Uptown Players to Present PAGEANT: THE MUSICAl, 3/28-4/13

Uptown Players continues its 2014 season with the return of an audience favorite, the farcical Off?Broadway hit, Pageant. With book and lyrics by Bill Russell and Frank Kelly and music by Albert Evans, what makes Pageant the musical so different from other beauty contests? Our girls have it all, plus a little "something extra!" The production runs March 28 through April 13, 2014, at the Kalita Humphreys Theater.

Pageant is a pageant, but what's glitz, glamour, poise and talent, without a five o'clock shadow? Judges selected from the audience actually vote and determine who the winner is, therefore, may be different at each performance. The show takes its shots not by mocking the pageant from the outside, but by being one. The six contestants, Miss Deep South, Miss West Coast, Miss Great Plains, Miss Bible Belt, Miss Industrial Northeast and Miss Texas (all played by men) compete in evening gown, talent, swim-wear, and spokes model, plus the finalists answer calls from the Beauty Crisis Hotline. You won't want to miss the hilarity as a new Miss Glamouresse 2014 is selected at each performance.

The cast includes Walter Lee as Miss Texas, Ashton Shawver as Miss Bible Belt, Peter DiCesare as Miss Deep South, Drew Kelly as Miss West Coast, Micah Greene as Miss Great Plains, and Sergio Antonio Garcia as Miss Industrial Northeast. Hosting the pageant is B.J. Cleveland as Frankie Cavalier. The production is under the direction of Chris Robinson, with Music Direction by Kevin Gunter.

The production runs March 28 through April 13, 2014, with shows at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays (no performance March 30). Performances take place at the Kalita Humphreys Theatre, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd (at Blackburn), Dallas, TX 75219. Tickets are $25-$40 and can be purchased online at www.uptownplayers.org or by phone at (214) 219-2718.