Musical Theatre West's Reading Series to Continue with ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, 5/15

Musical Theatre West's (MTW) Reiner Staged Reading Series (RRS) returns in with On the Twentieth Century, Sunday, May 15, 7pm at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Tickets are now on sale at the Musical Theatre West Ticket Office, by calling (562) 856-1999 ext. 4. Advance general admission tickets for this one-night-only performance are $27 in advance or $32 on the day of the performance. Seating is general admission. For tickets or more information, call Musical Theatre West at (562) 856-1999, ext. 4 or go to www.musical.org.

The Reiner's Reading Series productions are performed concert style, a bit like radio theatre. Using no sets and costumes, but featuring the full scripts and scores, the performances are the perfect way to celebrate the spectrum of musical theatre, while discovering some new favorite songs and shows. The shows will be performed in their entirety with the scores performed by a live orchestra, provided by Los Angeles Musicians Collective.

Part operetta, part farce, and part screwball comedy, On the Twentieth Century takes place onboard a 1920s luxury train, where music, mayhem, love collide. Bankrupt theater producer Oscar Jaffee has only the ride from Chicago to New York to convince glamorous Hollywood starlet and former lover Lily Garland into playing the lead in his new, but not-yet-written, drama. But is the train ride long enough to reignite the spark between them, create a play from scratch, and find the money to get it all the way to Broadway? Based loosely on the 1930s film and play Twentieth Century, the combined genius of composer Cy Coleman and lyricists and book writers Betty Comden and Adolph Green make this a Class A ticket to Broadway musical brilliance. Originally starring John Cullum and Madeleine Kahn, this show was recently revived on Broadway with Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher to rave reviews, with The New York Times declaring the show as "Ridiculously sublime!" and Variety calling it "This is the show of our dreams!" The production stars MTW and RRS favorites Chris Gilbert ( RRS: Kismet,110 in the Shade and the National Tour of Camelot) and Jill Van Velzer (RRS: The Most Happy Fella, The Secret Garden, Brigadoon and MTW's Hello, Dolly!)

The Reiner's Staged Readers Series is produced by Michael Betts and David Lamoureux and is made possible by a generous donation from Ken & Dottie Reiner with additional funding provided by The Ackerman Family/Evalyn M. Bauer Foundations, Kathy Baker Campbell, Joe P. Moore, Jr. & Edna Moore, Marian Pincombe, Robert & Donna Betts, Ben & Norena Thompson, Pat & Janice DeRouen, and Ken & Cheryl Simpson.

Don't miss the madcap train ride of the century! Tickets are available by calling (562) 856-1999, ext. 4 or online at www.musical.org.

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