Photo Flash: Dames At Sea At Saint Michael's Playhouse

Greater Burlington's professional Actors' Equity summer theater brings stellar talent from Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theaters nationwide, "right here in our own backyard!"

DAMES AT SEA, the smash hit Off-Broadway musical, book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller; music by Jim Wise, directed and choreographed by New York Director Keith Andrews.

"Music! Lights! Curtain! Enter Ruby, a small-town girl from Utah, fresh off the bus in New York City with only a pair of tap shoes in her suitcase. Ruby falls in love, saves a Broadway show, and catapults to stardom in just 24 hours. A high energy family-friendly musical send-up of 1930s Hollywood musicals.

Keith Andrews, director, now in his fifth Playhouse year, produced Saint Michael's Playhouse editions of Barnum, Pump Boys and Dinettes, Suds, My Way, Pirates of Penzance and Big River. He has directed the National Tours of The Full Monty and Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh and as well as many other regional and stock productions. Recent credits in clude The Full Monty, staring Sally Struthers and Hunter Foster, Side Show, The Wedding Singer, and the world premieres of Love, Incorporated and the first ice skating musical, Cold As Ice star ing Olympic Gold medallist, Oksana Baiul. He has also performed widely and in such productions as: West Side Story, Mame, Phantom of the Opera and The Radio City Christ mas Spectacula, and is directs and choreographs student showcases at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.

Stephen Hope (The Captain) was P.T. Barnum in last season's Playhouse production of Barnum. He performed on Broadway in the original productions of Joseph and the Amazing Techin color Dreamcoat and The Scarlet Pimpernel. Off Broadway he was seen as Fr. Porter in Ascension, Lucky in Dames at Sea, as John and one of Cora's Boys in Anyone Can Whistle, in the Bistro Award-winning Fairy Tales and MAC-nominated Not Quite What You Expected. He also has numerous regional theater credits.

Marc Tumminelli (Lucky), has ap peared across the US and here at Saint Michael's Playhouse as Eugene in Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound. Other Saint Michael's Playhouse credits include Into The Woods (Jack), Barnum (Tom Thumb) and Big River (Young Fool). Regional/New York credits include; Gypsy staring Patti LuPone, Lost In Yonkers, Torch Song Trilogy, Oklahoma!, Oliver!, Shenandoah, The Dresser, and Bring Back Birdie as well as the all-star concerts of Children Of Eden, The Secret Garden and Pippin starring Rosie O'Donnell and Ben Vereen. Film/TV credits include The Sopra nos and A Beautiful Mind directed by Ron Howard. He is resident director of Playhouse Junior here at Saint Michael's Playhouse and is the owner and director of The Broadway Workshop of fering training for young actors.

Abby Lee (Mona) has appeared at The Playhouse in Barnum, as Cinderella in Into the Woods, in Almost Maine, and in Moonlight in Magnolias. Her NYC credits include Ma ria in West Side Story at the Gerald Lynch Theatre, Fan in A Christmas Carol at The McCarter Theatre, and Monday Night's New Voices at The Duplex. Her regional theater credits include Corrie Bratter in Barefoot in the Park, Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Young Stella in Follies!, Pitti Sing in The Mikado, and Nancy in Oliver. She has appeared in these movies: Confessions of a Shopa holic, Tryptich and 21 and a Wakeup (starring Faye Dunaway).

Lindsay Sutton, (Ruby) recently portrayed Amy Adams' character Amelia Earhart in NYC for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Favorite roles include Christine (Phantom), Maria (West Side Story), Jen (John & Jen), Sally (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown), and Audrey (Little Shop of Horrors). She has performed at Carnegie Hall, New World Stag es, Music Theatre of Wichita, Surflight Theatre, and Allenberry Playhouse.

Tessa Faye (Joan) has appeared in NY Theatre: Sophias Fall (NYMF), Only A Lad (NY Fringe), and the recent stage reading of Republic (Theatre Row). Regional credits include Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (Seven Angels Theatre) with Dames director, Keith Andrews, and three seasons at Porthouse Theatre. She provides the voice of Siara on the award-winning Pokemon Learning League anima tion series and will be seen on television in The Electric Company on PBS.

David Rossetti (Dick) recently appeared in New York in Thoroughly Mod ern Millie (Jimmy, Gallery Players), Ego (Puppe teer, HERE Arts Center). His National Tours include Hairspray (Brad), Fame (Goody). Other favorites are A Christ mas Carol (ALLIANCE THEATRE), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Gateway Playhouse), The Music Man (Theatre of the Stars), Guys & Dolls (Benny, El Camino Arts Center), Cabaret (Emcee, Neighbor hood Playhouse).

