Musical Theatre West's Reiner Staged Reading Series Continues with STEEL PIER, 11/23

Musical Theatre West's (MTW) Reiner Staged Reading Series offers a special one-night only performance of Steel Pier, Sunday, November 23, 7pm, at the University Theatre at California State University, Long Beach (off 7th Street between East and West Campus Drive, Parking Lot 7). Tickets are now on sale at the Musical Theatre West Ticket Office, by calling (562) 856-1999 ext. 4, or at www.musical.org. Advance general admission tickets: $27, or $32 on the day of the performance.

An original musical written by the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb from an original book by David Thompson, Steel Pier opened on Broadway in 1997 and went on to receive 11 Tony nominations and an additional nine Drama Desk Award nominations. The original cast stared Karen Kemba, Daniel McDonald, Gregory Hines, and Debra Monk, and newcomer Kristin Chenoweth making her Broadway debut. The show swept nominations in all of the major awards categories, including "Best Musical," "Best Book of a Musical," "Best Original Score," "Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical," "Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical," "Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical," "Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical," "Best Direction of a Musical," for Scott Ellis, "Best Choreography" for Susan Stroman, "Best Orchestration," and "Best Scenic Design." "Spectacular," raved the New York Post, while the New York Daily News praised the show's "Beautiful songs skillfully interwoven with the plot."

Steel Pier takes place in the honky-tonk world of marathon dancing in Atlantic City in 1933 as an eclectic collection of depression-era souls compete for fame and prizes on the Steel Pier. While stunt pilot Bill Kelly looks at the contest as an opportunity to woo champion dancer Rita Racine, she hopes this will be her opportunity to win enough prize money to return home. And the odds are in her favor, as she is secretly married to the disreputable emcee of the event. When Rita's partner doesn't show up in time for the contest, she agrees to pair with the handsome pilot and, as the hours of dancing whirl on, Rita becomes more disillusioned with her sleazy, conniving husband and more attracted with the handsome young aviator and a vision of life in a peaceful cottage.

The Reiner's Reading Series production of Steel Pier is a bit like radio theatre allowing actors to perform with no costumes or a set and with scripts in hand. The show will be performed in its entirety with the score performed by a 17-piece orchestra. The production is directed and choreographed by Daniel A. Smith with musical direction by Bill Brown and produced by Michael Betts and David Lamoureux. The Reiner Staged Reading Series 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 and Laura Killingsworth. The Steel Pier orchestra is underwritten by Pat & Janice DeRouen.

For tickets or more information, call Musical Theatre West at (562) 856-1999, ext. 4 or go to www.musical.org.