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Hollywood Playhouse to Host World Premiere of MAKEOVER! New Musical by Mark Poncy of North Palm Beach Opens May 2 for Six-Week Run (Hollywood, FL - March 19, 2008)
Hollywood Playhouse, one of the oldest established theatres in South Florida, will host the world premiere of
MAKEOVER, a new musical that has been described as a "contemporary fairy tale." While the show had several public readings at the Cuillo Theatre in
West Palm Beach in 2007, this will be the first full production of
MAKEOVER, which opens on Friday, May 2 and is expected to run through early-June. A classic story of the struggle between good and evil,
MAKEOVER is cloaked in a contemporary theme of plastic surgery gone awry. It is Nip & Tuck with a definite downbeat! The message is a simple one: while people tend to be preoccupied with the fleeting fancy of appearances, it is what is beneath the surface that matters the most. MAKEOVER tells the story of Valerie, who unwittingly makes a deal with the devil in order to realize her dreams of being beautiful, but comes to grief when she loses sight of those treasures that she had possessed all along - an inner beauty energized by a loving (though not always caring) family. With book and lyrics by playwright
Mark Poncy of
North Palm Beach,
MAKEOVER features 18 songs that are eclectic in style and reminiscent of early Sondheim. Whether they be devilishly clever ("All's Well at the Gates of Hell", "The Cooked Books Cook Book"), impishly philosophical ("You Can't Never Trust a Man", "Are We Having Fun Yet?") or beautifully poignant ("Please Make Me Over", "My Life", "Old Fashioned Love"), Poncy's haunting musical score and satiric lyrics always hit their mark, providing an emotional ride for the audience. Mary Gorin of the prestigious Juilliard School of Music has hailed the show's "stunning original score," while
Dr. Donn Murphy, the executive director of the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., praised the script with a heartfelt, "Bravo!" The world premiere production of MAKEOVER at Hollywood Playhouse will feature the same two stars that did the earlier reading at the Cuillo: Katie Angell Thomas, who plays Valerie, earned her BFA in Music from Boston's Emerson College and has starred in shows at the
Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre, the Cuillo Centre for the Arts, Florida Stage and the Lake Worth Playhouse. Among her major credits are Polly in
Crazy for You, Eliza in
My Fair Lady, and Pam in
Baby. Multiple starring roles (Lucifer, Dr. Firme La Touche) are played by
Catskills veteran
Jack James, who is best known for playing singer
Bobby Darin in the touring production of
That's All. He also appeared
Man of la Mancha and
SouthPacific at the former
Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre. His
New York area credits include Seymore in
Little Shop of Horrors, Harold Hill in
The Music Man and Feste the Jester in
Twelfth Night. The director of the world premiere production of
MAKEOVER is
Peter Lowey, who previously directed the hit show
Respect in
Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and
West Palm Beach,
Over the Rainbow, and
The Kid from Brooklyn, which just completed a successful run in
Hollywood. Technical director for this show is
Zac Phillips of the Cuillo Centre, with
Gail Shank as the production's general manager. MAKEOVER will have its world premiere on Friday, May 2, at the Hollywood Playhouse, with 8 p.m. performances on Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $38 per person and are available through the Hollywood Playhouse box office at
954.922.0404. For information on group discounts, please contact Sue Oliphant at
954.570.8500 or the box office. |