New Theater Company Brings Faith Prince and Jason Graae to Tacoma

A brand-new theater company has come to Tacoma and Seattle! Sing Out Louise! Theatricals is presenting The Prince and The Showboy (And Their New Old Friends), starring Faith Prince and Jason Graae. The Broadway veterans will be performing alongside many local favorites. The show is a benefit performance for Sing Out Louise!, and the company's inaugural season is to be announced by Master of Ceremonies David-Edward Hughes, who will be serving as the company's artistic director.

The Prince and The Showboy (And Their New Old Friends) runs for one night only on Friday, September 29th at 8:00 pm (doors open at 7:30 pm) at Tacoma's Rialto Theater at Broadway Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are available starting at $50, and can be purchased online at soltheatricals.org, or by contacting (425) 610-6407. The company will also be hosting an online auction during the week leading up to the performance.

Both Prince and Graae are very excited to help Sing Out Louise! in their new venture. "I feel I've known David-Edward Hughes my whole life and I've never met him, except on Facebook," said Graae. "He's a delightful, pithy force of musical theatre nature." Prince added, "How could we not come to Tacoma and do a fundraiser for Sing Out Louise! Theatricals?"

Hughes, a longtime theatre guru, hopes not only to produce quality musicals of yesterday and today in Tacoma, but also to provide a "middle ground" for aspiring theatre professionals to collaborate with established artists. "We wish to help artists who are seeking a way to transition from community and non-professional theater to a professional status," said Hughes. "We want to bring the opportunity for new artists to learn from the seasoned pros." Hughes also hopes to use Sing Out, Louise! to revitalize charitable giving through the theater arts.

Hughes has already provided a teaser as to the company's inaugural season in an interview with Broadway World. Merman's Apprentice, a musical imagining Ethel Merman taking on a young protégé, premiered at the Village Theater's Festival of New Musicals in August 2013. "I assistant-directed that version and ever since have dreamed of directing it," wrote Hughes to Broadway World. "It's our big, 'for the whole family' show."

Also scheduled to perform at the benefit are Seattle area favorite performers Bobbi Kotula, Frances Brown, Linda Ryan, Caitlin Branston, Connie Corrick, Valerie Piacenti, Faye B. Summers, Judy Ann Moulton-Miller, Art Anderson, Michelle Greenwood-Bettinger, Loretta Dereanleau-Howard, Spencer Fairbanks, Ibidunni Ojikutu, and Danny Lacker, with Guthrie Bettinger, Tom (Dirty Little Showtunes!) Orr, and Marcus Wolland.

Sing Out, Louise! Theatricals will hold its main season in Tacoma, with special events and a summer season in Seattle. The company's mission is "to preserve and advance the great literary, musical, and performance art form that is musical theater, and honor the range of theatrical form, through production of classics, new works, and developmental productions; to celebrate the spirit of collaboration in the arts through co-production with artistic partners; to provide transitional opportunities for beginning theatre artists to learn from seasoned professionals."

Click here to visit Sing Out Louise! Theatricals' website.

Click here to visit Sing Out Louise! Theatricals' Facebook page.

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