(L-R) Ann C. James, Jimmy Phillips, and Marianne Pendino
Main Street Theater
presents
HAPPILY HEREAFTER
A Musical by Marianne Pendino
Book and Lyrics by Marianne Pendino and Jane Seger
Directed by Steve Garfinkel
May 21 through June 21, 1998
Main Street Theater
2540 Times Blvd. in the Rice University Village
(713) 524-6706 or (713) 524-3622
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She's Back!!! Marianne Pendino returns to Main Street Theater with HAPPILY HEREAFTER
Houston Texas
May - June, 1998
After grappling with obsessions, neurotics, and global issues with her smash hit The Attitude Club,
playwright / composer / actress Marianne Pendino, along with co-author Jane Seger, looks to the
afterlife with the musical comedy Happily Hereafter, opening Thursday, May 21 and running
through Sunday, June 21, 1998 at 2540 Times Boulevard. Tickets can be purchased through the
box office at 713-524-6706.
This latest work by one of Houston's most inventive and popular comedic personalities promises to
offer all the sharp wit, poignant drama, and thought-provoking observation that Pendino's loyal
following has come to expect. Her one-woman musical satire of the self-help movement, The
Attitude Club, played to packed houses and was extended three times at Main Street Theater, and
sold out Galveston's Strand Theater. Pendino has now teamed up with author Jane Seger in
creating Happily Hereafter, a three-person, quick change musical comedy which takes a hilarious
look at life in the afterlife.
The three performers in Happily Hereafter play a total of nine characters, ranging from a
fundamentalist radio preacher to a Catholic nun, and a former Chicano gang leader / rap star
wanna-be, to an East Indian guru. Upon her arrival in the Afterlife, central character Angel Murray
discovers that her new home is not on a fluffy cloud, but as an office assistant to Grace, God's
ever-patient personal secretary. Her first day on the job is interrupted by an emergency on Earth,
where six characters from opposite sides of the spiritual track are thrown together and forced to
look at their differences. Happily Hereafter takes a lighthearted look at spirituality, life and love in
the 90's.
ABOUT MARIANNE PENDINO
Pendino began her theatrical career at The Comedy Workshop, an improvisational theater and
comedy club in Houston. Her first full-length musical, It's a Jungle Out There, was presented by
Main Street Theater in 1986. Her one-woman shows were presented by The Woman's Repertory
Theater Festival, The Texas Playwrights Festival, and Stages Repertory Theatre. The Attitude
Club, a collaboration with Alley Theatre actor Jeffrey Bean, ran for three consecutive years. The
Houston Press said, "Pendino is an equal rights comedienne: she manages to make fun of all races,
creeds, ages and religions without being offensive to any." And Public News said, "Pendino puts on
a variety show with such hilariously diverse characters that she rivals Tracy Ullman's
chameleon-like abilities."
ABOUT CO-AUTHOR JANE SEGER
Seger says she "has never written anything except checks." She once played a yellow chick in Miss
Asbury's Dance Academy Recital in 1959, and an overweight silver fairy in 1960. In high school
she was given a small role in the Easter pageant, but only because her father was on the fundraising
committee. Ms. Seger will probably never do anything like this again.
ABOUT JIMMY PHILLIPS
Jimmy Phillips last appeared at MST in Into the Woods and Flora, The Red Menace. Other credits
include Das Barbecu at Stages, and Box Office of the Damned, Assasins, The Horrible Tragic Life
of the Singing Nun, and First Lady Suite at Theater LaB. He is a classically trained dancer who has
performed with Texas Ballet, Houston Ballet, Houston Grand Opera, and toured with Nureyev in
South Africa.
ABOUT ANN C. JAMES
Ann James made her directorial debut at Main Street Theater with The Quadroon Ball and Merry
Christmas Strega Nona earlier this season. Her acting experience includes The Colored Sisters at
Houston Community College, Bunnicula at MST, Nunsense in Pennsylvania and Florida, and Once
on this Island in Aruba. James recently choreographed work for the Women's Artists Group and is
the coordinator for Main Street Theater's Kids on Stage Summer Performing Arts Camps.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Steve Garfinkel's productions for Main Street include The Virtuous Burglar, Good Housekeeping,
Mary Mary, The Solid Gold Cadillac, Julius Caesar, and Something More. He was the co-author
of Pendino's first musical, It's A Jungle Out There, and has acted in over fifty productions at Main
Street, Stages Repertory, Jewish Community Center, and Public Theater in New York. He is the
Artistic Director of Young Audiences of Houston.
THE MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Mary Carol Warwick has had numerous grants and commissions from Houston Grand Opera,
Opera New World, the Texas Sesquicentennial Committee and the North Carolina Arts Council.
Her most recent opera, the bi-lingual Cinderella in Spain, premiered in February; her newest
orchestral work, commissioned by the San Jose Chamber Orhcestra, will premiere in May. She is
currently Composer-in-Residence at Houston Community College.