 MST Presents the Madcap Gershwin & Gershwin Musical
Pardon My English
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
With a new book by David Ives
December 28, 2005 - January 22, 2006
Main Street Theater continues its 30th Anniversary Season with the regional premiere of the Gershwin & Gershwin musical Pardon My English. Rob Babbitt directs this rarely performed comic piece. From the moment Golo, the gangster owner of a German speakeasy, is hit on the head with a champagne bottle, he morphs into an English secret agent. His German persona is in business and bed with Polish chanteuse Gita Gobel, but his 'Englishman' falls head over heels in love...
with Frieda Bauer, the daughter of the police commissioner intent on shutting down his illegal operation. With different women in love with each personality and a trio of dancing psychiatrists trying to make sense of the situation, hilarity ensues!
Pardon My English, features such classic Gershwin tunes as "Isn't It a Pity," "My Cousin From Milwaukee," and "The Lorelei."
About Gershwin, Gershwin, and Ives
It would be impossible to sum up the lives and works of composer George Gershwin and his brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin in a few sentences. The impact of the Gershwin era resonates daily. Some simple highlights: together they wrote such musicals as Lady Be Good, Tip-Toes, Oh Kay!, Strike Up the Band, Funny Face, Girl Crazy, and Of Thee I Sing, and George, on his own, wrote the legendary opera, Porgy and Bess. The brother team also composed multiple scores and songs for Hollywood and the big screen, and George wrote numerous piano and orchestra pieces including the ever-famous Rhapsody in Blue.
American playwright David Ives, who wrote the new book for Pardon My English, is best known for his evening of comedies, All in the Timing. Other works include Words, Words, Words; Sure Thing; Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread; and recent Outer Critic's Circle's John Gassner Playwriting Award winner (and Drama Desk nominee for outstanding play) Don Juan in Chicago. Ives also received the 1994 George and Elizabeth Martin Playwrighting Award from Young Playwrights, Inc.
About the Main Street Production
Rob Babbitt directs Pardon My English. Most recently, Mr. Babbitt directed last season's Promises, Promises and has, in the past, directed Main Street Theater's productions of the other Gershwin classics Oh, Kay!, Lady Be Good, and Of Thee I Sing.
Andrew Dixon (Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris) is the musical director. The production will feature Main Street favorite Joel Sandel as German gangster Golo and his alter ego (after he's hit on the head with a bottle of champagne!), English secret agent Michael Bramleigh. Mr. Sandel was most recently seen at Main Street in Tom Stoppard's On the Razzle. Doris Davis (Promises, Promises, Oh, Boy!) returns to Main Street to take on the role of Polish chanteuse Gita Gobel, Golo's love interest. Making her Main Street debut, Catherine Kahl plays German maiden Frieda Bauer who is in love with Golo's "other self," Michael Bramleigh. David La Duca plays her father - and the police commissioner trying to shut down Golo's operation!; Ryan Josef, Andrew Ruthven, and Joe C. White are the trio of dancing psychiatrists; and Robert Leeds, Nicholas Collins, Melodie Smith, Mike Lovell, Christina Hall, Roy Johnson, Susan Draper, Kara Lauer, and Michelle Juliana make up the rest of the wacky cast.
The design team includes Boris Kaplun (set), John Smetak (lighting), and Ruth Dentel (costumes). Catrinia Troiani-Ruben is the stage manager.
Dates & Times:
Preview December 28, 2005
Opens December 29 and runs through January 22
*There is no performance New Year's Day, January 1)
Performances are on Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm.
Ticket Info:
Tickets range from $10 - $30 and are on sale in person at the Main Street Theater Box Office, 4617 Montrose, by phone at 713.524.6706, Tickets to the New Year's Eve Gala are $75.
Location:
Main Street Theater - Chelsea Market, 4617 Montrose Blvd.
Visit Main Street Theater's Site!
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*PHOTO CREDIT: photo by Doug Killgore, L-R: Doris Davis as Polish chanteuse Gita Gobel, Joel Sandel in
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