Andrew Lippa's THE LIFE OF THE PARTY Makes US Premiere at TheatreWorks this August

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will bring U.S. audiences their first look a London hit, when it presents the American Premiere of the joyous musical revue The Life of the Party. Directed and co-created by David Babani, the Artistic Director of London's Menier Chocolate Factory, this rollicking musical journey celebrates the songs of Tony Award-nominated composer Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party, The Addams Family, Big Fish) who takes the stage as a featured performer, along with a cast of Broadway and West End veterans, bringing to life a hilarious, uplifting, memorable evening that was declared "Sexy, sophisticated, and funny" and awarded five stars by London's Telegraph. The Life of the Party will be presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley August 24-September 18 (press opening: August 27) at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St, Mountain View. For tickets ($19-$80) and information the public may visit www.TheatreWorks.org or call(650) 463-1960.

In The Life of the Party, audiences members come along on a wild ride with Lippa and friends, as they reignite some of Lippa's most delightful, as well as sassy and poignant, musical moments ranging from "Be The Hero," "I Don't Need A Roof," and "Fight the Dragons" (Big Fish), "Let Me Down," "An Old Fashioned Love Story," and "Poor Child" (The Wild Party), to "I Do What I Do" and "To The Gods" (from Lippa's work in progress The Man in the Ceiling) and "Love Somebody Now" and "Are You Here" (the Harvey Milk oratorio). The production received its World Premiere at London's Menier Chocolate Factory, the world acclaimed theatre under the helm of Artistic Director and Co-founder David Babani, where it was greeted with raves from critics including Londontheatre.co.uk which declared "this show raised the roof. Stunning," and Time Out London which called it, "Joyous. It's a blast. From tongue-in-cheek to knowingly camp fun. Lippa has a ball." WhatsonStageLondon described the show as "Riproaring. Impressive" and the Express concurred, declaring it "one party that should not be missed."

David Babani will again direct the production for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, where it will feature a cast of outstanding Broadway and West End performers, including Sally Ann Triplett, Teal Wicks, and Damian Humbley, as well as composer Andrew Lippa himself.

Musical direction will be provided by TheatreWorks' Resident Musical Director William Liberatore. Liberatore has won Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards for A Little Night Music (TheatreWorks), South Pacific (TheatreWorks), and Damn Yankees (American Musical Theatre of San Jose). He is also the director of the award-winning Gunn High School Choirs.

Andrew Lippa is a Tony-nominated composer, lyricist, book writer, performer, and producer, who is familiar to TheatreWorks audiences through several works he has developed at the company's New Works Festival, including last summer's The Man in the Ceiling, based on the Jules Feiffer graphic novel. Lippa's most notable works include The Wild Party, which received the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards, The Addams Family, which received a Tony Award nomination for Best Original Score, and Big Fish, which was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music. Mr. Lippa wrote and starred in the theatrical oratorio I Am Anne Hutchinson/I Am Harvey Milk that received its New York premiere in October 2014 at Lincoln Center also starring Kristin Chenoweth. He also wrote the music for Aaron Sorkin's Broadway play The Farnsworth Invention. Other musicals include A Little Princess (music) which received its world premiere at TheatreWorks, John & Jen(music/book), Asphalt Beach (music/lyrics), and You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (additional music/lyrics and arrangements). During his career, Mr. Lippa has been honored with Tony and Grammy Award nominations, the Gilman/Gonzalez-Falla Theatre Foundation Award, ASCAP's Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, the Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award. Raised in Michigan, Lippa was born in Leeds, England.

Damian Humbley is well known in London for his work on Stephen Sondheim musicals, including the critically acclaimed production of Merrily We Roll Along (Charley Kringas), and the recent London production of Putting It Together. Other West End credits include Lend Me a Tenor (Max), The Woman In White (Walter Hartright),Fiddler on the Roof (Perchik), Forbidden Broadway, and Dickens Abridged. Other London credits include the UK Premiere of The Last 5 Years, the Menier Chocolate Factory's The Life of the Party, and most recently Songs for a New World at St. James Theatre. His recordings include Lend Me a Tenor (Original Cast Recording), Fiddler on the Roof (2009 London Cast Recording), The Symphony of Australia (Sydney Symphony Orchestra), and Merrily We Roll Along (DigitalTheatre.com).

