Photo Flash: First Look at International City Theatre's AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

On your marks for the original amazing race! International City Theatre's 28th season gets off to a flying start with Around the World in 80 Days, adapted by Mark Brown from the visionary, classic adventure story by Jules Verne and directed by Allison Bibicoff. For a taste of exotic locales, daring exploits, narrow escapes and great fun, head over to International City Theatre at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center between now and February 17, 2013. Get a first look at the production in the photos below!

It's 1872, and Phileas Fogg-normally the most exact of men who conducts his days on a most precise schedule-agrees to an outrageous wager that puts both his fortune and his life at risk. With his resourceful servant Passepartout, Fogg sets out to circle the globe in an unheard-of 80 days. It's a whirlwind journey filled with danger, romance, secret plots and comic surprises that will keep audiences on The Edge of their seats-until they begin to roll in the aisles with laughter.

Those five actors are Mark Gagliardi (original revival cast of Second City's National Lampoon Lemmings), Melinda Porto (Bend in the Road at Pasadena Playhouse, ROOMS: a rock romance at the Chance Theater), Brian Stanton (ICT's Bright Ideas; Is He Dead?; Tom, Dick & Harry; Charley's Aunt), Michael Uribes (The Robber Bridegroom at ICT, Oedipus El Rey at Theatre @ Boston Court) and Jud V. Williford (company member at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, Nicholas Nickleby and The Tempest at California Shakespeare Theater)-and they will be stashing energy bars in their make-up kits, because together they will play 39 characters and traverse seven continents in their race to beat the clock.

Around the World in 80 Days had its world premiere at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in September 2001, was workshopped at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival in May 2002, and had its Off Broadway premiere in July 2008. Since then, it has literally been produced around the world, from Tauranga, New Zealand to Baridhara Dhaka, Bangladesh. Awards for 80 Days include six Acclaim Awards, two Lillie Stoates Awards, two Connecticut Critics Circle Awards and four Shellie Awards.

Set design for Around the World in 80 Days is by Staci Walters; lighting design is by Donna Ruzika; costume design is by Kim DeShazo; sound design is by Dave Mickey; hair and wigs are by Anthony Gagliardi; props are by Patty and Gordon Briles; and casting is by Michael Donovan Casting.

Tickets are $38 on Thursdays and $45 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, except opening night which is $50 and includes a reception with the actors following the performance. Preview tickets are $29. International City Theatre is located in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center at 300 E. Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach, Calif. For reservations and information, call the ICT Box Office at 562-436-4610 or www.InternationalCityTheatre.com.

Photo Credit: Suzanne Mapes

Melinda Porto, Jud V. Williford, Brian Stanton, Mark Gagliardi, and Michael Uribes

Michael Uribes, Jd V. Williford, Melinda Porto, Mark Gagliardi and Brian Stanton

Jud V. Williford and Michael Uribes

Mark Gagliardi and Brian Stanton

Brian Stanton, Melinda Porto, Jud V. Williford and Mark Gagliardi

Brian Stanton and Melinda Porto

Mark Gagliardi; seated: Jud V. Williford, Brian Stanton, Melinda Porto and Michael Uribes

Clockwise from left: Mark Gagliardi, Michael Uribes, Jud V. Williford, Melinda Porto and Brian Stanton