Little House on the Prairie
The
Musical <
With Melissa Gilbert as Ma
Will be
presented by Dallas Summer Musicals at the Music Hall at Fair Park May 11-23
edited by Madelyn Miller, the TravelLady
 LITTLE HOUSE ON THE
PRAIRIE, a new musical based on the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder series of
classic American books, will be presented by Dallas Summer Musicals May
11-23 at the Music Hall at Fair Park.
Melissa Gilbert, who rose to fame as
a child playing ‘Laura’ in the hugely successful NBC television series
“Little House on the Prairie” during the 1970s, now continues her legacy ‘on
the prairie’ by taking on the role of Ma.
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE will also star Steve Blanchard as Pa and
Kara Lindsay as Laura.
LITTLE
HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, THE MUSICAL with Gilbert, Blanchard and Lindsay, had
its world premiere production in August, 2008 at the Guthrie Theatre in
Minneapolis, where it shattered all box-office records and sold-out for 12
consecutive weeks.
Initiated for the stage by Adrianne Lobel (Frog and Toad) and Francesca
Zambello, the show is directed by Zambello (Disney’s The Little Mermaid),
with music by Academy Award® winner Rachel Portman (Emma), lyrics by Donna
di Novelli and a book by Tony Award® winner Rachel Sheinkin (The 25TH Annual
Putnam County Spelling Bee). Michele Lynch is choreographer and Kevin Stites
is musical supervisor.
The
producers of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, THE MUSICAL are Ben Sprecher, Amy
Sprecher, Louise Forlenza, Bob Boyett, Jay Harris, William Franzblau, Tony
Fusco, Larry Feinman, Peter W. Bezemes, Friendly Theatrical LLC, Jon B.
Platt, Wendy Federman, Michael Filerman, Marc Schwartz, Karl Sydow and Nelle
Nugent, in association with Bob Reich and Sharon Carr.
The
production includes scenic design by Adrianne Lobel, lighting design by Mark
McCullough, costumes by Tony Award winner Jess Goldstein, sound design by
Carl Casella and wig/hair design by Charles LaPointe. Richard Carsey serves
as music director, orchestrations are by Larry Hochman and dance and
incidental music arrangements are by Michael Dansicker, with additional
vocal and incidental music by Kevin Stites.
LITTLE
HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, THE MUSICAL is the uplifting story of an American
family forging a new life amidst the mighty challenges, heartbreaks, joys
and triumphs that face them in the newly-settled heartland.
It is also the story of young Laura Ingalls, as she begins her life
as a young woman, finding purpose, and finding love.
Above all, it is the celebration of the pioneering spirit and the
core values on which this country was founded – a spirit that still
resonates today.
MELISSA
GILBERT (Caroline “Ma” Ingalls).
Theatre: Off-Broadway: A Shayna Maidel (Outer Critics Circle and
Theatre World Awards); Regional: Love Letters (Canon Theater, LA); The Glass
Menagerie (Chautauqua Theater Company); The Miracle Worker (Royal Poinciana
Playhouse, Palm Beach); Bus Stop and Love Letters (Univ. of Tennessee,
Knoxville); Little House on the Prairie, the Musical (Guthrie). Television:
Series lead in “Little House on the Prairie,” starred in more than 40 movies
for television, including Emmy Award-winning The Miracle Worker, and more
than a dozen television series, including “Nip/Tuck,” and “Sweet Justice.”
Ms. Gilbert served as President of the Screen Actors Guild from 2001–05, and
is currently the Standing Board Chair and Spokesperson for the Children’s
Hospice and Palliative Care Coalition. Ms. Gilbert is also a New York Times
best-selling author with the recent publication of her autobiography,
Prairie Tale - A Memoir, from Simon & Schuster.
