For Immediate Release Contact: Judy Garey, Ventura College
March 22, 2010 Tel. 805.654.6400 (x3236)
Email: jgarey@vcccd.edu
VENTURA COLLEGE THEATRE ARTS, MUSIC, AND DANCE DEPARTMENTS PRESENT “THE WORLD GOES ROUND”
The Songs of Kander and Ebb
Music and Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb
Originally Conceived by Scott Ellis, Susan Stroman, and David Thompson
Performances: Friday, April 23, 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 24, 8 p.m.; Sunday, April 25, 3 p.m.; Friday, April 30, 8 p.m.; Saturday, May 1, 8 p.m.; Sunday, May 2, 3 p.m.
Tickets: $17 general admission; $15 for students, staff, seniors (available at door)
Ventura College Theatre Arts Department, Dance Department, and Opera Workshop present The World Goes Round, a musical celebration of the creative work of the songwriting team John Kander and Fred Ebb. This ambitious project, undertaken as a joint collaboration between the three Ventura College Performing Arts Departments, will be presented on the Ventura College campus in Guthrie Hall, a unique performance venue being utilized while the Ventura College Theatre is under renovation. Six performances of the production will be held in the 90-seat facility, so get there early because it will sell out!
The World Goes Round (1991) weaves together a stunning tapestry of the music of John Kander and Fred Ebb, and takes the audience on a journey through the universe of these two talented writers, providing a glimpse into the worlds of their remarkable characters. Through music and dance, we experience the ups and downs of love, the hopes and dreams of life, and all of the joy, excitement, desire, hope, passion, romance, and razzle-dazzle that give life meaning. The songs are electric; the movement is dazzling, and the characters are unforgettable as the show flows seamlessly through a lifetime of experiences.
The production is directed by Judy Garey from the Ventura College Theatre Department; musical direction is by Elizabeth Helms from the Ventura College Music Department, and choreography by Becky Contreras from the Ventura College Dance Department, with additional choreography by Connor Casavan and Jeff Wallach. Scenery and Lighting Design for the production is by Willy Eck, and Costume Design by Abra Flores.
Ventura College Theatre, Music, and Dance students who will bring this show to life through a variety of solo and collaborative musical numbers include, Richard Abbott, Nikko Arce, Connor Casavan, Karen DeFazio, Rita Freund, Alyssa Grant, Melora Hutton, Estelle Ichino, Kenny Johnson, Rudy Larrazolo, Rebecca Lawson, Ixchel Lopez, Alex Manriquez, Andrew Metzger, Maria Odell, Jonathan Ortiz, Janelle Phaneuf, Jennifer Ridgway, Erika Robles, Sheldon Sherman, Toby Tropper, Al Vargas, Tuesde White, and Parker Wright.
Composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, who began their careers separately, teamed up for their first musical theatre collaboration in 1965, Flora, The Red Menace, produced by Harold Prince, directed by George Abbott, and starred a young Liza Minelli, who won the Tony Award that year for Best Actress in a Musical. Their second collaboration, Cabaret (1966), directed by Harold Prince and starred Joel Grey, Lotte Lenya, and Jill Haworth, won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Musical Score. Other Broadway musicals the pair have collaborated on include Zorba (1968), The Happy Time (1968), 70, Girls, 70 (1971), Chicago (1976), The Act (1978), Woman of the Year (1981), The Rink (1984), and
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1992). Kander and Ebb also wrote a variety of film scores including Cabaret (1972), Funny Lady (1975), New York, New York (1977), and Chicago (2002), and produced musical material for live and special television appearances for such stars as Liza Minelli and Chita Rivera.
In addition to winning numerous Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Awards for their work over the years, Kander and Ebb received The Kennedy Center Honors Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1998 and in 2007 (Ebb posthumously), were presented a Drama Desk Award for “42 years of Excellence in Advancing the Art of Musical Theatre.” Kander and Ebb’s last original work to reach Broadway was Steel Pier (1997), and it was while working on the musical Curtains (starring David Hyde Pierce) that Mr. Ebb passed away in 2004. Curtains went on to open at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in 2006 and on Broadway in 2007.
The work of Kander and Ebb remains alive in the professional world with a very recent Off-Broadway opening of The Scottsboro Boys (2010), a new musical inspired by an infamous chapter in American racism: the repeated trials and convictions of nine black youths accused of raping two white women in Alabama in the 1930s. This new production, putting its audience in touch with an important issue of social justice, reunites director Susan Stroman, writer David Thompson, and Composer John Kander, who all collaborated on The World Goes Round, and though the production continued to develop following his death, it bears the influence and legacy of lyricist Fred Ebb. |
