Aug. 15-19, San Francisco's Alcazar Theatre had expected to play host to the "First Family of Cool" featuring John and Bucky Pizzarelli and Broadway's Jessica Molaskey. Instead, the place will heat up with the song and dance of A Chorus Line star Donna McKechnie's one-woman retrospective, Inside the Music.
Inside the Music revists great moments from McKechnie's life, including her songs and dances from A Chorus Line, where she won a Tony as Cassie, and Sweet Charity. The show at one time featured a song-and-dance pantomine of McKechnie's meeting with legendary hoofer Fred Astaire, when he took her out to dinner in Los Angeles and then danced with her.
Christopher Durang (Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You) penned the text. Thommie Walsh (A Chorus Line) directs.
The rest of the Alacazar in August season follows:
It's been ten years since Catskills on Broadway was on Broadway, and in honor of the anniversary, the comedy revue is traveling around the country once again with original stars Freddie Roman, Mal Z. Lawrence and Dick Capri reprising their Broadway roles. Roman, recently made president of the New York Friars Club, leads this nostalgic look back at the comedy that filled the working class and Jewish resorts in upstate New York.
Catskills on Broadway runs at the Alcazar Aug. 7-12. ...And Then There's Bea, With Her Friend Billy Goldenberg at the Piano, playing Aug. 22-26, charts Arthur's theatre and TV career through songs and anecdotes, with composer Goldenberg ("The Last of Sheila," "Play It Again, Sam") serving as her accompanist.
Arthur got her start in the original production of The Threepenny Opera in 1954 and was the original Yente the Matchmaker in Fiddler on the Roof. Her work as Vera Charles in Mame led to a Tony Award, while her work in "Maude" led to a 1977 Emmy. Arthur's last Broadway show was Woody Allen's The Floating Lightbulb.
Single tickets to each event are $45-$55. The Alcazar Theatre is located at 650 Geary Street. For reservations, call (415) 441-4042.
— By Christine Ehren
and David Lefkowitz
