42nd Street Moon Presents WHAT A SWELL PARTY! 9/15

42nd Street Moon, the company renowned for presenting uncommon musical theater, begins its 2011-12 season with a salute to the legendary Cole Porter. WHAT A SWELL PARTY! -- The Cole Porter Salon will be presented at the Alcazar Theatre on Thursday, September 15 at 7 pm. Two critically-acclaimed and Tony-nominated Broadway performers, Pamela Myers and Lee Roy Reams, will guest star, appearing with Moon favorites Debbie de Coudreaux, Bill Fahrner, Riley Krull, Benjamin Pither and Stephanie Rhoads. Moon Artistic Director Greg MacKellan hosts and directs the evening, and Dave Dobrusky musical directs.

"We've done more of Cole Porter's shows than any other composer's," MacKellan said, "and it was time for us to celebrate him with an evening of his terrific songs. The cherry on the sundae is having Pamela Myers and Lee Roy Reams with us this time to celebrate Mr. Porter's brilliance."

Pamela Myers made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim's Company, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. Sondheim wrote the song "Another Hundred People" for her after hearing her audition. Other Broadway appearances include the revival of Into the Woods, The Selling of a President, A Celebration of Richard Rodgers, and the Company reunion concert. In San Francisco, she created the role of Peppermint Patty in the original San Francisco production of Snoopy and was recently featured in Tales of the City. Her Los Angeles credits include Dot in the West Coast premiere of Sunday in the Park With George, Perfectly Frank, Something's Afoot and the Mark Taper production of Brecht: Sacred and Profane. Her regional credits include Mrs. Lovett opposite George Hearn in Sweeney Todd, Mama Rose in Gypsy, Annie Get Your Gun, and I Do! I Do!. She has sung at the White House, on PBS and with the Boston Pops and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras. Her many TV roles include a four-year run on Sha-Na-Na.

Lee Roy Reams was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for the role of Billy Lawlor in Gower Champion's production of 42nd Street. He won the Carbonell Award and Washington DC's prestigious Helen Hayes Award for his playing Roger DeBris The Producers. Leading roles on Broadway include Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, Cornelius Hackl in Hello Dolly! and Henry Spofford in Lorelei (both with Carol Channing), Duane Fox in Applause with Lauren Bacall, and Sweet Charity with Gwen Verdon, among others. His directing credits include the revival of Hello, Dolly! on Broadway (Tony Nomination for Best Revival), An Evening with Jerry Herman, and Anything Goes starring Chita Rivera. Concerts and cabaret appearances have taken him around the world, and he has had the honor of performing for four United States presidents.

Cole Porter, Broadway's dapper party boy and one of its most popular songwriters, wrote standards that are still the backdrop for everyone's lives: "Night and Day," "You're the Top," "Just One of Those Things," "What Is This Thing Called Love?," "It's All Right With Me," "C'est Magnifique," "Let's Do It," "At Long Last Love" ... the list is endless, but there are also surprises such as "You Irritate Me So," "Fish," and "I'm Throwin' a Ball Tonight!"

A second tribute concert, THE BEST OF TIMES -- The Jerry Herman Salon, will be presented on January 26, 2012 at 7 pm. Jerry Herman's career began as Cole Porter's was ending, and his shows lit up Broadway through the 1960s, 70s, 80s and into the 90s.

Concert tickets priced at $70 will be available through the 42nd Street Moon Box Office at 415/255-8207 or online at www.42ndstmoon.org <http://www.42ndstmoon.org> . The historic Alcazar Theatre is located at 650 Geary Street in downtown San Francisco.

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