Archive for the Category »Past Seasons «
Chicago is a Kander and Ebb musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice, and the concept of the “celebrity criminal”. The musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins about actual criminals and crimes she had reported on.
In the third installment of the Simply Spectacular Showcase, GCTC took the show on the road, performing at the Golden Heritage Days Festival in Princeton, IN.
The story takes place in a tropical jungle where people are conspicuously absent. But one day Bagheera the Panther discovers a baby in the wreck of a boat. Feeling pity on the child, Bagheera takes him to be raised with the wolves. Ten years later, the child has grown into Mowgli. Mowgli discovers that his life is in danger because of the return to the area of Shere Khan the Tiger, whose hatred of humans is such that Mowgli faces certain death if discovered. Bagheera agrees to transport Mowgli to the human village, where he will be safe from Shere Khan. Along the way to the village, night falls and Mowgli and Bagheera almost succumb to the man-eating snake Kaa. Escaping Kaa’s coils, they run into the lock-step military elephant band of Colonel Hathi. Afterward, Mowgli, who doesn’t want to be sent to the human village, runs away from Bagheera and meets up with the fun-loving Baloo the Bear. With both Bagheera and Baloo to protect him, Mowgli is saved from several more life-threatening situations — including a barber-shop quartet of vultures, the crazed King Louie of the Apes, and Shere Khan himself — before making it to the village of humans.
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters’ performance as the Witch, and Joanna Gleason’s portrayal of the Baker’s Wife, brought acclaim to the production during its original Broadway run. Into the Woods won several Tony Awards, including Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical (Joanna Gleason), in a year dominated by The Phantom of the Opera. The musical has been produced many times, with a 1988 national tour, a 1990 West End production, a 1991 television production, a 1997 tenth anniversary concert, a 2002 Los Angeles production and a 2002 Broadway revival.[1] It was later loosely adapted into the hip-hop dance musical, Into the Hoods.
Inspired by Bruno Bettelheim’s 1976 book, The Uses of Enchantment, the musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales and follows them further to explore the consequences of the characters’ wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from the stories of Little Red Ridinghood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella, tied together by a more original story involving a Baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family, most likely taken from the original story of Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm. It also includes references to several other well-known tales.
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. That’s where two young surgeons, Duke and Hawkeye end up during the Korean War. There is no plot as such, but instead a series of episodes during which they put their stamp on the camp including a football game against a larger unit with thousands riding on it, a trip to Tokyo to operate on a congressman’s son and play a little golf, and finding out if the head nurse is a natural blonde.
The production as held in the PCHS Auditorium, with attendance exceeding 650.
The story involves the canine pets of a struggling composer and his wife: Dalmatians Pongo (male) and Perdita (female). Perdita gives birth to fifteen spotted pups, cuing the entrance of the scheming Cruella De Vil. She demands that the dogs’ owners sell her the pups, but she is shown the door instead. Under cover of night, Cruella arranges for the pups to be stolen. The human police are baffled, but the “dog network” is alerted by Pongo and sent to rescue the pups. It is discovered that Cruella has been rounding up every Dalmatian she can get her hands on, hoping to use their pelts to make one spectacular fur coat. The dogs rescue the 15 pups, plus 86 others stolen by Ms. DeVil. After an eventful escape, the 101 Dalmatians make their way home.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart.
Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (251–183 BC), specifically Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus and Mostellaria, it tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. The plot displays many classic elements of farce, including puns, the slamming of doors, cases of mistaken identity (frequently involving characters disguising themselves as one another), and satirical comments on social class. The title derives from the line that vaudeville comedians often used to begin a story: “A funny thing happened on the way to the theater”. more…
The action is set in Truvy’s beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the ladies who are “anybody” come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle who is not sure whether or not she is still married; the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon; Ouiser, an eccentric millionaire; Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local social leader, M’Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby the prettiest girl in town, is about to marry a “good ole boy.” Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when the spunky Shelby, who is a diabetic, risks pregnancy and forfeits her life. more…
The author was going to London all alone in his car. He saw a man thumbing for lift. The hitchhiker asked the author if he was going to London. The writer invited him to come into the car. The author said that he was a writer and what did the hitchhiker do? Hitchhiker said that he did a skilled job. He said that the secret of life was to become expert in something which was harder to do. The hitch hiker enquired about the maximum speed of the car. The writer said it was 129m.p.h. The hitch hiker said that the car would not go at the speed as all the car sellers are liars. But the writer was sure that his car could. So the hitch hiker asked him to prove it.
The writer pressed his foot down on the accelerator. It was at 120m.p.h. but at that very moment the driver heard the scream of police siren. A police on a motorcycle went past them and raised a hand for them to stop. The hitch hiker advised the author more than it was needed. The police man enquired why they were in a hurry and did they know the speed limit in the country? The writer said it was 70m.p.h. The policeman asked him for the driving license, and then filled in the date, the time, and the detail of his offence on the penalty ticket, tore out the top copy and gave it to the writer. Then the policeman turned to the hitchhiker and asked his name, address, proof, profession and the name of the employer. more…
Haughty, wealthy invalid Leona Stevenson waits home alone impatiently for her husband Henry. When she calls his office, the wires get crossed. She overhears two men planning to murder a woman that night. Since the operators can’t trace the call and the police don’t have much to go on from the conversation she overheard, no one can do anything about it.
Leona calls Henry’s secretary. In a flashback, Miss Jennings recounts that Henry left the office earlier that day after having lunch with a woman named Mrs. Fred Lord.
Leona telephones the Lord residence and overhears Henry mentioned in a conversation between Fred and his colleague Joe. Fred’s wife turns out to be an old friend from college, Sally.
In a flashback, Leona recalls how Henry used to be Sally’s boyfriend until Leona came along. Leona’s father, drugstore chain owner J.B. Cotterell, disapproved because Henry was a poor high-school dropout, but one of Leona’s mysterious illness attacks changed his mind. Leona married Henry and dominated him since.
Sally sneaks out of the house to call Leona. Her husband Fred and his friend Joe are investigating Henry for the district attorney. more…