'LOUIS & KEELY' Celebrates 100th Performance At The Geffen 6/13, Extends Third Time Thru 8/2

On the cusp of their 100th toe-tapping performance in the Geffen Playhouse's Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater, the team behind the hit musical Louis & Keely: Live at the Sarhara announce another five-week extension. The 100th performance, which occurs Saturday evening June 13, is a landmark show in a unanimously acclaimed run, which will now continue through Sunday, August 2, 2009.

With lauded reviews from the local media and a near sweep of the highest honor at every major Los Angeles theater awards ceremony - Best Musical at the Ovation Awards, Best Production at the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, Best Production at the Garland Awards and Musical of the Year at the LA Weekly Theater Awards - Louis & Keely: Live at the Sahara is now embarking on its third extension at the Geffen Playhouse.

Created by Jake Broder and Vanessa Claire Smith, who also star as Louis and Keely, respectively, Louis & Keely: Live at the Sahara follows the life and love of Las Vegas' infamous onstage couple. Helmed by acclaimed Hollywood director/biographer Taylor Hackford, the current production is a revamped version of Broder and Smith's 2008 show.

Originally developed by Broder and Smith at the Sacred Fools Theatre Company in June 2008, Louis & Keely has been substantially reworked for its current production at the Geffen. Hackford, who joined forces with the creators to guide the revision process, estimates about 40 percent of the script is different from the original production. This includes the addition of seven new songs - "I Wish You Love," "Hey Boy, Hey Girl," "What is this Thing Called Love," "Night Train," "Ai, Ai, Ai" and "I Can't Believe that You're in Love with Me," as well as new characters.

Broder and Smith mine new emotional depths in the characters of Louis and Keely, and new cast members Nick Cagle and Erin Matthews play various other characters in the couple's story, including Old Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. In addition to the four actors, Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara features a seven-piece live swing band that brings down the house as the orchestra for the play and as well as Louis Prima's Vegas band ‘The Witnesses.'

Performance Schedule

Monday No performances

Tuesday - Thursday 8:00pm

Friday 7:30pm

Saturday 3:30pm; 8:00pm

Sunday 2:30pm; 7:30pm

Ticket Info

Premium Stage Seating - $55; Orchestra Seating - $65

Tickets are on sale now at the Geffen Playhouse box office, online at GeffenPlayhouse.com, via credit card phone order at (310) 208-5454, at all Ticketmaster outlets, or by calling Ticketmaster at (213) 480-3232.

Student rush tickets are available one hour prior to curtain for $15.

The Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and musicals, the Geffen Playhouse continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company is helmed by Producing Director and President of the Board Gilbert (Gil) Cates, Artistic Director Randall Arney, Managing Director Susan Barton and Chairman of the Board Frank Mancuso. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen Playhouse welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains an extensive education and outreach program, designed to engage young people and the community at large in the arts.

For more information, please visit GeffenPlayhouse.com.

Photo by Michael Lamont