Where’s Charley?
A musical farce by the creator of GUYS AND DOLLS!
Based on the play Charley’s Aunt by BRANDON THOMAS
Music and lyrics by FRANK LOESSER
Book by GEORGE ABBOTT
Directed by Dean Paul Gibson
Musical Direction by Steven Greenfield
Choreography by Shelley Stewart Hunt
March 25 – April 18, 2010
Previews March 25, 26; Opens March 27
At Studio 58 Langara College, 100 West 49th Avenue
Set by Pam Johnson
Costumes by Christina Sinosich, Sebastian and Co. Costumes Etc.
Lights by Darren Boquist
Studio 58 proudly presents Where’s Charley?, a charming and hysterically funny musical adapted from one of the most popular farces ever written, on stage from March 25 to April 18, 2010. Frank Loesser's tuneful and catchy score delivers non-stop entertainment for the entire family!
With a string of hits like Guys and Dolls, The Boy Friend and last season’s Bye Bye Birdie Studio 58 has become known for staging great musicals. The professional theatre training program at Langara College is gearing up for another spectacle of song and dance with Where’s Charley?
The trouble all starts when Charley's aunt Dona Lucia, who is needed as a chaperone, fails to arrive. Desperate to be with his girl, Jack persuades his buddy Charley to dress up as his Aunt. Mayhem ensues when Mr. Spettigue, the girls’ guardian, falls in love with Charley’s ‘Aunt’ and the real Dona Lucia also shows up! Set on the Oxford University campus in 1892, this Studio 58 staging is directed by Dean Paul Gibson (The Boy Friend, Othello and many others at Bard on the Beach), with musical direction by Steven Greenfield (Suessical, Oklahoma!) and choreography by Shelley Stewart Hunt (Guys and Dolls, The Boy Friend, Bye Bye Birdie, West Side Story).
Where’s Charley? is based on the play Charley’s Aunt by Brandon Thomas which broke all historic records for plays of any kind, with an original London run of 1,466 performances. The musical originally opened on Broadway in 1948 with memorable songs such as Once in Love with Amy and featured the up and coming talent Ray Bolger (The Scarecrow inThe Wizard of Oz) as Charley.
Show times
Tuesday - Saturday at 8:00 pm
Saturday/Sunday Matinees at 3:00pm (except March 27)
No shows on Mondays!
Tickets
Single tickets $24.50/20.50/16.50
Previews and matinees $15
www.ticketstonight.ca
604.684.2787
March 25 – April 18, 2010
Studio 58
Langara College, 100 West 49th Avenue, Vancouver, BC
www.studio58.ca
Look for podcasts and blogs about the show on Plank Magazine
MEET THE CREATIVE TEAM
Dean Paul Gibson - Director
Dean’s selected directing credits include Seven Stories for CanStage/Theatre Calgary, Black Comedy/ Marriage Proposal, The History Boys, It's A Wonderful Life, The School for Scandal and A Flea in Her Ear (Arts Club), Toronto, Mississippi (Theatre Aquarius-Playhouse), True West, No Great Mischief, and Noises Off (The Playhouse), The Boy Friend (Studio 58), Othello, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Nights Dream , Hamlet, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Pericles, Twelfth Night, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Bard on the Beach), Lend Me a Tenor, Good Night Desdemona–Good Morning Juliet, and Powerlines (Gateway Theatre), Coup De Tat (WCT) and Lettice and Lovage (Pacific Theatre). As an actor, Dean has also been seen on stage across the country and in various film and TV roles. Dean has been honoured with Jessie Richardson Awards for his acting and directing and is a graduate of Studio 58. Upcoming, Director for The 25th Annual Puttnam County Spelling Bee for Theatre Calgary, Much Ado About Nothing for Bard on the Beach.
