Contact Information:
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu

"The smash hit Off-Broadway musical,"
Dames at Sea opens the Saint Michael's Playhouse summer 2009 season Tuesday, June 16, and runs through June 27, starring Broadway musical talent top to bottom. Tickets for the show are discounted 20% through the run of the show if bought as part of a four-play season subscription. Performances of "Dames" are Tuesday, June 16 through Saturday, June 20, at 8 p.m. each evening and Saturday, June 20, and Saturday, June 27, at 2 p.m., on the stage of the McCarthy Arts Center on the campus of Saint Michael's College.
Greater Burlington's professional Actors' Equity summer theater brings stellar talent from Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theaters nationwide, "right here in our own backyard!"
DAMES AT SEA, the smash hit Off-Broadway musical, book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller; music by Jim Wise, directed and choreographed by New York Director Keith Andrews.
"Music! Lights! Curtain!" Enter Ruby, a small-town girl from Utah, fresh off the bus in New York City with only a pair of tap shoes in her suitcase. Ruby falls in love, saves a Broadway show, and catapults to stardom in just 24 hours. A high energy family-friendly musical send-up of 1930s Hollywood musicals.
Keith Andrews, director, now in his fifth Playhouse year, produced Saint Michael's Playhouse editions of
Barnum, Pump Boys and Dinettes, Suds, My Way, Pirates of Penzance and
Big River. He has directed the National Tours of
The Full Monty and
Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh and as well as many other regional and stock productions. Recent credits include
The Full Monty, staring Sally Struthers and Hunter Foster,
Side Show, The Wedding Singer, and the world premieres of
Love, Incorporated and the first ice skating musical,
Cold As Ice staring Olympic Gold medallist, Oksana Baiul. He has also performed widely and in such productions as:
West Side Story, Mame, Phantom of the Opera and
The Radio City Christmas Spectacula, and directs and choreographs student showcases at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.
Stephen Hope (The Captain) was P.T. Barnum in last season's Playhouse production of
Barnum. He performed on Broadway in the original productions of
Joseph and the Amazing Techincolor Dreamcoat and
The Scarlet Pimpernel. Off Broadway he was seen as Fr. Porter in
Ascension, Lucky in
Dames at Sea, as John and one of Cora's Boys in
Anyone Can Whistle, in the Bistro Award-winning Fairy Tales and MAC-nominated
Not Quite What You Expected. He also has numerous regional theater credits.
Marc Tumminelli (Lucky), has appeared across the US and here at Saint Michael's Playhouse as Eugene in
Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and
Broadway Bound. Other Saint Michael's Playhouse credits include
Into The Woods (Jack),
Barnum (Tom Thumb) and
Big River (Young Fool). Regional/New York credits include;
Gypsy staring Patti LuPone,
Lost In Yonkers, Torch Song Trilogy, Oklahoma!, Oliver!, Shenandoah, The Dresser, and
Bring Back Birdie as well as the all-star concerts of
Children Of Eden, The Secret Garden and
Pippin starring Rosie O'Donnell and Ben Vereen. Film/TV credits include
The Sopranos and
A Beautiful Mind directed by Ron Howard. He is resident director of Playhouse Junior here at Saint Michael's Playhouse and is the owner and director of The Broadway Workshop offering training for young actors.
Abby Lee (Mona) has appeared at the Playhouse in
Barnum, as Cinderella in
Into the Woods, in
Almost Maine, and in
Moonlight in Magnolias. Her NYC credits include Maria in
West Side Story at the Gerald Lynch Theatre, Fan in
A Christmas Carol at The McCarter Theatre, and
Monday Night's New Voices at The Duplex. Her regional theater credits include Corrie Bratter in
Barefoot in the Park, Hermia in A
Midsummer Night's Dream, Young Stella in
Follies!, Pitti Sing in
The Mikado, and Nancy in
Oliver. She has appeared in these movies:
Confessions of a Shopaholic, Tryptich and
21 and a Wakeup (starring Faye Dunaway).
Lindsay Sutton, (Ruby) recently portrayed Amy Adams' character Amelia Earhart in NYC for
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Favorite roles include Christine (
Phantom), Maria (
West Side Story), Jen (
John & Jen), Sally (
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown), and Audrey (
Little Shop of Horrors). She has performed at Carnegie Hall, New World Stages, Music Theatre of Wichita, Surflight Theatre, and Allenberry Playhouse.
Tessa Faye (Joan) has appeared in NY Theatre:
Sophias Fall (NYMF),
Only A Lad (NY Fringe), and the recent stage reading of
Republic (Theatre Row). Regional credits include
Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (Seven Angels Theatre) with
Dames director, Keith Andrews, and three seasons at Porthouse Theatre. She provides the voice of Siara on the award-winning
Pokemon Learning League animation series and will be seen on television in
The Electric Company on PBS.
