DECEMBER 2018 | JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2019 BBEHINDA THEC SCENESKST AT RIVERSIDEAG THEATREE PASS LAURA BENANTI COMES TO SUPPER CLUB PAGE 10 MAKE RIVERSIDE YOUR HOLIDAY HANG OUT! PAGE 15 RT STAR CELEBRATES THE ARTS PAGE 18 Photo: Laura Benanti Cast of Smokey Joe’s Cafe, 2018 018 Give the Gift BBEHIAND THCE SCENKE S AT TRI VERSAI DEG THE AETRE PASS LAURA BENANTI COMES TO SUPPER they really CLUB PAGE 10 MAKE RIVERSIDE YOUR HOLIDAY HANG OUT! want. PAGE 15 RT STAR CELEBRATES THE ARTS PAGE 18 Photo: Laura Benanti DEC 2018 | JAN | FEB 2019 Issue PRODUCING ARTISTIC Cast of Gypsy, 2018 DIRECTOR/CEO Allen D. Cornell MANAGING DIRECTOR/COO Jon R. Moses MARKETING DIRECTOR Oscar Sales, Jr. MEDIA ART DIRECTOR Garett Schiefer Cast of Mamma Mia, 2018 GRAPHIC ARTIST Holly S. Porch Music & Lyrics by George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin PUBLISHED BY Book by Ken Ludwig Riverside Theatre 3250 Riverside Park Drive Vero Beach, Florida 32963 (772) 231-5860 GIFT CARD ©2019 Riverside Theatre's BACKSTAGE PASS Cast of Teen Summer Showcase Once on this Island, 2018 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the expressed written permission of Riverside Theatre. Neither advertiser nor publisher will be held accountable for errors, omissions or accuracy of statements, nor does the publisher accept liability. See more behind the scenes on… AT THE MOON EXPERIENCE www.RiversideTheatre.com 3 PROFESSIONAL THEATRE PROFESSIONAL THEATRE SHE SEDUCED A NATION Q & A with Evita Director Marcia Milgrom Dodge Tony® Award-nominated director-choreogra- change. Underneath, it’s about the childhood pher Marcia Milgrom Dodge returns to Riverside damage that drives some people to great to direct and choreograph our production of heights, for better or worse.” Evita. Her work as a director and choreographer has been seen throughout the United States, in What in the story appeals to you? Canada, England, Asia, Denmark and the MMD: When I work on revivals, I dig into EVA PERÓN Middle East, in theatres on Broadway, the characters and relationships re- Off-Broadway, at acclaimed re- sulting in intimate rather than epic Born María Eva Duarte in 1919, in rural Argentina, gional theatres. Dodge’s work storytelling. With this production Eva Perón grew up poor with dreams of becoming has won the Helen Hayes, Car- of Evita, we are embarking on a a famous actress. When her father died in a car bonell, Los Angeles Drama storytelling approach that will accident in 1926, her family’s financial struggles Critics, New York Outer Crit- illuminate Eva’s motives, in, worsened and they were forced to move to a small ics Circle and Daytime what I hope will be, a very em- town near Buenos Aires where her mother and Emmy Awards and she has pathetic way. older siblings took various jobs. been nominated for the At the age of 15, Eva moved to Buenos Aires and Tony®, Drama Desk, Astaire, She died a very young found work with a number of theater companies. Drama League, Barrymore age. Why do you think By the time she was 20 years old, she had started and Edgar Awards. She is a there is still so much inter- teacher, a wife, a mother, a her own entertainment business, which produced est in her story? Winner of 7 Tony Awards® including proud executive board member of Human beings are fascinat- radio programs. MMD: Best Musical, Evita is the passionate, the Stage Directors & Choreogra- ed by mysteries and icons and many exhilarating story of Eva Perón who When she met Juan Perón at a benefit for phers Society and a published and pro- icons are fascinating beings who ascend used her charisma and charms to rise earthquake victims in 1944, her life changed duced playwright. to fame rapidly and then die young or under from her penniless origins to political dramatically. A powerful colonel and government mysterious circumstances. Eva Perón remains fascinating because her ascent was swift and power as the first lady of Argentina at official, Perón was immediately taken by Eva’s How would you describe the show? beauty and sophistication. A year after their Marcia Milgrom Dodge (MMD): My description of her motives were never truly understood. the age of 27. Acclaimed and adored as Evita is best described by 2 sources. First, The a champion of the poor, her glamour, marriage in 1945, Perón won a landslide victory and became president of Argentina. A skilled Musical Company describes Evita as “charting Having previously directed at Riverside, power and greed ended with her speaker, Eva used her position as first lady to fight the young and ambitious Eva Peron’s meteoric what experiences would you like Vero heart-breaking death at an early age. for causes she believed in, including women's rise to sainthood.” And second, as Scott Miller audiences to take from the show? With an electrifying score of pop, jazz writes about in his analysis