PR501

May 1, 2007 - For Immediate Release

2007-2008 Season Announced
ELEGIES, FULL MONTY Part of New Kelsey Theatre Schedule

Cheng / Ferrara Productions is pleased to be a part of the 2007-2008 theatre season at Kelsey Theatre, on campus at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, New Jersey. C / F Productions will produce two full length musicals as part of the new season: William Finn’s song cycle, Elegies, will perform in January of 2008, and The Full Monty, music by David Yazbek and book by Terrence McNally, will perform in late May of the same year.

Elegies is a cycle of songs created by William Finn, composer and lyricist for the musicals Falsettos, A New Brain, and the recent Broadway production The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The setting is simple: accompanied only by solo piano, a group of five singers perform 20 loosely connected songs, each providing a unique perspective on the subjects of death, loss, and mourning. The score is touching, characteristically quirky, and surprisingly upbeat and funny. The original cast album featured Betty Buckley, Carolee Carmello, Keith Byron Kirk, Michael Rupert, and Christian Borle; the original production, which played at Lincoln Center from March 2, 2003, through April 18, 2003, was directed by Graciela Daniele. The Fully Monty is based on the 1997 film of the same name. The musical tells the story of six men in contemporary Buffalo, New York, who, facing a variety of personal and financial difficulties, decide upon an unusual course of action: they decide to become strippers. Their group, which they call “Hot Metal,” schedules a one night only performance, leaving their friends, wives, girlfriends, and neighbors wondering if they’ll have the nerve to go “The Full Monty.” The score is by David Yazbek (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and the script by four-time Tony Award winner Terrence McNally (Ragtime, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Master Class, Love! Valour! Compassion!).

Official performance and audition dates will be announced in early summer 2007. The Cheng / Ferrara Productions website (www.chengferrara.org) will display the latest information as it becomes available; actors and audiences can also e-mail the company at chengferraraproductions@gmail.com.

The rest of the Kelsey season will include a mix of the well-known and lesser-known, and will include productions of Evita, Annie, My Favorite Year, Singing in the Rain, and more.