NUNSENSE!, BUBBLEOLOGY and More Set for Theatre By The Sea's 2013 Summer Season

The Theatre By The Sea (TBTS) box office will open Sunday, May 5 for the eagerly awaited 80th Anniversary Season produced by owner Bill Hanney. All tickets will go on sale at 10am by phone (401-782-8587), online (www.theatrebythesea.com) or in person at 364 Cards Pond Road in Matunuck, RI. Patrons who visit the box office in person on May 5 are encouraged to bring their family to enjoy complimentary light snacks and explore the beautiful seaside grounds.

"With four high-spirited musicals, including the Theatre By The Sea premiere of Cats, this season promises to be an unforgettable one," said TBTS owner and producer Bill Hanney. "I am excited to be producing again at Theatre By The Sea. Audiences will benefit from the industry connections I have made over the past 3 years at North Shore Music Theater. And by sharing elements of the shows between the two theaters, we will make this summer's musicals bigger and better than ever."

2013 Musical Season:
NUNSENSE! May 29 - June 16
CATS June 19 - July 13
ANNIE July 17 - August 10
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES August 14 - September 1

2013 Children's Festival
THE GIZMO GUYS July 12
WILLY WONKA JUNIOR July 26
POCAHONTAS August 2
THE SWORD IN THE STONE August 9
BUBBLEOLOGY August 23

CAMP THEATRE BY THE SEA July 15 - July 26

The season will kick off on May 29 with a special production of the beloved musical, NUNSENSE. Dan Goggin, the original writer and composer of the show, will direct the show at Theatre By The Sea running from May 29 thru June 16. NUNSENSE is a hilarious fantasy about the misadventures of five nuns - ballet-loving Sister Leo, street-wise Sister Robert Anne, befuddled Sister Mary Amnesia, the Mother Superior Sister Regina, and mistress of the novices Sister Mary Hubert - trying to manage a fund raising talent show. The uproarious score includes "Nunsense is Habit-Forming," "Turn Up the Spotlight," "Just a Coupl'a Sisters," "The Dying Nun Ballet," and "I Just Want To Be a Star.""

The Tony Award-winning masterpiece, CATS, finally leaps onto the stage from June 19 thru July 13. Written by famed composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and based on T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, this long running Broadway musical remains a favorite with audiences nationwide. CATS tells the story of the Jellicles, a tribe of cats who assemble for their annual junkyard ball where they announce the cat that will be reborn. The show's appeal is clearly universal, as it has been translated into over 20 languages. Webber's spectacular score features the songs "Rum Tum Tugger," "Mr. Mistoffelees," and the popular standard, "Memory." As time has proven, CATS is truly now and forever.

The summer continues, with one of the world's best-loved family musicals, ANNIE, playing from July 17 thru August 10. Based on the popular comic strip, ANNIE tells the charming story of a spunky Depression-Era orphan determined to find her parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City orphanage. In her fun filled adventures, Annie befriends the President, and finds a new family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks. Featuring a book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Martin Charnin, the score is filled with such memorable songs as "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile," "It's the Hard Knock Life," "and the iconic anthem, "Tomorrow."

The summer will end with the return of the spectacular musical LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, playing from August 14 thru September 1. Before there was the popular movie The Birdcage, there was the Tony Award-winning, smash hit Broadway musical, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES. After twenty years of bliss, Georges and Albin, two men partnered for better-or-worse, get a bit of both when Georges' son announces his impending marriage to the daughter of an ultra-conservative politician. Further complicating the situation, Albin and Georges run a drag nightclub in St. Tropez, where Albin is the star performer 'Zaza.' Jerry Herman's tuneful score features classic musical theatre treasures including "I Am What I Am'" "(A Little More) Mascara," and the popular standard "The Best of Times."

Musicals run Tuesdays through Sundays. Check Website for exact dates and showtimes. Tickets are $39, $49, & $59. The TBTS Box Office opens May 5. All musical and children's show tickets go on sale at 10am. 4-Show Subscriptions are on sale now by calling (401)782-8587, online at theatrebythesea.com, or in person at 364 Cards Pond Road, Wakefield, RI 02879. The 2013 Season is sponsored by WJAR - NBC 10 News.

Theatre By The Sea will also continue its popular Children's Festival in 2013. Shows will include The Gizmo Guys (July 12), Willy Wonka Junior (July 26), Pocahontas (August 2), The Sword in the Stone (August 9), and Keith Michael Johnson's Bubbleology (August 23). All shows are at 10am & 12 Noon and all tickets are $10.

There will also be a summer camp for kids (ages 9 - 14) who love musical theatre. Parents can register children for Camp Theatre By The Sea, two fun-filled weeks of Theatre Arts education culminating in a full production of Roald Dahl's WILLY WONKA, JR. This summer's camp will run July 15 through July 26 and will be taught by RI's own Tom Gleadow.

Theatre By The Sea has had many incarnations over the years. Tommy Brent saved the theater from demolition in 1967 and ran it successfully until FourQuest Entertainment took over the lease in 1988. Following extensive renovations that fall and winter, FourQuest reopened the theater in the spring of 1989 and continued producing Summer Theater at the seaside playhouse until the fall of 2003. Hanney purchased the property in 2007and, with producing partners, successfully mounted a production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, just six weeks later, reopening the historic theatre on August 8, 2007. Theatre By The Sea continues to annually produce a successful four-musical subscription season.