Photo Flash: Louis & Keely At Geffen Playhouse
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.'
For more information, please visit GeffenPlayhouse.com.
Photo Credit: Michael Lamont
Vanessa Claire Smith and Jake Broder
Jake Broder and band
Vanessa Claire Smith and Jake Broder
Vanessa Claire Smith and Jake Broder
Vanessa Claire Smith and Jake Broder
Nick Cagle, Vanessa Claire Smith and Jake Broder
Vanessa Claire Smith and Jake Broder
Vanessa Claire Smith and Jake Broder
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