What a Swell Party: A Cole Porter Salon

A B O U T           

Broadway’s dapper party boy and one of its most beloved songwriters, Porter wrote standards that are still the backdrop of our lives: "Night and Day," "You’re the Top," "Just One of Those Things," "So in Love," "C’est Magnifique," "It’s De-Lovely" … the list of his irresistible songs goes on and on, and his life was every bit as fascinating.

Tony nominees Pamela Myers (Company) and Lee Roy Reams (42nd Street) join us for an evening of standards — as well as surprises like "Pets," "You Irritate Me So," "But in the Morning," "No! and I’m Throwin’ a Ball Tonight!"
 

C A S T
	Pamela Myers* (Guest Star) made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s Company, for which she received a Tony Award nomination.  Sondheim wrote the song “Another Hundred People” for her after hearing her audition. Other Broadway appearances include the revival of Into the Woods, The Selling of a President, A Celebration of Richard Rodgers, and the Company reunion concert.  In San Francisco, she created the role of Peppermint Patty in the original San Francisco production of Snoopy and was recently featured in Tales of the City.  Her Los Angeles credits include Dot in the West Coast premiere of Sunday in the Park With George, Perfectly Frank, Something’s Afoot and the Mark Taper production of Brecht: Sacred and Profane.  Her regional credits include Mrs. Lovett opposite George Hearn in Sweeney Todd, Mama Rose in Gypsy, Annie Get Your Gun, and I Do! I Do!.  She has sung at the White House, on PBS and with the Boston Pops and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras.  Her many TV roles include a four-year run on Sha-Na-Na.
	Lee Roy Reams* (Guest Star) was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for the role of Billy Lawlor in Gower Champion’s production of 42nd Street. He won the Carbonell Award and Washington DC’s prestigious Helen Hayes Award for his playing Roger DeBris The Producers. Leading roles on Broadway include Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, Cornelius Hackl in Hello Dolly and Henry Spofford in Lorelei (both with Carol Channing), Duane Fox in Applause with Lauren Bacall, and Sweet Charity with Gwen Verdon, among others. His directing credits include the revival of Hello, Dolly! on Broadway (Tony Nomination for Best Revival), An Evening with Jerry Herman, and Anything Goes starring Chita Rivera. Concerts and cabaret appearances have taken him around the world, and he has had the honor of performing for four United States presidents.
	Debbie de Coudreaux* (Performer) is thrilled to be appearing again with 42nd Street Moon.  She recently appeared in Blues in the Night at the Dean Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. She was the star of the Moulin Rouge in Paris for eight years, and has performed featured roles in the Broadway productions of 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.  www..debbiedecoudreaux.com
	Bill Fahrner* (Performer) has performed with 42nd Street Moon for 18 years, appearing in 31 musicals, many concerts and revues, and two cast albums.  Favorite Moon roles include: Mack Sennett (Mack & Mabel), King Sapiens Pomposianus (By Jupiter), Charles the Bastard (Goodtime Charley), Bob-Le-Hotu (Irma La Douce), Ogden Quillar (Very Warm for May, 1995 and 2010) and Inigo Jolliphant (The Good Companions).  He has also appeared with Woodminster Summer Musicals (Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon), CenterRep (Godspell, Drood), and Theatre Rhinoceros (Marry Me a Little).  Bill has received a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award and two Dean Goodman Choice Awards.
	Riley Krull (Performer) is proud to be making her post-college debut with 42nd Street Moon.  She is a recent graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music, where she received a BFA in Musical Theater, and can be seen later this season as Mary Barbour in the American Premiere of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, II’s Three Sisters (Directed by Greg MacKellan).  Favorite credits include: Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street (Original Choreography), Babe in Pajama Game, Edward/Betty in Cloud 9, and Rizzo in Grease.  And she thinks Cole Porter is 'the top'!