STEVE
BLANCHARD (Charles “Pa” Ingalls). Broadway:
Beauty and the Beast, Camelot, A Christmas Carol, The Three Musketeers;
Off-Broadway: Frankenstein, Johnny Guitar, An Oak Tree; National tours:
Camelot, Phantom of the Opera, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the
Forum; Repertory Theatre of St. Louis: Esmeralda; Baltimore’s CenterStage:
Sleep of Reason; Charles Playhouse, Boston: The Threepenny Opera; Ford’s
Theatre, Washington, D.C.: Hot Mikado, Godspell; Guthrie: Little House on
the Prairie, the Musical; Paper Mill Playhouse: Chess; Theatre Under The
Stars, Houston: Chess. Film/Television Law at Randado, Rapmaser Ronnie,
Warlords 3000, “Third Watch,” “Law and Order,” “Ed,” “Police Story,” “Sunset
Beat,” “One Life to Live,” “Guiding Light,” “Another World.”Original cast
recordings Johnny Guitar, Sundown, Frankenstein; debut solo CD Northbound
Train
KARA
LINDSAY (Laura Ingalls). Theatre: Denver Center for the Performing Arts: Quilters; Guthrie:
Little House on the Prairie, the Musical; 5th Avenue Theatre,
Seattle: Lone Star Love; West Virginia Public Theatre:Thoroughly
Modern Millie, Beauty and the Beast, Cats, Hello, Dolly!; Carnegie
Mellon
University: Side Show, After Miss Julie, Hello
Again, Oresteia. Training B.F.A., Acting/Musical Theater,
Carnegie
Mellon
University
FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO (Director). Theatre Broadway: Disney’s The Little
Mermaid; London: Royal Albert Hall: Showboat; West End: Napoleon;
Raimund Theater, Vienna: a new musical based
on Rebecca; Seattle Children’s Theatre:
Tibet
Through the Red Box; Bregenz’s floating stage: West Side Story; Guthrie:
Little House on the Prairie, the Musical. Old Globe: First Wives Club,
Skylight Music Theater: artistic director, 1984-91; Opera: Metropolitan
Opera: An American Tragedy (world premiere), Cyrano de Bergerac (with
Placido Domingo), Les Troyens; Teatro alla Scala: Cyrano; Washington
National and San Francisco Operas: The Ring, San Francisco Opera: artistic
advisor; Royal Albert Hall: La Bohème; The Bolshoi: Fiery Angel; Chicago
Lyric Opera: Salome; Royal Opera House: Carmen, Don Giovanni; Paris Opera:
Boris Godunov, War and Peace, Billy Budd, William Tell;
Film War and Peace (ORF), Amahl and the Night Visitors (BBC), The
Little Prince (BBC/PBS). Awards: Three Olivier Awards; two Evening Standard
Awards for best musical and best opera; two French Grand Prix des Critiques;
Japanese Golden Prize; Helpmann Award; Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres;
Russian Federation’s medal for Service to Culture; the Palme d’Or in
Germany; the Golden Mask in Russia. Education: Colgate University;
Moscow University.
www.francescazambello.com
RACHEL
PORTMAN (Music). Theatre: Little House on the Prairie, the Musical. Film:
Grey Gardens, The Duchess, Emma, The Cider House Rules, Chocolat, Infamous,
The Manchurian Candidate, Oliver Twist, The Lake House, Nicholas Nickleby,
Hart’s War, The Human Stain, Life is Sweet, The Legend of Bagger Vance,
Beloved, Home Fries, Addicted to Love, Marvin’s Room, Only You, The Road to
Wellville, Sirens, Benny & Joon, The Joy Luck Club, Used People, Smoke, To
Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, Where Angels Fear to Tread.
Opera/concert: The Little
Prince, The Water Diviner’s Tale. Awards: Academy Award for Best Original
Score for Emma; Academy Award nominations for The Cider House Rules and
Chocolat; British Film Institute’s Young Composer of the Year Award.
DONNA DI
NOVELLI (Lyrics). Musical
Theater/Opera: Little House on the Prairie, the Musical (lyrics); Florida
(book and lyrics) Lyric Opera Cleveland, Public Theater’s New Work Now, New
York City Opera’s VOX; No God but Yearning (book and lyrics) Public
Theater’s New Work Now, Joe’s Pub. Theater: The First Eff
(stage play) Mark Taper Forum, Duende Arts. Dance: Twelve Dancing
Princesses (text) Los Angeles Modern Dance and Ballet. Commissions: San Francisco Opera; Chanticleer; BBC.
Publications New Monologues For Women by Women (Heinemann Press), NuMuse, Brown University.
Awards: Manhattan Theatre Club Fellowship,
Rockefeller Foundation residency in Bellagio, Italy; National Musical Theater Conference
residency, the Mac Dowell Colony and the Atlantic Center
for the Arts. Professional Affiliations: ASCAP, Dramatists Guild. Teaching:
Bookwriting, Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at
NYU
Tisch School
of the Arts; Playwriting, National Theater Institute, Eugene O’Neill Theater
Center; Visiting professor,
Brown
University. Training:
M.F.A., Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at
NYU
Tisch School
of the Arts (Ira Gershwin Fellow); A.M., Brown University.
RACHEL
SHEINKIN (Book) Recent work includes Broadway: The 25th Annual Putnam County
Spelling Bee (Tony, Drama Desk awards); Off Broadway: Striking 12 (Lucille
Lortel nomination), off-off: Serenade. Regional: Guthrie, Little House on
the Prairie, the Musical; Center Theater Group, Sleeping Beauty Wakes (Los Angeles Ovation Award); London: Blood Drive.
Residencies, fellowships, commissions include: Eugene O’Neill
National Theater Center, Baryshnikov Dance Foundation, MacDowell Colony,
Manhattan Theatre Club, Deaf West, McCarter Theatre, Playwrights Horizons.
