SAN FRANCISCO (16 October 1998) -- Combining passion with politics is not an idea that began with Clinton and Lewinsky, as 42nd Street Moon proves with its concert performance of Irving Berlin,s 1950 musical comedy CALL ME MADAM, a sharp satire of Washington politics that reinforces the adage "some things never change. Local favorite Meg Mackay stars as Mrs. Sally Adams, the role originally played by Ethel Merman in CALL ME MADAM, which concludes 42nd Street Moon,s DELICIOUS DAMES OF BROADWAY! season honoring great female stars of yesteryear. Berlin,s classic score, his most famous after ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, includes "You,re Just In Love, "It,s a Lovely Day Today, and "Hostess with the Mostes, on the Ball. CALL ME MADAM will play Nov. 25 through Dec. 20 (press opening: Nov. 27 at 2pm) at New Conservatory Theatre Center, San Francisco. Tickets may be purchased by calling 415/861-8972.

Inspired by the 1949 appointment of Washington hostess Perle Mesta as Ambassadress to Luxembourg, CALL ME MADAM opened in 1950 to rave reviews and captured three Tony Awards in a season that included "Guys and Dolls, "The King and I, and Jean Arthur,s "Peter Pan. In this spirited musical, Mrs. Sally Adams is Washington,s most adept socialite and an almost inadvertent political negotiator. Quarrels between senators and cabinet members are inevitably mended at her social affairs, and her soirees contribute immeasurably to the smooth functioning of government. Capitalizing on this talent, the State Department appoints her to the position of Ambassador to Lichtenburg. Instead of smoothing roads, however, Mrs. Adams soon causes an angry rift over the question of an American loan; assists with the clandestine rendezvous of the Lichtenburg princess and her protégé in the embassy; and falls in love herself with the Prime Minister!

Longtime cabaret favorite Meg Mackay will take on the part of Sally Adams, the role made famous by Ethel Merman. Mackay has been seen in 42nd Street Moon productions of ROBERTA, for which she won a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award, and SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS (both the stage production and the recently released CD). A veteran of both BEACH BLANKET BABYLON and the national tour of TORCH SONG TRILOGY, she is the recipient of three Drama-Logue Awards and five Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards. She has appeared with TheatreWorks (SHE LOVES ME, THE WORLD GOES ROUND, PUTTING IT TOGETHER), the Marin Symphony (as guest soloist), the Mountain Play (HELLO, DOLLY!), and in cabaret performances across the country with her arranger, accompanist and husband, Billy Philadelphia. Her latest CD release, Legally Blonde, received critical praise as did her first CD, So Many People. Said the San Francisco Examiner: "Mackay is simply superb ... when she gets a chance to solo, she brings down the house. Audiences will agree that Ms. Mackay is a "Delicious Dame in her own right.

Joining Meg Mackay will be Greg Grabow, Arwen Anderson, Jon DiSavino, Steve Patterson, Michael Shipley, John McWhorter, Bill Fahrner, Don Cima, Catherine Sheldon, Eric Letourneau, Bob Visini, and Alison Bloomfield. CALL ME MADAM will be directed by 42nd Street Moon co-founder Greg MacKellan, with music direction by David Dobrusky, and choreography by Jayne Zaban.

The book for CALL ME MADAM was written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, who also penned the "emergency revision of ANYTHING GOES, as well as the musical RED, HOT AND BLUE, and the plays STATE OF THE UNION, and LIFE WITH FATHER (which set an American record for the longest running play on Broadway and co-starred Lindsay and his wife, Dorothy Stickney). CALL ME MADAM,s humorous story line examines, among other things, the curiously American idea that money can solve any problem, and that American money is always welcome.

CALL ME MADAM was also Irving Berlin,s last real hit (his final musical, 1962,s MR. PRESIDENT, was a flop). The musical genius behind ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, LOUISIANA PURCHASE, and films including "White Christmas, "Easter Parade and other classics, contributed songs which became part of American culture, such as "White Christmas, "There,s No Business Like Show Business, "Alexander,s Ragtime Band, "Easter Parade, and the unofficial national anthem "God Bless America. From his humble beginnings singing on the sidewalks of the Lower East Side at age 13, he never stopped working. When Steven Spielberg asked to use a song in a movie, Berlin said no, he was going to save it for one of his own projects -- he was 98 years old at the time. When Berlin (born Israel Baline in Mohilev, Russia) died in 1989 at the age of 101, a small group of people gathered outside his home on Beekman Place in New York City and spontaneously broke into song.

Ethel Merman, the final honoree of the "Delicious Dames of Broadway!" season, was one of musical theater,s greatest all-time legends. Originally intending to be a stenographer, she found her way into vaudeville and eventually ended on the stage, appearing in several blockbuster hits by George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin. She earned a Tony Award for her role in CALL ME MADAM, and later a Golden Globe award for her reprisal of that role in the film. Merman also starred in dozens of other films and made television appearances on "That Girl, "The Love Boat, and even "Batman (as the villainess, Lola Lasagne) up until her death in 1984. Her brassy, bold voice and indomitable spirit endeared her to a generation of theater-goers, and her appearance in a show nearly guaranteed its success.

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