SAN FRANCISCO (12 June 1995) -- The salty characters of John Steinbeck's historic book Cannery Row come to life in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical PIPE DREAM, a tale of hard times and star-crossed love, presented by 42nd St. Moon's Lost Musical Series. The second presentation of this season's HAMMERSTEIN & HART FESTIVAL, PIPE DREAM will be presented July 7 - 23, 1995 (preview July 6), at the New Conservatory Theatre, 25 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco.

This presentation of PIPE DREAM coincides with the 50th anniversary of Steinbeck's book of short stories, Cannery Row. Like the stories, the musical is populated with longshoremen and "ladies of the evening", who weave a poignant story of the friendship and romance that blossoms among the loners and runaways searching for their dreams on the Monterey wharf.

Presented on Broadway in 1955, PIPE DREAM represented Rodgers and Hammerstein's only financial failure, but contained a score that continues to be widely respected among music critics, with such sweet and little-known songs as "All At Once You Love Her", "Sweet Thursday" and "Everybody's Got a Home But Me". San Francisco's own Ruth Kobart (ACT) played one of the "working girls" in the original Broadway production, and understudied the part of "Fauna", the madam of the Bear Flag Cafe. Bill Johnson played "Doc", a marine biologist and loner, while Judy Tyler hit the stage as "Suzy" a young and vulnerable runaway who is matched up with "Doc" by "Fauna", the good-hearted madam portrayed by Helen Traubel. The show ran for eight months on Broadway, after which both Johnson and Tyler died within a year of closing.

This left what was referred to as the "Pipe Dream Curse" hanging over the remaining cast, taken very seriously by Traubel, who was seen years later in a nightclub act adorned with charms and garlic to ward off the curse. Some may have felt Traubel herself was the curse, as the show's failure was deemed by Richard Rodgers to be due to what he called "second act Traubel." In his autobiography Rodgers later took the blame for having miscast Traubel in the role.

Steinbeck made earlier attempts to create a musical based on his Cannery Row stories, without success. Instead he took his Cannery Row characters and wrote them into the novel Sweet Thursday. A long-time friend of Rodgers, Steinbeck finally approached him about writing a musical about his beloved characters and Rodgers was delighted to take on the project.

42nd St. Moon's production will feature a revised book and will be directed by Frank Coppola. Coppola began his theatrical career as an actor and dancer, including a stint on Broadway in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, which he then went on to choreograph in touring productions. He has directed and/or choreographed all across the U.S., including at Long Beach Playhouse and Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage. For PBS television, Coppola staged the musical numbers for "Hollywood Salutes Sondheim." This is his directorial debut with 42nd St. Moon. Pat Parr, director of San Francisco's Gay and Lesbian Chorus, will provide musical direction.

Jim Friedman, a regular performer with 42nd St. Moon, returns to appear as "Doc", after being featured in last season's SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS. Friedman has also performed with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, PCPA Theaterfest and Marin Theatre Company. Beth Wilmurt makes her 42nd St. Moon debut as "Suzy". Wilmurt recently was seen in the musical comedy revue FOR WHOM THE BRIDGE TOLLS at Joe LoCoco's and has appeared in a number of productions with CitiArts. Pat Christenson, who has been seen as Maggie Jones in San Jose Civic Light Opera's 42ND ST. and as Stella in Contra Costa Music Theatre's FOLLIES, portrays "Fauna". Rounding out the cast are Lisa Kass and Frances Epsen as prostitutes from the Bear Flag Cafe, and Sean Sharp, Brett Owen, Jerry Mark and David Cummings as the raffish men of Cannery Row.

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