The 1998-99 season at the Stamford Center for the Arts in Stamford, CT, will feature a mix of shows recently seen on Broadway, such as The Gin Game, Play On! and Victor/Victoria, and productions on their way to Broadway, including Peter Pan and The Invisible Man.
The three-show season at the Palace Theatre will commence with the Cathy Rigby production of the musical Peter Pan (Oct. 6-11, 1998). This new staging of the Charlap-Leigh-Styne-Comden-Green tuner launched a yearlong tour Nov. 7, 1997 in California.
Next on the roster, Play On! (Mar. 9-14, 1999) begins a national tour at the Palace (see related story on Playbill On-Line: "Play On! to Launch National Tour in Stamford in March 1999"). This Duke Ellington scored musical reworking of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night ran briefly on Broadway in spring 1997. No casting has been announced for the tour.
The Palace season concludes with Victor/Victoria (May 18-23, 1999), the Henry Mancini-Blake Edwards musical based on the Edwards film. The show stars Toni Tennille of Captain and Tennille fame ("Love Will Keep Us Together") in the title role, which was originated on Broadway by Julie Andrews.
Meanwhile, at the nearby Rich Forum, things get underway with Room Service (Oct. 27-Nov. 1, 1998), a stage version of the famous Marx Brother film which is aimed at Broadway. The Flying Karamzov Brothers will star as a juggling Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo. The movie's original screenplay by John Murray and Allen Boretz has been adapted by the Brothers along with Paul Magid and Robert Woodruff. Also bound for Broadway is Ken Hill's Invisible Man (Jan. 16-24, 1999), a new play based on the famous H.G. Wells story. A combination of comedy, melodrama and special effects, the Frank Dunlop-directed venture was previously presented in London's West End at the Comedy Theatre.
The next visitor to the Rich Forum season is the National Actors Theatre production of D.L. Coburn's The Gin Game. As on Broadway, Charles Durning and Julie Harris star under Charles Nelson Reilly's direction.
The final slot at the Rich Forum has yet to be filled. For information on any of these productions, call (203) 325-4466.
--By Robert Simonson
