Tony Nominee Milgrom Dodge Talks RAGTIME & BUSINESS

It has been quite a year for director/choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge, who was recently nominated for Tony Award for her direction of the Broadway revival of RAGTIME last fall. A workhorse by admittance, Dodge has left herself little time to celebrate, as she finishes prep for the Reprise Theatre Company's production of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, which opens tomorrow May 12 and runs thru May 23 at UCLA's Freud Playhouse.

Thereafter, it's back to New York for Dodge, to catch-up on the new Broadway offerings of the spring and prep for the big awards ceremony on June 13.

The LA Times profiles the powerhouse in today's issue, and got the scoop on the genesis of RAGTIME and what it's been like to take care of BUSINESS.

Writes the LA Times on Dodge's participation in RAGTIME: "After McNally saw her work in a small show at New York University, he talked her up. Dodge was hired in 2006 to direct "The Who's Tommy" at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, N.Y. 'I knew I didn't want to get bogged down in a real pinball machine. I told my designer, 'Just make the frame.' I like to include the audience on the journey, to give them opportunities to fill in the visual blanks.' The New York Times called her take on the rock opera "exuberant, exhilarating, rejuvenating....When the Kennedy Center was looking for a director for its in-house revival of "Ragtime," Dodge finally got her chance at a major production. 'It was a risky choice. I was not, shall we say, a George Lane client,' she smiles, referring to the Creative Artists Agency agent whose roster includes Edward Albee and "Spring Awakening's" Michael Mayer."

Said RAGTIME's book writer, Terrence McNally, of Dodge's production: "The curtain went up and there were 40 people just standing there looking out at you before a single note sounded. It was amazing, iconic. Marcia understands the power of an image."

Dodge has employed many of the same principles to her production of BUSINESS that she did to RAGTIME.  She tells the LA Times: "For me a show is always first about the movement. That tells you who the characters are." Scored by "Guys and Dolls" composer Frank Loesser, "Succeed" is unusual for a Golden Age musical. "This show isn't so much about dancing...It's really gesture-based storytelling."

To read the full report in the LA Times click here.

Reprise Theatre Company's HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING plays UCLA's Freud Playhouse from May 12 to 23.  The show preview's tonight, May 11. The show stars Nicole Parker, Ed Asner, Josh Grisetti, John O'Hurley, Simon Helberg, Vicki Lewis Ruth Williamson, Larry Raben and Michael Kostroff. 

Completing the cast are Matt Bauer, E.E. Bell, Bradley Benjamin, Matt Crabtree, Melissa Lyons, Jeff Marlow, Elisa Nixon, Annie Ramsey, Justin Michael Wilcox and Ray Wills.

"How to Succeed" is both directed and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, whose critically acclaimed production of "Ragtime" transferred from the Kennedy Center to Broadway last fall and won Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Musical Production and Best Direction. The musical director is Darryl Archibald. Reprise Theatre Company is headed by Artistic Director Jason Alexander and Producing Director Susan Dietz. "How to Succeed" features a book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, and music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The show is based on the best selling "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" by Shepherd Mead.

Single tickets are available for "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" at www.reprise.org or through the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310/825-2101.