Salt Lake City – Pioneer Theatre Company presents a rollicking evening of nostalgic fun with the classic ’50s musical Grease, running Friday, May 10 – May 25, 2019, to close its 2018-2019 season.
Danny and Sandy, the Pink Ladies and the Burger Palace Boys dance their way through their senior year at Rydell High, singing the songs that have become the soundtrack for generations of teenagers, including “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightnin'” and “You’re the One That I Want.”
“We make can make fun of the nostalgia that shows like Grease evoke,” says Artistic Director Karen Azenberg, “or we can smile and remember the kinder, gentler, more innocent time that was the 1950’s in America. With this production I am choosing to smile and recall the saddle shoes and slicked back hair, when photos were black and white, and when the most important item on a high school student’s agenda was if they had a date for the dance.”
PASCAL PASTRANA and EMMA HEARN play Danny and Sandy, respectively, in their debuts at PTC. Pastrana’s credits include performing in New York City at the Birdland Theater for Simply Barbra and Down-N-Dirty Disco. Hearn has performed in Broadway Dreams and A Chorus Line (Texas State University.)
DAVID PARK plays Kenickie while ALEX KIDDER is Pink Lady Betty Rizzo. Park has appeared in the film Glass (directed by M. Night Shyamalan) and the television series “Elementary.” Kidder has appeared Off-Broadway in A Dog Story as well as My Fair Lady, The Marvelous Wonderettes and Ragtime, among many others.
LUCY ANDERS, KATE CASSIDY RYAN and JAYMIE INOUYE play the remaining Pink Ladies, Marty, Jen and Frenchy, respectively.
Anders returns after Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. She has also appeared in Something Rotten! (First National Tour) and Off-Broadway in Baby. Ryan most recently appeared in the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s production of Beauty and the Beast. Inouye finishes up her senior year in BYU’s BFA Music, Dance, Theatre program and appeared in The Scarlet Pimpernel and Tuck Everlasting at Hale Center Theatre.
MICHAEL SCHIMMELE, PEPE NUFRIO and CAMERON HOLZMAN play the Burger Palace Boys, Roger, Doody, and Sonny LaTierri.
Schimmele appeared in the Off-Broadway musical The View Upstairs and in regional productions In the Heights, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins and Spamalot to name a few. Nufrio has performed in New York and regional credits include From Here To Eternity (Finger Lakes), Evita (St. Louis Rep), The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Aladdin (Fulton Theatre). Holzman is a junior at the University of Utah and appeared in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at PTC.
DAVE ANTHONY VOGEL plays Johnny Casino/Teen Angel and has performed on Broadway in Chicago as well as its National Tour. DAVID GUY HOLMES is Vince Fontaine, and has appeared in several PTC productions including this past season’s La Cage aux Folles - Concert Production.
ASHLEY MARINELLI plays Cha-Cha. Marinelli has performed with Justin Beiber, Mariah Carey, Ne-Yo, Lady Sovereign and Shakira as well as in An American in Paris for Ogunquit Playhouse, among many others. ELIZABETH HANSEN is Miss Lynch. She has performed on Broadway in A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine and Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?, and on National Tours in Hello, Dolly! with Carol Channing and in The King & I with Rudolf Nureyev.
LINDSIE KONGSORE and KEVIN DORT are Patty Simcox and Eugene Florczyk. Kongsore finishes her senior year in the ATP program at the University of Utah. Dort has performed in the 2nd National Tour of A Charlie Brown Christmas.
PATRICK RYAN CASTLE, SERENA KOZUSKO, MARY C. NIKOLS and CALL VANDE VEEGAETE complete the ensemble.
PTC Artistic Director KAREN AZENBERG directs and choreographs this production fresh on the heels of La Cage aux Folles. She also directed this past season’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Oslo.
LENNY DANIEL associate directs and choreographs this production. He recently assisted on PTC’s concert of La Cage aux Folles – Concert Production. He also appeared in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street this past season at Pioneer Theatre Company.
HELEN GREGORY returns for her twelfth production for the Pioneer Theatre Company and was last seen musical directing La Cage Aux Folles – Concert Production.
