MRS. CHATTLETHWAITE'S CHRISTMAS TEA MUSICALE to Premiere at Bridgetown

Bridgetown Musical Theatre has announced the world premier of a new musical revue by Rick Lewis: MRS. CHATTLETHWAITE'S CHRISTMAS TEA MUSICALE! Mrs. Chattlethwaite's Christmas Tea Musicale is a musical revue of holiday and popular music from the 19th century and early 1900's, wrapped in a wacky, sentimental and sometimes bawdy Edwardian holiday entertainment.

Rick Lewis, the writer/arranger, is the writer/arranger of the hit Off-Broadway musical THE TAFFETAS, which has had successful productions across the country and around the world. The male sequel, THE CARDIGANS, has been seen on stages across the country and as far as Tokyo, Japan. Like both of his prior shows, MRS. CHATTLETHWAITE pays homage to the musical nuance of the period it's representing, while paying close attention to the potential humor intrinsic to 'days gone by.'

The premise: It's Christmastide in Edwardian New York City, sometime in the early 1900's. Mrs. Theodora Narcissa Chattlethwaite, President of the Lower Upper 5th Avenue Arts Society, is hosting her annual Christmas Tea Musicale - an evening ofmusic and prose presented by her talented family (Mr. Chattlethwaite, his two teenage nieces, Mrs. Chattlethwaite's handsome protege, her pianist, and two charming orphans on loan for the holiday season. The Christmas Tea is an annual fundraiser for the Orphanage at Our Lady of Perpetual Perspiration.

As Mrs. Chattlethwaite hosts her evening, sipping her 'special' Christmas tea, popular and holiday music of the 19th Century and early 1900's fill the room - with nostalgia, romance, humor and a touch of bawdiness. The show is filled with memorable holiday tunes and peppered with period songs that never knew existed. It's a musical Victorian Christmas card come to life.

The production is written and arranged by Rick Lewis. Direction is by Rick Lewis and Diego Kjelland, with music direction by Marcus Harbaugh, choreography by Kevin Paul Clark and costumes by Laura Helgesen.

Carolyn M. Delany stars as Mrs. Theodora Narcissa Chattlethwaite, leading a cast of Portland actors: Mike Borgstrom (Mr. Mephistopheles Alphaneus Chattlethwaite), Paige Mercer and Samantha Blaine (Crustacea and Phillascea Chattlethwaite), Jasper Warhus (Jasper Bartholomew Sterling), Sage Gonzalez and Ripley Phillippay (Chester and Bentley O'Brien, the orphans) and Marcus Harbaugh (Dobney Mittleborsch, the pianist). Carolyn M. Delany appears courtesy of Actors Equity Association.