THE MUSICAL OF
MUSICALS:
THE MUSICAL
Come see your favorite Broadway shows as you've never seen them
before when The Musical of Musicals: The Musical will be presented at Mercer County Community College’s
Kelsey Theatre. Dates and show times are Fridays and Saturdays August 14, 14, 21
and 22 at 8:00pm and Sundays August 16 and 23 at 2:00pm. A reception with the
cast and crew follows the opening performance on August 14. Kelsey Theatre is
located on the college's West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton
Road.
From the Pennington Players, the area's longest-running community
theatre and fourteen-time Perry Award-nominated (they even won once!) production
company, comes the potentially Perry Award-acknowledged The Musical
of Musicals: The Musical! More affectionately known as
MoM, the show tells the heart-wrenching tale of June,
a lovely ingénue who can't afford her rent; Billy, her well-meaning suitor;
Jitter, the treacherous landlord who will forego the rent in exchange for
something and in some instances almost anything; and Abby, the wise but
generally useless neighbor. It’s such a beautiful story, in fact, that
MoM tells it five times! That's right, five musicals for the price of
one! Each act parodies the style of Tony, Emmy, Oscar, and Grammy-winning
composers: Rodgers &
Hammerstein (Corn!), Stephen Sondheim (A Little Complex), Jerry Herman (Dear
Abby), Andrew Lloyd Webber (Aspects of Junita), and Kander & Ebb
(Speakeasy). Notice the Pennington Players won a
Perry and none of these millionaires did - just sayin'.
Upon its off-Broadway debut in 2005, MoM
received a whopping zero nominations for
the Drama Desk, New York Critics' Circle, Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League
and Obie Awards.
The Perry Award-worthy cast of MoM
includes Katie Sheffer-Vicari of Allentown, NJ, as June, David Destro of
Colonia, NJ, as Billy, Andrew Young of Old Bridge, NJ, as Jitter, and two-time
Perry Award nominee Vicky Czarnik of Hopewell, NJ as Abby.
The Musical
of Musicals: The Musical is directed by two-time Perry loser Kyrus of Hamilton, NJ,
the man who brought you this season's Perry Award-hopeful production of
The Wiz. He has previously lost awards for producing
the original one-act festival NKD: Sex, Lies, Life
and starring in something unimportant and forgettable.
The remaining
production staff comprises producer Frank Ferrara, Florence, NJ, vocal director
Wayne Irons, of Princeton, NJ, choreographer Talia Shumsonk, Hamilton, NJ, stage
manager John Boccanfuso, Yardville, NJ; lighting and technical designer Judi
Parrish, Ewing, NJ, costumer Jay Stevens, and conductor David Raunick. None of them have
won anything in their lives, and they're just about overdue (wink wink).
Tickets are $16 for adults, $14 for seniors and $12 for
students/children. Breaking it down, that’s only $3.20 per musical for adults,
$2.80 per musical for seniors and $2.40 per musical for students/children. These
are tough economic times; get the most bang for your buck, people. Free parking
is available next to the theatre. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling
the Kelsey Box Office at 609-570-3333. Kelsey Theatre is wheelchair accessible
and provides assisted listening devices upon
request.
The cast of Musical of Musicals: The
Musical
Left to right: Katie Sheffer-Vicari
(June); Rachel Tovar,ensemble; Andrew Young, Jitter; Talia Shumsonk, ensemble; David
Destro, Willy; Vicki Czarnik, Abby
Check out the hilarious interview
podcast with the cast and production staff on the Maurer Productions OnStage website.