	Greg MacKellan* (Host) is never happier than when he is doing a Cole Porter musical. During his 18 years as Artistic Director of 42nd Street Moon, Greg has directed Porter’s Gay Divorce, Jubilee, Can-Can, Something for the Boys, Red Hot and Blue!, and Fifty Million Frenchmen. Next up: Porter’s Nymph Errant. Greg’s award-winning revision of the Cole Porter musical Out of This World was presented to acclaim from the London critics at the Chichester Festival in England, and has since been produced in Seattle, Los Angeles, and twice by Moon. A graduate of San Diego State University and UCLA’s Musical Theatre Workshop, Greg co-founded Moon in 1993. He spearheaded Moon’s two NEA-sponsored projects: a restoration of the Arlen-Harburg of Hooray for What!, and the recording of Leave it to Me. Greg’s non-Moon credits include productions of The Baker’s Wife (on which he worked with Stephen Schwartz and Joseph Stein), Mack & Mabel, Once in a Blue Moon, Tintypes and Broadway by the Bay’s The Sound of Music, a production that was second to nun. In LA and New York, he was responsible for the acclaimed “Shadowland” series of CDs devoted to rare American musical theatre songs. Greg is shepherding Moon’s next NEA-sponsored restoration, the Kern-Hammerstein Three Sisters, later this year.
	Benjamin Pither (Performer)* most recently appeared in Seussical (Horton) at Berkeley Playhouse, Strike Up the Band (McNally) at 42nd Street Moon, Rags (Saul) at Willows, and Taming of the Shrew (Hortensio) with Virago.  Benjamin received Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and Shellie Award nominations for his work as Dennis in All Shook Up (CenterRep).  Numerous film/web-spot/commercial credits.  Proud recipient of Theatre Bay Area’s TITAN Award. BA in Theatre Arts from Brandeis University with Highest Honors.
	Stephanie Rhoads (Performer)* recently portrayed Mrs. Draper in 42nd Street Moon’s hit production of George and Ira Gershwin’s Strike Up the Band.  Included among her favorite Moon roles:  Helen Vance in our smash production of Out of This World, Adriana in Boys From Syracuse, Ninotchka in Silk Stockings, Venus in One Touch of..., Elvira in High Spirits, Thea in Fiorello!, and Adeline in Sweet Adeline.  She is the recipient of Dean Goodman Choice and Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards.  She appears often with many regional companies, has performed around the world, and is a concert soloist and a voiceover artist.  She is also co-Founder/Producing Director of 42nd Street Moon.
C R E A T I V E
	Greg MacKellan* (Director/Writer)
	Dave Dobrusky (Musical Director) is celebrating his 70th production at 42nd Street Moon!  Favorites include Lady, Be Good!, Call Me Madam, High Spirits, Paint Your Wagon (Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award), and Leave It To Me! (recorded).  Other Bay Area credits include Marry Me a Little, Tick, Tick…Boom! (Theatre Rhino); I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Ray of Light); Man of LaMancha (SF Playhouse/BATCC Award); and Connie Champagne as Judy Garland at the Rrazz Room.  Dave has appeared with Karen Ziemba, Rebecca Luker, Donna McKechnie, Andrea McArdle, and Celeste Holm, all thanks to 42nd Street Moon.  He looks forward to the U.S. premiere of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, II’s Three Sisters later this fall.
	Tanya Telson (Stage Manager)* recently stage managed 42nd Street Moon’s productions of Strike Up the Band and Babes in Arms.  Other theater credits include stage management for Jerry Springer: The Opera and Baby for Ray of Light Theatre. She was also Stage Manager for foolsFURY’s production of Monster in the Dark. Other shows include Assistant Stage Management for the American Conservatory Theater’s productions of The Importance of Being Earnest, Middle Class, Luminescence Dating, Red Scare on Sunset and Cider House Rules.
	* 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
¤	Many patron's inquire as to why the Salon ticket prices are more than our normal ticket prices.  The cost of the salon is directly related to the increased cost of having a one-night concert in a historic and beautiful larger theatre (the Alcazar) with Broadway stars.  We have brought three Tony Award winners, and three more Tony Award nominees to San Francisco, as part of this new program. As a non-profit, our model is to present our shows with a ticket price that will cover our costs, and not more.