Dinner and a show highlight 2014 season of Old Lyric Repertory Company

<span class=”s1″>LOGAN – Approaching its 50th year the Old Lyric Repertory Company (OLRC) returns this summer with four live stage productions including one directed by its founder, W. Vosco Call.</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>The company’s co-artistic directors are Dennis Hassan and Richie Call, Vosco’s grandson.</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>A new feature this year is “Dinner and a Show” each of the four opening nights of the season.</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>Those purchasing this option can enjoy dinner overlooking the Logan River at Elements Restaurant with OLRC actors, directors and designers prior to curtain. Then after dinner it’s the drive north on Main Street to Center Street and opening night at the Caine Lyric Theatre.</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>“It is a summer season, of course, so we keep the season fairly light,” said Hassan. “This summer we have three different types of comedies, two of them are musicals, and then one drama.”</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>Lee Daily, an audience favorite for many years, returns to the Lyric stage and will perform in all four shows.</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” begins the season, opening June 12.</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>“This is a classic, it’s Stephen Sondheim’s first big musical hit,” said Hassan. “It is a hilarious show, very farcical, about a slave who is trying to break into freedom in ancient Rome. It also has a kind of 50s-60s feel to it.”</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>The second show of the season is “Tons of Money” opening June 19. It is a revival of the OLRC’s 1990 production of the same play.</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>“It’s a classic farce, mistaken identity and many images that keep you laughing into the next act,” said Richie Call, who will perform in this production which is directed by his grandfather.</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>Opening June 25 is “The Musical of Musicals” </span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>“It’s a parody about different types of musicals and different composers,” said Hassan, “and it’s a lot of fun looking back at musicals throughout American theatre history. </span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>“It’s probably the hardest show of the season to cast because it’s only six actors and they have to be able to play in five different types of musicals. Let’s face it, ‘Oklahoma’ is very different than ‘Cabaret’.”</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>The fourth show of the season, opening July 9, is “The Elephant Man”, the season’s drama.</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>“It’s a true story about a man named John Merrick,” said Call. “He was born in the late-1800s with some severe deformities. He eventually became part of a freak show. A doctor who saw Merrick in the show pulled him out and took him to a London hospital.</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>“The play poses some poignant questions about how we treat people who are different than us and how we should treat each other as human beings.”</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>Owned and operated by the Thatcher Family, the Lyric Theatre opened in 1913 but fell into disrepair after World War II. </span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>It was considered for demolition but was saved by Vosco Call and others and reopened in the spring of 1961.</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>It was renamed the Caine Lyric Theatre in 2000.</span>

<p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>Vosco Call founded the OLRC in 1967 and, in its 48th year, it is one of the only remaining regional theater companies producing shows in repertory June through August.</span>

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