Dietrich & Chevalier, the Musical
Their love, their war, their songs. The passion that endured a World War, a trial for treason and two lifetimes. Featuring 15 of their signature songs.
Santa Monica, CA, February 19, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Producer Emily Mayer announced today that the romantic love story “Dietrich & Chevalier, the Musical” opens at The Other Space at Santa Monica Playhouse for nine weeks beginning Sunday, March 9th at 3:00 p.m.
In the 1930's, Marlene Dietrich and Maurice Chevalier were Paramount's biggest stars. They met in Hollywood and fell in lust, which turned into love and lasted two lifetimes. During World War II Dietrich entertained GIs at the front and became a hero, while Chevalier, in occupied France, sang, with Germans in his audience and was accused of collaboration and put on trial. Thewar had separated them; Chevalier's trial for treason brought them back together when Dietrich rushed to his side to help him. A fascinating, revealing, love story with 15 of their signature songs. A return engagement of a much-loved, sold-out, Jerry Mayer musical with a new outstanding All-Star cast. Drama-Logue called it “A heartfelt homage to two wonderfully courageous performers, a delightful, inspiring evening of theatre.”
Playwright Jerry Mayer’s writing experience spans a twenty-five year period of writing and/or producing hit TV comedies including “All in the Family,” “MASH,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “The Facts Of Life,” (Exec. Producer) and multiple Mitzi Gaynor Specials, including her live Las Vegas shows. Los Angeles theatre audiences will remember him from his long string of critically and audience acclaimed hit plays all of which debuted in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles: “Almost Perfect,” “Aspirin & Elephants,” “A Love Affair,” “Killjoy,” “Falling in Love Again” -the Dietrich/Chevalier story, “You Haven’t Changed A Bit And Other Lies” (with Steve Mayer), “2 Across,” and “Black & Bluestein.” Mayer’s plays have been performed Off Broadway, throughout the USA, in Canada and throughout Germany. Mayer’s provocative comedy “Black & Bluestein” can be seen Saturdays in The Other Space at Santa Monica Playhouse March 8th through May 3rd, 2008.
Award-winning Director Chris DeCarlo, who previously teamed up with Mayer on four of his critically acclaimed hits at Santa Monica Playhouse, has been directing, writing and acting in Los Angeles for over forty years and is acknowledged for his critically acclaimed crafting of world and American premiere productions by such renowned playwrights as Michel Garneau, Stephen King, Brenda Krantz, Robert B. Parker, Sheila Rae, Annie Reiner, Sammy Shore, Robert Waldman, David Williamson, and Lois Wyse. He has directed more than 150 plays on three continents, from the Henry Street Settlement Theatre in New York to the Dream Factory in Warwickshire and the gargantuan Hitomi Memorial Hall in Tokyo. As a performer, DeCarlo has created more than 300 roles, with over 10,000 on-stage performances. Over a quarter of a million people have been touched by his award-winning characterization of Yiddish humorist Sholom Aleichem.
“Dietrich & Chevalier, the Musical” features a talented cast of stage, film and TV actors. Portraying Maurice Chevalier is Ray Baker. Baker started his career performing improvisational theatre in New York and Los Angeles with the improv. groups "The Proposition" and "War Babies’." He made his Broadway debut playing Sterling Hayden in "Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been?" He was the original "Doc Porter" in the Broadway cast of Beth Henley's "Crimes of the Heart." Other Broadway shows include "Torch Song Trilogy" and "Is There Life after High School?” along with numerous shows Off-Broadway and in Regional Theatre. His movie roles include appearances in "Total Recall," "Silverado," "Executive Decision," "What Lies Beneath," and "Without a Paddle." Baker has appeared on nearly a hundred TV shows, most recently as a murder suspect on the series, "Bones."
