ISSAQUAH, WA -- The Village Theatre, the largest producing theatre outside of metropolitan Seattle, located on the Eastside in Issaquah, has announced its 1998-1999 season.

With a subscriber base of more than 12,000 this past season, the Village has long been known as the area's dominant family-oriented musical theatre. Indeed all but one of the shows on next season's slates are musicals, including a revised remounting of Eleanor, a show the company commissioned in its 1986-87 season. They are:

Carnival!, the warm-hearted stage version of the M-G-M film classic Lili (Book by Michael Stewart, music and lyrics by Bob Merrill) about a naive French orphan girl who finds heartache & romance with an embittered puppeteer. The late Merrill's most successful solo score features the hit "Love Makes The World Go Round". (Sept. 24, 1998-Nov. 1, 1998)

My Fair Lady, that "loverly" Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe Tony and Oscar winner in which the egocentric Professor Henry Higgins determines to make a lady out of cockney flower girl Eliza Dolittle, and falls for his pupil in the process. Lerner's seamless adaptation of Shaw's Pygmalion contains such classic songs as "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?", "On the Street Where You Live" and "I Could Have Danced All Night" (Nov. 19, 1998-Jan. 3, 1999).

The Mask of Moriarty by Hugh Leonard, is the sole non-musical outing by the company. Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and their perennial nemesis Moriarty become entangled in a mysterious London Bridge murder (Jan. 21-Feb. 28, 1999). Eleanor is an engaging musical portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, taking her from a shy youngster to First Lady of the world. This musical with book by Jonathan Bolt, music by Thomas Tierney, and lyrics by John Forster, has gone through numerous revisions and successful productions across the country since it originated at The Village more than a decade ago (Mar. 18-Apr. 25, 1999).

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum the 1963 Best Musical Tony award winner which recently enjoyed a two-season revival on Broadway is the naughtiest item on the Village slate, though hardly R rated by contemporary standards. Stephen Sondheim's music and Larry Gelbart's script unfold a crafty Roman slave's scheme to achieve freedom. (May 13-June 27, 1999).

Season subscriptions at the Village Theatre range from $60 to $140 with discounts for students and seniors. For further information call (425) 392-2202.

-- By David-Edward Hughes
Seattle Correspondent