Oh, Lady! Lady!! (1918)

Music by JEROME KERN
Lyrics by P.G. WODEHOUSE
Book by GUY BOLTON & P.G. WODEHOUSE

Directed by KALON THIBODEAUX
Musical Director DAVE DOBRUSKY
Choreographed by TOM SEGAL

“Bolton, Wodehouse and Kern are my favorite indoor sport!” - Dorothy Parker

One of the legendary “Princess Theatre” musicals, this 1918 farce features the classic song BILL, as well as YOU FOUND ME AND I FOUND YOU, GREENWICH VILLAGE, and OUR LITTLE NEST. The typically madcap Bolton-Wodehouse story finds a young man’s wedding plans derailed by a vampy former flame and a lady jewel thief out for one last spree!

WHERE: 
Eureka Theatre
215 Jackson (between Battery and Front), San Francisco, CA

WHEN:
NOV. 23 – DEC. 16, 2007
Family matinee: Saturday Dec 1 @ 1pm
Early Curtain Wednesday! Dec 5 @ 7pm
Discussions w/Director & Cast: Sun. Nov 25 & Dec 2
Low-Priced Previews: Fri, Nov. 23 @ 2 & 8pm
Regular Performances: Thur & Fri at 8pm; Sat at 6pm; Sun at 3pm

DOROTHY PARKER’S
FAVORITE INDOOR SPORT!

     At 299 seats, the Princess Theatre was Broadway’s smallest house.  Beginning in 1915, this jewel-box theatre housed a series of small, intimate entertainments that set the standard for the way book musicals would be written for eighty years.  The men behind the “Princess Theatre musicals” were composer Jerome Kern, librettist Guy Bolton, and co-author and lyricist P.G. Wodehouse, and together they revolutionized musical theatre and brought America to the forefront of this unique art form.

    Agent Bessie Marbury brought Kern and Bolton to Ray Comstock’s Princess, and suggested producing small, low-budget musicals as alternatives to the lavish songfests then dominating Broadway. Although the first effort barely broke even, their second try, Very Good Eddie, was a hit.   

     P.G. Wodehouse joined the team as co-librettist and lyricist after Eddie.   The next show, Oh, Boy!, was a smash and proved so popular that the follow-up, Leave it to Jane, had to open in a different theatre.  In early 1918, the team was back with Oh, Lady!  Lady!! 

     Named for a popular catchphrase of the day, Oh, Lady!  Lady!! opened in New York to a series of rapturous reviews on January 31st, 1918.   In addition to Dorothy Parker’s love-letter quoted above, New York Times critic George S. Kaufman was inspired to write a poem in honor of the authors and their show; other critics were equally as ecstatic.  Oh, Lady! ran for nearly a year and proved to be the last of the Princess musicals for Bolton, Wodehouse, and Kern. (The trio reunited in 1924 for Sitting Pretty, but it was produced at the larger Fulton Theatre.  In 1919, Kern and Bolton – minus Wodehouse – wrote Zip! Goes a Million for the Princess, but it closed on the road.)

     Of the original cast members, Vivienne Segal in the role of Mollie Farringdon made the biggest impression.  Following ingénue roles in a series of 1920s operettas like The Desert Song, Ms. Segal gained her greatest fame as the salty, wry comedienne of Rodgers and Hart’s I Married an Angel, Pal Joey, and A Connecticut Yankee.

     Vivienne Segal’s favorite song from Oh, Lady! was cut just two days before the show opened on Broadway, yet it went on to become the most famous song from the score.  “Bill” was written for Mollie to reflect on her love for the young man her mother disdains.  It’s not known why it was dropped from the show, but Bolton and particularly Wodehouse were unhappy with the deletion.  Kern kept it in his trunk, however, and nine years after Oh, Lady!  Lady!! “Bill” found a home in Show Boat.  Oscar Hammerstein II revised Wodehouse’s original lyric and Helen Morgan’s poignant rendition, perched on a piano, turned the song into a hit.  Wodehouse was grateful that it was rescued from obscurity, but felt the song lost something robbed of its original context.

