Once In a Million Moons: A Jerome Kern Salon
October 28, 2010 - One Night Only!
The Alcazar Theatre
Music by Jerome Kern
Lyrics by Various
Written & Directed by Greg MacKellan
Listen to Rebecca sing
"Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man of Mine"
A B O U T
Broadway star Rebecca Luker joins us as our multi-year celebration of composer Jerome Kern continues.
One of America’s most beloved composers, Jerome Kern had a storied career that spanned more than 40 years. He started writing turn-of-the-century two-steps, and his music evolved through ragtime, operetta, jazz and swing. His “Princess Theatre” shows set the template that musical theatre follows to this day. “Bill,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “Pick Yourself Up,” “The Way You Look Tonight,” “Who?,” “In Love in Vain,” “All the Things You Are,” “Till the Clouds Roll By” – the list of great Kern melodies is limitless.
The Tony-nominated star of Jerome Kern’s Show Boat, Rebecca Luker is one of the foremost contemporary interpreters of Kern’s songs. She is reunited in our Kern Salon with her Show Boat co-star Debbie De Coudreaux, as well as Moon performers Pierce Peter Brandt, Bill Fahrner, Alexandra Kaprielian and Michael Scott Wells. Artistic Director Greg MacKellan hosts the evening.
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Rebecca Luker* (Guest Star) was most recently found on Broadway in Disney's Mary Poppins as Mrs. Banks, receiving a third Tony Award nomination, as well as an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for the role. Previous to that she was seen in the Broadway revival of Nine playing the role of Claudia opposite Antonio Banderas.
For her portrayal of Marian Paroo in the revival of The Music Man (2000), Ms. Luker received a Tony Award nomination, Outer Critics Circle Award nomination, and a Drama Desk Award nomination. She has also starred as Maria Rainer in the revival of The Sound of Music (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination). She performed the roles of Magnolia in Show Boat (Tony Award nomination), Lily in The Secret Garden (Drama Desk Award nomination), and Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. She has also performed in X (The Life and Times of Malcolm X) and Brigadoon for New York City Opera. She was in the last rotating cast of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues and the Off Broadway play of Can't Let Go a new Keith Reddin play presented by the Keen Company. She has also appeared with Musicals in Mufti in Darling of the Day. In addition she has been seen in Primary Stages Off-Broadway world premiere of A.R. Gurney's Indian Blood. Ms. Luker has performed leading roles at regional theatres throughout the country including a featured performance in the 2002 Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration where she played the role of Clara in Passion, Lucille in No, No, Nanette at the Cape Playhouse, She Loves Me at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse Reprise! in the role of Amalia Balash, Mary in Harmony (La Jolla Playhouse, Drama-Logue Award) and Julia in Time and Again (Old Globe Theatre). Concerts include: No, No, Nanette, and with the Encores! Series at City Center, The Boys From Syracuse. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Ms. Luker received a Bachelor's of Music degree from the University of Montevallo, and has been entered into the Alabama Hall of Fame. |
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Pierce Peter Brandt* (Performer) has performed leading and featured roles in the Broadway productions of Les Misérables and Martin Guerre, and in the National Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. Other credits include principal roles at 42nd Street Moon (Fanny, Redhead, Kiss the Boys Goodbye), TheatreWorks (Side Show, Oliver!), New York’s City Center (Owl Creek), Arena Stage (Candide), Alcazar Theater (Tune the Grand Up), Guthrie Theater (Martin Guerre), American Musical Theater San Jose (The Most Happy Fella, Follies, Pippin, and others), and Woodminster Amphitheater (Joseph…Dreamcoat). He has received two DramaLogue/Backstage West Awards and a Goodman Critics Award. Pierce is also a concert soloist, having recently performed as a guest with the California Pops Orchestra and Symphony Silicon Valley. Visit PiercePeterBrandt.com. | |
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Debbie de Coudreaux* (Performer) was the star of the Moulin Rouge in Paris for eight years, and has appeared frequently throughout Europe in film, on television and on radio. Debbie’s Broadway theatre credits include Grand Hotel and Show Boat. She has participated in Sheryl Lee Ralph’s annual “Divas Simply Singing” benefit in Los Angeles, has been a guest soloist with the Oakland East Bay Symphony, has played the role of Lady Thiang in the Woodminster’s summer production of The King and I and most recently has been seen in San Francisco’s wildly popular Teatro Zinzanni. | |
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Bill Fahrner* (Performer) is very happy to be appearing again with 42nd Street Moon. His favorite Moon roles include: Mack Sennett (Mack & Mabel), King Sapiens Pomposianus (By Jupiter), Charles the Bastard (Goodtime Charley), Huck Haines (Roberta, 1996), Inigo Jolliphant (The Good Companions), Guy Pendleton (Peggy-Ann, 1994 and 2002), King Arthur (Connecticut Yankee, 2002), Sir Galahad (Connecticut Yankee, 1994), and Ogdon Quiller (Very Warm for May, 1995 and 2010). | |
