Gentleman Prefer Blondes made Carol Channing and Marilyn Monroe stars. Alice Ripley, however, has already obtained Broadway name recognition, but that won't prevent her from starring in the Reprise! revival of the Jule Styne-Leo Robin musical comedy March 5-17.
Ripley most recently starred on Broadway as Janet in The Rocky Horror Show. While nursing a recording and rock career, she has found time to star in Sunset Boulevard, The Who's Tommy and Side Show, for which she was Tony-nominated.
Joining Ripley are her Side Show co-star Hugh Panaro, Tony nominee Valarie Pettiford (Fosse) and The Music Man's Ruth Williamson.
Lorelei Lee (Ripley) is queen of the gold-diggers. Having survived a depression and World War I, she and her best friend Dorothy Shaw are ready to let loose in the Roaring Twenties — preferably with fancy gentleman loaded with cash and diamonds. Gentlemen was a huge smash in its 1949 original production and in a 1953 film, which starred Monroe and Jane Russell. A major revival on Broadway in 1995 with KT Sullivan and George Dvorsky flopped.
Songs in the Styne-Robin score include "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," "A Little Girl From Little Rock," "Just a Kiss Apart," "Bye Bye Baby," "It's Delightful Down In Chile," "Mamie Is Mimi," "Homesick Blues" and the title tune. John Bowab directs with musical direction by Peter Matz. Before helming last season's Reprise! staging of Call me Madam, he directed Angela Lansbury in three different stagings of Mame, Sweet Charity with Debbie Allen and The Unsinkable Molly Brown with Debbie Reynolds.
Tickets to Gentleman Prefer Blondes are $55-$60. The Freud Playhouse is located in UCLA's Macgowan Hall. Call (310) 825-2101 or Ticketmaster Fine Arts Line for information.
