The co-creator and one of the stars of the hit TV series "Frasier" are among the key personnel behind the production of Moss Hart's Light Up the Sky, which opened Nov. 16 at the Pasadena Playhouse for a one month run, through Dec. 19. Dan Butler, who plays Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe on the Emmy Award-winning sitcom, appears as producer Sidney Black, and David Lee, co-creator of the series, directs a cast that also features Millicent Martin as Stella Livingston.

Lee graduated from the University of Redlands in 1972 and worked in theatre as associate director of The Old Creamery Theatre Company, an NEA-sponsored group that toured the midwest with the classics. He has directed over twenty plays and musicals. With his TV writing partner Peter Casey, Lee has created "Wings" and "Encore! Encore!" as well as "Frasier."

Butler also has an extensive theatre background; his Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include Biloxi Blues, True West, Lisbon Traviata, which he later reprised at the Mark Taper Forum, and his critically-acclaimed solo show The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me....

Also making her Playhouse debut in Light Up the Sky is Martin, who is celebrating her 50th year in show business in a distinguished career on both sides of the Atlantic. She was one of the original creators of the musical revue Side By Side by Sondheim for which she received a Tony Award nomination. Her theatrical credits include The Beggar's Opera, Shirley Valentine, Follies and Peter Pan. Currently she can be seen as Lil Faversham on NBC's "Days of Our Lives."

Others in the cast include Mark Blum, Tom Byrd, Milan Dragicevich, Linda Hart, Patrick Kerr, Suzie Plakson, Matt Roth and Elizabeth Anne Smith.The Pasadena Playhouse is at 39 S. El Molino Ave. For tickets and information call Tele-Charge at (800) 233-3123 or visit www.pasadenaplayhouse.org.

-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent