Do you love Liza Minelli, Barbara Streisand and some good, ole’ classic Broadway tunes? A musical revue evening filled with your favorites like “All that Jazz,” “Cabaret,” and “Mr. Cellophane” awaits with other Kander & Ebb hits from “Chicago,” “Cabaret,” “New York, New York,” “Funny Lady,” and more. “The World Goes Round,” is a night of socially-distanced New York-style Broadway love songs, torch songs, story songs, and a slew of comic numbers. The original production in New York ran for 408 performances and won a number of awards, including the Drama Desk for Outstanding Musical Revue.
Musical director, Kathy French, thinks that this show offers audiences great entertainment with timeless, relatable themes and laughs since it includes so many songs that are still relevant and poignant today. Like “Coffee in a Cardboard Cup,” written in 1971, but still so relevant in it's comment on society's “hurry-up, instant gratification mentality'' being the problem with the world today. “It’s so funny if you think about how big Starbucks has become, which is coffee in a cardboard cup!” French says that the life struggles in Kander and Ebb's songs will resonate with all ages. “Their songs ask some timely questions like (when WAP is song of the year) ‘whatever happened to CLASS?’ Or ‘what good is sitting alone in your room?’ Come enjoy some ridiculous cynicism, some love-torn fools, and some cheeky fun. If you love musicals for the songs, this show is almost entirely that!”
Since the music in this show is comical, audiences can expect the choreography to take a similar approach. Choreographer Brandon Baker says, “we will use the movement of the piece to help tie together the storyline. There will be plenty of interesting bits, from tumbling to jazz squares, and much more in between. The viewers will be sure to leave with joy and excitement.” Baker says he’s most interested in working on the jazz numbers, “I love the idea of sultry or suave movement and it will be fun playing with the dynamics in numbers like ‘All that Jazz’ or ‘Cabaret.’ Typically, audiences are made to sit through one particular show, through the great songs and mediocre ones, as well. But with a show like this, each of the songs is the best of the best from each musical, so there is never a dull moment or lull in the show. It is classic hit after classic hit, and will be very engaging.”
By casting the musical director and the choreographer in the show, both of whom have a large breadth of performance experience, it keeps contact low during the time of COVID-19. In addition, two cast members are married. “It’s always fun to be in a show with my husband,” says Whitney Golin, “and it’s nice to still be creating music during, what we hope, is the tail end of the pandemic.”
CORP Theatre CEO, Donna Covington, is directing “The World Goes Round.” Her goal is to provide an amazing theater experience, but to ere on the side of safety, so using a smaller musical cast was paramount. The City of Garland, along with the state, has relaxed in some COVID guidelines. Currently, guidelines allow 75% occupancy in the theater. While masks are not mandated, the city suggests mask wearing. “CORP is following the city guidelines, but we are limiting seating to alleviate stress from non-mask mandated wearing. The theater seats 320, but we are not expecting more than 175, so there will be plenty of room to spread out and practice social distancing,” says Covington. All seats are general admission with no assigned seating, so patrons can choose their seats in person. In addition, Covington says, “we do suggest that people wear their mask, but we are not requiring them. We also have a donation-only concession stand to remove lines and people contact.”
Other safety guidelines during rehearsal include that the actors go through temperature checks before entering the theater. Show choices focus on a small number of cast members, and provide the opportunity to cast family members thus, reducing the number of exposed households. In addition, cast members are encouraged to refrain from attending rehearsals, if they are not feeling well in order take all precautions.
Despite the current COVID circumstances, Covington is excited about the show's themes at this time, “ ‘The World Goes Round’ covers all of the most important aspects of life that affect all people through song. These include love, money, fun and more . We all need a lot of fun these days and this show guarantees an entertaining and fun night. We spent a lot of time trying to find just the right show, and who doesn't love Kander and Ebb? They are best known for many great shows such as ‘Cabaret’ and ‘Chicago’ which includes hits like ‘All That Jazz.’ This show has a great sampling from all these shows and so many more,” says Covington
Covington remains hopeful that the coming year will continue to improve the state of the theatre in the area and has an exciting upcoming season planned, “CORP has two more plays scheduled for 2021 from the incredibly hilarious writing team Jones, Hope and Wooten. ‘Red Velvet Cake War" and ‘Christmas Belles.’ We anticipate that in 2022 things will return to more normal operational practices, and we’ll get back to the incredible musicals we love to produce. Stay tuned! We will have an announcement to follow mid-summer 2021.”
“The World Goes Round” includes direction by Donna Covington, musical direction by Kathy French, and choreography by Brandon Baker. Cast includes Brandon Baker, Erin Coonrod, Kathy French, Steve Golin and Whitney Golin. “The World Goes Round” runs:
Fridays and Saturdays: July 9, 10, 16, 17, 2021, at 8 p.m.
Sundays: July 11 & 18, 2021, at 2 p.m.
The Plaza Theatre is located at 521 State Street in Garland, Texas.
Tickets are on sale now at http://company-of-rowlett-performers.square.site/
Call 972-977-7710 for more information.
Price
- $20
Box Office
- 972-977-7710
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