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'Crazy for You' Announced at the Ahmanson

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PRE-BROADWAY PRODUCTION OF “CRAZY FOR YOU” ANNOUNCED AS PART OF CENTER THEATRE GROUP’S 51ST SEASON AT THE AHMANSON THEATRE

FIVE-TIME TONY-WINNING DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER SUSAN STROMAN RETURNS TO THE SHOW THAT LAUNCHED HER CAREER

With Music and Lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and Book by Two-Time Tony Nominee Ken Ludwig, “Crazy for You” Will Play Los Angeles February 7 through March 18, 2018

Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie and Broadway producer Joey Parnes announced today that the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, “Crazy for You,” with music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and a book by two-time Tony Award nominee Ken Ludwig (“Lend Me a Tenor”), will be produced by Center Theatre Group in an exclusive pre-Broadway engagement at the Ahmanson Theatre. Susan Stroman (“The Producers,” “Show Boat,” “Contact”), who won the first of her five Tony Awards for choreographing the original 1992 Broadway production of the musical, will direct and choreograph this limited Los Angeles engagement which will begin performances February 7, 2018, and run through March 18, 2018.

“‘Crazy for You’ is – at its heart – a raucous musical tale about the power art has to bring life to a community and purpose to its people,” Ms. Stroman said. “It’s as resonant today as ever, and I am thrilled at the chance to re-discover this show and introduce a whole new generation to its great comedy, unabashed romance and the most choreographically-inspiring Gershwin music the world has ever known.”

“I’m thrilled that a whole new generation of theatregoers will get to see ‘Crazy for You’ at the great and glorious Ahmanson Theatre,” said Ken Ludwig. “It will be a treat for me to roll up my sleeves, revisit the show and spend time once again in Deadrock, Nevada with Bobby, Polly and Bela Zangler.”

Featuring a score of showstoppers by George and Ira Gershwin including “I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” “Slap That Bass” and “Someone To Watch Over Me,” “Crazy for You” is an irresistibly funny valentine to the American musicals of the 1930s. The book by Ken Ludwig brings audiences into a world of cowboys and showgirls, where a Wall Street guy and a Main Street gal can fall madly in love, put on a show and dance their way to happiness.

When “Crazy for You” first premiered on Broadway in 1992, Frank Rich raved in The New York Times, “When future historians try to find the exact moment at which Broadway finally rose up to grab the musical back from the British, they just may conclude that the revolution began last night. The shot was fired at the Shubert Theater, where a riotously entertaining show called ‘Crazy for You’ uncorked the American musical’s classic blend of music, laughter, dancing, sentiment and showmanship with a freshness and confidence rarely seen… ‘Crazy for You’ scrapes away decades of cabaret and jazz and variety-show interpretations to reclaim the Gershwins’ standards, in all their glorious youth, for the dynamism of the stage.” It went on to win Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Choreography and Best Costume Design of a Musical, playing 1,622 performances.

“Crazy for You” completes Center Theatre Group’s 2017 – 2018 Season at the Ahmanson Theatre, which includes the previously announce productions of “The Red Shoes,” “Bright Star,” “Something Rotten!,” “Soft Power” and “The Humans.” Tickets for “Crazy for You” are currently available by season ticket membership only. For information and to charge season tickets by phone, call the Exclusive Season Ticket Hotline at (213) 972-4444. To purchase season memberships online, visit www.CenterTheatreGroup.org/Ahmanson.

Center Theatre Group offers a number of services to accommodate persons requiring mobility, vision and hearing access. For more information, please visit www.CenterTheatreGroup.org/ACCESS.

Bank of America and Delta Airlines are season sponsors for Center Theatre Group’s 2017-2018 season at the Ahmanson Theatre.

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, programming seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1600 to 2000-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.

Bios: Susan Stroman (Direction/Choreography) A five-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer, she received her first Tony Award for her choreography in the original Broadway production of “Crazy for You.” Her work has been honored with Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel and a record five Astaire Awards. Most recently she directed the new Off-Broadway play “Dot” for the Vineyard Theatre. She directed and choreographed “The Producers,” winner of a record-making 12 Tony Awards including Best Direction and Best Choreography. She co-created, directed and choreographed the Tony Award-winning musical “Contact” for Lincoln Center Theater, which was honored with a 2003 Emmy Award for Live at Lincoln Center. Her Tony Award-nominated direction and choreography for the critically acclaimed musical “The Scottsboro Boys” continues to garner praise with her recent productions at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, the Ahmanson Theatre and for the Young Vic in London’s West End, where it was honored with the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical. Other Broadway credits include “Bullets Over Broadway,” “Big Fish,” “Show Boat,” “Oklahoma!,” “The Frogs,” “The Music Man,” “Thou Shalt Not,” “Steel Pier,” “Big” and “Picnic.” Off-Broadway credits include “Flora the Red Menace,” “And the World Goes Round,” “Happiness” and “The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville” starring Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac. For 10 years she choreographed Madison Square Garden’s annual spectacular “A Christmas Carol.” She made her Metropolitan Opera debut directing and choreographing “The Merry Widow,” starring Renée Fleming. For the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., she directed and choreographed the new musical “Little Dancer.” For New York City Ballet, she created “Double Feature,” a full-length ballet featuring the music of Irving Berlin and Walter Donaldson, and “For the Love of Duke,” featuring the music of Duke Ellington. Other ballet credits include “But Not For Me” for the Martha Graham Company and “Take Five…More or Less” for Pacific Northwest Ballet. Her choreography received an Emmy Award nomination for the HBO presentation “Liza – Live from Radio City Music Hall,” starring Liza Minnelli. She received the American Choreography Award for her work in Columbia Pictures feature film “Center Stage.” She directed and choreographed “The Producers: The Movie Musical,” nominated for four Golden Globes. She is the recipient of the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater and a member of the Theater Hall of Fame in New York City.

Ken Ludwig (Book) is a two-time Olivier Award-winning playwright whose work is performed throughout the world in more than 30 countries and over 20 languages. He has written 24 plays and musicals, with six Broadway productions and seven in London’s West End. His Tony-winning play “Lend Me A Tenor,” was called “one of the classic comedies of the 20th century” by the Washington Post. Other plays and musicals include “Crazy For You” (five years on Broadway, Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Musical), “Moon Over Buffalo” (Broadway and West End), “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” (Broadway), “Treasure Island” (West End), “Twentieth Century” (Broadway), “Leading Ladies,” “Shakespeare in Hollywood,” “The Game’s Afoot,” “The Fox on the Fairway,” “The Three Musketeers,” “The Beaux’ Stratagem,” “Baskerville” and “A Comedy of Tenors.” His critically acclaimed adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” premiered this season to sold out houses at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton. He has received commissions from the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Old Globe and the Bristol Old Vic, and he is a Sallie B. Goodman Fellow of the McCarter Theatre. His many awards and honors include the Charles MacArthur Award, two Helen Hayes Awards, the SETC Distinguished Career Award, the Edgar Award for Best Mystery and the Edwin Forrest Award for Contributions to the American Theater. His book “How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare” (Random House) won the Falstaff Award for Best Shakespeare Book and his essays are published by the Yale Review. Ken’s plays and musicals are produced somewhere in the United States and abroad every night of the year.

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June 7, 2017