and Meet the Cast
Day 6 - Friday, 4 July: Run-Through and Meet the Cast
Day 7 - Saturday, 5 July: Work Session and Designer's Run
Day 8 - Sunday, 6 July: Load-In*, Hang and Focus, and Running Lines
*Including one-minute timelapse video of the set going up!
Day 9 - Monday, 7 July: Costumes, Props, and Adjusting to the Stage

Tuesday, 8 July: Stage Management, Box Office, and Dress Rehearsal

Hi again! I'm Eric Silvertree, a member of the cast of Room Service, the rollicking farce opening Thursday, 10 July at the historic Tibbits Opera House in Coldwater, Michigan.

Time is speeding by as the show gets ever closer to opening. During the morning session, the technical crew - set, lights, props and costumes - were hard at work finalizing all the details, from repairing the facing on a step that one of us accidentally kicked in, to finishing a hat for one of the ladies, to finding the right mix of Coca-Cola and 7-Up to simulate champagne.

The afternoon session was a run without costumes (except for garments changed on stage as part of the show) and in the evening we had another full dress rehearsal. Yesterday, our biggest concern was adjusting to the move from the rehearsal space to the stage. Today, we were back to concentrating on our acting, polishing our performances, and establishing our personal routines for the show. We and the crew all rely on each other backstage to keep things running smoothly. For example, Robert helps Whitney and Sarah by remaking the beds during the first intermission, Brian and Steve help J.R. with a tricky little bit of costuming before he makes a re-entrance, and I help John maneuver the breakfast cart into place so when the door opens, he can wheel it right on.

You've caught sight of the stage management staff here and there in previous posts, but let's get to know them a little better.

In front is Justin Carroll, the production stage manager. Justin started working with Tibbits Summer Theatre five years ago as an assistant, and is now the man in charge when the show goes live and the director turns over control to stage management. Justin is working toward a degree in theatre technology and design at Central Washington University.

Behind him is Whitney Shouse. Whitney is the assistant stage manager for mainstage shows, and serves as primary stage manager for the Tibbits Popcorn Theatre series for young audiences. Whitney is a theatre major at Hanover College in Indiana.

At the lighting control console in back is Ben Paciorkowski, the master electrician. From this nest off to the side of the stage, Ben and Whitney perform the technical aspects of the show - raising the curtain, ringing the telephone on the set, controlling the lights on stage and in the auditorium - while Justin gives them their cues from his post in a booth behind the last row of seats in the balcony. Justin, Whitney, and Ben are in constant communication by headset microphone, and Justin also makes announcements to the actors thorough speakers in the dressing rooms.

We also have dedicated folks keeping things going at the Tibbits year-round. Joan Spaulding is the darling lady in charge of keeping things tidy throughout the building. Cleaning our individual dressing room spaces is each actor's responsibility, but then there's the auditorium, the lobby, the downstairs intermission space with art gallery and gift shop…

Dave Brown is the house technical director, making sure the lights and fans work for us on both floors of dressing rooms, for instance, as well as working with the community theater and other performance groups that use the opera house when Tibbits Summer Theatre is not in season. I never know when I'm going to come across either Joan or Dave when I zip through the place at random odd hours, and Joanie always has a sweet smile and a laugh for me, and Dave's always ready with a new joke.

There are a lot of people involved in mounting a production - not just the actors you see strutting their stuff in the light. We all work hard to bring the show together - and by now, I hope you're as eager to see the production as we are to present it. Here are the friendly people to talk to for tickets!

That's box office manager Jo Summitt on the left, with assistant manager Vanessa Bloom on the right. In the second photo are Shannon McKinney and Sam Haberl.
They'll be very happy to reserve your seats - either in person, or at 517.287.6029. The box office is open from 10am to 5pm every weekday, 9am to 4pm on Saturdays, plus at 7pm (an hour before curtain time) on all dates with evening shows. Room Service opens on Thursday with two shows - a matinée at 2pm and an evening performance at 8pm. We continue Friday and Saturday at 8pm both nights. The following week, we re-open on Wednesday with a 2pm matinée, then complete the run with 8pm shows on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) we have our final rehearsal before we open the doors and bring up the curtain - and your backstage pass with me on the blog will go on all through the run of the show. More coming soon!