     We’re happy to restore “Bill” to its proper place for our production of Oh, Lady!  Lady!! and are even happier to bring you a rare look at one of the charming “Princess Theatre” musicals.
--Greg MacKellan 

This is the trio of musical fame,
   Bolton and Wodehouse and Kern:
Better than anyone else you can name,
   Bolton and Wodehouse and Kern.
Nobody knows what on earth they’ve been bitten by;
All I can say is I mean to get it an’ buy
Orchestra seats for the next one that’s written by
   Bolton and Wodehouse and Kern.
              -- George S. Kaufman in the New York Times

BIOGRAPHIES

		CYNTHIA ROGERS BAGGOTT (Miss Clarette Cupp) was last seen with 42nd Street Moon as Lily de Jigger in another Kern/Wodehouse creation, The Cabaret Girl.  She is delighted to return as your “hostess for this evening’s light entertainment”!  Cynthia’s recent performances in the Bay Area include Lucy in Virago Theatre’s Threepenny Opera and annual concerts at the Great American Musical Hall benefiting Mount St. Joseph-St. Elizabeth.  Additionally, she enjoys performing with her husband Ken Baggott, and teaching Voice and Musical Theatre at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

		KEN BOSWELL (Watty) has performed and taught with Sunnyvale’s California Theatre Center.  Recent credits include Americana Absurdum (Lt. Caley/Clown Father), Sideways Stories from Wayside School (Louis/Mr. Pickle) with Renegade Theatre Experiment.  Enchanted April (Frederick Arnott), A Year With Frog and Toad (Snail/Bird/ Lizard) with the Bus Barn Stage Company.  He won the "2007 Subscriber Choice Award" for favorite performance by a supporting male actor in Hillbarn Theatre’s production of The Foreighner ("Froggy" LeSueur).  Next year, look for Ken at City Lights Theatre in Boy Gets Girl.

		MICHAEL CASSIDY (Willoughby Finch) is making his 42nd Street Moon debut.  Recent credits include Tom McKenzie in The Seven Year Itch (Novato Theatre Company) and Bruce in Beyond Therapy (College of Marin).  Favorite roles include Charlie Dalrymple in Brigadoon (Stapleton Theatre Company) and The Beast in Beauty and the Beast (IAM Theatre). Other recent credits include Hair (Mountain Play), The Secret Garden in Concert (Ray of Light Theatre), Company (Masquers Playhouse) and South Pacific (San Anselmo Town Players).

BILL FAHRNER (Hale Underwood) has been appearing with 42nd Street Moon since the company's first season, during which time he has evolved from Sir Galahad (A Connecticut Yankee, 1995) into King Arthur (A Connecticut Yankee, 2002); from eccentric artist Ogden Quillar (Very Warm for May, 1995) into equally eccentric artist Boris Adzinidzinadze (Can-Can, 2004), and from young Prince Charley (Goodtime Charley, 1996) into weathered Mack Sennett (Mack & Mabel, 2006).  He has also received two Dean Goodman Choice Awards, two Shelley nominations, and a Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award.

		LESLEY HAMILTON (Fanny Welch) joined 42nd Street Moon in its debut season, and is thrilled to be reuniting with other “Moonie” veterans with whom she has shared many wonderful, uncommon musical moments.  Prior to moving to the East Coast in 2005, Miss Hamilton appeared in over 30 Moon productions as well as on the cast recordings of Something for the Boys and Leave It to Me!  While residing in the Bay Area, she performed in many venues including The Plush Room, Marin Theatre Company, American Music Theater of San Jose, and garnered awards from the Bay Area Theater Critics’ Circle and Dean Goodman.