Cissy Conner plays Marlene Dietrich. In 2003 she was nominated for a Best Solo Artist Ovation award for her role as Dietrich in “An Evening with Marlene,” a portrayal that NoHo Magazine called an “incredible Dietrich.” Local audiences will also recognize her from her 2004, one-woman show “Plane Crazy”, based on the shenanigans of her years as a sky goddess, her stand-up comedy and her many years as a nightclub performer.
Rounding out the cast is Zack Medway. Medway has performed in clubs and plays in New York, notably George in “Our Town” at The Play’s the Thing Theatre Company. In L.A. he has appeared in “Fortinbras” and “Linda Lovelace: The Musical.” TV credits include “Stand/Off,” “The Gilmore Girls,” and “Without a Trace.” He just wrapped up his first feature film role in the horror-thriller, “Parasomnia,” scheduled for release this later year. Medway performs funny songs and material at The Whisky, The Rainbow, The Pig ‘N Whistle, Boulevard Music and The Comedy Store.
Set Design by Scott Heineman and Lighting and Sound Design by The Attic Room, a full-service design team specializing in lighting and sound for the intimate stage. More than two hundred productions include “dreamward,” Richard Krevolin’s “Yahrzeit,” “Brine County Wedding,” Brenda Krantz’s “Lovely”, “Othello,” Annie Reiner’s “Mirage a Trois,” and Jerry Mayer’s “Almost Perfect.”
“Dietrich & Chevalier, the Musical” plays Sundays with two performances, a 3:00 p.m. matinee and a 7:00 p.m. evening show. It opens for previews March 9th, 2008 and continues through May 3rd, 2008. Tickets are $25.00, with discounts available for students, seniors and groups of ten or more. Use discount code: “flyer” for $6.00 off per ticket. To purchase tickets call Brown Paper Tickets at 1-800-838-3006 or buy them online at BrownPaperTickets.com/event/26952. For information and group sales call 1-310-459-1548.
The Other Space at Santa Monica Playhouse is located at 1211 4th Street (between Arizona & Wilshire) in Santa Monica. Convenient inexpensive parking is located directly across the street in Structure #1. By public transportation take the Santa Monica Blue Bus or the LA Metro Rapid #620 and exit at 4th and Wilshire.
###
In the 1930's, Marlene Dietrich and Maurice Chevalier were Paramount's biggest stars. They met in Hollywood and fell in lust, which turned into love and lasted two lifetimes. During World War II Dietrich entertained GIs at the front and became a hero, while Chevalier, in occupied France, sang, with Germans in his audience and was accused of collaboration and put on trial. Thewar had separated them; Chevalier's trial for treason brought them back together when Dietrich rushed to his side to help him. A fascinating, revealing, love story with 15 of their signature songs. A return engagement of a much-loved, sold-out, Jerry Mayer musical with a new outstanding All-Star cast. Drama-Logue called it “A heartfelt homage to two wonderfully courageous performers, a delightful, inspiring evening of theatre.”
Playwright Jerry Mayer’s writing experience spans a twenty-five year period of writing and/or producing hit TV comedies including “All in the Family,” “MASH,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “The Facts Of Life,” (Exec. Producer) and multiple Mitzi Gaynor Specials, including her live Las Vegas shows. Los Angeles theatre audiences will remember him from his long string of critically and audience acclaimed hit plays all of which debuted in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles: “Almost Perfect,” “Aspirin & Elephants,” “A Love Affair,” “Killjoy,” “Falling in Love Again” -the Dietrich/Chevalier story, “You Haven’t Changed A Bit And Other Lies” (with Steve Mayer), “2 Across,” and “Black & Bluestein.” Mayer’s plays have been performed Off Broadway, throughout the USA, in Canada and throughout Germany. Mayer’s provocative comedy “Black & Bluestein” can be seen Saturdays in The Other Space at Santa Monica Playhouse March 8th through May 3rd, 2008.
