Single Tix Now Available for Manatee Players 65th Anniversary Season Musicals

Single tickets to all of Manatee Players 65th Anniversary Season of musicals are now on sale. Tickets are $25 for adults and $11 for students with a valid ID. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 941-748-5875 or online at www.manateeplayers.com. Season tickets are still available as well. The box office is open Monday - Friday from 9-5 and one hour before curtain for each performance. The Manatee Players are located at 102 Old Main Street in downtown Bradenton.

The exciting season of musicals includes:

CHICAGO - August 18 - September 4, 2011
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Book by Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse
Based on the play CHICAGO by Maurine Dallas Watkins
Directed by Dewayne Barrett
CHICAGO is a Kander and Ebb musical set in prohibition era Chicago. The book is by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice, and the concept of the "celebrity criminal." The musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins about actual criminals and crimes she had reported on.
The original 1975 Broadway production ran for a total of 936 performances. Bob Fosse choreographed the original production, and his style is strongly identified with the show. CHICAGO's 1996 Broadway revival holds the record for the longest-running musical revival on Broadway.Facts & Figures
·5/18/1892-Ezio Pinza is born in Rome, Italy. Creates the role of Emile de Becque in SOUTH PACIFIC (1949) and receives the Tony Award for his performance.
·November 6, 1901 Juanita Hall is born in Keyport, New Jersey. Creates roles of Bloody Mary in SOUTH PACIFIC (1949; Tony Award) and Madam Liang in FLOWER DRUM SONG (1958) and re-creates both roles in the movie versions (1958 and 1961, respectively).

·March 5, 1949 The World premiere of SOUTH PACIFIC is presented at the Shubert Theatre, New Haven.

·April 7, 1949 SOUTH PACIFIC opens at the Majestic Theatre, New York.

·April 24, 1950 The national tour of SOUTH PACIFIC opens at the Hanna Theatre, Cleveland, and tours for five years, visiting 18 citites before closing at the Chicago Opera House on March 26, 1955.

·May 1, 1950 SOUTH PACIFIC wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

·June 1, 1951 After more than 900 performances, Mary Martin gvies her final performance in SOUTH PACIFIC on Broadway.

·November 1, 1951 Mary Martin and Wilbur Evans star in the London premiere of SOUTH PACIFIC, which opens at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and plays for 802 performances.

·February 16, 1953 The national tour of SOUTH PACIFIC begins a one-week tour at the Tower Theatre, Atlanta. In response to the song "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught," members of the Georgia State Legislature issue a vehement protest and introduce a bill to outlaw entertainment works having an underlying philosophy inspired by Moscow.

·January 16, 1954 SOUTH PACIFIC closes on Broadway after five years and 1,925 performances. At its closing SOUTH PACIFIC is the second-longest running show in Broadway history, right behind OKLAHOMA!

·August 12, 1957 Principal photography for the movie of SOUTH PACIFIC begins at Lihue on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai.

·March 19, 1958 Twentieth Century Fox releases the movie version of SOUTH PACIFIC starring Rossano Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor.

·January 20, 1988 The first London revival of SOUTH PACIFIC opens at the Prince of Wales Theatre.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC - September 22-October 9, 2011
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Book by Howard Lindsay, Russell Crouse
Suggested by "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers"
Directed by Robby May

The final collaboration between Rodgers & Hammerstein was destined to become the world's most beloved musical. When a postulant proves too high-spirited for the religious life, she is dispatched to serve as governess for the seven children of a widowed naval Captain. Her growing rapport with the youngsters, coupled with her generosity of spirit, gradually captures the heart of the stern Captain, and they marry. Upon returning from their honeymoon they discover that Austria has been invaded by the Nazis, who demand the Captain's immediate service in their navy. The family's narrow escape over the mountains to Switzerland on the eve of World War II provides one of the most thrilling and inspirational finales ever presented in the theatre. The motion picture version remains the most popular movie musical of all time.

