42nd Street Moon - One Touch of Venus

One Touch of Venus (1943)

Music by KURT WEILL
Lyrics by OGDEN NASH
Book by S.J. PERELMAN & OGDEN NASH

Directed by GREG MACKELLAN
Musical Director DAVE DOBRUSKY
Choreographed by TOM SEGAL

One Touch of Venus dazzled audiences in 1943 with its sweetly sexy book and beguiling score. A statue of the goddess Venus is brought to life and creates comic chaos as she pursues the mild-mannered barber who accidentally animated her -- and is pursued herself by an unscrupulous art enthusiast! The score includes Weill’s immortal love song SPEAK LOW, as well as I’M A STRANGER HERE MYSELF, THAT’S HIM, DR. CRIPPEN, THE TROUBLE WITH WOMEN, WESTWIND.

WHERE:
Eureka Theatre
215 Jackson (between Battery and Front), San Francisco, CA

WHEN:
OCT. 25 – NOV. 11, 2007
Low-Priced Previews: Thur-Fri, October 25 & 26 @ 8pm
Early Curtain Wednesday: November 7 @ 7pm
Discussion with Director & Cast: Sunday Oct 28 & Nov 4
Family matinee: Saturday Nov 3 @ 1pm
Regular Performances: Thur & Fri at 8pm; Sat at 6pm; Sun at 3pm

BIOGRAPHIES

		PETER BUDINGER (Whitelaw Savory) is making his 42nd Street Moon debut. He was last seen in Into the Woods at Crossroads Theatre and She Loves Me at the Masquers Playhouse. A founding member of Dr. Emile’s Theatre Tremendo, Peter has written, directed, produced and acted in original works with his partner in life and onstage, DC Scarpelli. Those pieces include It Came from Beneath the Kilt! (2000 SF Fringe - Best of Fringe) and Where the Sun Don’t Shine (2006 SF Fringe - Best of Fringe).

		AMY LOUISE COLE (Molly Grant) has been performing with 42nd Street Moon for almost a decade. Favorite roles include Ruth in Plain and Fancy, Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and the tap dancing Lottie in Mack & Mabel, to name just a few. When not performing, directing, designing, or teaching theater to the next generation, Ms. Cole runs El Gato Del Diablo Theatre Company with partner Shawn Ferreyra (www.elgatotheatre.org).

		JULIET HELLER (Gloria Kramer) is making her 42nd Street Moon debut with a fantastic cast! International: The Country Wife (Marjorie Pinchwife)at the Diorama Studio Theatre, London. New York: Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol (Off-Off Broadway), Rock Out! (NY Intl. Fringe Festival). Regional: The Music Man (Marian), The Importance of Being Earnest (Gwendolen), The Rainmaker (Lizzie), Richard III (Buckingham), Into the Woods (Cinderella), Hair!, Oklahoma!, and Two Gentlemen of Verona. Training: Studio ACT, Indiana University, Bloomington.

NINA JOSEPHS (Venus) returns to 42nd Street Moon where she has previously performed in Gay Divorce (Mimi), Pardon My English (Frieda), Lil’ Abner (Appassionata), The Golden Apple (Circe) and the title role in Miss Liberty. Other regional credits include Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, Anna Held in Tintypes, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Mrs. Potiphar in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Lady Larkin in Once Upon a Mattress for which she won a Dean Goodman Award. She holds a Bachelor’s of Music from San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

		TYLER KENT (Stanley, Dr. Rook, et al) joins the 42nd Street Moon family with this performance. Bay Area Credits include Twelfth Night (SF Shakespeare) and The Rogue El Gato (El Gato Family Theatre). Other favorites: Grand Night for Singing, Mr. Marmalade, Measure for Measure, Merchant of Venice, Midsummer Night's Dream. Mr. Kent is a proud graduate of the Whitman College theatre program and has also studied at New York University’s Cap21 and AMT in San Jose.

		CHRIS MACOMBER (Mrs. Kramer) discovered musical theater several years ago after a long government career. Venus is her seventh 42nd Street Moon show: Madame Roberta in Roberta, Gladys Cooley in Fifty Million Frenchmen (Dean Goodman Choice Award); Mrs. McNish in Minnie’s Boys, Countess in Miss Liberty, and several roles in Pardon My English and Plain and Fancy. More recently, she has been tip-toeing into plays: Twelfth Night as Malvolio with Woman’s Will, Comedy of Errors with Livermore Shakespeare Associates, and The Shadow Box at Masquers Playhouse. She is also a violinist in The Exeter String Quartet.

		ANIL MARGSAHAYAM (Rodney Hatch) is a graduate of the University of San Francisco with a degree in psychology/pre-med. He recently completed the national Broadway tour of Bombay Dreams. This is his fourth show with 42nd Street Moon. He has also made two Moon gala appearances at the Alcazar and Herbst Theatres. Other regional theater credits include TheaterWorks, CalShakes, the Magic Theatre, and Crowded Fire, where he is an associate artist. Now residing in Los Angeles, Anil is thrilled to be back in San Francisco working on One Touch of Venus.

		TOM ORR (Taxi Black) is a veteran Moonie now in his sixth show, following roles in Mack & Mabel, Li'l Abner, Pardon My English, Plain and Fancy and the Moon About Town 2007 Gala. An award-winning lyricist best known for Dirty Little Showtunes! and his recent solo show, iTom_shuffle, he was in: Naked Boys Singing! and Trog! at Theatre Rhino; Whoop-Dee-Doo! and Take Me Out at New Conservatory Theatre Center; and Shopping! The Musical, among others. He made his directorial debut (with co-director Tom Segal) on Simply Sondheim! A 75th Birthday Salute, now on CD (www.kritzerland.com).