		TYLER KENT (Mr. B. Russel Sprout) is returning to 42nd Street Moon to join the fabulous cast of Oh, Lady! Lady!! having just completed One Touch of Venus.  Among many recent credits are The Merchant of Venice, Mr. Marmalade, Measure for Measure, Tartuffe, Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Taming of the Shrew, Pride and Prejudice, and Spring Awakening.  Mr. Kent studied Shakespeare and music at Whitman College, NYU (CAP21), British American Drama Academy (Oxford), American Musical Theatre of San Jose, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  Offstage, he is a voracious reader and an aspiring columnist.

		PIPER LaGRELIUS (Parker, the Maid) is appearing in her first 42nd Street Moon production.  Most recently Piper was seen in the BMI workshop of a new musical called The Geeks.  She has spent the past few years working as a teaching artist and director; and also managed a children's theater company in Michigan.  Since arriving in the Bay Area Piper has taught for TheatreWorks, Cal Shakes, Opera Piccola and Alameda Children's Theater.  Ms. LaGrelius holds a BFA in Musical Theater from the University of Michigan.

		GREG MacKELLAN (Spike Hudgens) picks up where he left off twelve years ago.  His last acting appearance was in another Kern musical of slightly more recent vintage, Very Warm for May in 1995, in which he got to sing a reprise of the big song “All the Things You Are” (the stage direction “Kenny sings enthusiastically but not well” was serendipitous). Greg’s roles in his pre-San Francisco, pre-Moon life included Jimmy Curry in 110 in the Shade, Lewis Morris in 1776, Buffalo Bill in Annie Get Your Gun, Georg in She Loves Me, and for a change of pace, Lenny in Of Mice and Men.  He also had a cabaret act at LA’s Gardenia Club and produced several CDs.  Since co-founding Moon in 1993, his experiences have mostly been as a director and script adapter.  Favorite directing credits include Minnie’s Boys, Paint Your Wagon, Gay Divorce, Nymph Errant, Roberta, Do I Hear a Waltz?, and Li’l Abner.  Greg’s revised script for Cole Porter’s Out of This World has been produced in England, and will be seen in Los Angeles next spring before returning to the Moon stage in June.

		MEGHANN MAY (Mollie Farringdon) was last seen with 42nd Street Moon as April Mudhen in last season’s Li'l Abner.  Other Bay Area credits include Meg/Evelyn in Merrily We Roll Along (TheatreWorks), Columbia/Usherette in The Rocky Horror Show (Town Hall Theatre), Maria in West Side Story (DLOC, Shellie Award), Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls and Sandy in Grease (Contra Costa Musical Theatre), and Belle in Center REPertory's A Christmas Carol.  Ms. May received her BA in Vocal Performance from Whitworth University.

		DARLENE POPOVIC (Mrs. Farringdon) has previously appeared in 42nd Street Moon’s The Golden Apple, Minnie's Boys, Out of This World and Leave It to Me!  Dar has brightened innumerable Bay Area musical theater productions and has presented her one-woman shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York displaying her versatility in comedy, music and drama.  She studied theatre and voice at Indiana University, ACT and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  Her many awards include Bay Area Golds, Critics Circle and Dean Goodman Choice.

		STEPHANIE RHOADS (May Barber) includes among her favorite Moon roles: Adriana in Boys From Syracuse, Ninotchka in Silk Stockings, Venus in One Touch of…, Elvira in High Spirits, Helen in Out of This World, Thea in Fiorello!, and Adeline in Sweet Adeline.  Dean Goodman Choice Awards for Hello Dolly! with Mountain Play and in Out of This World with 42nd Street Moon.  Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards.  She has toured nationally, internationally and appeared with many regional companies including American Musical Theatre of San Jose, TheatreWorks, Broadway By the Bay, Theatre Phoenix Arizona, Beach Blanket Babylon, Woodminster Musicals, Larkspur Café Theatre.  Founding, Co-Artistic Director of 42nd Street Moon.

