Old Lyric announces 2004 summer season
The Old Lyric Repertory Company (OLRC) announces the 2004 summer season. June 17 marks the start of four shows playing in repertory through Aug. 7. The Caine lyric Theatre in downtown Logan (28 West Center St.) comes alive with actors, technicians and patrons for another summer of live theatre. This summer patrons can expect another full slate of productions.
“We are excited about the talent we are lining up to produce this entertaining and substantial bill of plays, and look forward to a season of summer fun,” said OLRC Artistic Director Colin Johnson. “As always, we look forward to seeing our loyal patrons and new faces this summer, joining us in the comfort of our refurbished theatre where you can see four hot shows in one cool place.”
The opener this season is “Moon Over Buffalo” by Ken Ludwig. “Moon Over Buffalo” is a farce starring popular OLRC alumnus Lego Louis as one half (the megalomaniac half) of a husband and wife team in a fading repertory company on tour in 1953 producing “Cyrano de Bergerac” and Coward’s “Private Lives” in Buffalo, N.Y. When legendary film director Frank Capra calls to say he is casting “The Scarlet Pimpernel” and is en route to see a matinee performance, the strain is too much for an aging actor in deep romantic trouble – a wife about to run off with her lawyer, a daughter switching boyfriends and a hard-of-hearing mother. As misunderstandings pile on misadventures, who knows what will appear onstage that afternoon. Author Ken Ludwig brought Carol Burnett back to the stage in this Broadway hit.
“Song of Singapore,” book by Allan Katz, music and lyrics by Erik Frandsen, Robert Hipkens, Michael Garin and Paula Lockheart, is the musical production this season. Set in a dive in Singapore on the eve of Pearl Harbor, this daffy musical is a revival from the OLRC’s 1994 season. When an amnesiac big band singer, a failed Dutch painter and an ex-baseball player Brooklynite find themselves stranded in the face of the advancing Japanese, their angst rises to a feverish pitch in a madcap parody of every old movie of this period. The owner of the bar, a blind pianist, a mysterious Chinese woman and a corrupt inspector attempt to unravel a plot involving fishy stolen jewels that is complicated by various shadowy figures and a band that seems to be from an unknown planet.
The third production in the lineup is “Enchanted April,” by Matthew Barber. Lottie Wilkins and Rose Arbuthnot, two frustrated British housewives trapped in a dreary Hampstead winter, decide to do the unthinkable – rent a villa in San Salvatore for an Italian Riviera holiday. Based on the internationally known 1992 movie, the play has been recently revived on Broadway. The idyllic plans of the women are compromised by two other companions who are invited to share the cost – a staid widow and a free-living young noblewoman who knows the husband of one of the wives just a little too well. The beleaguered Italian housekeeper of the villa can never seem to fathom the eccentricities of her English guests. A series of unsettling complications occurs when the husbands arrive along with the landlord, but the heavy Mediterranean atmosphere overtakes them all in a magical atmosphere.
“The Hollow,” by Agatha Christie, is number four in the rotation.The play is an Agatha Christie yarn in which all parties typically have a motive for dispatching the victim as well as the opportunity. A tangle of romantic liaisons and marriages around a well-known physician and a prominent family begin to sort themselves out when, suddenly, a beautiful young actress appears at the doorway and the triangles continue to multiply. This unhappy game of romantic musical chairs quickly explodes into murder at the quiet country garden home of Sir Henry and Lucy Angkatell. When Inspector Colquhoun and Sergeant Penny enter to investigate the crime, they are both aided and misled by the suspects. A group of intriguing characters makes this an especially engaging thriller.
Finally, cows and jeeps. According to OLRC Marketing Director Jeremy Gordon, the company has adopted a few new mascots for the season.
“Clarabelle, MB (short for the milk beast) and Flash join the OLRC as our new ‘Cache Cows,'” Gordon said. “The cow theme is an attempt to give the OLRC a local feel and to give patrons an image they won’t forget. We have some very novel promotions this season, including a partnership with KJQ radio from Salt Lake and its cow mascot ‘Bessie the Milk Beast.'”
Bessie will be seen at the Lyric a several times this summer giving out free milk and merchandise.
The OLRC Promo Jeep is also back this season.
“You can’t miss it,” Gordon said. “We will be driving it all summer. If you catch the driver, you can win free CDs from KJQ and STARR 102.7, tickets and even OLRC merchandise. Just watch for ads and the Web site for locations the jeep might be, as well as a chance to win Caffe Ibis coffee and all the other promotions we have set for this year. It should be fun.”
Tickets for the 2004 OLRC season are currently available, including the OLRC’s Flex-Pass option. A Flex-Pass Season Subscription includes four coupons to any evening performance of choice (subject to ticket availability).
“See what you want, when you want, or see all four shows at great savings,” Gordon said.
There is also a matinee Flex-Pass option for even more savings. Special pricing also includes two-for-one pricing on Tuesday and Wednesday performances and the student rush nightly. Pricing and ticket information is available by calling (435) 797-0305 or visit the company’s Web site at www.usu.edu/lyric. Patrons can also purchase tickets at the Smith Spectrum ticket office on the Utah State campus (7600 Old Main Hill, Logan).
For a 2004 OLRC brochure, call (435) 797-3046, or for general inquiries call (435) 797-1500. Gordon advises everyone to stay tuned for special promotional offers, contests and Web exclusive deals (www.usu.edu/lyric).
The complete OLRC schedule follows. Curtain time for evening performances is 8 p.m. and 2 p.m. for matinee performances. “Moon over Buffalo:” June 17, 18, 19; July 1, 3 (matinee and evening), 21, 28; Aug. 6. “Song of Singapore:” June 24, 25, 26 (matinee and evening); July 2, 22, 30, Aug. 4, 7 (matinee and evening). “Enchanted April:” July 8, 9, 10 (matinee and evening), 23, 31 (matinee and evening). “The Hollow:” July 15, 16, 17 (matinee and evening), 24, 27, 29; Aug. 5.######