Scenic Designer JAMES NOONE returns after 2016’s Cowgirls at Pioneer Theatre Company. His work has been seen on television for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Candide, Passion, Camelot, Stephen Sondheim’s 80th Birthday Concert for PBS and Company, seen in select movie theaters and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grillfor HBO.
PATRICK HOLT is the Costume Designer and returns after this season’s La Cage aux Folles – Concert Production. His work has been seen at Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, HBO, CBS, A& E Network among others. Also known as Tempest Dujour, Holt appeared on season seven of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and in the recent film Cherry Pop.
Lighting Designer JAX MESSENGER returns to PTC after last season’s i. He has lit for numerous companies, including The Philadelphia Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Bard Summerscape, The Washington Ballet and The San Francisco Opera.
Hair and Makeup Designer is AMANDA FRENCH and sound design is by PTC Resident Sound Designer ALLAN BRANSON.
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PUBLICITY PHOTO SHOOT: There will be an on-stage publicity photo shoot on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, time TBA. Please call Vreni Romang at 801-581-7222 to RSVP.
ADDITIONAL FILMING OPPORTUNITY: On Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 2:00 until 2:15 p.m. there will be opportunities for press to film a rehearsal number, performed on the mainstage. Please call Vreni Romang at 801-581-7222 to RSVP.
MEDIA PHOTOS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD: High-resolution color photos of this production will be available for media use on the PTC website beginning Wednesday, May 8, 2019 after 3:00 p.m.
Go directly to http://www.pioneertheatre.org/press-room/media-photos/ to view the photos.
Photos from our off-site shoot can be found online. For hi-res versions, click here.
INTERVIEWS: Interviews with the cast and artistic staff are available. Call 801-581-7222.
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WHO:
Pioneer Theatre Company
WHAT:
Grease
Book, Music and Lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey
WHEN:
May 10 – May 25, 2019
TIMES:
Mondays – Thursdays, 7:00 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday matinees, 2:00 p.m.
WHERE:
Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre
300 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City
PRICES:
$44 – $66 in advance, and $5 more when purchased on the day of the show
Kids in grades K-12 are half-price on Mondays and Tuesdays
MORE INFO:
Box Office: 801-581-6961
Open 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Mon. – Fri.
CAST:
LUCY ANDERS*………………………….Marty
PATRICK RYAN CASTLE……………Ensemble
KEVIN DORT………………………………Eugene Florczyk
ELIZABETH HANSEN*……………….Miss Lynch
EMMA HEARN*………………………….Sandy Dumbrowski
DAVID GUY HOLMES*………………Vince Fontaine
CAMERON HOLZMAN……………….Sonny LaTierri
JAYMIE INOUYE………………………..Frenchy
ALEX KIDDER*………………………….Betty Rizzo
LINDSIE KONGSORE…………………Patty Simcox
SERENA KOZUSKO……………………Ensemble
ASHLEY MARINELLI*……………….Cha-Cha DiGregorio/Dance Captain
MARY C. NIKOLS……………………….Ensemble
PEPE NUFRIO……………………………..Doody
DAVID PARK*……………………………..Kenickie
PASCAL PASTRANA*………………….Danny Zuko
KATE CASSIDY RYAN*………………..Jan
MICHAEL SCHIMMELE*……………….Roger
CALL VANDE VEEGAETE……………Ensemble
DAVE ANTHONY VOGEL*…………..Johnny Casino/Teen Angel
ARTISTIC TEAM:
KAREN AZENBERG ………………Director
LENNY DANIEL ……………………Associate Director/Choreographer
HELEN GREGORY ………………..Music Director
JAMES NOONE………………………Scenic Designer
PATRICK HOLT …………………….Costume Designer
JAX MESSENGER ………………….Lighting Designer
ALLAN BRANSON …………………Sound Designer
AARON HUBBARD …………………Live Mix Engineer
AMANDA FRENCH ………………..Hair and Makeup Designer
MARY P. COSTELLO* ……………Production Stage Manager
BECKY LYNN DAWSON* ………Deck Stage Manager
KALLIE ERICKSON ………………..1st Assistant Stage Manager
ALLISON HARKNESS………………2nd Assistant Stage Manager
* Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association.