Sally Ann Triplett has appeared on Broadway in Finding Neverland (Mrs. DuMaurier), Carrie (Sue Snell), and The Last Ship (Peggy White). On the West End she has been seen in Follies (Young Phyllis); Grease (Rizzo); Jolson (Ruby Keeler); Chicago (Roxie Hart); Guys and Dolls (Adelaide); Mamma Mia! (Donna); Viva Forever! (Lauren) and the Royal National Theatre's production of Anything Goes (Reno Sweeney) for which she received the Musical Stages Award for Best Actress in a Musical. International credits include Next to Normal (Singapore), My Judy Garland Life (Nottingham), and Damsel in Distress (Chichester).

Teal Wicks rounds out the cast. She has starred on Broadway in Wicked (Elphaba), Jekyll & Hyde (Emma Carew), and most recently in Finding Neverland (Mary Barrie) opposite Mathew Morrison. She appeared Off-Broadway in Piece of My Heart: the Bert Berns Story at Signature Theatre, The Blue Flower at Second Stage, Stairway to Paradise at NY City Center Encores!, and Fahrenheit 451 at 59E59. Ms. Wicks also played Elphaba in the Los Angeles and San Francisco productions of Wicked. She starred in the national tours of Jekyll & Hyde and Pippin. Regionally Ms. Wicks has starred in productions for American Repertory Theatre, Bay Street Theatre, as well as three seasons with Goodspeed Opera House. On television she has appeared on Elementary and The Good Wife.

Director David Babani is a Tony Award-winning theatre producer and the Co-founder and Artistic Director of London's Menier Chocolate Factory. He launched his career at the New End Theatre in Hampstead with his version of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins. The unprecedented success of the show made way for Mr. Babani's West End debut with the New York revue Forbidden Broadway at the record-breaking age of 19. Mr. Babani produced Broadway's The Color Purple in 2015 and La Cage aux Follesin 2010, both of which won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, as well as the much-lauded revival of A Little Night Music. His West End credits include Ruby Wax Losing It, Little Shop of Horrors, and Sunday in the Park with George.

The Menier Chocolate Factory was opened in 2004 on the site of an abandoned factory, and immediately established itself as one of London's most exciting new theatres, winning the Peter Brook/Empty Space Up and Coming Venue Award in 2005, with Mr. Babani also receiving Evening Standard Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer. The theatre's 2007 production Sunday in the Park with George won five Olivier Awards, and moved to Broadway in 2008, where it received critical acclaim and several Tony nominations. In 2009, the company produced La Cage aux Folles, winning Olivier Awards for Best Musical Revival and Best Actor in a Musical (Douglas Hodge). In 2010, the Chocolate Factory Productions of A Little Night Music and La Cage aux Folles opened on Broadway. The former starred Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury and the latter again starred Douglas Hodge with Kelsey Grammer. The productions picked up 2010 Tony Awards for Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Catherine Zeta Jones), Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Douglas Hodge) Best Director of a Musical (Terry Johnson for La Cage aux Folles), and Best Musical Revival (La Cage aux Folles). In 2014, the company's production of Merrily We Roll Along was awarded the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival.

With some 100,000 patrons per year, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has captured a national reputation for artistic innovation and integrity, often presenting Bay Area theatregoers with their first look at acclaimed musicals, comedies, and dramas, directed by award-winning local and guest directors, and performed by professional actors cast locally and from across the country. A home for artists developing new works, it was at TheatreWorks that Memphis, the 2010 Tony Award-winning musical that played on Broadway for three years before embarking on a 19-month national tour, was first workshopped and received its world premiere. It recently concluded an extended run on London's West End, where it captured two Olivier Awards.

Photo credit: Alastair Muir

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