		SEAN SHARP (Cyril Twombley) returns to 42nd Street Moon as Cyril Twombley, which was his first role with the company during its first season. Some of his favorite Moon roles have been in The Good Companions, Darling of the Day and Three Sisters.Locally, Sean has impersonated the songwriter/performer Henry Russell at the Dickens Christmas Faire and sung with the Great Nickelodeon Show at the Giornate del Cinema Muto, the Telluride Film Festival, the Niles Silent Film Festival and the Castro Theatre. Other credits include singing in the Grace Cathedral Men’s Choir, performing with the Lamplighters, and down the coast with the Great American Melodrama.

KALON THIBODEAUX (Director) is making his 42nd Street Moon directing debut with Oh, Lady! Lady!!  He has acted in six other Moon shows including Flora the Red Menace (Harry) and Minnie’s Boys (Harpo Marx).  Over the last four years he has worked as an actor, director and teacher for many Bay Area companies such as California Theatre Center, Dragon Productions, and Peninsula Youth Theatre.  He is originally from the New Orleans area where he was active as an actor, director, stage manager and radio personality.  Mr. Thibodeaux holds a degree in Drama and Communication from the University of New Orleans and is co-author of the original children's musical The Princess Who Couldn't Cry.

DAVE DOBRUSKY (Musical Director) is proud to begin his twelfth season with 42nd Street Moon.  Favorite productions include Gay Divorce, Plain and Fancy, Pardon My English, The Golden Apple, Red Hot and Blue!, Minnie’s Boys, Can-Can, Finian’s Rainbow, Paint Your Wagon, By Jupiter, Leave It to Me! (recorded), Dear World, Call Me Madam, Girl Crazy, Jubilee, and Louisiana Purchase.  Other Bay Area credits include:  Ruthless! The Musical (music supervisor), Man of LaMancha, Putting It Together (San Francisco Playhouse); The Fantasticks (Shakespeare at Stinson); In This House, The Boyfriend, Whispers on the Wind (Playhouse West); Passion, Chess (New Conservatory Theatre); and youth productions of Titanic and Les Miserables (Musical Theatre Works). 

TOM SEGAL (Choreographer) is happy to be back to choreograph his fifth show with 42nd St. Moon.  Previous productions:  One Touch of Venus, Lil’ Abner, Once Upon a Mattress (Dean Goodman Choice Award) and Minnie’s Boys.  He recently directed and staged the world premiere of Shann Nix’s play, Alice Underground and co-directed the 75th birthday tribute show to Stephen Sondheim, Simply Sondheim.  Mr. Segal is currently an artistic advisor and associate choreographer for the national touring company Dance Through Time.  He teaches in the theatre departments of Solano Community College and Santa Rosa Junior College, and is a founding board member of Keys to Achievement, an international piano education program for low-income children.

SHAWN FERREYRA (Stage Manager) returns to 42nd Street Moon, where he previously stage managed Plain and Fancy, among others.  He is the author of The Rise and Fall of the Monkey King, The Legendary and Fabulous Passion Play, and the upcoming World Premiere of Elagabalus, Emperor of Rome at Intersection for the Arts in January.

LOUISE JARMILOWICZ (Costumer) is costuming her seventh show for 42nd Street Moon, having just costumed One Touch of Venus and our Moon About Town gala earlier this year.  Ms. Jarmilowicz has been costuming around San Francisco for many years.  Previous groups with whom she has worked, designing and constructing costumes, include the African-American Shakespeare Co., Children's Fairyland, Stage Door Conservatory, The Lamplighters, the Dark Room Theater, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and many other local artists.

ELLEN BROOKS (Lighting Designer) recently completed her seventh season at the Marin Shakespeare Company with Henry IV Parts I and II and The Complete Works of Shakespeare.  For 42nd Street Moon she has designed over 20 productions at the Alcazar, Herbst, Presentation, New Conservatory and Eureka Theatres in San Francisco.  She also frequently designs for the internationally known Lamplighters at Yerba Buena Center and on tour.  Her most recent project, Juana, a new opera by composer Carla Lucero, premiered at Project Artaud in early October.

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