Capps

Price

Riggins

White

Just in time for the 2008 election season, Centre Stage presents Tomfoolery, a musical revue of the witty, wicked, offbeat and thoroughly twisted world of famed satirical songwriter Tom Lehrer.  In concerts, television appearances and now-classic recordings, Lehrer has delighted millions of fans with his outrageous attacks on everything from the military to the political to the social.
Director Chip Egan describes Lehrer as a “satirical icon of the 60’s”  and all of Lehrer’s most irreverant hits are packed into this fast-paced musical revue –  “The Vatican Rag,” “National Brotherhood Week,“ “New Math” and much, much more. If you’re weary of  sound bytes and spin, this evening of politically incorrigible, but always good-natured musical commentary is exactly what you’ve been waiting for!
In the early 50’s, Tom Lehrer was a graduate student and part time teacher of math at Harvard University.  His first album, “Songs by Tom Lehrer,”  became a sensation and he began a career of nightclub and concert appearances in the US and UK.  In 1964, Lehrer became a contributor to the short-lived but highly-regarded US version of the hit British TV show, “That Was the Week That Was.”  Songs he wrote for that show were collected in the hit album, “That Was the Year That Was.”  Lehrer’s quick-witted musical commentaries anticipated “Saturday Night Live’s” popular segment “Weekend Update.”
 “Tomfoolery showcases the best of Tom Lehrer’s razor quick wit and the production I directed last year was a record-setting critical and box office success at SC Repertory Company,” says Egan.  “Audiences found the songs and political commentary to be amazingly contemporary and cogent.  When you couple the generation who remembers Lehrer’s satire with today’s politically astute audience, the evening is a laugh-out-loud celebration of the best and worst of American life and culture.”
The four-person cast includes Centre Stage favorites Debra Capps (Sylvia, Crimes of the Heart, Beehive: The 60s Musical)  and Chris White (Wait Until Dark, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Oxygen), as well as newcomers Marvin Riggins and Angie Price.

NOTE: Talkback with Johnny Price for Tomfoolery will be on Friday, August 15 immediately following the performance.

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