From the creators of Cabaret and Chicago, The Production Company presents Kander & Ebb’s Curtains, a musical comedy ‘whodunnit’ featuring an all-star cast at Arts Centre Melbourne for a strictly limited season from 20 August 2016. A parody of backstage murder mystery plots, Curtains is set in Boston 1959 at the opening night of the cowboy musical Robbin’ Hood of The Old West. The talentless leading lady is murdered onstage during the curtain call and the whole cast are suspects. A grand tribute to Broadway, it features a hilarious company of characters including a very camp director, a bitter critic, clueless investors and ambitious actresses It is up to Lt. Frank Cioffi, a police detective who moonlights as a musical theatre fan, to save the show, solve the case, and maybe even find love. Based on the original book and concept by Peter Stone, Curtains is a musical comedy with a book by Rupert Holmes, and features music and lyrics by Broadway legends John Kander & Fred Ebb, and additional lyrics by Kander and Holmes.

Songs include: What Kind of Man?, The Woman’s Dead, Coffee Shop Nights, Show People, A Tough Act to Follow, and Wide Open Spaces. Award-winning Director, Roger Hodgman leads an outstanding creative team. tartan curtains dunelm millMusical Director is John Foreman, Choreography by Dana Jolly, with Designs by Esther Marie Hayes (costumes), Christina Smith (sets), Matt Scott (lighting) and System Sound (sound). blockout curtain fabric perthAll performances will feature The Production Company Orchestra.made to measure curtains truro Simon Gleeson, the star of Les Misérables and CHESS returns to The Production Company as Frank Cioffi, leading an all-star cast including Melissa Langton, Colin Lane, Lucy Maunder, Alex Rathgeber, Alinta Chidzey, Zoe Coppinger, Jared Bryan, Stephen Wheat, Simon Maiden, Nicki Wendt, Tony Rickards and John Wood.waters and noble stone blackout curtains

Premiering at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in July 2006, Curtains transferred to the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway with minor alterations, playing from March 2007. After more than 500 performances, the show closed in June 2008. The musical garnered eight Tony Award nominations, with Hyde Pierce winning the award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Other Awards include the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical for Rupert Holmes and Peter Stone, and Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for Debra Monk. State Theatre – Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne Season: 20 – 28 August 2016 Image: Simon Gleeson stars as Lieutenant Frank Cioffi in Curtains (supplied)Talk about ending Niagara University Theatre’s 50th anniversary season with a bang! From April 24 through May 4, the theatre will present the award winning John Kander, Fred Ebb and Rupert Holmes murder mystery musical, Curtains. NU Theatre director Steve Braddock will direct the production, while associate professor Terri Filips Vaughan is choreographer and adjunct professor Ellie J. Seib is music director.

NU proudly rekindles its longtime relationship with the works of Kander and Ebb with this romantic 1959 era spectacle – a bright, brassy homage to musical theatre, with a twist! At the Boston opening of a new Broadway-bound musical, the leading lady mysteriously dies on stage. A local detective, a musical theatre fan, endeavors to solve both the mystery and the show’s problems, while simultaneously courting the ingénue. Curtains was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical in 2007 and it won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical the same year. The production will be on stage in the Leary Theatre within the Elizabeth Ann Clune Center for Theatre, Clet Hall, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 24, and Thursday, May 1.The musical will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 25, Saturday, April 26, and Friday, May 2. In addition, 2 p.m. matinees will be held on Saturday, April 26, Sunday, April 27 (with post-show discussion), and Sunday, May 4. Theatre majors who are in the cast include: Dan Urtz of Verona, N.Y. (Lieutenant Frank Coiffi);

Marina Laurendi of Lewiston, N.Y. (Niki Harris); Ashley Marie DeMar of Watertown, N.Y. (Georgia Hendricks); Kathleen Denecke of Hamburg, N.Y. (Carmen Bernstein); Matthew Gilbert of Berea, Ohio (Aaron Fox); Nathan Andrew Miller (Sidney Bernstein), Joshua Ranallo (Johnny Harmon), Glenna Rankin (Jessica Cranshaw/Roberta Wooster), and Sean Craig (Brick Hawvermale), all of Buffalo, N.Y.; Nathanial W. C. Higgins of Springville, N.Y. (Christopher Belling); Arianne Davidow of Clarence, N.Y. (Bambi Bernet); Brett Klaczyk of Angola, N.Y. (Daryl Grady); Matthew DiVita of Rochester, N.Y. (Oscar Shapiro); Alex A. Garcia of Greece, N.Y. (Bobby Pepper); Mark Pietruszka of Lancaster, N.Y. (Sasha Iljinsky); Matthew Dell’Olio of Ontario, N.Y. (Randy Dexter); Edward Alba of West Seneca, N.Y. (Harv Fremont); Peter Samuel Raimondo of Brockport, N.Y. (Detective O’Farrell/Stage Hand); Heather Casseri of Tonawanda, N.Y. (Mona Page); Shelby Ehrenreich of Lockport, N.Y. (Marjorie Cook); Clarissa Maloy of Kenmore, N.Y. (Jane Setler);

MacKenzie Gildemeyer of Liverpool, N.Y. (Peg Prentice);  Connor Gardner of Medina, N.Y. (Roy Stetson); Steven Sass of Huntington Beach, Calif. (Russ Cochran); and Sabrina Kahwaty of Williamsville, N.Y.; Mary Elizabeth Martin of Albion, N.Y.; and Colleen Pine of Indian Lake, N.Y. (Stage Hands). Set design is by David Dwyer, associate professor/scenic designer/production manager. Costume, hair and makeup design is by Maureen Stevens, associate professor/costume, hair and makeup designer. Light design is by Patty Rihn and sound design is by adjunct faculty member Glenn Bernardis. Theatre performance major Steven Sass of Huntington Beach, Calif., is assistant choreographer. Stage manager is theatre design/technology major Saige Woods of Buffalo, N.Y. Assistant stage managers are theatre design/technology major Marissa Allen and theatre performance major Elena Victoria Feliz, both of Tonawanda, N.Y. For tickets and information, please call 716.286.8685 or visit the NU Theatre Box Office.