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OTTERBEIN COLLEGE THEATRE OPENS SEASON WITH BABES IN ARMS
Photo of Babes in Arms cast
(L-R) Terry (Jen Brunker – green shorts), Val (Andrew Betz – seated at piano), Gus (Cameron Hobbs – Overalls), Bunny (Amanda Huxtable – green dress), and Susie (Shayna Zalcberg – red dress) enjoy a tune around the piano in the Otterbein College Department of Theatre & Dance and Department of Music production of Babes in Arms October 15-18, 22-24 in Fritsche Theatre at Cowan Hall.

Otterbein College Theatre opens its 2009-2010 season with the popular musical Babes in Arms, which runs October 15-18 and 22-24 in the Fritsche Theatre at Cowan Hall, 30 S. Grove St., Westerville.

Babes in Arms boasts one of the greatest scores ever written. Set at a summer stock theatre, the plot concerns a group of young apprentices and their conviction to mount the original revue they’ve created while dodging the underhanded attempts of the surly theatre owner to squash their efforts at every turn. Further complications are provided by the overbearing stage mother of a beautiful ex-child star and the inflated ego of a hack southern playwright. But of course the show must go on, and so it does in a resolution of come-uppance, reconciliation and romance. Classic songs include “My Funny Valentine,” “The Lady is a Tramp” and “I Wish I Were in Love Again,” among many others.

Otterbein’s production of Babes in Arms will feature guest director and choreographer James Brennan. Brennan has directed productions of Crazy For You and Sound of Music for Pittsburgh CLO and The Muny in St. Louis; Call Me Madam at the Goodspeed Opera House; and several productions for the Cape Playhouse on Cape Cod and the Paper Mill Playhouse. He directed the Off-Broadway premiers of Ed Dixon’s musical renditions of the ribald 16th century novel Fanny Hill at the York Theatre, and Richard Corey, based on the Gurney play of the same name, at The Lion Theatre. He was responsible for the first full production in the NYC area of A Wonderful Life by Sheldon Harnick and Joe Raposo, as well as The New York Philharmonic’s acclaimed production of My Fair Lady at Lincoln Center. On Broadway, he directed and choreographed the revivals of Cole Porter’s Jubilee and Jerome Kern’s Sally.

As an actor, Brennan has appeared in nine Broadway productions and in the national tours of five productions. He has played Elyot Chase in Private Lives at the Alley Theatre in Houston; Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady in Philadelphia, Sacramento, Wichita, and Winnipeg; King Arthur in Camelot in San Diego, Sacramento, Philadelphia (receiving a Barrymore nomination) and at the Paper Mill Playhouse; John Adams in 1776 in Sacramento, Rochester, and Philadelphia (receiving a Barrymore Award); and the Devil in Damn Yankees and Pseudolus in …Forum in both Sacramento and Wichita.

Tickets for Babes in Arms are $25 each and can be reserved by calling the Otterbein College box office at (614) 823-1109. The box office is open 1-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday beginning September 28 and one hour prior to performances. The box office is located in Cowan Hall, 30 S Grove St., Westerville.

The opening night performance on Thursday, Oct. 15, begins at 7:30 p.m. and is followed by a reception. The Sunday matinee on Oct. 18 begins at 2 p.m. All other performances begin at 8 p.m.

For more information about the 2009-10 Otterbein College Theatre & Dance season, please see our web site, www.otterbein.edu/theatre.

DETAILS:

Babes in Arms
Music by Richard Rodgers / Lyrics by Lorenz Hart / Book by George Oppenheimer
October 15-18 and 22-24
The Fritsche Theatre in Cowan Hall, 30. S Grove St., Westerville

PRODUCTION TEAM

CAST LIST

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION