Faith Prince and
Lucy Lawless will co-star in a concert production of
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre. The concert, which will also feature the participation of the Seattle Men's Chorus, will play five performances from May 13th-15th.
Prince will play titular blonde Lorelei Lee with Lawless as her brunette buddy Dorothy Shaw. On a voyage to Paris, the two golddiggers scour a ritzy cruiseline for money and men.
With a score by Jule Styne and Leo Robin, and a book by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos,
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes starred
Carol Channing, and opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 8th, 1949 to run for 740 performances. A popular 1953 film paired off Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" originated in the stage musical, and was famously performed by Monroe in the film.
The concert version will feature scaled-back settings, costumes, staging and lights, but the two stars will be backed by the 250-member Seattle Men's Chorus to full orchestral accompaniment.
Prince won the 1992 Best Actress in a Musical Tony for her Adelaide in
Guys and Dolls. Past Broadway credits include
Jerome Robbins' Broadway (for which she earned her first Tony nomination),
Nick and Nora, Guys and Dolls, What's Wrong with this Picture, the 1996 revival of
The King and I (in which she was a replacement Mrs. Anna),
Little Me, James Joyce's The Dead, Bells Are Ringing (her third Tony nominated role), and
Noises Off. Off-Broadway, she has appeared in
A Man of No Importance, Falsettoland and
Little Shop of Horrors.
The statuesque Lawless is best known for playing the title role of the 90's adventure drama
Xena: Warrior Princess, but she also appeared as a replacement Rizzo in the 1994 Broadway revival of
Grease, and performed in musicals in her native New Zealand. Television credits include roles in
The X Files, Hercules, Less Than Perfect and
Tarzan; on film, Lawless has appeared in
Boogeyman, EuroTrip and
Spider-Man.
Tickets to
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes can be purchased by
calling (206) 292-ARTS (2787). The 5th Avenue Theatre is located at 1308 5th Avenue in downtown Seattle, Washington. More information is available at
www.5thavenuetheatre.org.
