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CONTACT: February 21, 2004 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MUSICAL THEATRE WEST ANNOUNCES 2004/2005 SEASON February 21, 2004 Paul Garman, executive director/producer of Musical Theatre West, has announced an eclectic season lineup of popular musicals, beginning with the Tony award winning SHE LOVES ME, Nov. 6 - 21, 2004, the popular Broadway hit RAGTIME, Feb. 19 - March 6, 2005, followed by the West Coast Premiere of THE THING ABOUT MEN, April 16 - May 1, 2005, and ending with the Frank Loesser's masterpiece GUYS AND DOLLS, July 9 - 24, 2005. The 52nd season of Musical Theatre West will be presented at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton Street, Long Beach. Special events the company will stage include the Summer Youth Conservatory production of WEST SIDE STORY, Aug. 20, 21 and 22, 2004, outdoors at Recreation Park in Long Beach, sponsored by the Youth Cultural Enrichment Program of Musical Theatre West and the annual Holiday show this year titled, CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD, December 10, 2004. Season subscriptions are available at prices ranging from $80 to $172 for the four-show season package. Season show discounts are available for children and teachers. For greater flexibility, a three-show package is also available. Special events are priced separately. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Musical Theatre West office, 4350 E 7th Street, by calling (562) 856-1999 or online at . www.musical.org/ (Tickets are NOT available at the Carpenter Box Office.) Single tickets for individual shows go on sale September 15, 2004. SHE LOVES ME is a charming and intimate show which is considered by many to be one of the most under-appreciated musicals ever written. The story of two feuding clerks in a 1930's European parfumeire who don't realize that their anonymous romantic pen pals are each other. SHE LOVES ME is based on the play that also inspired the movies "The Shop Around the Corner" and "You've Got Mail" and features a heart-warming score from the composers of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. The 1998 Tony Award winner for Best Score, RAGTIME, is an epic musical by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Aherns (ONCE ON THIS ISLAND and SEUSSICAL) that paints a nostalgic and powerful portrait of America in the early 1900's. Based on E.L. Doctorow's distinguished novel, RAGTIME intertwines three distinct stories that poignantly illustrate history's timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair and love and hate. The West Coast Premiere of THE THING ABOUT MEN, is an uproarious new comedy from the creators of I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE, and is about an advertising executive who will stop at nothing in an outrageous attempt to win back his wife's affections. Based on the acclaimed film, "Men" by Doris Dorrie, THE THING ABOUT MEN puts romance center stage and shows us the foolish, desperate and sometimes downright insane extremes we all go to for love. Finally the 52nd season will close with the show considered by some to be the perfect musical, GUYS AND DOLLS. This show soars with the spirit of Broadway as it introduces us to a cast of vivid characters out of the world of Damon Runyon. This colorful and high-energy story of high-rolling crapshooters and their "dolls" features a fast-paced book and Frank Loesser's most memorable score, including "Luck Be a Lady", "If I were a Bell", "I'll Know" and "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat". Musical Theatre West began in 1952 as the Whittier Light Opera Association and has grown to become one of the largest, oldest and most respected theatre companies in Southern California. "Now in its seventh year in Long Beach, the company continues to increase its subscription base dramatically and recently raised more than $300,000 in a capital campaign to purchase a 5,000 square-foot rehearsal facility, production and box offices which we just moved into in June," said Garman. # # # # # Musical Theatre West is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation. |