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LYRIC STAGE PRESENTS
CABIN IN THE SKY
October 6-21, 2006

A rare revival of Lynn Root, John Latouche and Vernon Duke's 1940 musical fable CABIN IN THE SKY will play at the Irving Arts Center's Dupree Theater, 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd. Irving, TX October 6 - October 21, 2006. For tickets call 972-252-2787 or CLICK HERE TO ORDER ONLINE. Order your tickets now!

Eleanor Threatt leads the cast as the God-fearing Petunia with Vince McGill as her wayward husband Little Joe. Crystal Phillips is Georgia Brown, Little Joe’s temptress. Wilbur Penn plays The Headman (the Devil’s son) and Marcus M. Mauldin is his nemesis, The Lord’s General. Crystal Phillips is Georgia Brown, Malcolm Beatty, Charlet Dupar, Ashley Duplechain, Kia Dawn Fulton, Doris Howard, Gabe Lawson, Bryan Pitts, Billy Poole and Durant Searcy complete the cast.

CABIN IN THE SKY is about the tug of war between good and evil in the rural South. Ethel Waters stopped the show in 1940 with her rendition of "Taking a Chance on Love." Other songs in composer Duke and lyricist Latouche's score include "In My Old Virginia Home" and the title tune.

"Taking a Chance on Love" was a breakout hit from the show, a musical fable populated by African American actors in a time when people of color were not a fully visible and dimensional part of commercial mainstream culture in America.

Lyric Stage founding producer Steven Jones has been working with Tony Root, librettist Lynn Root's son and Kay Duke Ingalls, composer Vernon Duke's widow, to recreate the original Broadway script and score. The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded Lyric Stage its first-ever NEA grant for this production.

Bruce Wood, the acclaimed artistic director and choreographer of the Bruce Wood Dance Company, will make his directorial debut with Lyric Stage's CABIN IN THE SKY. Musical direction is by Gary Okeson, scenic design is by Wade Giampa, lighting is by Susan A. White and costumes are by Diane Simons.

Bruce Wood began his career at the age of 16 when he left his native Fort Worth on a full scholarship to New York's School of American Ballet under the tutelage of the legendary George Balanchine (who staged the original Cabin in the Sky). After a brief engagement with the New York City Ballet, Wood refined his Balanchine training by dancing four years as a soloist with the San Francisco Ballet. At the age of 21, Wood joined Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal as a principal dancer, and for the next four years performed and taught all over the world. Returning to New York, he danced with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and the Twyla Tharp Dance Company. He assisted in setting Lar Lubovitch pieces for the New York City Ballet and worked with Lubovitch in setting the movement of the Broadway hit Into the Woods.

For tickets call 972-252-2787 or CLICK HERE TO ORDER ONLINE. Order your tickets now!

Cast members Eleanor Threatt & Wilbur Penn