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Forget your troubles—come on, get happy! The tradition of turning a barn into a theater finds fertile new ground in a joyous world premiere inspired by the classic Judy Garland-Gene Kelly movie. When theatrical Gloria invites fellow troupers to the family farm with the idea of putting on a show, her practical sister Jane is stubborn as a mule but relents because the farm needs work—and workers. Sisterhood, budding romance, and a Broadway-bound musical are all at risk. But there’s nothing like the sunshine of hits from the American songbook to chase all your cares away!

CREATIVE TEAM

Produced by VenuWorks Theatricals
Producer Steve Peters
Producer Michael Londra
Executive Producer
CRC Productions
Carolyn Rossi Copeland
Book & Additional Lyrics by Cheri Steinkellner
Director & Choreographer Donna Feore
Music Supervisor Doug Besterman
Costume Design Tina McCartney
Scenic Design Wilson Chin
Lighting Design Jeff Croiter
Based on the classic MGM film; Produced by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures.
Steve Peters

Steve Peters (Producer)

Steve began his career in 1976 managing municipal and university venues, then served as opening GM of Target Center in Minneapolis, and later as a vice president for Ogden Entertainment. In 1996 Steve created VenuWorks, a full-service venue management company that has become an industry leader, serving dozens of theatres, arenas, and convention centers in markets across the US. In 2010 he assembled a group of investors and purchased the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre in suburban Minneapolis, the largest dinner theatre complex in the US. He launched VenuWorks Theatricals in 2014, which has received a Tony Award® nomination and an Outer Critics Circle Award for its work on Broadway. He created VenuWorks Sports in 2016 to bring the Thunderbolts of the Southern Professional Hockey League to Evansville, IN. The franchise plays at the VenuWorks-managed Ford Center. Steve holds an MFA from the University of Iowa. He lives in Ames, IA with his wife of 50 years, Randi, who oversees local community relations for the company. A past president of the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM), Steve is the recipient of two of IAVM’s top awards: The McElravy Award for lifetime achievement in 2015, and IAVM Foundation’s Legacy Award in 2018.

Michael Londra

Michael Londra (Producer)

Michael Londra is an Emmy-nominated singer and producer. He is the producer and host of Ireland with Michael, the travel and music show currently shooting Season 4 for PBS. He was the lead voice of Riverdance on Broadway and tours worldwide as a concert artist. He produced the world premiere and US national tour of Noël: The Musical and is managing director of VenuWorks Theatricals.

Carolyn Rossi Copeland

Carolyn Rossi Copeland (Executive Producer )

Carolyn Rossi Copeland is a theatre producer and founder of The Lamb’s Theatre. She served as Vice President of Creative Affairs for Radio City Entertainment and Madison Square Garden Productions, where she oversaw the historic remount of The Scarlet Pimpernel on Broadway and new projects for The Radio City Rockettes. She served as Creative Consultant for The Gaylord Group. She is the executive producer of Strouse IP, managing the music and show catalogue of the Tony Award® winner Charles Strouse.

Cheri Steinkellner

Cheri Steinkellner (Book & Additional Lyrics)

Cheri Steinkellner has earned four Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Writers Guild, a People’s Choice, a Parents’ Choice, a World Animation Award, and the BAFTA for writing and producing television’s Cheers and Disney’s Teacher’s Pet with her husband, Bill. Cheri received her first Tony Award® nomination for Sister Act: The Musical, and is an Ovation nominee and Indy Award winner for book and lyrics for Hello! My Baby (with Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Eubie Blake, and many more). Other TV: The Jeffersons, Who’s The Boss?, Family Ties, The Facts of Life, The Bob Newhart Show, and Hope and Gloria. Cheri teaches writing at Stanford University and UCSB, studies Engaged Humanities and the Creative Life at Pacifica Graduate Institute, and directs award-winning youth theatre across the US.

