Directed by Thomas Sabella-Mills with music direction by Rick Hip-Flores, the production will play the McGinn/Cazale Theatre through Oct. 26.
The cast will feature John Coghlan, Damian Buzzerio, Justin Sayre, Eric Imhoff, Kevin Sims, James Donegan, Selby Brown, Vanessa Lemonides, Wade McCollum, Christian Zaremba and Kit Treece.
Irma la Douce, according to press notes, "opens in the back streets off Pigalle at the Bar-Des-Inquiets run by Bob (John Coghlan). The setting is as low-down as any dockside neighborhood could be. It is 'policed' by the venal Inspector (Damian Buzzerio), controlled by the barely evil Polyte (Justin Sayre) and populated by a gang of 'mecs'- Jojo; Roberto; Persil and Frangipane (Eric Imhoff, Kevin Sims, James Donegan, Selby Brown). Our heroine – Irma (Vanessa Lemonides) is a 'poule' who falls madly in love with Nestor le Fripe (Wade McCollum), a law student without a sou. They move in together and since Nestor must continue his studies, Irma resumes her 'career' on the streets of Paris. Nestor is jealous of Irma's clients and disguises himself as Monsieur Oscar in order to become her sole 'financial protector.' Nestor quickly tires, physically as well as emotionally, of this double life and decides to 'kill off' his alter-ego. When Monsieur Oscar disappears Nestor is arrested, tried, convicted and sent to Devil's Island (from which he escapes). He returns to Pigalle just in time for the birth of their child and a true Christmas celebration."
Song titles include "Our Language of Love," "There is Only One Paris for That" and "That's a Crime."
Show times are Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30 PM, Wednesday and Friday at 2 PM and Sunday at 3 PM. The McGinn/Cazale Theatre is located in Manhattan at 2162 Broadway on the third floor. Tickets, priced $20, are available by calling (212) 868-4444 or by visiting www.smarttix.com. Visit www.musicalstonight.org for more information.
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Tovarich will follow, playing Oct. 28-Nov. 9. The musical, according to press notes, is described as such: "Former members of the late Tsar's court work as servants to Americans in Paris in 1927 while avoiding the Communists sent to capture and return them to Moscow." Song titles include "Say You'll Stay," "Nitchevo," "Wilkes-Barre, PA," "That Face," "A Small Cartel," "I Know the Feeling" and "Stuck with Each Other."
"You Want the Best Seats, We Have 'Em," "Whoop-De-Oodle-Do," "Dear Old London," "Shimmy with Me," "London, Dear Old London," "Dancing Time" and "Chopin Ad-Lib" are among the songs that will be heard in Cabaret Girl, which runs March 3-15, 2009. The Jerome Kern-PG Wodehouse musical concerns "the producers of 'The All-Night Follies' - Gravvins & Gripps, [who] act as cupids and try to bring together an ordinary working girl and her high-born 'intended' against the wishes of her family - and succeed."
The Fats Waller musical Early to Bed will be presented March 17-29, 2009. The musical concerns "an over-the-hill matador (El Magnifico) who falls in love with an old girl friend who now runs a brothel. Her current borders include an American track team who think they're at a finishing school where the girls wear very little clothing." Among the songs in the show are "There's a Man in My Life," "Slightly Less than Wonderful," "Ladies Who Sing with the Band" and "This is So Nice (It Must Be Illegal)."
The Musicals Tonight! season will conclude with You Never Know, April 14-26, 2009. "Master and servant switch places and fall in love with mistress and maid, who have also switched places" in the Cole Porter musical that features the songs "I Am Gaston," "By Candlelight," "Alpha to Omega," "At Long Last Love," "What Is that Tune?, "For No Rhyme or Reason," "By Candlelight" and "Let's Put It to Music."
