LUCY LOVES DESI Brings Hilarious But True Story Of Beloved Sitcom To The Majestic March 3
Written by Gregg Oppenheimer — son of I Love Lucy creator, producer and head writer Jess Oppenheimer, and one of the world's foremost experts on the show.
Gettysburg College's Majestic Theater welcomes L.A. Theatre Works bringing its signature radio-theater hybrid style the historic stage with Lucy Loves Desi: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom on Friday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Written by Gregg Oppenheimer - son of I Love Lucy creator, producer and head writer Jess Oppenheimer, and one of the world's foremost experts on the show - Lucy Loves Desi is the hilarious true story behind the beloved TV comedy.
"For we Baby Boomers who grew up on 'I Love Lucy' black and white TV reruns, this play is a trip down memory lane," said Jeffrey Gabel, Founding Executive Director of the Majestic Theater. "It's also a fascinating look at all the "bah-buh-looing" that went on behind the camera."
With its onscreen pairing of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, I Love Lucy remains one of the most popular TV shows in history. Who would have thought that to get on the air, they had to battle both a network and a sponsor who thought the show couldn't possibly succeed? Much of the play is based on Jess Oppenheimer's memoir, "Laughs, Luck... and Lucy," which Gregg co-authored with his father. The audience might be surprised to learn that necessity drove many of the show's famous groundbreaking innovations: the multi-episode story arc, the baby story line, the flashback show and the rerun were all devised to address Lucille Ball's surprise pregnancy (and maternity leave) in the show's second season.
L.A. Theatre Works' national touring program brings audiences at venues across the country the experience of a "live-in-performance" radio drama. Since 2005, L.A. Theatre Works has visited over 300 civic, performing arts and university venues with productions ranging from Katori Hall's The Mountaintop to L.A. Theatre Works-commissioned docu-dramas The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial and Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers. L.A. Theatre Works toured China with Top Secret, playing to sold out houses of Chinese professionals and students; two years later, the production was invited back to perform at Beijng's prestigious National Centre for the Performing Arts as well as the Tianjin Grand Theater and major venues in Hangzhou, Suzhou, Chongqing and Fuling.
Tickets for Lucy Loves Desi: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom start at $40 and are available now at the Majestic Theater Box Office, 25 Carlisle St., Gettysburg, by calling (717) 337-8200 or online at www.gettysburgmajestic.org. Free parking and roundtrip shuttle service for the performance is available from Gettysburg College's Constitution Parking Lot. Shuttle starts one hour before each performance and is ADA accessible. Metered parking is available at the Gettysburg Borough Parking Garage in Race Horse Alley as well as along Carlisle Street. Masks are optional and encouraged at Majestic Theater performances.
The Majestic Theater at the Jennifer and David LeVan Performing Arts Center is owned and operated by Gettysburg College as a gathering place for its campus and community to celebrate the arts together.
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