Award-winning Director Chris DeCarlo, who previously teamed up with Mayer on four of his critically acclaimed hits at Santa Monica Playhouse, has been directing, writing and acting in Los Angeles for over forty years and is acknowledged for his critically acclaimed crafting of world and American premiere productions by such renowned playwrights as Michel Garneau, Stephen King, Brenda Krantz, Robert B. Parker, Sheila Rae, Annie Reiner, Sammy Shore, Robert Waldman, David Williamson, and Lois Wyse. He has directed more than 150 plays on three continents, from the Henry Street Settlement Theatre in New York to the Dream Factory in Warwickshire and the gargantuan Hitomi Memorial Hall in Tokyo. As a performer, DeCarlo has created more than 300 roles, with over 10,000 on-stage performances. Over a quarter of a million people have been touched by his award-winning characterization of Yiddish humorist Sholom Aleichem.
“Dietrich & Chevalier, the Musical” features a talented cast of stage, film and TV actors. Portraying Maurice Chevalier is Ray Baker. Baker started his career performing improvisational theatre in New York and Los Angeles with the improv. groups "The Proposition" and "War Babies’." He made his Broadway debut playing Sterling Hayden in "Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been?" He was the original "Doc Porter" in the Broadway cast of Beth Henley's "Crimes of the Heart." Other Broadway shows include "Torch Song Trilogy" and "Is There Life after High School?” along with numerous shows Off-Broadway and in Regional Theatre. His movie roles include appearances in "Total Recall," "Silverado," "Executive Decision," "What Lies Beneath," and "Without a Paddle." Baker has appeared on nearly a hundred TV shows, most recently as a murder suspect on the series, "Bones."
Cissy Conner plays Marlene Dietrich. In 2003 she was nominated for a Best Solo Artist Ovation award for her role as Dietrich in “An Evening with Marlene,” a portrayal that NoHo Magazine called an “incredible Dietrich.” Local audiences will also recognize her from her 2004, one-woman show “Plane Crazy”, based on the shenanigans of her years as a sky goddess, her stand-up comedy and her many years as a nightclub performer.
Rounding out the cast is Zack Medway. Medway has performed in clubs and plays in New York, notably George in “Our Town” at The Play’s the Thing Theatre Company. In L.A. he has appeared in “Fortinbras” and “Linda Lovelace: The Musical.” TV credits include “Stand/Off,” “The Gilmore Girls,” and “Without a Trace.” He just wrapped up his first feature film role in the horror-thriller, “Parasomnia,” scheduled for release this later year. Medway performs funny songs and material at The Whisky, The Rainbow, The Pig ‘N Whistle, Boulevard Music and The Comedy Store.
Set Design by Scott Heineman and Lighting and Sound Design by The Attic Room, a full-service design team specializing in lighting and sound for the intimate stage. More than two hundred productions include “dreamward,” Richard Krevolin’s “Yahrzeit,” “Brine County Wedding,” Brenda Krantz’s “Lovely”, “Othello,” Annie Reiner’s “Mirage a Trois,” and Jerry Mayer’s “Almost Perfect.”
“Dietrich & Chevalier, the Musical” plays Sundays with two performances, a 3:00 p.m. matinee and a 7:00 p.m. evening show. It opens for previews March 9th, 2008 and continues through May 3rd, 2008. Tickets are $25.00, with discounts available for students, seniors and groups of ten or more. Use discount code: “flyer” for $6.00 off per ticket. To purchase tickets call Brown Paper Tickets at 1-800-838-3006 or buy them online at BrownPaperTickets.com/event/26952. For information and group sales call 1-310-459-1548.
The Other Space at Santa Monica Playhouse is located at 1211 4th Street (between Arizona & Wilshire) in Santa Monica. Convenient inexpensive parking is located directly across the street in Structure #1. By public transportation take the Santa Monica Blue Bus or the LA Metro Rapid #620 and exit at 4th and Wilshire.
###
Contact
Santa Monica Group Theatre/Santa Monica Playhouse
Sandra Zeitzew
310-394-9779 x651
SantaMonicaPlayhouse.com
Sandra Zeitzew
310-394-9779 x651
SantaMonicaPlayhouse.com
Contact
Categories