Posted on: Saturday, June 14, 2008
STAGE
'Les Miserables' opens DHT's 'musical' season
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
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Hawai'i audiences loved the Broadway musical "Les Miserables." Diamond Head Theatre stages the epic from Sept. 26 to Oct. 12.
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Diamond Head Theatre is ramping up its 2008-09 season with five musicals and one play that has music, acknowledging the box-office clout of musical theater.
"Les Miserables," a Broadway blockbuster boasting a rich and emotional score, will open the season and likely attract a stable of actors eager to fill the plum roles.
The tuneful season also includes the Honolulu debut of two recent musicals based on films, the revival of two chestnuts that are classics in the musical repertoire, and that play with a musical twist.
"We are so pleased to present these fresh-from-Broadway, just-released musicals, and we are the first community theater in the country to be doing so," John Rampage, DHT artistic director, said in a statement.
Besides "Les Miz," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "The Wedding Singer" were recently on the Great White Way.
" 'Les Miserables' is the favorite musical for many Hawai'i residents as evidenced by its successful professional run here several years ago," Rampage said. The epic, based on the Victor Hugo novel, has had stellar box office here when national touring companies staged it in two separate visits at Blaisdell Concert Hall.
The season at a glance:
"Les Miserables," with music by Claude-Michel Schonberg and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer (from the French text by Alan Boublil and Jean-Mar Natel), Sept. 26 to Oct. 12. This is the musical, set in 19th Century France, recounting struggle against adversity, about Jean Valjean, who is imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread, who becomes mayor and an adoptive father, but violates his parole in the process. He is pursued by the relentless Inspector Javert, in an epic production known for its barricade set, memorable characters such as Fantine, Eponine, the Thenardiers, Cosette and Gavroche, and a stable of hit songs such as "I Dreamed a Dream," "On My Own," "In My Life," "Who Am I?," "Do You Hear the People Sing?," "Master of the House," and "Castle on the Cloud."
"Peter Pan," with music by Mark Charlap and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh (based on the James M. Barrie play), Dec. 5-21. This is the tale of Peter Pan, the boy who doesn't want to grow up, who battles pirates and Indians and eludes Captain Hook, who flies to Neverland and encounters the Lost Boys. The spell includes Tinkerbell, the magic involves flying children and wondrous but frightening adventures, and songs like "I Won't Grow Up" and "Neverland."
"Souvenir," a play with music by Stephen Temperley, Jan. 30 to Feb. 15. While there are songs, this is not a musical, but a fictional account inspired by the real-life collaboration between pianist Cosme McMoon and soprano Florence Foster Jenkins; the latter was a dowager who couldn't sing, but had confidence and loved to chirp for adoring crowds; the play evolves two decades after the soprano's death, with pianist McMoon performing in a Greenwich Village piano bar and reminiscing about Madame Flo, providing snapshots of two people finding friendship. A Hawai'i premiere.
"Gypsy," with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents, March 20 to April 5. Based on the memoirs of striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, this sentimental jewel of American musical theater is set in the era of vaudeville and burlesque and depicts Rose as the epitome of a show-biz mom, eager to drive her daughter to stardom. Ethel Merman created the role, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly and Bernadette Peters have carried the torch over the decades; Patti LuPone is the latest to revive the character. The score boasts such hits as "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "Some People," "You Gotta Have a Gimmick" and "Let Me Entertain You."
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," a musical by David Yazbek with book by Jeffrey Lane, May 15-31. Based on a 1988 film about two con men living on the French Riviera; one is Lawrence, suave and sophisticated; the other is Freddy, who swindles women with tall tales. Songs include "Great Big Stuff," "The Reckoning" and "Give Them What They Want."
"The Wedding Singer," with music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Benjamin and book by Chad Benjamin and Tim Herlihy, July 10-26. Based on the Adam Sandler movie, this Tony-nominated vehicle is about Robbie Hart, New Jersey's favorite wedding singer, whose belief in the power of love is shattered when his own fiancee nixes him at the altar. He then becomes a newlywed's worst nightmare, bent on diffusing other people's weddings until a waitress patches up his broken heart. Tunes include "It's Your Wedding Day" and "Someday."
Shows premiere at 8 p.m. Fridays; curtain time is 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, with 3 p.m. Saturday matinees on the second and third weekend of the run, and at 4 p.m. Sundays.
Season subscription tickets now on sale; prices for six shows are $54, $105, $150 and $210, depending on seat location.
Individual tickets go on sale Aug. 18.
Reservations: 733-0274, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays, or online at www.diamondheadtheatre.com.
Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.
