Chee-Chee and her husband flee a world of privilege in Peking and, as they travel, are beset by Tartars, brigands, and monks. The ensuing comic rescuers are part of this Rodgers and Hart Asian fable that has not been seen since it opened in 1928.
Herbert Fields (Book) was a part of a vibrant theatrical family that included his sister, Dorothy, a lyricist with a career that spanned more than 45 years; brother Joseph, a prolific librettist and playwright; and their father, Lew, the famous producer, actor and director. Together, Herbert and Dorothy Fields wrote the books for eight Broadway musicals including three with Cole Porter - Something For The Boys, Let's Face It and Mexican Hayride; By The Beautiful Sea (Arthur Schwartz); Up In Central Park (Sigmund Romberg); Arms and The Girl (Morton Gould); Redhead (Albert Hague); and Annie Get Your Gun (Irving Berlin). In addition to collaborating with his sister, Herbert Fields wrote seven musicals with Rodgers & Hart including A Connecticut Yankee, Peggy-Ann and Dearest Enemy (revived by Musicals Tonight). Among his many collaborators were Vincent Youmans and George & Ira Gershwin.
Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart (Music and Lyrics) initially collaborated when both were students at Columbia University. Their breakthrough came with the 1925 Theatre Guild revue, The Garrick Gaities. Over the next five years, they wrote fifteen musicals for Broadway and the West End before relocating to Hollywood ,where they wrote several movie musicals. In 1935, they returned to Broadway, writing, among others, Dumbo, On Your Toes, Babes in Arms, I’d Rather Be Right, I Married An Angel, The Boys From Syracuse, Higher and Higher, Pal Joey, and By Jupiter. In 1943 Rodgers collaborated with Oscar Hammerstein II on Oklahoma! but resumed his partnership with Hart to revise their 1927 hit A Connecticut Yankee which opened less than a week before Lorenz Hart’s death. For the next two decades, Rodgers collaborated with Oscar Hammerstein on such treasures as Carousel, South Pacific, The King And I and The Sound of Music. After Hammerstein’s death in 1960, Rodgers continued to write for the musical stage; his fortieth and final Broadway musical, I Remember Mama, opened less than eight months before his death on December 30, 1979. In March of 1990, Richard Rodgers was awarded Broadway’s highest accolade when the 46th Street Theatre was renamed in his honor.
Director & Choreographer Thomas Mills
Musical Director, Vocal and Dance Arranger Mark Hartman
With Courtney Blythe, Kathy Fitzgerald*, Al Gillespie, Andrew Gitzy*, Richard Grayson*, Brad Little*, Jayne Ackley Lynch*, Kenny Morris*, Nanne Puritz*, Andrea Quinn, Larry Raben*, Ritta Rehn*, Lois Ann Saunders*, Jennifer Scheer, Stacy lee Tilton*
*Denotes member of Actors Equity Association
Producer Mel Miller
Lighting/Stage Manager Shih-hui Wu
Casting Director Stephen De Angelis
Set Design Stan Pearlman, Impact Creative Group
Set Construction Frank Getz |