Steven Greenfield - Musical Director
Steven is thrilled to be musical directing his first production for Studio 58! He is a Jessie Award-winning and OVATION! Award-nominated musical director for Seussical (Carousel Theatre) and Edges (Streamlight Productions). Other musical direction credits include: Oklahoma! (Chemainus Theatre Festival), Sunday in the Park with George (APPLAUSE! Musicals in Concert) and Songs for a New World (Take Me Back to Manhattan). Favourite acting credits: 'Zoltan Karpathy' in My Fair Lady and 'The Mayor of Whoville' in Seussical (Western Canada Theatre), 'Cord Elam' in Oklahoma!, 'Brian Strange' in Mr. Pim Passes By and 'Laurie' in Little Women (Chemainus Theatre Festival), 'Francis' in Forever Plaid (Oh Canada Eh? Productions), 'Buddy Baker' in Come Blow Your Horn and 'L.A.' in Gypsy (Mayfield Theatre), 'Ed Bishop' in Floyd Collins (Leave It to Jane Theatre), and the Vancouver Fringe hit The Musical of Musicals—The Musical! (Fighting Chance Productions). A graduate of the Theatre Arts program at Grant MacEwan College, Steven's next adventure is musical directing and acting in Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog for Broadway West. Love to family, friends and Jessie. For Lloyd.
Shelley Stewart Hunt - Choreographer
For Studio 58: Bye Bye Birdie, The Boy Friend, Guys and Dolls, Pal Joey.
Selected choreographic credits: Thoroughly Modern Millie, Annie Get Your Gun and Oklahoma! (Theatre Under the Stars); Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady, Emily (Gateway Theatre); motion capture choreography for Barbie: The Princess & The Pauper (Mattel); Eve and the Firehorse (special jury prize winner Sundance Film Festival); resident choreographer for URP 1997-2007/09 (Ovation Award recipient for Jesus Christ Superstar and Cabaret). Instructor: tap, jazz and musical theatre, Capilano University Musical Theatre Diploma program; dance instructor/choreographer for the Musical Theatre Intensive at The Arts Club Granville Island. Selected performance credits include The Full Monty (Patrick Street Productions), Evita and My Fair Lady (Arts Club/Stanley Theatre), CATS National Tour (Rumpelteazer) and ABC-TV’s Bye Bye Birdie (Alice). Recent projects include performing in the Olympic opening ceremonies and choreographing the multi-media show ‘Winter Sport’ for the District of West Vancouver’s official Olympic celebration site. Upcoming projects: Footloose (Exit 22) and Singin’ In the Rain (TUTS).
Pam Johnson - Set Designer
Pam celebrates her 30th year as a professional designer this year and she looks forward to 30 more. Over these many years Pam has designed: 13 productions for the Arts Club, nine for Bard on the Beach, 17 for Studio 58, 41 for the Vancouver Playhouse, and countless other shows for companies from Victoria to Bangkok. She is an instructor at Studio 58 and continues to inspire the future designers of Canada. Pam wishes to thank her family and friends for all their support over the years and a special hug for Walker; for without him it all means nothing.
Chris Sinosich - Costume Designer
Chris is happy to be designing Costumes for Studio 58. She has designed for the Royal City Youth Ballet (Cinderella, Coppelia, La Fille Mal Gardee and the touring production of The Nutcracker), Theatre Under the Stars (Annie, Kiss Me Kate, Grease, Oklahoma, Jesus Christ Superstar and Thoroughly Modern Millie) and Royal City Musical Theatre (Brigadoon, Guys and Dolls, Oliver, The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof, Hello Dolly, Gypsy, The Sound of Music, Carousel, The Music Man, Peter Pan, West Side Story and A Chorus Line. She's also designed costumes for The Fantasticks (Quintessence Musical Theatre), Ruthless (Ophidian Entertainment) and War of the Worlds (H.R. Macmillan Planetarium). Chris has won Ovation Awards for both Annie Get Your Gun (2008, TUTS) and Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat (2009, Footlight). She was also incredibly honoured to be nominated for the 2008 Bernie Legge Cultural Award for the city of New Westminster. She is excited to be working with Studio 58 and wishes all the best to the cast and crew. Special thanks to the crew at Sebastian & Co Costumes for their dedication to a quality standard and steadfast support. We miss you, Lloyd.
Darren Boquist - Lighting Designer
Known best for his lighting design and acting work in theatre, Darren has also directed, written, and produced both theatre and film projects across Canada and recently began to dabble into abstract painting. As a lighting designer Darren has had the pleasure to work with Theatre NorthWest, Carousel Theatre, Pi Theatre, MachineFair Theatre, Upintheair Theatre, Mad Duck Co-op, Tempest Theatre, United Players, and BOQ Productions, to name a few. And having previously worked on Studio 58's Bye Bye Birdie, Darren is honoured to return for another musical with such a wonderful cast and crew.