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Alexandra Kaprielian* (Performer) is excited to be performing with Rebecca Luker again in the Jerome Kern Salon. She had the honor of sharing the stage with her in 2004 at the Herbst for 42nd Street Moon’s Gala. Alexandra’s credits include - National: 25th Anniversary Tour of Nunsense with Sally Struthers. Regional Theatre: Nunsense 1, 2 and 3 (Sister Mary Amnesia) Willows Theatre Company; Very Warm For May (Miss Wasserman), Plain and Fancy (Katie Yoder), Golden Apple (Helen of Troy), Can-Can (Claudine), Cabaret Girl (Ada Little)and will be performing in Babes In Arms (Billie Smith) for 42nd Street Moon. Regional Concert Series: Jerome Kern Gala with Rebecca Luker, Cole Porter Review with Brent Barrett and sang back-up for Jason Graae. Voice Over: Cassi: Earth Girl on Campus as Cassi. Debut album, Born Too Late due this Winter. She has studied dance with Berle Davis and Jayne Zaban, and Randi Skinner in New York. |
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Greg MacKellan* (Host) Greg MacKellan has had a long history producing, directing, and performing Jerome Kern’s works. Kern’s daughter, Betty, advised him when he produced two Kern CDs (Early Kern and Jerome Kern in London in Hollywood) with performers Rebecca Luker, Judy Kaye, Jason Graae, Paige O’Hara, Patricia Morison, Craig Bierko, and others. His Kern directing credits include Sitting Pretty, The Cat & the Fiddle, and Roberta, and he’ll be restoring and directing Kern and Hammerstein’s Three Sisters for Moon next season. His favorite non-Kern directing assignments include Gay Divorce, Paint Your Wagon, Li’l Abner, Goodtime Charley, The Grass Harp and Do I Hear a Waltz? Greg’s rewrite of Cole Porter’s Out of This World won a Goodman Award, and has been produced at Moon twice, as well as at the Chichester Festival in England (where it earned raves from the London critics), Seattle, Los Angeles, and next year in Vancouver. | |
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Michael Scott Wells (Performer) is making his 42nd Street Moon debut. Catch him later this season as Val LaMar in Babes in Arms and as Jim Townsend in Strike Up the Band. Michael recently completed the 1st National Tour of Strega Nona: The Musical!, where he originated the role of Big Anthony. Other recent credits include Man #2 in My Way (Tri-Valley Repertory Theater), Kenny Franks in Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Diablo Actors Ensemble) and Snoopy in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown (Willows Theater) as well as various work around the Bay Area. | |
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| C R E A T I V E | ||
| Greg MacKellan* (Director/Writer) | ||
| Dave Dobrusky (Musical Director) is celebrating his 15th season with 42nd Street Moon! Favorite productions include Lady, Be Good!, Jubilee, Call Me Madam, High Spirits, Girl Crazy, The Student Gypsy, Plain and Fancy, Mack and Mabel, Minnie’s Boys, Can-Can, Finian’s Rainbow, Paint Your Wagon (Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award), By Jupiter, Leave It to Me! (recorded), Dear World, and Louisiana Purchase. He is happy to be working again with Rebecca Luker. Dave has also appeared with Donna McKechnie, Cady Huffman, Nancy Dussault, Andrea McArdle, Marni Nixon, and Leslie Caron. Other Bay Area credits include: tick, tick…Boom! (Theatre Rhinoceros), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Ray of Light), Man of LaMancha (BATCC Award-San Francisco Playhouse); The Fantasticks (Shakespeare at Stinson); Passion, and Chess (New Conservatory Theatre). | ||
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Wesley Apfel* (Stage Manager) has recently landed in Northern California after ten years in New York. Favorite credits include: The Boys From Syracuse, The Graduate (Broadway); Mother Courage and Her Children (with Meryl Streep); On the Town, 1776, Kiss Me Kate (Paper Mill Playhouse); Bye Bye Birdie (Encores); the original NY productions of Gutenberg the Musical!, Bat Boy, The Musical of Musicals, and The Thing About Men. Production Supervisor and five years as Stage Manager for the SPF Summer Play Festival. |
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| Ellen Brooks (Lighting Designer) has designed countless productions for 42nd Street Moon at the Alcazar, Herbst, Eureka, and New Conservatory Theaters - including our recent Salons and annual fundraisers. She is Resident Lighting Director at the Marin Shakespeare Company and this summer designed Anthony and Cleopatra and Travesties for that company. Other recent work includes Lucia di Lammermoor, Eugene Onegin and Macbeth for North Bay Opera, Bittersweet for Lamplighters/Opera West, The Middle Ages, Last Night of Ballyhoo and The Miracle Worker for Ross Valley Players and the World Premiere of Dogsbody at the Yerba Buena Forum. As a performer, Ms. Brooks recently returned from a tour of Turkey with Innovations in Noh, directed by Yuriko Doi. | ||
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* Member Actor's Equity Association(AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 49,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org |
