Fraulein Maria, Doug Elkins' Fresh Take on Sound of Music, Will Make Boston Premiere | Playbill

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News Fraulein Maria, Doug Elkins' Fresh Take on Sound of Music, Will Make Boston Premiere Fraulein Maria, Doug Elkins' comic deconstruction of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic The Sound of Music, will get its Boston premiere at the restored Paramount Theatre Sept. 23-Oct. 3.

It's part of the inaugural season of international theatre programming in ArtsEmerson: The World on Stage.

Fraulein Maria, according to production notes, "is Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music as re-imagined by the brilliant mind and playful spirit of acclaimed choreographer Doug Elkins. A gender-bending, tour-de-force comedy, Fraulein Maria began as a love letter to Elkins' children, on a tiny stage at Joe's Pub at New York's Public Theater, and is now a bona fide family tradition. The von Trapp children are hoodied hip-hop dancers; cross-dressing nuns cavort across the stage. Set to the original Julie Andrews soundtrack, Elkins' affectionate humor shines through his idiomatic tips of the hat to such dance legends as Martha Graham, George Balanchine, Jose Limon, Paul Taylor and Merce Cunningham. He seamlessly merges modern and popular dance forms including hip-hop and 'vogueing,' reinventing this beloved 1965 standard into an edgy yet fun cabaret romp."

The cast includes Elkins, Hilary Brown, Gui Greene, Jeffrey Kazin, Deborah Lohse, Kellie Ann Lynch, Nicole Marquis, Meghan Merrill, Donnell Oakley, Joshua Palmer, Michael Preston, Krista Racho-Jansen, Nicole Marie Smith and Johnny Sorensen-Jolink. David Parker, a native Bostonian known for his work with David Parker and The Bang Group, appears as Liesel for the first week of the run, with Sorenson-Jolink performing the role for the remainder of the run.

Two-time Bessie award winner Doug Elkins began his career as a B-Boy, touring the world with break dance groups. In 1988, he founded the Doug Elkins Dance Company, which performed nationally and internationally for 15 years before disbanding in 2003. His theatre work includes collaborations with Joanne Akalaitis and Philip Glass, Robert Woodruff, Pavel Dubrusky, Annie Hamburger, Molly Smith, Craig Lucas, David Henry Hwang, Michael Preston and Barbara Karger. He teaches at The Beacon School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Performances will be Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 PM, Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 PM and Sundays at 1 and 5 PM. Tickets, starting at $25, are on sale now at www.artsemerson.org or by phone at (617) 824-8000. For more information about Doug Elkins and Fraulein Maria, visit dougelkinschoreography.com.

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ArtsEmerson is the organization established by Emerson College to program the Paramount Theatre, Cutler Majestic Theatre and other venues at Emerson's Paramount Center. The inaugural season includes over 100 performances of 17 different productions, including world premieres, Boston debuts and works being developed in the new facilities created by Emerson College.

ArtsEmerson, under the artistic leadership of Rob Orchard, "will give Boston audiences a new level of cultural choice, bringing professional American and international work to its four distinct venues: the beautifully restored 590-seat Paramount Theatre, a cornerstone in the revitalization of downtown Boston; the versatile, intimate Black Box Theatre, which can seat up to 150 people; the state-of the-art 170-seat Bright Family Screening Room (all located within the new Paramount Center); and the beloved, historic 1,186-seat Cutler Majestic Theatre in the heart of the Theatre District, fully restored by Emerson in 2003."

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Doug Elkins and friends perform "Do-Re-Mi" Photo by Sara D. Davis
 
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