Stages St. Louis' 2010 Summer Season to Feature BIG RIVER, PROMISES, PROMISES, and STATE FAIR

Stages St. Louis has announced their 2010 summer season. It will include BIG RIVER, PROMISES, PROMISES, and STATE FAIR as its three musicals.

BIG RIVER: THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN will run May 28 through June 27. the musical features a book by William Hauptman and music and lyrics by Roger Miller. Based on Mark Twain's classic 1884 novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it features music in the bluegrass and country styles in keeping with the setting of the novel. The Broadway production ran for over 1,000 performances and it remained a truly American voice in an emerging chorus of British musicals of the late 1980s.

PROMISES, PROMISES runs July 16 through August 15, andis a musical based on the 1960 film The Apartment written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond. The music is by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon. Musical numbers for the original Broadway production were choreographed by Michael Bennett; RoBert Moore directed. The story concerns marital intrigue. The show was originally produced on Broadway in 1968, running for 1,281 performances. A London production opened in 1969 featuring Tony Roberts and Betty Buckley. The cast album won the Grammy Award for best cast recording, and a song from the show, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", became a hit single for Dionne Warwick.

As the final musical of the season, STATE FAIR runs Septempber 3 through October 3. STATE FAIR is a musical with a book by Tom Briggs and Louis Mattioli, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and music by Richard Rodgers. Rodgers and Hammerstein originally adapted the Phil Stong novel of the same name for a 1945 movie musical, which was remade in 1962. The stage production closely follows the plot of its predecessors, providing a glimpse into the life of The Farming Frake family and their three-day adventure at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines in 1946. While parents Abel and Melissa are hoping to win a few blue ribbons, siblings Margy and Wayne are more interested in finding romance on the midway.

Founded in 1987 by Michael Hamilton and Jack Lane, STAGES ST. LOUIS is a professional, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit theatre company dedicated to producing the indigenous American art form of musical theatre. STAGES is also firmly committed to the employment and development of St. Louis artists and, through numerous education and outreach programs, enriching the cultural milieu of our community.

STAGES ST. LOUIS operates year round with a staff of twenty. A full-time seasonal company operates from May to October and presents 124 performances in the 380-seat Robert G. Reim Theatre at the Kirkwood Civic Center. Performers are cast from auditions in both St. Louis and New York. STAGES is the top employer of local union actors and provides more annual workweeks than any other St. Louis theatre company.

For more information, visit www.stagesstlouis.org.