		JARROD QUON (Sam, et al) was previously seen giving his life for France as Gui in the Shotgun Player's The Three Musketeers, for love as Balthasar in Berkeley Opera's Romeo and Juliet, and for attention as Buddy in EXIT Theatre's The Male Stripper. His training at Whitman College, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and the American Conservatory Theater helped him find new ways of giving his life. He looks forward to the new challenges of surviving to the end of this show.

		ELISE YOUSSEF (Rose, et al) is a recent graduate of UC Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Theater Arts and just finished her third summer season with Shakespeare Santa Cruz, performing the roles of Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing, and Sara Tansey in Playboy of the Western World. One Touch of Venus is her second show with 42nd Street Moon, following her role as Joyce in Gay Divorce last spring. Other Shakespeare Santa Cruz credits include: Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Gretel and Hansel, and more. Ms. Youssef has also been seen at UCSC Theater Arts in Tales of the Lost Formicans (Judy) and Merrily We Roll Along (Beth).

•••

GREG MACKELLAN (Director) co-founded 42nd Street Moon in 1993. His directing credits for the company have included such well-received shows as Li’l Abner, Minnie’s Boys, Paint Your Wagon, Roberta, Do I Hear a Waltz?, and a quintet of Cole Porter delights, Gay Divorce, Nymph Errant, Silk Stockings, Something for the Boys, and Jubilee. Greg’s revised script for Cole Porter’s Out of This World was produced to great acclaim from the London critics at the Chichester Festival in 2004, and will be done in Los Angeles in April, 2008, prior to its return to the Moon stage. He also guided the recent NEA-sponsored restoration of Arlen and Harburg’s Hooray for What, as well as the June 2004 Kern Gala with Rebecca Luker and 2003’s I Remember It Well with Leslie Caron. In addition to the Moon cast albums of Leave It to Me! and Something for the Boys, Greg has produced seven CDs of rare theatre music with performers like Andrea Marcovicci, Patricia Morison, Judy Kaye, Paige O’Hara, Douglas Sills, Ann Morrison, and Jason Graae.

DAVE DOBRUSKY (Musical Director) is proud to begin his twelfth season with 42nd Street Moon. Favorite productions include Gay Divorce, Plain and Fancy, Pardon My English, The Golden Apple, Red Hot and Blue!, Minnie’s Boys, Can-Can, Finian’s Rainbow, Paint Your Wagon, By Jupiter, Leave It To Me! (recorded), Dear World, Call Me Madam, Girl Crazy, Jubilee, and Louisiana Purchase. Other Bay Area credits include: Man of LaMancha, Putting It Together (San Francisco Playhouse); The Fantasticks (Shakespeare at Stinson); In This House, The Boyfriend, Whispers on the Wind (Playhouse West); Passion, Chess (New Conservatory Theatre); and youth productions of Titanic and Les Miserables (Musical Theatre Works). Dave is also Music Supervisor for Ruthless! The Musical, now playing at the Purple Onion.

TOM SEGAL (Choreographer) is happy to be choreographing his fourth show with 42nd Street Moon. Previous productions include: Lil’ Abner, Once Upon a Mattress (Dean Goodman Choice Award) and Minnie’s Boys. He recently directed and staged the world premiere of Shann Nix’s play, Alice Underground and co-directed the 75th birthday tribute to Stephen Sondheim show, Simply Sondheim. Mr. Segal is currently an artistic advisor and associate choreographer for Dance Through Time. He teaches in the theatre departments of Solano Community College and Santa Rosa Junior College, and is a founding board member of Keys to Achievement, an international piano education program for low-income children.

DENNIS O’BRIEN (Stage Manager) is very pleased to be working with 42nd Street Moon. His credits include Charlotte’s Web for Laguna Playhouse, King Lear for Marin Shakespeare, As You Like It for Valley Shakespeare Festival, and Suds for Solano College Theatre. He also served as the Production Stage Manager at Entrée to Murder for two years.

LOUISE JARMILOWICZ (Costumer) is costuming her sixth show for 42nd Street Moon, having most recently costumed our Moon About Town gala and Gay Divorce earlier this year. Ms. Jarmilowicz has been costuming around San Francisco for many years. Previous groups with whom she has worked, designing and constructing costumes, include the African-American Shakespeare Co., Children's Fairyland, Stage Door Conservatory, The Lamplighters, the Dark Room Theater, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and many other local artists.

ELLEN BROOKS (Lighting Designer) recently completed her seventh season at the Marin Shakespeare Company with Henry IV Parts I and II and The Complete Works of Shakespeare. For 42nd Street Moon she has designed over 20 productions at the Alcazar, Herbst, Presentation, New Conservatory and Eureka Theatres in San Francisco. She also frequently designs for the internationally known Lamplighters at Yerba Buena Center and on tour. Her most recent project, Juana, a new opera by composer Carla Lucero, premiered at Project Artaud in early October.

MIKE FIGUEIRA (Set Decorator) is now in his fourth season as set decorator at 42nd Street Moon. Making magic on the Eureka stage involves buying, building, and/or borrowing various chairs, cubes, and crates, as well as creating, recreating (with new paint and fabric), or locating any other set pieces. Mike also designs and paints the look for the stage floor, from solid black to faux hay to garden paths. Favorite sets include Plain and Fancy, Miss Liberty, and Gay Divorce.

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