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THE
MUSICAL . AUCKLAND, OCTOBER 2010 . WWW.42NDSTREET.CO.NZ
ONE OF BROADWAY’S MOST SUCCESSFUL MUSICALS EVER
IS COMING TO AUCKLAND FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED SEASON
The
high-kicking, high-energy theatrical extravaganza that changed the face
of Broadway musicals, will
turn Auckland’s Civic, THE EDGE, into a dance hall of the grandest
scale from October 2. Tickets will go
on sale on July 7 and are priced for all the family to enjoy.
42nd Street is a big, bold musical set in 1933 that celebrates the stuff
that dreams are made of. It’s a story of hard work,
being in the right place at the right time, talent and love. It’s
a celebration of Broadway and the people involved in shows.
Featuring dazzling costumes and set from the latest Broadway Revival,
42nd Street will bring the memories fl ooding back
with hit show tunes including You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me,
Dames, Only Have Eyes for You, Lullaby of Broadway,
Shuffl e Off to Buffalo, Forty-Second Street and We’re In the Money
- lucky for many Kiwis as Lotto’s original jingle!
New Zealand-born star of international stage and television Derek Metzger
plays famed dictatorial director Julian Marsh as he attempts to mount
a successful stage production of “Pretty Lady” - a musical
extravaganza at the height of the
Great Depression.
42nd Street - proudly presented by Auckland Music Theatre, the company
that recently bought us the critically acclaimed season of RENT - will
feature
some of
New Zealand’s fi nest talents.
“
You’re going out there a youngster,
but you’ve got to come back a star!”
42nd Street was the fi rst of three landmark musical fi lms released
in 1933 by
Warner Bros to revitalise the musical fi lm genre. In contrast to the
fantasy, escapist
romantic dance musicals of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers that also
began in
the same year (Flying Down to Rio (1933)), this fi lm was an unglamorised
look
at the tough realities of backstage life behind the footlights. The
urban milieu
of the fi lm is fi lled with crisp, slangy, bitter dialogue and wisecracks,
street-wise
characters, topical references, desperately-striving chorines, dancers,
and crew,
and down-and-out references to the Depression.
Dubbed “backstage musical par excellence, the grand-daddy of them all”,
the stage version of 42nd Street debuted on
Broadway in 1980 and ran for eight years, becoming the second longest running
American musical in Broadway history
behind A Chorus Line. 42nd Street became the capstone of Broadway’s
golden age.
Using the all-new Randy Skinner choreography, as seen
in the Tony Award-winning
2001 Broadway revival, audiences will be treated to spectacular dance routines,
starting with forty pairs of feet
tap-dancing away as the curtain slowly rose for the fi rst act as they did
at that time.
Veteran New Zealand artist Suzanne Lee has been signed to play love-cheat,
prima donna Dorothy Brock whose
clumsiness opens the door for nervous-but-enthusiastic new chorus girl from
out of town, Peggy Sawyer, to be played by
Laura
O’Sullivan who most recently won praise for her performance in RENT.
Suzanne is fresh from playing understudy
to Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard in Australia and has an extensive entertainment
career in New Zealand that
includes Chicago, 12 Bar Rhythm & Shoes as well as impersonating Helen Clark
The charming leading tenor, Billy Lawlor,
will be played by Melbourne based young heart-throb Lyndon Keenan, who recently
played the lead role in Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Christchurch.
Bert Barry and Maggie Jones - the producers and writers of “Pretty Lady”,
- will be played by Grant Bridger and Lynn
Webster. Grant is a performer of some 25 years experience in New Zealand, and
has toured extensively overseas,
including Japan in Phantom of the Opera, and Australia and New Zealand in the
critically-acclaimed version of Jesus
Christ Superstar; while Lynn has toured extensively in theatre in America and
Canada.
“ 42nd Street is a nonstop parade of splashy production numbers”
- Houston Chronicle
Director Grant Meese, of Amici Productions, says 42nd Street is one of his all
time favourite musicals. “It’s an uplifting
musical and one that makes you want to get up and dance. The storyline is also
one many people can relate to... a missed
opportunity, unrequited love and finally good fortune.”
“ We are extremely proud to be able to present this musical masterpiece
in New Zealand.”
Tickets are on sale 7 July at THE EDGE
BE QUICK AS THE SEASON IS STRICTLY LIMITED
0800 BUY TICKETS or (09) 357 3355
$35.00 - $82.50 (+ booking fee)
Special group booking offer available for 10 or more
WWW.42NDSTREET.CO.NZ