JERRY'S GIRLS - October 27 - November 13, 2011
Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman
Conceived by Larry Alford, Wayne Cilento and Jerry Herman
Directed by Steven Flaa
Jerry's Girls is a celebratory two-hour musical entertainment of glamour, optimism, love, melody, and women.
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More than most songwriters, Jerry Herman has put the 'larger-than-life' women of his shows center stage. There's Dolly Gallagher Levi of HELLO, DOLLY!, Auntie Mame Dennis of MAME, Countess Aurelia of DEAR WORLD, Mabel Normand of MACK AND MABEL and female impersonator ZaZa of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES. So it is fitting that in Jerry's Girls there are women center stage once again. JERRY'S GIRLS affectionately celebrates Jerry's special gift for writing songs that capture the true spirit of the American musical theatre.
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The show's 'name-dropping' title song, ‘Jerry's Girls' (to the tune of ‘It's Today' from Mame), that opens Act One, honors the 40-plus female stars who have appeared in Herman musicals over the years, and features a dazzling array of songs from these landmark shows. Look forward to a brilliantly lively show with terrific musicality and wit.

WHITE CHRISTMAS - December 1 - 23, 2011
Music & Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Book by David Ives and Paul Blake
Directed by Rick Kerby

Produced by the Dodt Family Foundation
Based on the beloved, timeless film, this heartwarming musical adaptation features seventeen Irving Berlin songs and a book by David Ives and Paul Blake. Veterans Bob Wallace and Phil Davis have a successful song-and-dance act after World War II. With romance in mind, the two follow a duo of beautiful singing sisters en route to their Christmas show at a Vermont lodge, which just happens to be owned by Bob and Phil's former army commander. The dazzling score features well known standards including Blue Skies, I Love A Piano, How Deep Is the Ocean and the perennial favorite, White Christmas.

Happy Days - January 12-29, 2012
Book by Garry Marshall
Music & Lyrics by Paul Williams
Directed by Cory Boyas

Co Produced by Jess Jewelers and Jon & Bette Frick
Goodbye gray skies, hello blue! Happy Days are here again with Richie, Potsie, Ralph Malph and
the unforgettable "king of cool" Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli. Based on the hit Paramount Pictures'
television series, Happy Days - A New Musical reintroduces one of America's best loved families, the Cunninghams, and the days of1959 Milwaukee complete with varsity sweaters, hula hoops, and
jukebox sock-hoppin'.

The famed drive-in malt shop and number one hang-out, Arnold's, is in danger of demolition, so the gang teams up to save it with a dance contest and tv-worthy wrestling match. This perfectly family friendly musical will have you rockin' and rollin' all week long!

EVITA - February 23-March 11, 2012
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Directed by Rick Kerby
Evita brings to life the dynamic, larger-than-life persona of Eva Peron. Beginning with a young and ambitious Eva, the production follows her meteoric rise to sainthood. The story tells of the enormous wealth and power she gained and the means by which she became the beloved Evita.

RING OF FIRE - March 29 - April 15, 2012
Created by Richard Maltby, Jr.
Conceived by William Meade
Orchestrations by Steven Bishop and Jeff Lisenby
RING OF FIRE was originally produced on Broadway by William Meade, CTM Productions, Bob
Cuillo, GFOUR Productions and James B. Freydberg
Directed by Preston Boyd

A set of gifted singers and instrumentalists sing through some of the greatest songs of one of America's most brilliant singer/songwriters, Johnny Cash. Though he is never impersonated, his remarkable life story is told through his music, climaxing in a concert that will both move and exhilarate!

November 19, 2010 - November 20, 2010
Allendale Columbia School
Rochester, NY

July 14, 2011 - July 23, 2011
Stampede Troupe
Greeley, CO

July 21, 2011 - August 7, 2011
S.T.A.G.E. Inc
Bulverde, TX

November 24, 2011 - December 17, 2011
Abbey Musical Theatre
Palmerston North, New Zealand

March 29, 2012 - April 22, 2012
Des Moines Community Playhouse
Des Moines, IA

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS - May 3 - 21, 2012
Book by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay
Music by Gene de Paul
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
New Songs by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn
Based on the MGM film Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and The Sobbin' Women by Stephen Vincent Benet
Directed by Rick Kerby

Produced by Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball
"Goin' courting" has never been as much fun as in this rip-roaring stage version of the popular MGM movie, adapted by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay. Millie is a young bride living in the 1850s Oregon wilderness whose plan to civilize and marry off her six rowdy brothers-in-law to ensure the success of her own marriage backfires when the brothers, in their enthusiasm, kidnap six women from a neighboring town to be their brides.
Bursting with the rambunctious energy of the original film, "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" is all boisterous fun and romance that harkens back to the glory days of the movie musical.

 

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