For its 1996 season, Sundance Summer Theatre is mounting one Broadway classic and two world premieres: "West Side Story" on the Eccles Theatre stage and "Mirette" and "The Fitness Game" on the King Stage.
Both "Mirette" (featuring music by renowned collaborators Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt) and "The Fitness Game" were developed as part of the Sundance Institute's ongoing commitment to new and fresh children's theater."West Side Story," long regarded as a Broadway landmark and still relevant nearly 40 years after it first opened, begins its summer run on Wednesday, June 26.
"Mirette," adapted by playwright Elizabeth Diggs from Emily Arnold McCully's beloved Coldecott Award-winning book, "Mirette on the High Wire," premieres Saturday at 2 p.m. It's the story of a tenacious young girl who must defy practicality and convention to claim her true self. She is drawn to the high wire by a wire-walker who has lost his nerve.
Guest-directed by Sha Newman of Los Angeles (who's won best director and choreographer awards from L.A.'s Drama-Logue Critics Association for her productions of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "Evita"), "Mirette" has a cast that features several well-known Utah performers, including Joe Pitti, Richard Scott, Jayne Luke, Erin Hiatt and Scott Nielsen.
The role of Mirette has been double-cast, with Emily Jane Stewart and Emily Hayes alternating as the young girl living in a hotel for vaudeville performers in turn-of-the-century Paris.
Stewart is probably best known for her portrayal of Mary Lennox in both the Pioneer Theatre Company and recent Hale Centre Theatre productions of "The Secret Garden." Other credits for the 12-year-old Bryant Middle School student include HCT's "Jane Eyre: The Musical," "Babes in Toyland" and "Christmas Child."
Hayes, a student at Canyon View Junior High in Orem, has performed in "Peter Pan," "Once Upon a Mattress," "The Devine Miss Levine," "Annie" and "Guys and Dolls."
Also in the cast are Kelly Shepardson, Eric Brotherson, Allison Stander and John-David Keller. (Keller is resident director at South Coast Rep and has directed a number of Sundance shows.)
The playwright, Elizabeth Diggs, teaches in the dramatic writing program at New York University. Previous plays, such as "Nightingale," "Goodbye Freddy," "Close Ties" and "American Beef," have been produced at such theaters as South Coast Repertory, the Long Wharf Theatre, the Alley and Portland Stage. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an L.A. Drama-Logue Award for playwriting.
The show's musical score was created by composer Harvey Schmidt and lyricist Tom Jones, whose "The Fantasticks" is still running after more than 36 years at the Sullivan Street Theatre in New York. It's in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest-running musical in the world.
Jones and Schmidt, who stopped in Utah a couple of years back to participate as guest speakers in a Festivention meeting at Utah State University in Logan, haven't rested on their "Fantasticks" laurels. Two other Jones/Schmidt works in progress include "Grover's Corners," a musical version of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Our Town," and "Collette Collage," an original musical based on the life of the renowned French writer.
("The Fitness Game" plays Aug. 15-31. While it has a slightly shorter run than "Mirette," it will go on a statewide tour in the fall.)
- "WEST SIDE STORY" director John Caywood's cast includes David Barrus as Tony and Frances Garcia as Maria, the star-crossed lovers from opposite sides of the violent New York turf.
With music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents (all based on a concept by Jerome Robbins), "West Side Story" moves William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" into the turbulent world of gang warfare, hate and prejudice. The brilliant collaboration created a sensation in 1957 with its blend of cool jazz and athletic dancing.
In addition to Barrus, other Jets are David Tinney, John J. Beasant III, Raymond Robinson, Philippe Hall, Matthew A. Hardy, James T. Darling and Erik Sorensen, with Amanda Crabb, Teresa Bramwell, Michelle Marquis, Tamara C. Hansen, Stacy Ryse and Jessica Tong as their girls.
The rival Sharks will be played by Enrique Acevedo, Jason Bagneschi, B en Cameron, Xavier Corcoran, Javier Cordoba, Marc Estrada and Antonio Palacios, with Cyndee Zaluske (as hot-tempered Anita, Maria's confidant), Angela Evans, Shannan Kaye Fish, Brenda Loren Serrata and Sophie T. Valdez as their girls.
Jery Elison will play Doc, John-David Keller is Schrank and Nolan Goodwin and Bruce Bredesen will alternate as Officer Krupke.
Assisting Caywood are choreographer Myron Johnson and musical director Mearle Marsh. Kevin Myhre is scenery designer with Peter L. Willardson in charge of lighting.
- PERFORMANCES - Following its opening on Saturday at 2 p.m., "Mirette" will continue Thursdays through Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. through Aug. 10.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children 12 years of age and under. Special discounts are available for Sundance performances from June 26 through July 11 and group discounts are also available.
"West Side Story" will have "preview" performances Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, June 26-28, after which it plays June 29, July 3-6, then Mondays-Saturdays through Aug. 31. All performances are 8 p.m. Tickets range from $11 to $15 Mondays-Thursdays and $13-$20 on weekends.
For reservations for all Sundance shows, call 225-4100.