2009 Editor's Choice by Yankee Magazine

The Saint Michael's Playhouse was selected as a 2009 Editors' Choice by Yankee Magazine Travel Guide making it "one of the top must-see attractions in New England," and it is coming off a highly successful 2008 season that saw a 50 percent increase in attendance over the past five years, with over 16,000 audience members seeing a show in the 2008 season, according to Chuck Tobin, Playhouse Producing Artistic Director.

"Our company and crew of some 80 professional theater artists bring full-scale custom-produced shows, not one-night touring stops," said Producer Chuck Tobin. This past theater season the Saint Michael's Playhouse was named ‘one of the best regional theater companies in America' by the New York City Drama League, and is now a member of the distinguished Theater Excellence in America Program.

"Our excellent creative team has catapulted us into the national spotlight, with our New York-quality productions right here in Vermont," Tobin said, in announcing the four shows of the 2009 summer season:

Rest of the season:

June 30 - July 11, TALLEY'S FOLLY, Pulitzer Prize-winning romantic comedy by Lanford Wilson, directed by Kenneth Kimmins, famed Broadway and TV actor. A charming romantic comedy set on July 4th, 1944, when Jewish accountant Matt Freidman takes his one chance to win Sally Talley's heart. The couple tip-toes towards love, first confronting her family's bigotry in a play considered by many to be one of the sweetest ever written.

July 14 - 25, HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES, "Brilliantly crafted and ingeniously funny," written by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by John Going, highly acclaimed Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theater director. A four time Helen Hayes nominee, Mr. Going won the Outstanding Director award for The Miser at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. He is an officer on the Board of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. How the Other Half is set in Beatles-era London of 1969, where three mild-mannered couples face domestic chaos as only a British farce can produce. Complications and hilarty ensue during dinner parties shown at once in separate houses. A hilarious look at the swingin' 60s.

July 28 - August 8, BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO, "a joyous dollop of 60s nostalgia," book by Erik Jackson and Ben H. Winters, music by Neil Sedaka; lyrics by Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield and Cody Philip; directed and choreographed by Keith Andrews. A block-buster musical full of Neil Sedaka's best songs in a light-hearted tale of mistaken identity, friendship and love. A retro feel-good musical set in a more innocent time at a Catskills resort in 1959.

Single Tickets and Season Subscriptions may be purchased on-line at www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org (24 hours a day, 7 days a week), by phone (802) 654-2281, or in person at the walk-up window at The Playhouse Box Office in the McCarthy Arts Center on the campus of Saint Michael's College. The box office hours are Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Call (802) 654-2281 to request a Playhouse brochure. Subscribers save 20% off the regular ticket price. Evening series, 4 ticket subscription $108; matinee series, 4 ticket subscription $88. (A subscription to all four shows costs less than one single ticket to a Broadway show in New York.) Single tickets evenings $34 per ticket; matinees $28 per ticket.

PLAYHOUSE JUNIOR: Cinderella, directed by New York actor, director, and theater educator Marc Tumminelli, will be staged Saturday, June 20 at 10 a.m.; Sunday, June 21, at 10 a.m. and 12 noon., and Saturday, June 27, at 10 a.m. Playhouse Junior presents a brand new telling of the timeless fairy tale. A Year with Frog and Toad, also directed by Marc Tumminelli, will be staged Friday, July 3 at 11 a.m.; Sunday, July 5, at 10 a.m. and at 12 noon. Two great friends, the cheerful and popular Frog and the grumpy Toad, wake from hibernation in the spring, plant gardens, swim, rake leaves and go sledding, learning wonderful lessons along the way. All children's show tickets are $9.

Saint Michael's Playhouse is Greater Burlington's professional summer theater, celebrating live theater, nationally renowned Equity actors, and a Professional Theater Internship Program for college students in the heart of Northern Vermont's liveliest community. From its humble beginnings in 1947, Saint Michael's Playhouse has blossomed into an eight-week theater season housed in one of Vermont's finest theater venues, Saint Michael's McCarthy Arts Center. As the area's only professional summer theater, Saint Michael's Playhouse features stellar talent from Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theaters nationwide, hiring actors and stage managers who are members of Actor's Equity Association - the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. Each season approximately 15,000 theatergoers experience the unparalleled opportunity to see live, professional New York-caliber theater, produced and presented right here in Vermont. More information is available at www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org .

Photo credit: Buff Lindau