Photo Flash: New Line Theatre presents ZORBA

It's 1924, on the Greek island of Crete, and you're about to go on a wild, whirlwind tour of the lusty passions of the human heart.

New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," continues its 26th season of adult, alternative musical theatre with a rarely produced gem from the legendary songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb, who have brought us Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman (all of which New Line has produced), The Scottsboro Boys, The Visit, Woman of the Year, The Act, etc.; and from bookwriter Joseph Stein (Fiddler on the Roof, The Baker's Wife, Rags).

ZORBA is a fearless, fiery, high-energy musical fable about living out loud, based on the famous 1946 novel Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis, its 1964 film adaptation, and letters that Kander and Ebb found from the real-life Alexis Zorba.

Originally conceived and directed by the legendary Harold Prince(Company, Sweeney Todd, Evita, Phantom of the Opera, Follies, etc.), ZORBA opens in a rowdy bouzouki parlor in Greece where a group of locals has gathered to drink and tell stories. They introduce us to Zorba, the aging hedonist-philosopher dedicated to living life as if death were just around the corner, with no time to be wasted, and his very emotional, tragic, but life-affirming encounter with a younger man and with the love of a woman.

The cast of New Line's ZORBA includes Kent Coffel as Zorba, Dominic Dowdy-Windsor as Nikos, Margeau Steinau as Madame Hortense, Lindsey Jones as the Leader, Ann Hier as the Widow, with Mara Bollini, Sarah Dowling, Robert Doyle, Evan Fornachon, William Pendergast, Devin Riley, Kimi Short, and Sara Rae Womack. The show will be directed by Scott Miller and Mike Dowdy-Windsor, with music direction by Sarah Nelson, choreography by Michelle Sauer, scenic and lighting design by Rob Lippert, costume design by Sarah Porter, and sound design by Benjamin Rosemann.

John Chapman wrote in the Daily News, "Zorba is magnificent - a great work of musical theatre." Clive Barnes wrote about the show in the New York Times, "From beginning to end this is a musical with exquisite style and finesse. Director Hall Prince calculates his efforts like a Mozart. Prince has learned the principle of the musical as agesamtumskwerk, the Wagnerian ideal of theatrical unity where every part plays its role in the whole."

The show was nominated for eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and was nominated for a New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical.

This will be New Line Theatre's 80th production.

Zorba contains adult content.

ABOUT NEW LINE THEATRE

New Line Theatre is a professional company dedicated to involving the people of the St. Louis region in the exploration and creation of daring, provocative, socially and politically relevant works of musical theatre. New Line was created back in 1991 at the vanguard of a new wave of nonprofit musical theatre just starting to take hold across the country.

New Line has given birth to several world premiere musicals over the years and has brought back to life several shows that were not well served by their original New York productions.

Altogether, New Line has produced 79 musicals since 1991, and the company has been given its own entry in the Cambridge Guide to American Theatre and the annual Theater World. New Line receives funding from the Regional Arts Commission and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.

For other information, visit New Line Theatre's full-service website at www.newlinetheatre.com. All programs are subject to change. New Line's season also includes The Sweet Smell of Success, June 1-24; and Out on Broadway: The Third Coming, Aug. 3-19.

Also, February 25, we continue our cabaret series, New Line Theatre Off Line at the Monocle, with Anna Skidis Vargas. Click here for info and tickets.

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