Lost Musicals Celebrates Weill with Venus

The 2000 season of Lost Musicals continues next month with a Kurt Weill centenary revival of his 1943 Broadway hit, One Touch of Venus. The production will be presented for five performances only at the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio Theatre from 9 to 17 December 2000. This marks the first time that the musical will be seen in this country with a full dance company and orchestra.

In One Touch of Venus, a barber named Rodney unwittingly brings to life a statue of Venus in a New York museum. Venus falls in love with Rodney but, after coming to appreciate the humdrum life of a barber's wife, she opts for turning back into marble.

Kurt Weill's musical score for One Touch of Venus includes 'I'm a Stranger Here Myself' and 'Speak Low'. The musical's lyrics are by Ogden Nash with book by Nash and SJ Perelman. This was Perelman and Nash's only book musical. In 1948, it was made into a film, starring Ava Gardner and Robert Walker.

The cast for the revival production includes Louise Gold, Michael Cantwell, Jessica Martin, Ethan Freeman, Delianne Forget, Jonathan Kydd, Lori Hayley Fox, Myra Sands, Verona Chard, Aileen Donahue, Kristy Moiles, Abigail Langham, Daniel T Gillingwater, Dan Callaway and Dan Bates.

Antonia Castilla will re-create the original Agnes de Mille choreography for 23 dancers from Central School of Ballet. Ian Marshall-Fisher, producer of the Lost Musicals series, directs, with Kevin Amos conducting the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.

Since founding the Lost Musicals in 1989, Marshall-Fisher has worked closely with the estates and families of the writers to rediscover and reconstruct the shows. In ten seasons, he has directed some 46 musicals, performed by over 600 actors and singers including Henry Goodman, Joanna Riding, Frank Thornton, Denis Quilley, Janie Dee and Tim Flavin.

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