Sacramento Music Circus, first started in 1951 by Broadway producers Russell Lewis and Howard Young, turns 50 in 2001, kicking off its summer season with the classic musical comedy about music, The Music Man. The summer stock production, staged in the Music Circus' giant tent, runs July 9-15 with Michael G. Hawkins and Sarah Tattersall as shyster Harold Hill and the uptight librarian Marion Paroo.
Hawkins performed opposite Tattersall in Kiss Me, Kate at the Music Circus in 2000. This is Tattersall's 11th season at the Music Circus and her 23rd show with the company.
Also in the cast are Mitchel Federan as Winthrop (who will join the Broadway company of Music Man Aug. 7 in the same role), The Sound of Music's Lenny Wolpe and Gina Ferrell as Mayor Shinn and Eulalie MacKecknie Shinn, Brooks Almy as Mrs. Paroo, Casey Nicholaw as Marcellus Washburn, Radio City Rockette Mia Price as Zaneeta Shinn and Brian Shepard as Tommy Djilas.
Tickets are $27-$45. The Music Circus Tent is located on the corner of 15th and H Streets in downtown Sacramento. For reservations, call (916) 557-1999. The Sacramento Music Circus is online at http://www.CaliforniaMusicalTheatre.com.
* The rest of the Music Circus season, including appearances by frequent Broadway performers Ruth Williamson (The Music Man, Little Me), Marcia Mitzman Gavin (The Who's Tommy), Lee Roy Reams (42nd Street) and Marcia Lewis (Chicago), features:
Into the Woods, July 16-23 with the musical's original cast members Phillip Hoffman and Tony nominee Mary Gordon Murray as the Baker and his Wife
Mame, July 23-29 with Williamson as Mame, cabaret's Julie Halston as Vera Charles and Miles Purinton ("Strangers With Candy") as Mame's nephew Patrick
Annie, July 30-Aug. 5 with Lewis as Miss Hannigan, Reams as Rooster and Mark Simmerman as Daddy Warbucks
My Fair Lady, Aug. 6-12, with Tattersall as Eliza Doolittle and Peter Pan's Paul Schoeffler as Henry Higgins
Fiddler on the Roof, Aug. 13-19, with Wolpe as Tevye and Almy as Golde
Show Boat, Aug. 20-26, with Richard White (Brigadoon, The Most Happy Fella)) as Gaylord Ravenal, Dale Kristen (The Phantom of the Opera) as Magnolia, Alan Young ( "Mr. Ed"'s human companion Wilbur) as Cap'n Andy and Tony nominee Gavin as Julie