Rachel is a volunteer mentor for TDF’s Open Doors program, a visiting
instructor at Yale School of Drama, and adjunct faculty member of NYU’s
Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program.
MICHELE
LYNCH (Choreographer). Paper Mill Playhouse: Happy Days. Broadway: The Coast
of Utopia (Choreographer), Hairspray and The Full Monty (Associate
Choreographer), Urinetown (Asst. Choreographer). Off-Broadway: Everyday
Rapture (Second Stage), NYMF: Idaho; Yale Rep: Rough Crossing; Guthrie:
Little House on the Prairie; Asolo Theatre: Pride & Prejudice; Mark Taper
Forum: 13; St Louis MUNY: Breakfast at Tiffany’s; Stanford Center for the
Arts: Empire; North Carolina Theatre: South Pacific; Ford Center: Leading
Ladies; has traveled around the world setting companies of Hairspray and The
Full Monty. Film: CAMP. Awards: Connecticut
Critics Circle Award for Happy Days at Goodspeed
Opera House; Garland
Award for 13.
KEVIN
STITES (Music Supervision, Additional Vocals, Incidental Music). Broadway:
Tale of Two Cities,
Color Purple, Titanic, Sunset Boulevard, Pamela’s First Musical, Children
and Art, Les Misérables, Threepenny Opera, Fiddler, Nine, Oklahoma!, On the Town.
National tours:
Color Purple, Martin Guerre, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Les
Miserables, Titanic. Guest conductor: Grant Park Symphony, Guys and Dolls
and Les Miserables at Hollywood Bowl. TV/Film: “Rosie Live,” Reefer Madness
and others.
Little
House on the Prairie, the Musical with Melissa Gilbert as “Ma,” will open
Tuesday, May 11 at 8 p.m. All performances are at the Music Hall at Fair Park,
with the following performance schedule:
Tuesday
May 11
8 p.m.
Wednesday
May 12
8 p.m.
Thursday
May 13
8 p.m.
Friday
May 14
8 p.m.
Saturday
May 15
2 and 8 p.m.
Sunday
May 16
2 and 8 p.m.
Tuesday
May 17
8 p.m.
Wednesday
May 18
8 p.m.
Thursday
May 19
8 p.m.
Friday
May 20
2 and 8 p.m.
Saturday
May 21
2 and 8 p.m.
Sunday
May 22
2 p.m.
Single
tickets for the Dallas Summer Musicals engagement of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE
PRAIRIE are priced from $15-$71, and are on sale now at The Box Office, 542 Preston Royal Shopping Center,
and all Ticketmaster locations; tickets are also available online at
www.ticketmaster.com or by
calling 214-631-ARTS (2787).
For groups of 15 or more call 214-426-GROUP
Next up
for Dallas Summer Musicals will be WICKED, May 26-June 27; DREAMGIRLS, June
30-July 18; and the State Fair of Texas musical, SHREK THE MUSICAL,
September 28-October 17, 2010.
Season
sponsors for Dallas Summer Musicals, presented by Comerica Bank, are WFAA TV
Channel 8 and American Airlines.
Now celebrating its 70th season, Dallas Summer Musicals, Inc. (DSM)
is the largest producer of live theatrical entertainment in the Southwest,
the second oldest summer theater organization in the United States, and the
sixth largest non-profit theater company.
DSM has been entertaining North Texas
audiences with the finest in live, musical theatre entertainment since 1941.
In addition to presenting national Broadway tours, DSM also produces
shows on Broadway, presents and tours local productions, and is involved in
developing new works. Dallas
Summer Musicals’ affiliates include DSM Management Group, Inc. (DSMMGI),
which manages the Music Hall at Fair
Park.
As a
non-profit organization, DSM relies on a variety of funding sources to bring
the Best of Broadway to Dallas
at affordable ticket prices, as well as to preserve the beautiful historic
theatres, educate young audiences and create important community programs.
DSM’s Seats for Kids program provides a meaningful arts education
experience to thousands of low income, at-risk and special needs children.
DSM and the Dallas Police Department partner together to provide positive
incentives for youth that are at risk for gang membership through the Stage
Right program. In addition, the DSM Academy of Performing Arts offers
professional theatre arts training and scholarships to talented students in
need. Ticket sales alone do not sustain these endeavors.
Only support from committed businesses, foundations and individuals
make these programs possible. For more information about Dallas Summer
Musicals, presented by Comerica Bank, visit their website at
www.dallassummermusicals.org
or call (214) 421-5678.
Madelyn
Miller is a travel and food writer who is so glad she will be in town for
opening night. Read her stories on
www.travellady.com,
www.carladynews.com, www.yogayaya.com,
www.chocolateatlas.com,
www.cocktailatlas.com,
www.teaAtlas.com ,
www.coffeeatlas.com
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