As Thousands Cheer

San Francisco (13 September 1994) -- Mrs. Herbert Hoover gleefully steals silver as she and the President leave the White House for the last time, and gospel preacher Amy Semple McPherson attempts to recruit Mahatma Gandhi for a vaudeville duet in Irving Berlin and Moss Hart's topical 1930's revue AS THOUSANDS CHEER, produced by 42nd St. Moon's Lost Musicals Series as a staged concert/reading, October 20 - 30 at the New Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.

Newspaper headlines of the day provided the material for Hart's sketches and for such Berlin songs as "Easter Parade", "How's Chances", "Suppertime", and the Carribbean flavored "Heat Wave". Not seen since 1935 when it made a brief and somewhat revised appearance in London as STOP PRESS, AS THOUSANDS CHEER was one of the two definitive Broadway revues of the 1930's, along with THE BANDWAGON. The original 1933 production was Broadway-great Marilyn Miller's last show before her untimely death, and was the first-ever Broadway show to star an African-American -- Jazz star Ethel Waters -- on stage in equal billing with Caucasians. Waters introduced "Suppertime", a heartbreaking song of a mother wondering how to tell her children that their father has been lynched. The song has since generally been interpreted as a less tragic "boy leaves girl" ballad. In her autobiography His Eye is on the Sparrow Waters said of "Suppertime," "If one song can tell the whole tragic history of a race -- 'Suppertime' was that song."

42nd St. Moon producers Greg MacKellan and Stephanie Rhoads obtained the rights to this premier revival of AS THOUSANDS CHEER after Tom Briggs of the Rogers and Hammerstein Organization (which now holds the rights to Irving Berlin's music) attended last year's Lost Musicals production of PEGGY ANN. Impressed by the production, Briggs suggested AS THOUSANDS CHEER for revival by 42nd St. Moon.

Lost Musicals regular Jim Friedman makes his 42nd St. Moon directorial debut, taking the helm of AS THOUSANDS CHEER after starring in the Lost Musicals production of Cole Porter's SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS in September. He also performed in 50 MILLION FRENCHMEN and DUBARRY WAS A LADY with the Lost Musicals Series and has appeared with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, PCPA Theaterfest and Marin Theatre Company. Peggy Gorham provides musical direction and Cindy Goldfield choreographs.

Taking the Ethel Waters role in AS THOUSANDS CHEER is Andrea Brembry. Brembry starred as Billie Holiday in LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL at Marin Theatre Co. and also appeared in DREAM GIRLS and SHAKING THE MESS OUT OF MISERY at TheatreWorks. Also starring in this revival are Marsha Mercant, Sarah Dacey-Charles and Judy Rae Whiting. Mercant performed with the Los Angeles company of LES MISERABLES and CATS and has been seen locally in CitiARTS and SJCLO productions. Dacey-Charles starred as Marion in the Mountain Play MUSIC MAN and performed in Marin Theatre Company's SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM, as well as in the Lost Musicals productions of JUBILEE and 50 MILLION FRENCHMEN. Whiting has appeared in over 35 musicals all over the Bay Area, including title roles in MAME and HELLO DOLLY.

Also appearing is Stephen Frugoli, who toured in the first national company of LES MISERABLES and won a Critics' Circle Award for his performance in the title role of CANDIDE at CitiARTS; Mark Hurty, who recently appeared in SHENANDOAH at Woodminster and played James Day in SWEET ADELINE and Monsieur Daudet in THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE for Lost Musicals; and Richard Pardini, a past company member of BEACH BLANKET BABYLON in both San Francisco and Las Vegas, who also appeared in SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS.

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