Dick Van Dyke Opens New Musical Memoir at Geffen, 12/16

Stage and screen icon Dick Van Dyke will appear onstage at the Geffen Playhouse in Dick Van Dyke - Step in Time! - A Musical Memoir, a world premiere production that highlights the artist's truly scrumptious six-decades in the entertainment industry. The play, which is co-written by Van Dyke and the play's director Joshua Ravetch, is a living autobiography pulling stories and songs from Van Dyke's celebrated career. To help bring the show to life with music, Van Dyke will be joined on stage by Eric Bradley, Bryan Chadima and Mike Mendyke - three young singers who together with Van Dyke form the singing quartet "The Vantastix." Step in Time, named for Richard and Robert Sherman's song and Van Dyke's signature dance number in Mary Poppins, will begin in the intimate Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse with previews on December 8, 2010. The official opening is on December 16, 2010 and it will run through January 16, 2011.

"I'm having the best so-called retirement of anyone I know, doing what I love doing," said Van Dyke. "Eventually I may try something less strenuous."

Geffen Playhouse Producing Director Gil Cates and his team have been collaborating with Van Dyke and Ravetch on the development on this piece. Ravetch previously worked at the Geffen developing and directing the world premiere of Wishful Drinking with Carrie Fisher.

"There are few performers who are as much a part of the American fabric as Dick Van Dyke," said coauthor and director Joshua Ravetch. "When a performer of Van Dyke's caliber appears on stage, there is an immediate and often emotional collision of past and present that creates a magical experience."

Van Dyke, raised in Danville, Illinois started his career in show business with another local boy doing a record pantomime act that took him to Los Angeles, then to local TV in Atlanta and New Orleans where he was ultimately discovered by CBS New York and signed to do just about anything they gave him - a morning news show, kid shows, game shows and variety shows. He left to accept the male lead in Bye Bye Birdie for which he won a Tony Award. The Dick Van Dyke Show followed and became a classic,along with a string of major films including the film version of Bye-Bye Birdie, Mary Poppins and Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang.

In addition to his Tony Award and five Emmys Awards, Dick collected a Grammy for the Mary Poppins cast album. His television series Diagnosis Murder aired on CBS for eight seasons. His most recent film was Night at the Museum where he was cast against type as a grumpy old man and then came up with cool dance moves behind the closing crawl.

Tickets for Step in Time are $65 for preview performances and range from $75 to $85 for the regular run. They are available online at www.geffenplayhouse.com, in-person at the Geffen Playhouse box office or by calling (310)
208-5454.

 

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