The world première of a brand new musical revue THE MGM STORY The Magic of the Musical opens Upstairs at the Gatehouse next week!
Of all the Hollywood studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the true home of the film musical. Here, under the supervision of producer Arthur Freed, classics of the genre were made, such as The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis and An American in Paris to name but a few.
THE MGM STORY traces the history of the Golden Age of Song and Dance and tells of how the studio fostered the talents of stars, including Judy Garland and Gene Kelly and composers, such as Cole Porter and Irving Berlin and many more.
It charts the rise of the studio’s dominance in the field through the 1930s and 1940s and features the stories behind the making of many masterpieces. It explores how the studio rose to the challenge of competition from TV in the 1950s and it looks at how the empire eventually disintegrated by the 1960s with the fascinating tale of Say It With Music, one of the biggest movie musicals never made!
Set on a disused film set, see how the world of The MGM Musicals comes alive!
The MGM Story has a Book by Award Winner Chris Burgess, with Musical Arrangements by Andy Collyer and Direction and Choreography by Matthew Cole (Resident Director of The Railway Children, King’s Cross Theatre, Choreographer of Footloose (UK Tour) and Associate Director of Carmen La Cubana (Châtelet, Paris)). The Production has Musical Direction by Charlie Ingles (The Producers, New Theatre, Cardiff, Parade, Dolman Theatre, Newport, The King, Peter Schaufuss, Denmark and Germany Tour)), Set and Costume Design by Emily Bestow and Lighting Design by James Smith.
The cast is made up of Steven Dalziel (NewsRevue, Canal Café Theatre, The Kissing Dance, Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre, Grease, Magnetic Theatre, Seasons of Larson, Lyric Theatre and Maoam Advert UK/Europe TV), James Leece (Don Lockwood in Singin’ In The Rain, UK Tour, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park and The Snowman UK Tour), Emma Kayte Saunders (The Goodbye Girl, Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Beyond The Barricade (UK Tour) and Parade, Minack Theatre) and Miranda Wilford (The Who’s Tommy, Greenwich Theatre, Thriller Live! Lyric Theatre and Hair, European Tour).
Wednesday 31 August – Sunday 25 September
Upstairs at the Gatehouse
Home
Tuesday 27 September – Saturday 1 October
Theatre Royal Windsor
http://www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk
Friday 7 October
Norwich Playhouse
http://www.norwichplayhouse.co.uk/
Saturday 22 October
The Radlett Centre
http://www.radlettcentre.co.uk/
