Tacoma Musical Playhouse Presents THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS!, Now thru 2/10

The Musical of Musicals, (The Musical!) is a musical about musicals, of course! Exceedingly clever and extremely funny, this show has charmed theatergoers across three continents. TMP brings this brilliant parody of the American Musical to the South Sound just in time to brighten up the winter doldrums.

June is an ingénue who can't pay the rent and is threatened by her evil landlord. Will the handsome leading man come to the rescue? In the hands of different musical theater composers, the end result may be quite different than you expect!

In this hilarious tribute to musical theater, one story becomes five delightful musicals, each written in the distinctive style of a different master of the form. The variations are: a Rodgers & Hammerstein version, set in Kansas in August, complete with a dream ballet; a Sondheim version, featuring the landlord as a tortured artistic genius who slashes the throats of his tenants in revenge for not appreciating his work; a Jerry Herman version as a splashy star vehicle, a la Mame and Hello, Dolly!; an Andrew Lloyd Webber version, a rock musical, completely sung-through, reminiscent of Phantom and Evita (with themes borrowed from Puccini); and a Kander & Ebb version, set in a speakeasy in Chicago, of course. Be warned, however, that - although you needn't be a devoted musical theater aficionado to have a great time at this show - the more musicals you are familiar with, the less likely that you will be able to stop yourself from laughing at any time during the performance!

This comic valentine to musical theater was the longest running show in the York Theatre Company's 35-year history before moving to Off-Broadway. For this production, TMP has compiled the sweeping talents of an extremely versatile ensemble cast (Elise Campello, Christie Murphy, Diane Bozzo, Cherity Harchis, Steve Barnett, Kawika Huston, Dan Engelhard, F. James Raasch and Andrew Fry) and the creative abilities of three co-directors: Pauls Macs, Maria Valenzuela and TMP's Managing Artistic Director, Jon Douglas Rake.

The Musical of Musicals, the Musical will play at TMP for 14 performances from tonight, January 18 - February 10, 2013: Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm, and Saturday Matinees at 2 pm on February 2nd and 9th. All performances will take place at Tacoma Musical Playhouse, 7116 6th Avenue in Tacoma. All seating for TMP Mainstage and TCMT productions is reserved, so advance purchase is strongly recommended.

Ticket prices are $29 for adults; $27 for seniors, students and military; and a $20 Student Rush price is available for all opening weekend performances. Group Rates are available for groups of 10 or more. Due to mature content and language, The Musical of Musicals is not recommended for theatergoers under age 13.

All patrons are encouraged to attend TMP's FREE preview presentation, Behind the Curtain! at TMP on Sunday, January 13 at 7 pm to learn more about this production, the history of the original works being parodied and get a sneak peak at performances from the cast. For tickets or more information, visit www.tmp.org or call the TMP Box Office at 253-565-6867.

More Articles by This Author...