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UPDATE AS OF 6/17: Check out our review in the Metro Silicon Valley!http://www.metroactive.com/arts/Tomfoolery-Triton-Museum.html
This summer the Santa Clara Players, with a 50+ year history of producing more than 150 audience-pleasing dramas and comedies, will present its first-ever musical theater production, Tomfoolery, a madcap dash through the music and words hatched by the slightly off-center mind of legendary satirical songwriter Tom Lehrer.
It opens for a three-week run at the Triton Museum Hall Pavilion, 1505 Warburton Street in Santa Clara on Saturday, June 13, 2015 at 8:00 PM, featuring the talents of David Cori, Samantha Cori, Duncan Heath, Susan Rabin and Peter Woolhouse. It is directed by veteran musical theater director Jonathan Rosen, with music direction by Amanda Ku, choreography by Kimberly Krol, and Santa Clara Players president George Doeltz producing. A three-piece musical combo under the direction of Ms. Ku will provide the accompaniment for the show.
There are twelve scheduled performances continuing through Sunday, June 28, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM (June 14, 20, 27 and 28), and one Sunday evening performance at 7:00 PM (June 21). General admission ticket prices are $20 for adults and $16 for seniors. Tickets may be purchased by telephone toll-free at (800) 838-3006, by calling the Santa Clara Players' box office at (408) 248-7993, or by visiting the Santa Clara Players' website at http://www.scplayers.org. Credit cards are accepted for all telephone and on-line orders, which are handled through “fair-trade ticketing company” Brown Paper Tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com.
Two of the scheduled performances on Sunday, June 21 (7:00 PM) and Saturday, June 27 (2:00 PM) will be special “sing-along” shows. For these performances, the audience will be invited to sing along on many of the songs with lyric sheets being provided (just in case they don't already know the words although many will!)
Adapted for the stage by the team of Robin Ray and Cameron Mackintosh (who went on to produce many hit musicals including Cats, Miss Saigon and Phantom Of The Opera), Tomfoolery makes hilarious reference to timeless political and social themes, such as war, racial tension, intolerance, pollution and sex. Mr. Lehrer, in his own words, “has had a long and varied career in the field of entertainment starting with nine years at Harvard University, where it was that he first decided to devote his life to what has since become a rather successful life-long scientific project, namely the attempt to prolong adolescence beyond all previous limits.”
In discussing the upcoming show, director Jonathan Rosen noted, “Less than two decades into the new millennium, we continue to see Americans focused on fears of terrorism, problems of the environment, improprieties by public officials, corporate officers and the clergy, struggles in personal relationships and the influence of pornography on the Internet, demonstrating that Tom Lehrer’s music is just as relevant today as it was over half a century ago when he first wrote it. Consider the subjects of many of Lehrer’s songs. The United States’ invasion of the Dominican Republic (Send the Marines), the Second Ecumenical Council (The Vatican Rag) and the rise of eccentric sexual behavior (The Masochism Tango) were all very serious issues in the 1950s and 1960s. Yet it seems the more things change, the more they remain the same. This is an exciting opportunity to present to a new audience the work of one of the most off-beat musical humorists of the 20th century!”
Tom Lehrer started writing and performing his songs while in college in the late 1940s, followed by several recordings released in the 1950s. Many of his songs, including National Brotherhood Week and The Vatican Rag, appeared on That Was The Week That Was, a 1960s television news parody program which was a precursor to Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. He also wrote a number of songs for PBS’ outstanding children’s educational series, The Electric Company.
In the late 1960s, with three records and countless world-wide concert appearances under his belt, he stopped writing and performing publicly, because, as he put it only half-sarcastically, “satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.” When asked in the 1970s to write a song about President Richard Nixon, he declined, claiming “that is rather like asking a resident of Pompeii for some humorous comments on lava.”
In the early 1970’s, attracted by the balmy weather of Northern California, he took up residence at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where until his recent retirement he lectured on a variety of practical subjects such as infinity and the history of musical theater. Although he remains “bi-coastal”, he continues to make his retreat to Santa Cruz from the frigid Cambridge winters every year.
In 1980, British stage producer Mackintosh approached Mr. Lehrer with the idea of converting his music into a revue and the rest is history. The show had a long run in London and then was transported to New York's Village Gate Theater in 1984. Tom has been quoted as saying that “the combined profits of Tomfoolery and Cats made Cameron Macintosh a wealthy man.” While hardly politically correct, the show rarely fails to leave its audiences laughing, or at least wincing, hysterically.
Tomfoolery features Santa Clara Players' veteran Duncan Heath, along with SCP newcomers David Cori, his niece Samantha (appearing on-stage together for the first time), Susan Rabin and Peter Woolhouse.
Duncan Heath is the only Santa Clara Players' veteran in the cast. He was last seen on the SCP stage in 2014's Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders as identical twins Oliver and Olivia Truscott-Pratt. He has also appeared in numerous other stage productions and films.
David Cori has appeared in many musical theater productions in the South Bay, and is particularly well-known for his multiple appearances as the Narrator in Actors Theatre Center's often-revived production of The Rocky Horror Show.
Samantha Cori, who resides in Felton, is traveling the distance to be on stage with her “uncle Dave”. She has performed in Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley and will be seen in Foothill College's summer production of Ste-phen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum.
Susan Rabin hails from Chicago and has her own Bay area theatrical production company, Windy City Productions, which produced the highly acclaimed Aunt Lakie’s Not Coming To Dinner at the Phoenix Theater in San Francisco last year. Ms. Rabin recently ended a two-year stint as one of the swing performers in Foodies: The Musical at the Shelton Theater.
Peter Woolhouse has been seen often in the South Bay, including last year's Zombie Prom: The Musical with Sunnyvale Community Players, as well as in Jesus Christ Superstar and Crazy for You at West Valley Light Opera in Saratoga.
Santa Clara Players is a non-profit 501(c)(3) theater company in its 53rd year, with a focus on presenting reasonably-priced quality theatrical productions in the South Bay. For more information or ticket reservations, call toll-free (800) 838-3006, direct at (408) 248-7993, or visit http://www.scplayers.org.
More Info
- Link
- http://www.scplayers.org
- Call
- 408-248-7993
- Call
- 800-838-3006 (Box Office)
- Contact Form (account required)
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