Act II Playhouse, the professional theatre company in Ambler, PA, rounds out its 10th anniversary season with the high-energy regional premiere of Respect: A Musical Journey of Women, on stage May 5-31, 2009.
Act II Producing Artistic Director Bud Martin directs this uplifting story of women’s evolving roles and lives, captured through popular songs of the 20th century – songs about dreams found… love lost… men, women, and work. As they go from co-dependence to independence—from “Someone To Watch Over Me” to “I Will Survive” to “Hero”—the women of Respect will remind viewers of their sisters, mothers, daughters, wives, friends, and selves.
Martin has assembled a cast of four talented “girl-power” actresses: Danielle G. Herbert (A Year With Frog and Toad and Caroline, or Change at Arden Theatre), Lois Sach Binder (Menopause: The Musical at Society Hill Playhouse), Jennifer Lorae (Sinatra, Our Way cabaret; Afterwards, Playwrights Horizon), and Cheryl Williams (Hedda Gabler, Mauckingbird Theatre).
“When I first heard about Respect and did some research on the history of the show and its productions, I was amazed at how well it draws new audiences for the presenting theatres,” said Martin. “It seems to make a connection to women that few shows do,” said Martin.
“What impresses me about the play itself is the actual journey the characters take, and their ‘arc,’ as we call it, in coming into their own as proud women,” Martin added. “I was surprised when I actually read the lyrics to popular songs we’ve all heard for decades - how sexist the early pop songs were and how that has changed in more recent years. In this play, all the woman have a breakthrough song and moment, when they become proud of themselves for their accomplishments and choices in life—not just proud of their survival (“I Will Survive”) but for their triumphs.”
The original version of Respect, inspired by Dr. Dorothy Marcic's book Respect: Women and Popular Music, began in 1999 as a series of one-woman presentations and then developed into a full-scale musical theatre piece, presented for the first time in 2004. Marcic, who resideds in the Nashville area, will attend the first two preview performances of Respect on May 5 and 6, and will participate in the post-show talkbacks.
Respect has been performed to sold-out crowds at several venues around the country, including the Cuillo Centre for the Arts in West Palm Beach, FL, the Stage Door’s 26th Street Theatre in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and Chicago Center for the Performing Arts.
Collin Maier is Music Director of Act II Playhouse’s production, and Carmela Guiteras Mayo is choreographer. The production team also includes costume designer Maggie Baker, lighting designer James Leitner, and sound designer Mark Valenzuela.
The final dress rehearsal of Respect will be open to the public on Sunday, May 3, at 7 p.m. Suggested donation is $10, and all contributions will be donated to the Women’s Center of Montgomery County, a community-based organization dedicated to the empowerment of women, whose priMary Focus on eliminating domestic violence and other forms of abuse.
Three preview performances of Respect will be held May 5-7, with tickets discounted at $25. Opening night is May 8, and the show runs through May 31. Tickets are $30 for all Wednesday-Thursday performances and $35 for Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees. Group sales packages are available for groups of 10 or more. For more information, visit www.act2.org or call the Act II Box Office at (215) 654-0200.
Act II Playhouse, celebrating 10 years of professional theatre in the Philadelphia suburb of Ambler, PA, is committed to creating world-class theatre in a 130-seat venue whose intimacy draws audiences and actors into dynamic interrelation. Act II produces new, classic, and contemporary plays and musicals under the direction of Bud Martin (Producing Artistic Director) and Harriet Power (Associate Artistic Director).
Dr. Marcic is a former professor at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management and former Director of Graduate Programs in Human Resource Development. Several years ago, Dorothy started experimenting with the arts, integrating them into her leadership training programs. This led her to using music as a learning tool and became the catalyst for studying the depiction of women in Top-40 music. Her show Respect has been a source of empowerment for thousands of women around the world and she has started a non-profit in order to work with at-risk women and girls.
