'39 Steps' and 'South Pacific' Win Best Sound Design

 Mic Pool has won the 2008 Tony Award for best sound design in a play for his work in '39 Steps'

Scott Lehrer has won the 2008 Tony Award for best sound design in a musical for his work on 'South Pacific' 

Both Pool and Lehrer join their colleagues in the lighting department as winners in the design category! 

Lincoln Center Theater's new production of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein's prize-winning musical classic South Pacific, directed by Bartlett Sher, began performances Saturday, March 1 at 8PM at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.   Opening night wa Thursday, April 3 at 6:30PM.

Based on James Michener's Pulitzer Prize winning book Tales of the South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific has music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan.

Lincoln Center Theater's production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific  features a cast of 40 headed by Kelli O'Hara as Nellie Forbush, Paulo Szot as Emile de Becque with Matthew Morrison (Lt. Joe Cable), Danny Burstein (Luther Billis), Loretta Ables Sayre (Bloody Mary), Sean Cullen, Victor Hawks, Luka Kain, Lu Jun Li (Liat), Laurissa Romain, Skipp Sudduth,  and Noah Weisberg.

The production will have musical staging by Christopher Gattelli, sets by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Donald Holder, sound by Scott Lehrer and music direction by Ted Sperling, conducting a 30 piece orchestra performing the original orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and dance and incidental music arranged by Trude Rittmann.

"Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples -- US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush & French plantation owner Emile de Becque and Navy Airman Joe Cable & a young local native girl Liat – and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of the war and by their own prejudices," describe press notes.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific premiered at the Majestic Theatre on April 7, 1949 and went on to enjoy a five-year Broadway run winning countless awards including nine Tony Awards (including Best Musical) and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  Considered by many the finest musical ever written, the score's songs include such musical theater classics as "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger Than Springtime," "Bali Ha'i," "There is Nothin' Like A Dame" and "A Wonderful Guy."

Together with Rent, A Chorus Line and Sunday in the Park with George, this revival of South Pacific helps create Broadway history with 4 of 7 Pulitzer Prize-winning musicals running concurrently on the Great White Way.

Tickets to Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific are available at the Lincoln Center Theater box office (150 West 65 Street), at www.telecharge.com, or by visiting www.lct.org.

Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, the critically acclaimed 2007 Olivier Award-winner for Best New Comedy, transfered to Broadway's Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues), following its smash hit sold out limited engagement at Roundabout Theatre Company's American Airlines Theatre.  Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps is adapted by Patrick Barlow and directed by Maria Aitken.  The production is based on an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon and on the book by John Buchan.

The cast resumed performances last night, Tuesday, April 29 at the Cort, prior to a Thursday, May 8 opening night.  All seats will be $39 for the first preview at the Cort.  Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday, March 18 by phone at 212-239-6200, online at www.telecharge.com and at the Cort Theatre box office.

The 39 Steps features Arnie Burton (Man #2), Charles Edwards (Richard Hannay), Jennifer Ferrin (Annabella Schmidt/Pamela/Margaret).and Cliff Saunders (Man #1).  The company also includes Claire Brownell, Cameron Fulmar and Mark Shanahan.  Charles Edwards is appearing with the permission of Actors' Equity Association.  The Producers gratefully acknowledge Actors' Equity Association for its assistance with this production.