Rivertown Players, Inc. 2018-2019 Season Announced!
The Best of RTP: Season Preview
Directed by Shea Haney
April 27, Great Crescent Brewery, 8PM
URINETOWN the Musical
Directed by Carla Zell
July 2018
Hillforest Murder Mystery
Directed by Bev Toon
October 26, 27, 2018 Hillforest, 6:30PM
GODSPELL JR.
Directed by Nicole Folop
November 2018
Disney’s SLEEPING BEAUTY KIDS
Directed by Jamie Haney, Shea Haney, and Bree Nero
Spring 2019
Filed under Season Announcements
The Footlighters will open Urinetown, The Musical on May 3rd, 2018. This production, directed by former Showbiz Players’ President Bunny Arszman, will take place at The Stained Glass Theatre, 802 York Street, Newport, Kentucky. A hilarious satire that earned three Tony Awards, Urinetown is set in a Gotham-like city where a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity’s most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides that he’s had enough and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom! Praised for reinvigorating the very notion of what a musical could be, Urinetown catapults the comedic romp into the new millennium with its outrageous perspective, wickedly modern wit, and sustained ability to produce gales of unbridled laughter.
This production marks the first time that Bunny Arszman has directed outside of Showbiz Players. Ms. Arszman ran Showbiz Players for almost 30 years up until last spring when the group performed their last show, the critically acclaimed The Civil War. Footlighters is ecstatic to have her sharing her directorial vision and talents for their production of Urinetown. Longtime Footlighter Gary Rogers is also reprising his role as Officer Lockstock, for which he won the 2006 Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
Performances: Thursday-Saturday, May 3-5 at 8pm, Sunday, May 6 at 2pm, Thursday-Saturday, May 10-12 at 8pm, Sunday, May 13 at 2pm, Wednesday- Saturday, May 16-19 at 8pm.
Tickets: $22 each, and are available at (859) 652-3849 or FootlightersTickets@gmail.com.
The Footlighters, Inc. has been producing quality community theater shows in the Greater Cincinnati area for over 54 years. The group was established in 1963 by a small group of community theater volunteers who wanted to bring theater opportunities to the west side of Cincinnati. In 1987, the group bought the Salem United Methodist Church in Newport and transformed it into The Stained Glass Theatre. The theater is on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated a Kentucky landmark. Learn more at our website www.footlighters.org or become a friend on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Footlighters-Inc/287519888305.
For more information, please visit www.footlighters.org
***
Filed under Press Releases
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Victoria Theatre Association
April 11-22
Schuster Center Mead Theatre [Dayton]
Cameron Mackintosh’s spectacular new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA comes to Dayton as part of a brand new North American tour. Critics are raving that this breathtaking production is “bigger and better than ever before” and features a brilliant new scenic design by Paul Brown, Tony Award-winning original costume design by Maria Björnson, lighting design by Tony Award winner Paule Constable, new choreography by Scott Ambler, and new staging by director Laurence Connor. The production, overseen by Matthew Bourne and Cameron Mackintosh, boasts many exciting special effects including the show’s legendary chandelier. The beloved story and thrilling score — with songs like “Music of the Night,” “All I Ask of You,” and “Masquerade” — will be performed by a cast and orchestra of 52, making this PHANTOM one of the largest productions now on tour.
Filed under On Stage
BLOOD AT THE ROOT
Sinclair College Community Theatre
April 11-15
[Dayton]
Inspired by the racially divisive case of the Jena Six involving black teenagers accused of an attack on a white schoolmate, the play delves deeply into racism, homophobia, violence and unfair social structures. Interlocking prejudices and grievances are laid bare, yet the story screams for improved communication between us all.
Filed under On Stage
THE KING AND I
Broadway in Cincinnati
April 10-22
Aronoff Center [Downtown]
Lincoln Center Theater’s critically acclaimed production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s THE KING AND I directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher won four 2015 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. One of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s finest works, THE KING AND I boasts a score which features such beloved classics as “Getting To Know You,” “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” “Hello Young Lovers,” “Shall We Dance” and “Something Wonderful.”
Set in 1860’s Bangkok, the musical tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher whom the modernist King, in an imperialistic world, brings to Siam to teach his many wives and children.
Filed under On Stage
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 