New Line Theatre Announces Cast for I LOVE MY WIFE; Opens 9/30

The artists of New Line Theatre, "The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre," are very proud to announce the opening of the company's Twentieth Anniversary Season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre, with the hilarious Sexual Revolution jazz musical, I LOVE MY WIFE, running Sept. 30-October 23, 2010, at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend.

I LOVE MY WIFE is a snapshot of two couples in 1977, toward the end of the Sexual Revolution, but it's also a character study of our country and our ongoing love-hate relationship with all things carnal. Hair announced the Sexual Revolution in full swing, and The Rocky Horror Show exposed its warts (no pun intended), but I Love My Wife shows us how it ended, not with a bang but with a whimper. As great as Free Love sounded, it really wasn't what most Americans wanted. The show explores the confusion of the Eisenhower generation -- too old to be hippies and too young to be old fogies -- as these would-be swingers sincerely attempt to try on the counterculture lifestyle, eventually leading all four into the same bed. But I Love My Wife is also a character study of marriage itself -- its weaknesses, its contradictions, its unnatural expectations, and its unparalleled joys.

The cast of New Line Theatre's production of I Love My Wife includes Sarah Armstrong (Monica), Emily Berry (Cleo), Todd Schaefer (Alvin), Jeffrey M. Wright (Wally), Zachary Allen Farmer (Harvey), Troy Turnipseed (Quenten), and Joel Hackbarth (Stanley). The show will be directed by Scott Miller and Alison Helmer, with costumes by Thom Crain, scenic design by Todd Schaefer, and lighting by Kenneth Zinkl.

I Love My Wife boasts a real jazz score by Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity, City of Angels, Barnum, The Will Rogers Follies, The Life), and a smart, sly book and lyrics by Michael Stewart (Hello, Dolly, Barnum, Mack and Mabel), officially based on the French play Viens Chez-moi, J'Habite Chez une Copine (Come to My Place, I Live with My Girlfriend) by Luis Regio and Didier Kaminka, but the show really takes more (uncredited) inspiration from the iconic 1969 film Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice. For more info about the show, visit http://www.newlinetheatre.com/wifepage.html.

New Line Theatre is a professional company dedicated to involving the people of the St. Louis region in the exploration and creation of daring, provocative, socially and politically relevant works of musical theatre. New Line's current season closes with EVITA, running through July 31.

New Line Theatre was created back in 1991 at the vanguard of a new wave of nonprofit musical theatre just starting to take hold across the country. New Line has given birth to several world premiere musicals over the years and has brought back to life many shows that did not do well in their original New York productions. Altogether, New Line has produced 58 musicals and 5 concerts of theatre songs since 1991. New Line Theatre was recently given its own entry in the latest edition of the prestigious Cambridge Guide to American Theatre. New Line receives funding from the Regional Arts Commission, the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation, and the Missouri Arts Council. For more about New Line, go to www.newlinetheatre.com/contact.html.

I Love My Wife runs Sept. 30-Oct. 23, 2010, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, at 8:00 p.m., at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend. Sept. 30 is a preview. Tickets will go on sale in August through Metrotix.com and all Metrotix outlets, the Fox Theatre Box Office, the Edison Theatre at Washington University, and select Schnucks stores, or by calling 314-534-1111. I Love My Wife contains adult content. For other information, visit New Line Theatre's full-service website at www.newlinetheatre.com. All programs are subject to change.

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