Donna Feore

Donna Feore (Director & Choreographer)

Donna Feore is one of Canada’s most versatile creative talents, highly praised for her work as a director and choreographer at the Stratford Festival. Directing credits include Billy Elliot and Little Shop of Horrors (both recently extended) and The Music Man, The Rocky Horror Show, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Madwoman of Chaillot, Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, The Sound of Music, Crazy for You, Fiddler on the Roof, and Oklahoma! (Stratford Festival); Tom Stoppard’s Rock ’n’ Roll and It’s a Wonderful Life (Canadian Stage). Selected opera credits include Tosca, Red Emma, Oedipus Rex, and Siegfried (Canadian Opera Company). Selected film and television credits include Mean Girls, Martin and Lewis, and Eloise.

Doug Besterman

Doug Besterman (Music Supervisor )

Doug Besterman is a three-time Tony Award®-winning musician with a career spanning across theatre, film, television, and recording. He has worked with some of the most recognizable names in the industry, including composers Mel Brooks, Alan Menken, and Marc Shaiman; recording artists Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow; and directors Rob Marshall and Susan Stroman. A veteran of 25+ Broadway shows, Besterman won the Best Orchestrations Tony Award® for Fosse, The Producers, and Thoroughly Modern Millie, and was nominated for The Music Man (2000), How to Succeed in Business, and Bullets Over Broadway. He was also awarded the Drama Desk Award for The Producers and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Tina McCartney

Tina McCartney (Costume Design)

Tina McCartney is Trinidadian-American costume designer. Tina’s theatrical designs include Death Cruise (Access Theater), The Goree All-Girl String Band (NYMF), and Julius Caesar (Classic Stage Company). She has co-designed the 72nd, 73rd, and 74th Annual Tony Awards® live telecast on CBS. Tina served as Assistant Costume Designer on Broadway’s Cabaret, On Your Feet!, A Bronx Tale, and Beetlejuice The Musical (Tony Award® Nominee for Best Costume Design of a Musical), as well as Associate Costume Designer on Bandstand, Lobby Hero, The Inheritance (Tony Award® Nominee for Best Costume Design of a Play), and Sing Street. Tina also assisted the design teams on the feature films West Side Story and In The Heights.

Wilson Chin

Wilson Chin (Scenic Design)

Broadway/Off-Broadway: Pass Over (Lucille Lortel Award nomination, Broadway and LCT3); Next Fall (Broadway and Naked Angels); Cost of Living, By the Water (Manhattan Theatre Club); Teenage Dick (Ma-Yi Theater Company/The Public Theater); A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet (DR2 Theatre); Space Dogs (MCC Theater); Sweat, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Pericles (The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit); Wild Goose Dreams (The Public Theater/La Jolla Playhouse); The Thanksgiving Play (Playwrights Horizons); My Mañana Comes (The Playwrights Realm); Too Much, Too Much, Too Many (Roundabout Theatre Company); The Jammer (Atlantic Theater Company); Sakina’s Restaurant (Audible Theater/Minetta Lane Theatre); Engagements (Second Stage); Informed Consent (Primary Stages). Opera: Lucia di Lammermoor (Lyric Opera of Chicago), Eine Florentinische Tragödie/Gianni Schicchi (Canadian Opera Company, Dora Mavor Moore Award). Film/television: Pass Over (dir. Spike Lee), Game Theory with Bomani Jones (HBO), Blindspot (NBC).

Jeff Croiter

Jeff Croiter (Lighting Design)

Jeff Croiter is a lighting designer with over 25 years of experience working on Broadway, off-Broadway, dance, opera, special event, regional theatre, and touring productions. Jeff has received Tony®, Hewes, and Bass awards and has been nominated for Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lortel, Ovation, Irne, and Audelco awards. Broadway credits include Freestyle Love Supreme, Bandstand, Falsettos, Something Rotten, Holiday Inn, Newsies, Peter and the Starcatcher, Penn & Teller, Disaster, Next Fall, Mothers and Sons, The Pee-wee Herman Show, Kiki and Herb, A Time to Kill, Soul Doctor, Jekyll and Hyde, The Performers, and The Anarchist. He designed the lighting for Penn & Teller at the Rio in Las Vegas and The Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center. His work has been seen at New York theatres including The Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, Shakespeare in the Park, Signature Theatre, Second Stage, The Public Theater, The New Group, Playwrights Horizons, The Atlantic, The Vineyard, Primary Stages, Ars Nova, MCC, Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, New World Stages, The Westside Theatre, and The Joyce Theater.

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