David Rossetti (Dick) recently appeared in New York in
Thoroughly Modern Millie (Jimmy, Gallery Players),
Ego (Puppeteer, Here Arts Center). His National Tours include
Hairspray (Brad),
Fame (Goody). Other favorites are
A Christmas Carol (Alliance Theatre),
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Gateway Playhouse),
The Music Man (Theatre of the Stars),
Guys & Dolls (Benny, El Camino Arts Center),
Cabaret (Emcee, Neighborhood Playhouse).
2009 Editor's Choice by Yankee Magazine
The Saint Michael's Playhouse was selected as a 2009 Editors' Choice by
Yankee Magazine Travel Guide making it "one of the top must-see attractions in New England," and it is coming off a highly successful 2008 season that saw a 50 percent increase in attendance over the past five years, with over 16,000 audience members seeing a show in the 2008 season, according to Chuck Tobin, Playhouse Producing Artistic Director.
"Our company and crew of some 80 professional theater artists bring full-scale custom-produced shows, not one-night touring stops," said Producer Chuck Tobin. This past theater season the Saint Michael's Playhouse was named 'one of the best regional theater companies in America' by the New York City Drama League, and is now a member of the distinguished Theater Excellence in America Program.
"Our excellent creative team has catapulted us into the national spotlight, with our New York-quality productions right here in Vermont," Tobin said, in announcing the four shows of the 2009 summer season:
Rest of the season:
June 30 - July 11, TALLEY'S FOLLY, Pulitzer Prize-winning romantic comedy by Lanford Wilson, directed by Kenneth Kimmins, famed Broadway and TV actor. A charming romantic comedy set on July 4th, 1944, when Jewish accountant Matt Freidman takes his one chance to win Sally Talley's heart. The couple tip-toes towards love, first confronting her family's bigotry in a play considered by many to be one of the sweetest ever written.
July 14 - 25, HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES, "Brilliantly crafted and ingeniously funny," written by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by John Going, highly acclaimed Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theater director. A four time Helen Hayes nominee, Mr. Going won the Outstanding Director award for
The Miser at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. He is an officer on the Board of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
How the Other Half is set in Beatles-era London of 1969, where three mild-mannered couples face domestic chaos as only a British farce can produce. Complications and hilarty ensue during dinner parties shown at once in separate houses. A hilarious look at the swingin' 60s.
July 28 - August 8, BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO, "a joyous dollop of 60s nostalgia," book by Erik Jackson and Ben H. Winters, music by Neil Sedaka; lyrics by Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield and Cody Philip; directed and choreographed by Keith Andrews. A block-buster musical full of Neil Sedaka's best songs in a light-hearted tale of mistaken identity, friendship and love. A retro feel-good musical set in a more innocent time at a Catskills resort in 1959.
Single Tickets and Season Subscriptions may be purchased online at
www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org (24 hours a day, 7 days a week), by phone 802.654.2281, or in person at the walk-up window at the Playhouse Box Office in the McCarthy Arts Center on the campus of Saint Michael's College. The box office hours are Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Call (802) 654-2281 to request a Playhouse brochure. Subscribers save 20% off the regular ticket price. Evening series, 4 ticket subscription $108; matinee series, 4 ticket subscription $88. (A subscription to all four shows costs less than one single ticket to a Broadway show in New York.) Single tickets evenings $34 per ticket; matinees $28 per ticket.
PLAYHOUSE JUNIOR: Cinderella, directed by New York actor, director, and theater educator Marc Tumminelli, will be staged Saturday, June 20 at 10 a.m.; Sunday, June 21, at 10 a.m. and 12 noon., and Saturday, June 27, at 10 a.m. Playhouse Junior presents a brand new telling of the timeless fairy tale.
A Year with Frog and Toad, also directed by Marc Tumminelli, will be staged Friday, July 3 at 11 a.m.; Sunday, July 5, at 10 a.m. and at 12 noon. Two great friends, the cheerful and popular Frog and the grumpy Toad, wake from hibernation in the spring, plant gardens, swim, rake leaves and go sledding, learning wonderful lessons along the way. All children's show tickets are $9.
Saint Michael's Playhouse is Greater Burlington's professional summer theater, celebrating live theater, nationally renowned Equity actors, and a Professional Theater Internship Program for college students in the heart of Northern Vermont's liveliest community. From its humble beginnings in 1947, Saint Michael's Playhouse has blossomed into an eight-week theater season housed in one of Vermont's finest theater venues, Saint Michael's McCarthy Arts Center. As the area's only professional summer theater, Saint Michael's Playhouse features stellar talent from Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theaters nationwide, hiring actors and stage managers who are members of Actor's Equity Association - the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. Each season approximately 15,000 theatergoers experience the unparalleled opportunity to see live, professional New York-caliber theater, produced and presented right here in Vermont. More information is available at
www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org.
Photo caption: Marc Tumminelli as Lucky and Tessa Faye as Joan in "Dames at Sea" opening at the Saint Michael's Playhouse, Tuesday, June 16.