of the musical, Having never directed , I hope the suffrage and improving the lives of the poor. Evita MMD: Evita and Latin influences, Evita is filled with “It’s about storytelling. It’s about truth versus audience engages in Eva’s story with wonder, unforgettable Broadway numbers Eva died of cancer one month after her husband's perceived truth. It’s about the public percep- fascination, excitement, danger and passion including its grand anthem, “Don’t Cry second inauguration in 1952 and was given a tion of political movements and radical social like an Argentine Tango. For Me Argentina.” funeral fit for a head of state. This story of a poor girl who became a prominent PRESENTING SPONSOR political power has been the subject of countless Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber are legends in the world of musical books, films and plays. On September 25, 1979, theatre. While each have been involved with the most popular musicals of Bobbie Olsen Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s smash hit the modern era, Rice and Lloyd Webber only collaborated on six shows together. Their first show, The Likes of Us, first written in 1965, was not Broadway musical Evita opened at the Broadway produced until 2005. They followed The Likes of Us with three Theatre and closed on June 26, 1983 after 1,567 powerhouses: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus JANUARY 8 -- 27 performances. The show was nominated for 11 Christ Superstar, and Evita. They collaborated on a show, Cricket, commemorating the 60th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II in 1986 and created Tony Awards® winning 7 including Best Musical, four new songs in 2011 for a musical production of The Wizard of Oz, which Music by Best Score (Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber), also included songs from the classic film written by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Best Leading Actress (Patti LuPone), Best Harburg. Mr. Rice has written the lyrics for Chess, Beauty and the Beast, Andrew Lloyd Webber The Lion King, Aida, Aladdin, and more. Mr. Lloyd Webber has composed Featured Actor (Mandy Patinkin), and Best music for Cats, Starlight Express, The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of 4 Lyrics by Tim Rice Direction of a Musical (Hal Prince). Love, Sunset Boulevard, School of Rock, and others. 5 PROFESSIONAL THEATRE PROFESSIONAL THEATRE One family is about It’s never too late for... The contemporary musical, Next to Normal, Playwright Joe DiPietro graduated with a degree to face the music. chronicles the emotional toll on a family that is forced in English from Rutgers University in 1984 and to come to terms with their past and face their future planned on attending law school at the University of as the mother suffers from depression. While mental California at Los Angeles. Shortly before he was to illness is not standard Broadway fare, Next to Normal leave, he was offered a job with the sports division not only managed to garner critical acclaim but also of CBS. He stayed for a decade, rising to the attained commercial success on Broadway and on position of advertising copywriter while also cultivat- national tours. ing his interest in theater. At the suggestion of a friend, DiPietro started writing comic sketches and What began as a 10-minute class project at the BMI very short dramatic scenes for a theater company in Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop between New York. “Through sketch writing, I learned what Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt about electroconvulsive was funny,” DiPietro told The New York Times. “I therapy, turned into a show that won three 2009 learned the ropes. I was getting better, and I still Tony Awards® and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. had a great day job at CBS.” “We’ve known and loved people who have struggled with depression – as so many people have,” said In 1996, DiPietro's first produced work, I Love composer Tom Kitt in an interview with DC Theatre You, You're Perfect, Now Change, opened at the Scene. “The show is formed by many of these Westside Theatre Off-Broadway and ran for experiences, and also by a great deal of research twelve years, becoming the second longest-run- and reading of other first-person accounts.” ning Off- Broadway musical behind The Fantas- Mostly sung through, with some dialogue, Next To tics. He followed that production in 1998 with the Winner of three Tony Awards® and the Normal is filled with emotionally powerful songs. The comedy Over The River And Through The Woods, 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this award-winning score incorporates dynamic rhythms which played the John Houseman Theatre and contemporary musical tells the story of a and orchestrations to showcase the struggles this ran for over two years.