www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com
Broadway Musical "CONTACT" Stars Texan Deborah Yates
HOUSTON PREMIERE OF BROADWAY'S 2000 TONY AWARD
WINNING BEST MUSICAL
"CONTACT"
COMES TO JONES HALL
MAY 28 - JUNE 2, 2002
"CONTACT," the 2000 Tony Award® winning Best Musical directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman and written by
John Weidman, will make its Houston debut May 28 through June 2 at Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana, as an
attraction of BROADWAY IN HOUSTON presented by Society for the Performing Arts.
Just two years ago "CONTACT" took New York by storm, winning four Tonys and every other major Best Musical award
including the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama League award. As the show's
creative sparkplug, Stroman, too, captured all those awards (plus the Astaire) for choreography and the Lucille Lortel Award
for direction.
Time Magazine hailed the show's initial opus at New York's Lincoln Center Theatre for "kicking the dust off a tired old
Broadway." Syndicated columnist Liz Smith called contact "one of the rare absolutely perfect things I have ever seen in the
theatre" and enthused about Stroman, "Not since Bob Fosse and Michael Bennett has a choreographer-director made such
an intelligent, creative impact on the American musical scene. You'll be sitting on the edge of your seat, electrified."
Comprised of three sensual stories told entirely through dance about people in the wild pursuit of love, "CONTACT" is
performed to a wide range of music. From Stephane Grapelli's rendition of Rodgers & Hart's "My Heart Stood Still" to pieces
by Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Bizet, Robert Palmer, Dean Martin, The Beach Boys and The Squirrel Nut Zippers by a cast of 24
dancer / actors who captivate and seduce. A CD containing the music of "CONTACT" is available from RCA Victor.
YATES SLIPS BACK INTO YELLOW DRESS FOR NATIVE STATE
If "CONTACT" itself was Broadway's prize package in the 2000 season,
the gift inside was The Girl in the Yellow Dress as performed by Deborah Yates,
a leggy, blonde dance treasure from Jacksonville, Texas. A Tony nominee as
Best Actress in a Featured Role, she was cast in her breakout role after a
four-year gig with the Radio City Rockettes and a short run in the Broadway
musical Dream. Now Miss Yates rejoins the contact cast for this Houston
appearance, reprising the commanding dance role that defined the musical
and propelled her image onto a vast array of Broadway souvenirs.
"CONTACT" marked Stroman's third Tony Award, having won her first two
for her choreography of the musicals CRAZY FOR YOU and SHOW BOAT, both of which
enjoyed long runs on Broadway and on tour. Her other Broadway credits
include the musicals BIG and STEEL PIER and the annual Madison Square
Garden spectacular, A CHRISTMAS CAROL. She won London's Olivier Award for her
choreography of Rodgers and Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA! for the Royal National
Theatre and is the director/choreographer of the recent Broadway revival of
Meredith Willson's THE MUSIC MAN. This season she also picked up a fourth
Tony Award for her collaboration with Mel Brooks on the musical version of
his classic screen comedy, THE PRODUCERS.
Writer John Weidman wrote the books for the musicals PACIFIC OVERTURES
(Tony nomination) and ASSASSINS -- both with scores by Stephen Sondheim
and BIG (another Tony nomination) and co-wrote the book with Timothy Crouse
for Lincoln Center Theater's hit revival of Cole Porter's ANYTHING GOES. He
won nine Emmy Awards for his writing for the PBS series "Sesame Street,"
and he is currently working on a new musical with Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince.
This wildly-anticipated tour of CONTACT is produced by Lincoln Center
Theater, Scott Nederlander and the SFX Theatrical Group. The production
reunites the show's acclaimed New York design team: Thomas Lynch (sets),
William Ivey Long (costumes), Peter Kaczorowski (lighting) and Scott Stauffer (sound).
Tickets for contact, priced $33-$59, are now on sale at the Jones Hall Box Office (9 AM- 6 PM, Monday - Friday) and all
Ticketmaster locations, by phone at 713 / 629-3700 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Performance times are
Tuesday - Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 PM and 8 PM, and Sunday at 2 PM and 7:30 PM. For groups of 20 or more, call
713 / 693-2692 or toll-free 1-888-451-5986. For tickets to the Saturday, June 1, 2002, 2 PM matinee
performance captioned for the hearing - impaired, call 1-800-755-6244.
For more information, visit the website www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.
"CONTACT" PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
Tuesday…………May 28, 2002……….. 8pm
Wednesday…….. May 29, 2002……….. 8pm
Thursday……….. May 30, 2002……….. 8pm
Friday…………... May 31, 2002……….. 8pm
Saturday………... June 1, 2002…………. 2pm & 8pm
Sunday…………. June 2, 2002 ………….2pm & 7:30pm
CALENDAR LISTING:
"CONTACT," director/choreographer Susan Stroman's 2000 Tony Award winning
"Best Musical," makes its Houston premiere May 28 - June 2, 2002 at Jones Hall, 615
Louisiana, as part of the 2001-2002 BROADWAY IN HOUSTON series presented by
Society for the Performing Arts. Show times 8pm Tuesday - Friday; 2pm / 8pm Saturday
2pm / 7:30pm Sunday. Purchase tickets ($33-$59) at Ticketmaster outlets,
www.ticketmaster.com or 713/629-3700. Wheelchair accessible.