International City Theatre Celebrates 25 Years With Two New Musicals About Hollywood Legends, Begins 2/26

Two new musicals celebrating Hollywood legends will bookend International City Theatre's 25th Anniversary Season in 2010.

In February, Ginger Rogers will sing and tap dance her way to fame and fortune in the Los Angeles premiere of Backwards in High Heels: The Ginger Musical.  In October, Jules Aaron (director of ICT's first production in 1985) will direct the season's grand finale, the world premiere of When Garbo Talks!, a musical about the life of Hollywood's most mysterious star, Greta Garbo.

Also on the menu are two comedies: How the Other Half Loves, Alan Ayckbourn's wildly funny classic, opens in April; and The Clean House, the freshly unique Pulitzer Prize finalist from the pen of Sarah Ruhl, will be presented in August.

Tent-poling the season, the middle production in June will be Barbara Lebow's poignant memory play, A Shayna Maidel.  "In a nod to ICT's history, I wanted to revive one play from our previous repertoire," explains ICT Artistic Director Shasin Desai.  "A Shayna Maidel is a beautiful play which I personally love, and it was a big success for ICT when we produced it in 1992."

International City Theatre was born in 1985 when Shashin Desai opened a 99-seat black box theater on the campus of Long Beach City College where he was Chairman of the Drama Department.  From the beginning, the fledgling company attracted critical acclaim and multiple awards - including the Los Angeles Drama Circle's prestigious Margaret Harford Award for "Sustained Excellence in Theater."  Determined to build a high quality professional, mid-size theater company in the City of Long Beach, Desai persuaded the City Council to give him space in the Center Theater of the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.  By 1996, ICT was producing simultaneous seasons on the college campus and at the Performing Arts Center.  In 1999, by a unanimous vote of 9 to 0, the Long Beach City Council proclaimed International City Theater the Professional Resident Theater Company at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.  In 2000, ICT made the choIce To invest entirely in the downtown, mid-size theater with an annual five-play season.
 
The 2010 25th Anniversary Season schedule is as follows:

February 26 through March 28 (previews February 23, 24, 25):
Backwards in High Heels: The Ginger Musical, conceived and developed by Lynnette Barkley and Christopher McGovern, with book, songs and arrangements by Christopher McGovern.  The Los Angeles premiere of a new musical biography of Ginger Rogers that combines unforgettable music, show stopping dance numbers and a powerful story that touches your heart.  Best known as Fred Astaire's dance partner, Ginger Rogers was also an acclaimed actress and singer and one of the industry's first women to demand equal pay. "Backwards in High Heels" combines original songs and vintage movie musical numbers with dance for a toe-tapping account of the public and private life of that charming dame who could dance before she could walk.

April 30 through May 23 (previews April 27, 28, 29):
In the madcap world of How The Other Half Loves by Alan Ayckbourn, the world moves at twice its usual furious pace. Three couples, connected only by the husbands' jobs, get together for two dinner parties - which take place on stage at the same time. The comically ingenious action involves a pair of illicit lovers whose outrageous behavior and unfortunate blunders create a whirlwind of chaos, confusion and laughter. Only Alan Ayckbourn could mix things up and sort them out with such effortless glee, to everyone's relief and the audience's delight.

June 11 through July 11 (previews June 8, 9, 20; dark July 4):
In 1946, a Polish immigrant living in New York is reunited with her sister who remained in Poland and lived through the Holocaust.  A Shayna Maidel by Barbara Lebow is a powerful and emotionally charged tale of sustenance, hope, and the belief that from a broken and bitter past, a better future may be born.

August 27 through September 19 (previews August 24, 25, 26):
The Clean House is Sarah Ruhl's unpredictable and sublime rumination on the importance of laughter and mess in our lives. Four markedly different, yet intimately connected women grapple with order, cleanliness, and the messy ambiguities of life in a quirky and unexpectedly moving comedy about love, loss, and the power of a good joke.

October 15 through November 14 (previews October 12, 13, 14):
ICT closes its season with an exciting world premiere musical. When Garbo Talks! is a comic, moving and tuneful look at the events leading to the discovery and rise to stardom of Greta Garbo at the dawn of Hollywood's Golden Age.  Book and lyrics are by Buddy Kaye and music is by Mort Garson.

International City Theatre is located in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, 300 East Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802.  For further information, the public should call International City Theatre at (562) 436-4610 or visit online at www.InternationalCityTheatre.org.